Suki

Hi, I am planning the Rome portion of our first trip to Italy and need some advice. I know that someone posted (melissajoy??) regarding tours in Rome that teens particulary enjoyed, but I can no longer find that post. We will have a mature 14 year-old and an almost-18 year old with us and I do want them to enjoy whatever tour we choose.

We only have 2-1/2 days in Rome the weekend of Palm Sunday. Actually, we will land in Rome Sat morning and thought we would spend that day in a leisurely manner - strolling Piazza Navona,etc. and getting to bed early(unless we go to Barb and Seaurchin's party!)On Palm Sunday, we will concentrate on the Forum/Colloseum and then Monday , hit the Vatican. So, is one tour company better than another for keeping teens interested? Thanks.

Suki

topping - any help out there?

aquadigio

TIVOLI ? VILLA D'ESTE ?
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euh don't know about a city-tour if you ask me. but for 'kids' that age the town TIVOLI seems intresting (I am wondering if I will go to Napoli because that TIVOLI stuff seems VERY INTRESTING --->

TIVOLI is 1h15 mins at the north of roma, take the cotral bus service or otherwise the train

-- > VILLA D'ESTE - it's something big with fontains and stuff, very romantic and stuff

by train : roma -pescana line station tivoli

by bus : cotrol roma - tivoli metro stop ponte mammoli bus station largo nazioni unite

Grinisa

I posted a travel note on Slowtrav.com entitled "Chills and Thrills in the Eternal City." It lists some scary and macabre sights that are of interest to children and teens.

kswl

Enjoy Rome tour of the Vatican was kind of a snooze, not only for 13-year-old, but mom as well. Vastour (by bus) of entire city would be a great intro/first day of your vacation only. By day three, you already know where all the highlights are. Lots of companies run these bus tours, with varying quality. All the busses are comfy (by their looks, and ours was), but how interesting it is depends entirely on the tour guide.

A thought: you may want to attend a church service on Palm Sunday--even in Italian, you could probably follow along. There are several English-language churches also, including St. Paul's Within the Walls (Episcopal)on the Via Nationale. The church itself is beautiful, as any in Rome is likely to be. You may want to check to make sure the Vatican is open on Sunday---isn't it open only one Sunday each month? I'd be surprised if they were open to the public on that particular Sunday, even if it fell on the one so designated.

peebness

I suggest that you contact Giulia Bernardini. She is a wonderful guide who we spent several days with in July 2003. We were a multi-generational group (grandparents, parents, and kids 14, 12 and 9) and we all thouroughly enjoyed her tours and learned a lot as well. Her e-mail is [email protected]. I got her name from this site, so you can do a search for her here as well.

Nikki

My daughter (who was 19 at the time) and I enjoyed the Enjoy Rome tours of Ancient and Old Rome and of the Vatican. We didn't find it a snooze, but it might depend on the guide. If you had to pick just one area to tour with the guide, I would make it the Forum area to help make sense of the many different structures.

Cicerone

A 14 and 18 year old should be able to enjoy and appreciate most of the sites in Rome, after all they have covered them in their ancient history classes. I agree with the above posters about the quality of guides offered by Enjoy Rome, some are much better than others. I think that Context Rome (formerly Scala Reale) offers much better tours and guides. I would suggest contacting them and indicating that you have teenagers and they may be able to tailor some of their tours to accomodate that. Take a look at www.scalareale.org. They are more expensive than Enjoy Rome, but you get what you pay for.

They might enjoy the Scavi tour of the areas below the Vatican; I have not done this but it gets good reviews here generally. You must book in advance, run a search here for information.

The catacombs outside Rome make a great half day or day trip and I think your kids would find them interesting. You can do a walking biking tour of the countryside around the catacombs, take a look at www.enjoyrome.com Enjoy Rome also does a 3.5 hour bicycle tour of Rome which I think would be great for young people.

As a break from sightseeing, I would sugget spending some time shopping on Via Condotti and around the Spanish Steps area for fashion-forward looks that they might not be able to find at home. Gelato is always a great break. (The 14 year may have seen that Hilary Duff movie and have her own ideas about what to do in Rome....mine was “Gidget Goes to Rome” so I spend a lot of time hanging out by the Trevi fountain looking for Paolo. . . .)

Suki

Thanks for the great ideas.

Cicerone, after reading about the traffic and the pace of Rome, I think I would be scared to death on a bike. Anyone ever done a bike tour in Rome?

I remember reading a thread on here about tours and specifically a tour company run by two American gentlemen (I think) was mentioned. If I remember more details that might help identify the company (or the thread!) I'll post again. Thanks.