hunnym

Future husband and I are trying to figure out who's right. I've been to the Vatican City Museum without a private tour guide, and felt that I got a lot out of it (did a lot of reading in advance).

His brother hired a private guide on his visit there and said it was the best thing he could have done.

I still think it's an unnecessary expense - am I wrong, or would it be valuable to spring for such a guide? Am I just not aware of what I am missing?

HowardR

There is no right or wrong answer to your question. Certainly, a qualified guide can make your visit to the museum a more complete and fulfilling experience. Is it worth the money? Who can say? (You didn't mention the cost.) On the other side of the coin, the audio tape at the Vatican Museum is excellent, the best one I've ever experienced.

Grinisa

A guide from Scala Reale with a small group of around six people might be just as valuable, or more, than a private guide.

smacknmo

We did the Arte Vaticana tour in Sept. with Scala Reale and loved it. Our guide was so knowledgable that I know we would not have gotten as much out of our visit if we had not had him. Our group had six people in it which is Scala Reale's max. Our tour cost $146.00. Depending on what country you are from it may be cheaper or more expensive when you make the exchange from Euros.

kmjmmm

We were in Rome this summer. Try the Scava tour of the vatican excavations. It was very interesting.
I think most people get more out of a visit with a private tour guide. There were some reasonably priced student guides this summer. Decide on an upper cost and see if it's possible. Bu sure to allow enough time. We heard people who wanted to tour the whole museum in 2 hours (they waited in line >30 minutes) and several guides turned them down indicating they could not perform an adaquate job.

hansikday

There is no single right answer. Many people do just fine without a private guide. but other people are confused and frustrated without one.

Personally, I think you can do some research ahead of time and prepare yourself quite well.

elaine

Hi
I am not 'confused and frustrated without one', that's a negative reason to hire a guide. I can be more enlightened, entertained, and engaged WITH one, that's why I like guides, for some sites, when they're good. Scala Reale/Context Rome is one great organization.

I'd just caution against using one of the Vatican's own guides for the museums, the one I had was a nice lady who spoke incomprehensible English.

Melissajoy

This is a very personal decision. As for me, I can't stand having somebody standing there blabbing on and on when I am trying to just soak in this wonderful art. And also guides tend to choose their own favorite pictures to explain. there are too many for them to go over everything. And so if you're more interested in a picture across the room that they never get to, you feel restless.

I prefer a good guidebook. If I was going to hire a guide I'd have to hire a private guide who would give me a lot of input as to what we would be looking at.

We saw the Vatican Museums without a guide and enjoyed it very much.

On the other hand we did hire a private guide for the ruins...colosseum, roman forum, and it was worthwhile. Because a pile of rubble isn't that interesting without a guide to bring it alive!

but art is different. Art is an experience.

dwzemens

We used a private guide for the Vatican while visiting Italy last month. The recomendation came from this forum. It was the *highlight* of our trip. The guide was terrific, spoke flawless English, and brought life to the Vatican art while impressing us with her passion and love of the sculptures and painting. I would be glad to send you her name and email address if you wish. Drop me an email at [email protected] if you are interested.

Dorgal

We hired a guide for 2 hours from the museum itself. He was difficult to understand and the huge crowds in the museum made it even more difficult to hear him. I felt that even though he explained much of the history, we were fairly rushed through places and skipped things that looked interesting to me. I totally agree with Melissajoy in her comments. Next time I will bring a good huide book and take my time. That said - I was completely unprepared for the enormous throngs of people in that museum....it made it very difficult to enjoy the experience. The Hall of Maps and Sistine Chapel were unreal - we were shoulder to shoulder and walking in babysteps. I am somewhat claustrophobic and was not prepared for this. Sadly, I left wondering if I could ever do it again. It seems there is no way to pace admittance considering the thousands who want to see it every day. The museum was really amazing but I wish we had had more time to linger and see all the many rooms we missed.

Joelleinitaly04

My biggest regret is that due to a misunderstanding, we were unable to hook up with the guide we had arranged for the vatican and so my teenaged kids and I tried the vatican on our own. Nothing but frustration. We didn't know what things were, we din't know how to approach it.

Then we got in the cattle line to the Sistine Chapel, and when we finally were shoved into the chapel my kids (and I) were totally underwelmed and now my kids are going around telling people the Sistine Chapel is overrated. I don't think this would have been my experience with a guide.

Joelleinitaly04

"And also guides tend to choose their own favorite pictures to explain. there are too many for them to go over everything. And so if you're more interested in a picture across the room that they never get to, you feel restless."


The advantage of a private guide is that you can say to them "What about that over there?"

We had Liz from Scala Reale do a different church tour for us and she was so good and so engaging and asked what we were interested in, she had info that you could not find in a guide book and I've heard she's really good at the vatican - if I had it to do over again, I'd book her for the vatican. If I had all the money in the world, I take her with me to every church in Rome!

Joelle

JanetB

Just returned from Rome on the 18th. This was our third time to the Vatican Museums and our 1st time with a guide. We had Chris from Scala Reale as our guide. He is a Theology student and teacher and was most enlightening as well as entertaining. As with the others, only 6 people in the group and he had gotten there early to hold our place in line. You might not want a guide every time you visit the museum, but I think it is certainly worthwile one time. I wish we had done it on our first visit.

tassietiger

Some like a guide, some don't need one. We went on a guided tour of the Vatican and St Pauls with two friends and we all agreed that the Enjoy Rome guide was first-rate: http://www.enjoyrome.com/main.html

Our guide was excellent - knew her stuff but got it across in an easy manner. We all felt that without her help we would have been overwhelmed by the crowd and the great mass of artistic riches.

hunnym

Wow - thank you all for your fantastic replies. It's much appreciated.

Turns out that someone is getting us a tour as a wedding present (since we'll be visiting for our honeymoon). The only hard part about all this is waiting for the trip to come!