We will be in Rome and Venice the first two weeks of November and would like to know which walking tour you experienced travelers would recommend. We are doing a tour of the Vatican and Colesseum but would a walking tour of the other sites be a good idea? I don't want to wander aimlessly.

It is always good to plan ahead but don't discount the idea of walking aimlessly! Some of the best walks and sights in Venice and Rome are the unscheduled ones!
It seems like the things I remember most from my past trip to Venice were the sights on early morning "aimless" walks. Have fun.

I've been trying to find some guided walking tours of Venice that don't require a private guide. According to my Lonely Planet guidebook, there are guided tours of the Jewish Ghetto that leave regularly from the Musee Ebraico. I'd be grateful if anyone else has any leads on any other walking tours in Venice.

For Rome, two companies that are regularly recommended are Enjoy Rome and Scala Reale.

There were 2-3 tours of Venice that left from aroung the tourist info station near St. Marks. I didn't take 'em but they seemed okay.

Did do the Secret Iterinaries tour. It was ok.

We took a tour of the Vatican with Scala Reale and loved it. We also did the Secret Itineraries tour at the Palazzo Ducale and enjoyed it...others have LOVED it. I think our guide may have been a last minute replacement...she wasn't very good. But the tour was interesting. In either case, you do need to make reservations.

There have been many other discussions on this topic for Rome...here is one: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

We were there the week before last, and took a Colosseum tour with romewalks (guide was Antonella) and the Vatican tour with scala reale (guide was Rebecca Alcock). Both were excellent. Guides were experts in the field, extremely knowledgeable and interesting and very personable and native English speakers. I recommend both highly.
We also did the twilight walking tour with romewalks, also very interesting.
We had seen all the sights on that last tour on our own, but as you say were wandering aimlessly. The history and context the tour provided was very good.
In Venice, we did the Secret Itinerary tour at the Doge's Palace, which we also enjoyed very much, and did the tour at the Jewish Museum in the Jewish ghetto, also interesting. In Venice, we did more wandering around on our own than in Rome, which we enjoyed very much.
If you have any more specific questions about any of these tours, just let me know by posting or you can email me at [email protected].
Enjoy.