Find a knowledgeable guide to get the most out of your visit to Rome -- there's a LOT of history here!
Italy
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Jun 23 - Jun 28, 2024
Our time in Rome was divided into three guided tour days, and a free day. We had two diifferent guides and stayed in a private apartment. Our overall impression is that the visit was educational and enjoyable. The big disappointment of our time in Rome was the very large crowds. Every location we visited had long lines and we had a hard time taking a photo without numerous other tourists in the scene. That is not something the tour company who scheduled us could have changed, but perhaps we should have been warned when we booked that crowds of tourists were the largest ever, and that it might have been better to book much later in the year.
First, our lodging. The tour company put us in a private apartment that was a ten minute walk from Piazza del Poppolo. We were thus able to walk to all of our tours. At the same time, we had good beds, a large living and diining room, a fully appointed kitchen, and four showers. What a nice place to stay for six days! Thank you for this! We were very happy with it.
For the first two days our guide was Mariapaola. She is a trained archeologist with a graduate degree. And she was able to answer all our questions professionally and put answers in historical context that was very refreshing. Our third guide was not as knowledgeable. We cannot recommend her.
Hotel Review
I have already mentioned our total satisfaction with our lodging. It had all the amenities of home, so we ended up eating breakfast and some dinners inn the apartment and were happy to be able to do so. The apartment had four showers, so each room's occupants had their own shower. The apartment also had a laundry, and we used the washing machine several times. But we could get the clothes drier to work, so that was a problem. We loved the apartment, and want to say thank you for arranging our stay there!
Activity Reviews
Our guide for this walking tour is a trained archeologist with extensive knowledge of the cultures and civilizations that created the magniicient monuments we were visiting. It would have been hard to find a better, more knowledgeable and qualified guide. We. were very happy with her and recommend her to other visitors.
This is where a highly educated guide added a lot to the experience. She was able to describe the architecture of the Pantheon and how it used the natural movement of the sun to illustrate the progression of the seasons. She explained the structure of the building inside and out. As part of this tour, we also visited the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, and she was able to include a lot of history from those fountains in her explanation of their history. We were very pleased with her extensive knowledge and her pleasant demeaor.
Again, a knowledgeable guide who was able to communicate well in English was an enormous benefit and we got a lot out of the tour.
It says a lot about the large number of tourists at the Colosseum that this service is provided, but the truth is you would spend more time standing in ine than seeing the Colosseum and Forum if you did not take this option. By all means, take advantage of this.
The Vatican and Sistine Chapel are must-see sites for any visit to Rome. Must-see for tens of thousands of tourists in addition to you, regrettably, so you will spend your entire time shuffling through the museum and chapel dodging other tourists, trying to keep up with your guide, and trying to hear your guide describe what you hope to see through all the other tourists. I don't suppose there is any way to change this situation, but it detracts from the experience.
Again, the fact that this is offered makes it clear that the number of tourists visiting the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel is enormous. You must buy this option if you are going to visit these sites, but the large number of tourists just detracted from the experience for me.