My mother, brother, and I were in Rome for 4 days and booked a private driving tour of Rome with…read moreEasitalty Tours. Our driver, Antonello, was absolutely amazing and I highly recommend him if you are thinking about this type of tour. He was so personable, had a lot of great knowledge to share, and fit in all the sights we wanted to see in the 5-hour tour. He knew the places to get out and take pictures and he made the experience in Rome a great one! Julia was our private tour guide at the Vatican. She was absolutely wonderful. She was so animated and shared with us the rooms and pieces she felt were the most important to see with only one day to explore the Vatican. We had such a wonderful time with her. She is one tour guide I will not forget! If you want an above-and-beyond experience at the Vatican, book with Easitalytours and request Julia. You will not be disappointed! This is the best Tour company out there. They are reasonably priced and the tour guides are absolutely top-notch!

If you are looking for THE BEST tour in Rome, no need to look any further…read more We've been to Rome many times, but the experience we had with Max and the Easitaly team has been amazing. We spent two days touring with Max, the best guide in Italy!!! We discovered Rome from the view of a a real native roman, had the opportunity to taste the best and most authentic roman delicacies... what a great company! We love you guys!!! See you next time in Roma!

How can I even begin to thank ITER tours!? Our trip to Ponza and Palmerola was nothing short of…read moreincredible! Initially we had been cancelled on by a different company on Viator and ITER tours saved The day and the trip! They made this once in a life time adventure so easy and accommodating. The trip to Ponza was very fun and comfortable on the fast ferry over from port de Anzio and the excursion boat was such a blast! Our guide was incredibly knowledgable about Rome and the islands and was super fun and interesting. We had spent so much time in the city during our ten day trip and I can honestly say that ITER tours tour to Ponza and Palmerola was one of my most treasured memories from the whole trip. Take this trip and use this company you will not be disappointed!

If you like learning about the 'darker' side of the history of a city, then you will enjoy the…read morecriminal history tour in Rome. Michele was my tour guide and he was very knowledgeable and I learned quite a bit. Not to mention, this is a walking tour so you get to see some of the major sites of Rome.

Great service, friendly staff. Last minute reservation and took only 10 minutes to arrive…read more We had a private driver in a luxurious car for the standard airport taxi fare. Highly recommended!

I would highly recommend Taxi (NCC) a Roma service. Also, make sure to request for Ariel Lorenzo…read more You can also reach him by whats app as well. I am so happy that someone arranged in advance for Ariel to pick us up from the airport. It was the best way to start off our trip in Roma. Ariel Lorenzo had picked us up on time from the airport and dropped us back off at the airport on time. This gentleman was polite and beyond professional. I believe from the beginning of him picking us up, to the end of him dropping us off at the airport that the service was beyond excellent. My opinion of the taxi service in Amsterdam and Belgium has not been the best. So when we actually came across a taxi cab that was honest, professional and polite I wanted to say thumbs up man, finally, I get a taxi cab that is on point.

My husband and I had a great experience visiting the Colosseum! Securing tickets online was…read morehonestly pretty stressful though because we were visiting during a popular time (end of April) and tickets were selling out SO quickly. I would definitely recommend doing your research well in advance to figure out exactly when tickets go on sale so you're ready to book! We visited in the morning and it was already super busy. There are also quite a few staircases to navigate, but luckily since I was pregnant at the time, I was allowed to use the elevator which made things a lot easier lol. I think one of the things I love most about Rome is how these massive ancient landmarks are just casually immersed within the rest of the modern city. You could literally be walking down the street going about your day and suddenly pass by the Colosseum! It's honestly so grand and impressive no matter what angle you're looking at it from. Definitely one of those landmarks that's worth seeing in person!

Ah the Colosseum. An awe-inspiring visit to the world's largest amphitheater! This iconic Roman…read moresymbol vies with the likes of the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museums and Saint Peter's Basilica for the most-visited tourist destination when visiting Rome.* I'll spare everyone the history which is probably covered in one of many previous reviews and mention some points for visiting this national treasure. Book tickets in advance, most preferably through the Colosseum's website. Don't expect to buy tickets in person at the entry, though I believe you may be able to pick up tickets at the office, and occasionally they may have end of day availability. Unsurprisingly these sell out very quickly so constant checking of their website for availability is needed, and you have to go with whatever time slots are available. Tickets seem to be released one month in advance and sell out almost immediately though when I was checking it was unclear what time of day they are released. If you can't buy tickets via the official website, then third parties also sell tickets though 1) there may be surcharge, 2) may be part of a group or audio tour where reviews range from mixed to excellent. For booking individual tickets on the website with access to the underground or attic, these need to be booked specifically so check what access each ticket provides. Also some access combinations don't include the Colosseum itself, and only the Forum/Palantine Hill, so make sure you choose the right one. Arriving to the Colosseum, there are crowds incessantly lining up for entry on the southwest side, and no organized lines. Everyone basically crowds around the security tent while staff constantly explain to people asking what time slot they are currently permitting entry. For how chaotic this appeared, given four functioning lanes for security, a fair number of people were allowed thru with about a twenty minute wait. It is very IMPORTANT (BOLD CAPS this) to bring an official ID--I saw people being turned away without ID. Inside depending on what access you have you can visit the arena level, upper levels, lower and/or attic. My ticket included the first two areas and they scan the QR/barcode to allow access. Inside this ancient amphitheater the views were grand--even in its current ruined state the vast underground corridors and soaring upper levels are super impressive. 80 arched entryways, a labyrinth of lower level holding cells, pulley systems and trapdoors, even retractable overhead shades, all colossal feats of engineering. You can just begin to imagine how glorious it looked in its heyday; it was mind blowing to me how much labor it must've taken to construct and maintain the series of tiered levels under and overground. Aside from the arena ground level, which is about a fifth covered and open to walking around, the route of tour is in a single direction to help the flow of foot traffic. Technically individual tickets limit visits to 75 or 90 minutes though I didn't see anyone checking. That's a sufficient enough time for visitors to see everything. Since most individual Colosseum tickets include Forum access, most people seemed to head over across the street afterwards. *Though I guess the latter two aren't actually in Italy.

I did the Pompeii and Sorrento one day bus tour and it was an excellent day trip. Learned history…read moreon site. The tour guides were excellent and pleasant. Absolutely recommend it. Bring water or juice for the ride.

I Would Think Twice Before Booking This Company in Rome, Italy…read more I strongly encourage anyone considering this company while visiting Rome to exercise caution. My experience was so disappointing and difficult to believe that it left me questioning the company's professionalism, transparency, and even whether its guides are properly licensed or certified. One of my first concerns was the company's refusal to disclose the name of the guide assigned to our tour. Upon arrival, identifying the on-site coordinator was unnecessarily difficult, and the lack of clear identification and communication only added to the confusion. When you book a guided experience in a city as historically significant as Rome, you reasonably expect professionalism, organization, and transparency. Unfortunately, my experience raised serious concerns about all three. I cannot speak to the actual qualifications of the guides, but the company's unwillingness to provide basic information certainly did not inspire confidence.

Amazing!!!! I've been back in my hotel room for 10 minutes and just had to write a review bc this…read moretour was spectacular. We felt like we had VIP access to every area in the colosseo! We had two tour guides and both of them had so much knowledge... One an archeologist with a PhD the other art history. I never write reviews and I highly recommend this tour. You will have see Beautiful sights and learn so much!

My wife, mother-in-law and I used this company. We were running about 3 minutes late, even though…read morethe messaging we received was very clear to be early. My mother-in-law is elderly and getting around with her took more time than expected. Still, we arrived at the staging area and the staff was still very pleasant and accommodating. You can tell they were getting us to hurry because they know the area would be overrun with other tour groups. They really wanted us to have the best time and experience there. And they sat us in a very good spot for the Wednesday audience with the Pope. I would definitely recommend this company.

When it comes to planning my travels, I'm a huge proponent of buying admission tickets directly as…read moreit cuts out any problems related to third-party businesses. There are exceptions to this rule; in the case of buying Colosseum tickets, the process to buy said tickets on the official coopculture.it site is a TOTAL NIGHTMARE. If you want to try your luck at booking yourself, check dbabe's posts on the TripAdvisor Rome forums - she tells you step-by-step how to do this. For the people that don't want to go through the hoopla, there are plenty of choices when it comes to third-party tours of the Colosseum. The most obvious choices are Walks of Italy and City Wonders/Dark Rome (which also offers Vatican tours if you're so inclined) but you have to take into consideration that the Colosseum doesn't just consist of the ground floor. The coopculture.it site lists the regular tour (1st and 2nd levels with arena floor), the underground, "panoramic view" (aka the belvedere - 4th and 5th tiers) and both. During my research, it turns out that the all-in-one tickets sell out *fast* through official channels because third-party has to go through the same process to buy tickets. Furthermore, several third-party companies offer the underground and/or belvedere tour but only ONE company managed to offer both on the same itinerary. Guess which company got my business. Here's the URL to buy tickets for the all-in-one-tour (https://www.romaexperience.com/rome-tours/all-in-one-colosseum-tour/). Includes skip-the-line privilege. Cost: €129.00 Length: 4 hours Includes: Colosseum/Underground/Belvedere, plus Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Meeting Point: directly across from the Colosseum. (Conversely coopculture.it costs €29.00 for just the Colosseum/Underground/Belvedere, but good luck getting tickets...) The first part consists of the Colosseum tour, which is given by the official coopculture.it guides. There is no way around this. For this portion of the tour you are also combined with another group so max ~24 people. She did her best with explaining all the levels but it was hard to understand her at times especially with her thick accent! The rest of the tour consist of the Forum and Palatine Hill. They are normally included in the cost of your Colosseum ticket and said ticket is valid for a 48-hour period, but there's no included guided tour nor audioguide. A good guide is essential to make the ruins "come to life", especially if you didn't do prior research or history/archaeology isn't your interest. While I was able to pay attention to the Colosseum portion of the tour, it was hard to pay attention towards the end. Didn't help that it got hot (37C); she rushed the Forum portion of the tour because people were more concerned about getting shade so I wasn't able to retain much information. I would still recommend this tour as a way to fully experience the Colosseum especially if you want to visit all the areas as only this tour lets you visit all the floors. I just wish that the guides that gave the tour were a bit more engaging so that I could learn more about these sights. PS: If you have at least two full days in Rome, it is strongly recommend to make your Vatican and Colosseum visits on separate days to maximize your sightseeing. They do have a combo Colosseum/Vatican tour but due to the nature of the site this would be one long, grueling day.

So interesting. Note: Just because the tour has an English speaking guide, doesn't…read more mean you will understand what they say. Our guide's accent was very heavy and it was difficult to understand what she was saying.

We went on the Last Supper and Duomo tour with Clara, and she was an excellent guide. She was…read moreextremely knowledgeable and provided so much interesting insight and information throughout the tour. Her experience and guidance made it easy for us to navigate the different sites and get the most out of our time. Having a guide for both the Duomo and the Last Supper was especially valuable, as we were able to skip the lines and avoid unnecessary waiting. I had considered visiting these sites on my own, but after experiencing the tour, I'm very glad we chose to go with a guide. Clara's knowledge added so much to the experience, and everything went smoothly and efficiently. I would definitely recommend this tour rather than trying to do it on your own.

We booked the "Private Borghese Gallery Tour with Hotel Pick-up and Drop-off" from Eyes of Rome on…read moreOctober 21, before the Omicron variant placed our present trip to Rome very much up in the air. Happily we were able to make it to Rome and to experience this wonderful, personalized tour of what I think is the greatest collection of treasures in Rome on December 26. We were picked up on-time at our hotel by the tour's driver who was well-informed and effective with regard to the current COVID protocols, helping us to ensure we had the appropriate type of mask required and our physical vaccination proof (we had assumed digital versions would suffice, but this is not currently the case in Rome or at least not for the Villa Borghese). Another tour operator probably wouldn't have checked for these items and we would have missed the entire experience. We were dropped off at the Villa Borghese and met immediately by our personal guide, Silvia, who greeted us warmly and immediately started setting the context of what we were about to see with the history of the Aurelian wall, Roman life in the 1600s, and the concept of the "villa suburbana," all of which is quite necessary for a full appreciation of the wonder that is the Galleria Borghese. She explained to us the relation of the Galleria's founder Cardinal Scipione Borghese and his position as the Cardinal Nephew to Pope Paul V, which gave him political power over the Papal States. Silvia told us of the original plan of the gardens and the vivarium, which housed species from all over the world- plants and birds respectively, which was foundational to understanding the art collection to come. For context, I have twice visited the Galleria Borghese in 1996 and 2010, but it was my husband's first visit to the Galleria and, in fact, to Rome. Our tour impressed, entertained, and satiated the curiosity of both of us equally- not an easy feat, for sure. We appreciated that Silvia structured the tour as much as possible as the Galleria was meant to be experienced (unwinding, if philosophically, the changes to the sequence of rooms necessitated by current COVID protocols). Silvia was knowledgeable, personable, funny, and very well-versed in the history of the Borghese family, the Papacy as related to it, and the artists (Bernini, Carvaggio, etc.) and their works featured in the museum. Among the highlights for us: *A very informative but also witty and humorous study comparing the depiction (and by extrapolation the characterization) of Venus painted with Cupid by two artists- Cranachi (il vecchio) and Brescianino, an eye-opening discussion about the differing regional attitudes toward women at the time *Revealing the technique but also the humanity of Caravaggio with a thorough education on the 'Madonna dei Palafrenieri.' Some of why the painting would have been a shocking portrayal of Mary, Jesus, and St. Anne may be obvious, but understanding all the details- Mary's plainly visible underskirt- contemporary of the artist's time, the wrinkled, withered portrayal of St. Anne (the Vatican chapel bearing her name being the intended destination for this work, where it was ultimately rejected), and the still-astounding use of light in darkness was extremely interesting and enriching to our experience *A 360-degree analysis of Bernini's Baroque masterpiece Apollo and Daphne (starting with Silvia ensuring we averted our eyes to view the sculpture first from the right-hand side, as intended by the artist himself prior to the statue being moved) gave us a complete understanding of this work. Viewing the sculpture- which I had seen before but never from the vantage point encouraged by our guide- this way gives the complete story of Daphne's encapsulation into the tree depicted here and Apollo's (non-)reaction. When the delicately carved, paper-thin tree bark was pointed out to us, you could almost feel the heartbeat that Apollo would have felt as his hand grasped it. I appreciated the details of the windswept hair turning into leaves, which also stemmed from her hands, and the roots emanating from her foot, details I had not really fully appreciated before. I would highly recommend Eyes of Rome and specifically our guide Silvia. I cannot enumerate with words how much more I appreciated the Galleria Borghese with her expert and naturally flowing guidance and historical context. We had a fantastic time that we will not soon forget.

Alessandro is a fantastic guide! So knowledgeable and fun. I can't recommend him and and this tour…read morecompany enough for a hypogeum tour of the Colosseum.