We had no issues with this tour or company and we enjoyed it. I don't know how many tours they…read moreoffer, but we did the Vatican museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's basilica tour. I don't know if this is common among the tour guides in the agency or tour guides in Rome in general, but our tour guide was a legit art historian and he really knew his stuff, so I felt we got an exceptionally great tour. There is so much to see in the Vatican museum but you won't get to see it all on the tour, so if you want to see it all, you'd have to come back after the tour on your own time to do so.

We did the Rome in a Day Tour with Vatican, Colosseum & Historic Center with Walks and it was…read morephenomenal. With an early start we were able to see several of the key sites including the colosseum and Vatican City. Our guides were amazing and so knowledgeable.

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.

Great tours! We did the Colosseum and Vatican tour. The Colosseum tour was with Ferdinando and his…read moreknowledge and passion for what he was showing us was obvious. He is definitely highly recommended. He is an archaeologist as well so he had a lot of fascinating things to share with us. We actually ran into him on three separate occasions in Rome by chance and he was great to talk to each time. The Colosseum tour we took also included the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (both even more fascinating than the Colosseum in my opinion). The Vatican tour was with Claudia and she was equally as knowledgeable and fun! She obviously knew the folks she needed to to get around in this massive complex without having to wait for anything. The "no-line" entry most tours get has lines here. She had the hookup to get us even past those lines. The tour starts through the Vatican Museum and it was very crowded at the time we were there. She fought to make room for us to get in front of the masses to get a close look at all the things she wanted us to see. It was great to see her genuinely care about our experience. Just about every other tour group we saw in this places had at least 30 people in them. Both tours we took with Real Rome Tours had less than 10. We all had an equal opportunity to experience these beautiful sights with great knowledgable folks who even stuck around to answer any questions we had. They also give great recommendations on restaurants and other places you need to see while in Rome. Gerard was also a pleasure dealing with while booking our tours. He is well organized and gave us a great alternative when we wanted to do the Colosseum Underground tour that wasn't available. It worked out perfectly for us. I couldn't recommend Real Rome Tours any more.

Our family of four joined another six people on the Testaccio 15-year anniversary tour and lucked…read moreout with Edma as our guide - not shown on their web site, so don't know how we got her. She was instantly personable, funny, thoughtful, and energetic without being nutty. We had a great first stop that ended up being a restaurant (Masto) we were delighted to return to later in the week and the owner happened to be there and we had a wonderful time with her again, and enjoyed the dinner just as we had the tasting. The stops were great, the walking easy, the food good, and Edma was a fountain of local geography and food culture information. We all felt like we got great value and were happy with the experience!

Took the twilight food walking tour through the Jewish"Ghetto" with Fabio. He was knowledgeable,…read morefriendly, funny and all around great! We visited about 6 different places and tried so many foods - I did not expect to be THIS FULL!! Personal faves included the pork stew, the SUPPLI, and the fried artichoke. Loved the tour, the history, and the experience. Will definitely check out an Eating Europe tour again in the future!

The Mr. and I recently had the privilege of touring the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St…read more Peter's Basilica with Massimo and two other couples, in an early morning semi private tour. Massimo is exactly the kind of guide you want when taking on a site of such immense history and significance. There is simply no way to see and fully absorb everything the Vatican Museums have to offer, which makes having an experienced guide invaluable. With more than 30 years of experience, Massimo brought the history, art, and stories to life in a way we never could have experienced on our own - and he did it all with wit and charm. He seemed to know every guard and all the other guides, which seem to give us an edge at times, especially in crowded spaces. Thanks to Massimo, our visit to the Vatican was one of the highlights of our trip to Rome! His knowledge and guidance made the experience even more special. HIGHLY recommended!

I booked a Colosseum guided tour through LivTours for my family during a long planned trip to Rome,…read moremeant to celebrate my son's graduation from Lehigh University and my daughter's high school graduation. Instead of a memory to celebrate, we left with one none of us will forget for the wrong reasons. LivTours guides do not give guests individual paper tickets. The guide holds all admission on an electronic ticket and hands each guest a small sticker as the only proof of entry. On an extremely hot day, my sticker came loose. Our guide walked ahead with two other guests to the bookshop and, by her own account, only glanced back and saw our group heading toward the exit. She never confirmed we actually made it out and never checked that each of us still had proof of admission. When I reached the exit checkpoint, staff asked for my ticket. I had none, because LivTours never gave me one. I was told it was illegal to be in that area without a valid ticket, pulled aside, and questioned. The police were called. I stood there while my wife and children watched and had to step in to try to help me. My wife eventually pulled up our purchase receipt on her phone, and that is the only reason I was allowed to leave. LivTours admitted in writing that the guide saw our group heading toward the exit and left without confirming we made it out. She did not secure our exit. She did not check that everyone in the group actually cleared the checkpoint before she walked off with two other guests to the bookshop. Making sure a group actually exits a controlled site, not just watching them walk in that general direction, is a basic responsibility of a tour guide, especially one holding the only ticket that gives that group the right to be there in the first place. As an African American man in a foreign country, being publicly stopped, questioned, and detained by police in front of my family was humiliating in a way that is hard to put into words. This was supposed to be a trip celebrating my children's accomplishments. Instead they watched their father get pulled aside like a criminal because a tour guide walked away without making sure we had what we needed to leave. A LivTours representative called me shortly after and told me directly that a refund would be issued. Weeks later, after I put the complaint in writing, LivTours reversed course completely. They now claim the tour was "completed as planned" and that the incident was outside their control. Their own emails contradict that. They admit their guide saw us walking toward the exit and left without confirming we got out safely. They admit they do not provide physical tickets to guests. Those two facts together are exactly why this happened, and it happened because of how LivTours operates, not because of anything my family did. I would not recommend LivTours for any tour requiring facility exit past a checkpoint. Ask directly whether you will receive an individual physical ticket before you book, and get it in writing. Reggie

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 had Riccardo for our Express Colosseum tour June 2026 for our family of 4 (2 adults, 2 teens). I…read moreunderstand there can be language differences, but as someone who speaks both Italian and English, even I couldn't understand the hybrid way the guide spoke - he left the whole group not understanding a single word. The explanations were monotone, the emphasis was on the wrong syllables and oddly, every word that should start with a vowel started with an H. Helephant. Hantelope. Height-Height. Also far too much time was spent on his binder of web photos. I'm not sure what company this guide was contracted through (as I'm fairly certain The Roman Guy uses third parties now, which is different from the first time I used them a few years ago), but TRG needs to review the fluency of their guides. This was my third tour of the Colosseum over the past few years and it was a complete waste of money. It was supposed to be only an hour and after 90 minutes of not comprehending a word we finally left. Since the official Colosseum site makes it not easy to secure tickets directly, I'm just viewing the whole experience as an overpriced entry ticket. Many people in our group just took their earpieces off after a certain point. Regarding the actual tour booking and the days leading up to it, I received a message a few weeks prior stating that the tour could not happen at the scheduled time due to operational issues, and would I be open to coming later in the day? They asked me to choose an option (which there was no second option presented but I presumed it was a refund) so I told them I would just take the refund as we had a flight to catch during the revised time. They wrote me back immediately and said that "they were just checking on if I could take the new time but the scheduled time is still fine". Very confusing, is it cancelled for operational reasons or not? The whole thing was just odd and I won't be booking again.

This is a great tour company. The guides are well knowledgeable and have a true passion for the…read morecity! They also know about the not so touristy spots you can venture to if you want to explore. Offering such a great tour for free is amazing, but make sure you tip your guides well! They deserve it!

This is a free walking tour around Rome. Most tours that you have to pay for do not tell you about…read morethe history around it, but this tour does. The tour gives a history of the city, an introduction to Christianity and origins of Rome. The tour is about 3hrs long but it covers Porta del Popolo, Piazza del Popolo, the Tomb of Augustus, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Fountain of the Four Rivers, Ponte, Sant'Angelo, Castel Sant'Angelo, and gives an introduction to the Vatican. The tour guides also give recommendations to places to eat, visit, nightlife locations, and discounts towards the skip-the-line Vatican tour. I highly recommend the Rome's Ultimate tour. You would have to make reservations online ahead of time.

Just got a tour at the Vatican with Maria Letizia…read more Shes very knowledgeable and entertaining. There were times people from other tours stop just to listen to her. Even my mom who aren't into history like I am was very engaged.

Do not book this tour! The tour guide was Andrea and she was rude, they separated our group and she…read morewas not willing to answer. She told me to stop talking as I was talking about the rest of our group. They told us tour was at 9:45 and it didn't start until 10:45 am. The tour guide also wasn't explaining much and wasn't tech savvy. Took forever to even get our tickets on her phone. She got mad I was trying o take a photo and told me I could come back later but she stopped to answer a personal phone call. Book through someone else!

A visit here was scheduled for our 25-person study abroad class and it couldn't have a more perfect…read moreexperience for the entire group. Chef Andrea and his wife, Erica, were delightful hosts. The students split up with some making pasta and the others preparing the ingredients for the fried pizza dough with fresh tomatoes, the meat sauce for the pasta and the tiramisu. The quality was first rate. The small restaurant was maxed out with our 25, but we never felt crowded. If you need an evening event with your group you should definitely have it here. The walls were filled with artwork provided by all the different collegiate groups that come here. Our students loved it!

Such a fun experience. This was my first cooking class ever. Chef Andrea made the class…read moreunforgettable. We went with friends and had a blast cooking. After cooking we had a dinner with what we cooked. Awesome wine served at dinner too. I've already told my wife that we are getting a class every time we go to Rome. But only with Chef Andrea!!

Took two tours from them. One afternoon, I took the Colosseum tour with Paola, the second…read moreafternoon, I took the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica with Michele (Italian for Michael). I started off several months ago researching several tour companies for my Rome trip. Some companies subcontract to other companies and you have to read between the lines or find where they tell you which company will actually be doing the tour and then research them. Kind of exhausting. Somehow I stumbled on What a Life Tours and am super happy I did. I read the reviews and liked what I read so I took a chance and booked with them. They weren't the cheapest but the prices were comparable to the other companies including the bigger companies that subcontracted anyways. I also booked the smaller group tours which included 12 people max. As I learned, What a Life was the company you booked through and also the company you did the tour with. Let's start off with the Colosseum. We met near the metro exit near the Colosseum. The meet spot was well explained and they send you a text through Whatsapp with an actual picture showing you the meet spot the day before. That was nice considering that's an added stressor on your vacation since you don't want to miss the meet-up time and place due to the cost. As far as the tour itself, As Paola said, you have to use "your imagination" because you are touring a historical site that is only a little over 30% intact. She gave us an in-depth tour that later also included the area around the Colosseum such as Palatine Hill where Rome originated. I have a newfound respect for tour guides who are in essence educators. They have to keep teaching even though most of us don't appear engaged when in actuality, we're just awestruck and overstimulated with the sights. Paola did not skip a beat and spoke almost the whole 3 hours. We only had 1 bathroom break halfway through the tour but likely because I saw zero public restrooms at the Colosseum. I loved the tour! Paola took a lot of time explaining things and knew her way around. The second tour was the Vatican. On this occasion, we met at the What a Life Tours company office that was less than a block from one of the Vatican entrances. Took a cab there and that part was easy. Michele was there at the office blending in as a tourist on the couch while we checked in at the office. He has a super great personality and is very personable. You can tell he genuinely loved the art at the Vatican and it shined through when he explained things. This tour was also three hours. I appreciated when he told us about the Vatican etiquette at certain parts of the tour to include where we could take pictures and where we could not (Sistine Chapel). Both Paola and Michele were awesome! Each had different personalities but both were personable, effective, professional and spoke great English. I would definitely take a tour with this company again as long as they continue to use tour guides like Paola and Michele. If you can afford it, I suggest booking the mid-tier tour that includes a smaller tour group.

We booked an early morning Vatican tour with What a Life Tours for our trip to Rome last month, and…read moreit was an A+ way to explore the world's smallest country. We could've visited on our own, as many obviously do, but it was great to have a skilled guide to put all that marble and history in context. We'd already paid to come to Rome and set aside a morning to see Vatican City. The added value we got out of the tour far outweighed the incremental expense. I found the tour on Get Your Guide, where it was highly rated with thousands of reviews, and I liked that it was a small group situation, with a maximum of ten participants. We received strict instructions to arrive before 7:45 at the What a Life office, within walking distance of the Vatican. We checked in and got assigned to our tour group, with an amazing guide named Giulia. She set us up with audio devices that let us hear her through our earphones even when she was just whispering--a cool bit of tech I'd never encountered before, but saw again twice more before leaving Italy. We arrived in time to enter the Vatican Museums right at 8:00, the start of visiting hours. Our tickets allowed us to skip the line, which was nice in mid-November, but no doubt doubly nice during peak season. Giulia was fantastic, so smart and informative and funny. She knew how to corral us, and I got the sense that she could work very easily under much worse conditions. She let us know how lucky we were to see the Vatican on such a quiet morning. There were plenty of people, but the crowd was apparently nothing compared to the crush of summer or early fall. The Vatican is so grand it was almost overwhelming, and it was extremely helpful to have a guide to keep us oriented. She gave us so much insight into what we were seeing, pointing out the highlights and offering a running commentary with a dry wit that was all Giulia. In the Gallery of Maps in the Vatican Museums, she showed my husband where he could find the village his family came from, painted on a 16th-century Fresco. She also prepared us well for the Sistine Chapel, where visitors are not allowed to talk, using down moments to tell us about the chapel and its artwork, with the aid of a well labeled print-out. The tour was three hours long and encompassed the museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. We could've spent several more hours in the museums alone, but we saw a lot, moving at a pretty brisk pace. The tour was very well calibrated. I can't think of a single thing I would have changed. I thought about booking our Colosseum tour through What a Life (would've saved me a review) but saw that the one they offered had very few ratings, compared to the thousands they had for the Vatican. I'm curious what their other tours are like, and have more confidence in the company overall after going on this one. If you're visiting the Vatican, in any case, What a Life Tours is a top notch provider. We saw and learned so much in those three hours, and had a truly wonderful time.

It's been 16 years since our trip to Italy, but I have one of those picture frames that you load…read moreyour own pictures, and my favorite traveling memories are always from this trip. We booked with Rome in Limo for 3 cities, and by far, all of our tours blew away what any of the other cruise passengers were able to experience. Grazie per i ricordi Duman! I will never forget walking thru the Medici Gates and not a single soul was on the Field of Miracles, because our group didn't have to wait for 60-80 passengers to load up in the tour bus. And then our incredible Tour guides at the Vatican and Pompeii. So knowledgeable and no struggling in a crowd to hear what they are saying or trying to ask a question, because hey it's just our cozy group of 8. If you are a cruise passenger, get on your roll call and team up with a small group of your other passengers and book with Rome in Limo for the most amazing tours you could ever dream of.

This company and its drivers are the best in the business. Our family of 4 went to Rome recently…read more We didn't want to rent a car but getting places in your 70's isn't as easy as it was in bygone days when we would just walk. We used this service for the transfer to and from the airport as well as short hops to the train station, the Vatican, and the catacombs. They are punctual and communicate about your upcoming rides so you don't have to wonder if they are going to remember to pick you up. Drivers are friendly and helpful. I wish I could give more stars.