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What a Life Tours

4.7 (41 reviews)
Closed • 7:00 am - 5:00 pm
Updated 2 months ago

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Vatican City, What a Life Tours
Bruce K.

It is absolutely possible to do a self-directed tour of Vatican City but understand that you'll miss out on so many little details and behind-the-scenes things. I booked my What a Life tour and arrived right on time (sorry, folks!) and we were on our way. A decent-sized group of ten with our guide. We spent right about three hours. All sorts of interesting statues, hallways, mosaic floors and of course, the Sistine Chapel. Along the way, our guide made sure to point out stuff that I would totally have missed. I'm really happy to have done this tour! [Review 19118 overall - 290 in Italy - 88 of 2023.]

St. Peter's Basilica with Esmerelda :)

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4 years ago

well organized, tour guide knowledgeable, pleasant experience made even better by skipping the line - no other way to do.

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What a Life Tours Reviews in Other Languages

Review Highlights - What a Life Tours

“Only about 15 people in the Sistine Chapel, and we stayed for at least 20 minutes, practically by ourselves.”

Mentioned in 16 reviews

Read more highlights

Vatican & Sistine Chapel Tours

Vatican & Sistine Chapel Tours

3.9(25 reviews)
0.6 km

We booked this tour through Get Your Guide. If you want history this is the best way to do it. We…read morewere in a large group amongst other tour groups so it can be a bit overwhelming getting through shoulder to shoulder throughout the museums. So much history and information. Our tour was 3 hours long but I felt like it should be longer to really take it all in. The sculptures and paintings are so beautifully detailed, especially Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes, The creation of Adam and the Last Judgement. If you stare closely, some images stand out and looks to appear as third dimensional. Just FYI, the rules here are strict to help preserve these intricate artworks. With that being said, you will be asked to cover your shoulders and to not take photos in certain areas.

We were severely disappointed after spending close to US$250 for two tickets for a 2.5-3 Hour…read moreguided tour of the Vatican Museum and entrance to the Sistine Chapel. The tour lasted maybe at most 1 hour and 20 minutes with at least 20 of those minutes standing in front of an outdoor sign explaining the ins and outs of the Sistine Chapel. They never said that 1/2 hour of the tour or more would be spent walking to the Museum, standing in line, going through security. Talk about surprise value. The tour guide spent more time telling us what we were NOT going to see in the museum than allowing us to spend time looking at the things she did show us. "This the map room, lots of maps, keep it moving." She then dumped us of for the Sistine Chapel which was a huge disappointment because there were just way too many people in their to be able to enjoy it. They ask for respectful silence in there by blaring the request over loudspeakers. (This part is on Vatican management and not the company. Nonetheless I will not be booking anything from this company again. If you do choose to, do it in the morning so you have time to go back through and see things the guide did not show you. And dear guides, don't have the gall to ask for tips when you did a horrible job!

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Vatican & Sistine Chapel Tours - Spanish Gaurd

Spanish Gaurd

Vatican & Sistine Chapel Tours
Vatican & Sistine Chapel Tours

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My Best Tour - Trevi Fountain

My Best Tour

4.9(30 reviews)
0.0 km•Prati

AMAZING tour experience!…read more We had a private 4-hour golf cart tour (highlights of all major attractions) which allowed us to see so many special places all over the city and from vantage points we would never have found on our own. Plus the golf cart was just fun whipping down random cobblestone streets and through crowds of people. It was a really special experience for us, and our tour guide was superb; very jocular and down to earth. As part of the tour our guide also got us into the pantheon for free and showed us around one of the local churches which had unique graphic illusions (as well as some creepy skulls/skeletons incorporated into the religious artwork). One of my favorite parts of the tour was stopping to check out Giardino degli Aranci (orange grove public square overlooking the city at night). Highly recommended.

We did a Golf cart tour today with 10 People. We had one large golf cart and a smaller golf cart…read more Alessia Biancucci was our guide. Daniel was our second driver. We all had ear pieces so we could all hear her while we were driving no matter which cart we were sitting in. They Both were Fabulous! We were able to request our tour to fit our wants. She showed us outstanding places we didn't even know we needed to see. She had the greatest photo shots for the city. She was funny. They allowed for a stop for Ice coffee, so yummy and gelato. It was very hot out today and the golf cart allowed us to beat the heat and cover more ground than we ever would have otherwise. Would do this again in a heartbeat and would Highly recommend them. All 10 of our family members were very happy!

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My Best Tour
My Best Tour - Rome

Rome

My Best Tour

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LivTours - St. Peter's Basilica

LivTours

4.4(65 reviews)
1.9 km•Centro Storico

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

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LivTours
LivTours - Beautiful

Beautiful

LivTours

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Eyes of Rome

Eyes of Rome

4.8(26 reviews)
0.5 km•Prati

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.

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Eyes of Rome
Eyes of Rome - Arco di Settimio Severo in the Roman Forum

Arco di Settimio Severo in the Roman Forum

Eyes of Rome - Marforio outside the Capitoline Museums in Rome

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Marforio outside the Capitoline Museums in Rome

What a Life Tours - walkingtours - Updated October 2026

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