Private guides outside Forum and Vatican

Hello! We will be in Rome this summer and we are wondering if there are usually lots of private guides outside the Forum and the Vatican Museum. Do you know how much they usually charge? Are they there only at the beginning of the day or throughout the day?

We wanted an inexpensive private guide for those two places but did not want to be tied down to a set schedule which would happen if we pre-arrange a tour or a guide.

Also, does anyone have any experience and input about the free walking tours in Rome? My quick perusal of trip advisor indicated that the free guides don't always show up at the designated meeting spot and time. But there are also positive reviews. What was your experience, if you have used them?

Thanks in advance for your input.

You cannot get a private tour guide inside Vatican City.

You can get a tour guide just outside (few steps) of Vatican City. Tour Guides will be wearing their license around their necks. We picked one up for E30, including a E10 deposit for the radio receiver.

To pay the whole group we went to a restaurant to pay.

More info can be found on the Europe-Italy board.

Got my answer about the walking tour. Found out that there are several companies that offer free walking tours and this one sounds good based on the reviews: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187791-d1549786-Reviews-New_Rome_Free_Tour-Rome_Lazio.html.

We do still want a guide for the Forum and the Vatican. Looking forward to reading your input.

It's been my experience that there are always guides around at the Colosseum and Forum entrances trying to get small groups together for a tour.

Depending on the number of people, it should cost 10 to 20 euro per person and the cost may or may not include your admission. Guides usually like to have groups no smaller than 10 people. If you want a more private tour, you'll pay more. The tours generally last about 2 hours if you want to do the Colosseum and Forum. Palatine Hill is generally not included.

Always ask to see the guide's badge, as there are a number of unlicensed guides at these sites (although Rome has been cracking down on that, so there are fewer than previously).

Outside the Vatican museum I used to see guides waiting to form small groups. Perhaps they no longer do this if SadieN is correct. You can also book an "official" Vatican museum tour from the Vatican website. These tours are led by Vatican guides who are really knowledgeable but may or may not be very personable. They use headsets so everyone on the tour can hear.

Finally, my one experience with a "free" tour was not positive. We signed up with Angel Tours for their free Pantheon tour. Despite reconfirming, we (and another couple waiting) were stood up. The guide never showed.

Hi SadieN, thank you for the quick response! This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to hear about. Follow-up question, is that E30 the guides rate for the tour, regardless of the number of people in our group (i.e., it is not the per person cost)? And for how many hours is that E30 rate based on your own actual experience?

Hi cruisemom, thank you also for the detailed response! Follow-up question, do the guides usually have a fixed rate so the more people in our group, the cheaper the per person cost will be? If that is the case, we can "partner" with another family or two from the cruise so we can all benefit from the cost savings.

You will be harassed by many people trying to sell their services to you as you walk to the entrance to the Vatican Museum or the Colosseum. We just returned from a land trip to Rome a couple weeks ago, and they were out in full force. They are really annoying.

I ignore them and book my own private guide. I have used Sonia Tavoletta on a couple of trips to tour many sites around Rome. Her current price is 60 Euros per hour. Her email address is soniatav@alice.it

Sonia can show you what you are interested in, not just give you a generic tour with 30 other people. She is extremely knowledgeable, knows all the shortcuts, other tour guides, can get to the front of lines, etc. She is personable and friendly and I can't recommend her highly enough.

It is well worth it to book with a private guide, IMO. This is not a place to try and save 30 Euros.

Hi cruisemom, thank you also for the detailed response! Follow-up question, do the guides usually have a fixed rate so the more people in our group, the cheaper the per person cost will be? If that is the case, we can "partner" with another family or two from the cruise so we can all benefit from the cost savings.

You'll find most tours arranged by private guides in Italy are charged a fixed rate per tour or per hour. The more people there are to split the cost, the better the price per person -- up to a point. (Some guides won't accept more than a fixed amount per group.)

 

It is well worth it to book with a private guide, IMO. This is not a place to try and save 30 Euros.

I think it really depends on one's level of interest.

Some just want to hear the general background of a site, and for that a small to medium group tour can be fine. Some want a private guide for more personalization and interaction. Some would rather study intensively in advance and rely on their notes/research (moi). Some just stroll in on their own with the barest amount of info, and that's about all they want to know....

Thank you to everyone. Your responses have been very helpful and I am close to finalizing our Rome trip segment.

Rick Steves has free audio tours with maps to download from his website. ipod or mp3. Covers just about everything you want to see in Rome: Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon, Sistine chapel, St. Peters Basilica, Trastevere. Also Pompeii

http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy

EM