Miles and Miles tour in Rome

[kjames]

Has anyone used Miles and Miles for a tour in Rome? Thanks for any help. Will be in Rome for one day pre-cruise and trying to decide to do on our own or book tour. Any help will be so apprciated. First time to Rome!!

[janoma]

Do a search on these boards...they got a couple of very poor reviews a couple of weeks ago.

[travelgrandpa]

Has anyone used Miles and Miles for a tour in Rome? Thanks for any help. Will be in Rome for one day pre-cruise and trying to decide to do on our own or book tour. Any help will be so apprciated. First time to Rome!!

I have them booked for port pickup and then tour of Rome for November. Am concerned with the one poor review I read. I am contacting the company to discuss this. If you get any more info, please pass it on as will I.

[Host Karen]

Just a reminder: You cannot recommend a company if you haven't toured with them yet. Please see the sticky at the beginning of this forum.

 

Karen

HostKaren@CruiseCritic.com

[wactedout]

Hi, Did you get your answer back about the tour and problems? We are using them Sept30th in Rome. 7 of us. Already bought our Vatican tickets. Please advise??

Madelon- Wactedout@att.net

[ajs922]

Just got back last Sunday from the 7 day cruise on the GEM. Used Miles and Miles at Naples, Rome and Florence. They were great. We had groups of 18,16 and 8. They met us right at port as we got off the ship. We were gone from 8am to 6pm. They took us where we wanted to go and not where the ship said we needed to go. We were in small Vans and could go places where big buses could not go. I will tell you we did things and saw things that people on the ships tours did not. The cost was GREAT. We paid 80 euros(?) for Rome and Florence and 57 for Naples(because we had 18 and onlu used one Van). With Miles and Miles the driver is also a guide or you have a driver and a guide as well. This is also included in the base cost. We had to pay about 11 euros to get into Pompeii(private guide was included in the 80 euros), 14 euros to do the vatican(guide included). The base cost did not include a tip and we had no problem giving a tip for what we got. We can not say enough about the great time we had with them. Please feel free to contact me at my email address(ajsmith922@aol.com) with any questions you might have. One last thing, I know two people wheo paid the ship $126. each just for a ride to Florence and they were dropped off there and then picked up later in the day We paid 80 euros each( about $120 US money) for Florence and had a full day guide showing us around. I'm not bad mouthing the ships tours but just want you to know I think you could do better. As we all know the price of things change all the time and the price I listed here might not be the price next week. Give then a chance.

[spamwhiches]

I booked with this tour company after exchanging a few questions by email, and reading the reviews here and on trip advisor.

 

everyone in our group agreed that our day in Rome with Miles & Miles was the highlight of our western Med.cruise.

 

We went with the "Standard tour" although it was clear that if there was anywhere we wanted to go we just had to ask.Our driver Francesco took us to the most popular sites and gave detailed explanations of what we were looking at and expertly manuevered us through unreal traffic and complex roadways. We finished our afternoon with a guided tour of the Vatican.

 

I would book again without hesitation.

 

Cheers,

[sodell]

We booked M & M for a 5 hour tour and ended up as a 7 hour tour for 3 couples that met on line. (We were not on a cruise). We arranged a pick up at a central location. The driver was very knowledgable & accommodating. We saw all the "must see" places, tho didn't do the walk-thru's (Colloseum- Forum). We would do it again in a heartbeat.

The only comment.... Since we didnt know each, we should have had a better "list" of things to do.

[cotto22]

My husband and I shared a private tour of Rome with Miles and Miles with another couple we "met" through Cruise Critic. I deliberated the decision long and hard but decided that the options offered by the cruiseline (Silversea) were very limited. It was entirely the right decision.

Our tour guide Francesco was charming, professional, enthusiastic, energetic, knowledgeable, and positively adorable. He showed us everything we wanted to see and more. We saw the popular spots we wanted to see as tourists, the neighborhoods of Rome we wouldn't have seen on a group tour, tasted the local cuisine we never would have found on our own, and gave us more information than we could have gotten from a dozen tour books.

In the afternoon, his Mom Karen gave us a very thorough and informative tour of the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. We saw, listened and experienced so much more than we would have on a group tour.

My husband and I were more than pleased by our experience and would not hesitate to recommend Miles and Miles to anyone wanting a tour of Rome. It was tiring, but definitely memorable!

[fabnfortysomething]

we booked miles and miles thsi August and had a very good day with one exception.

 

If you want a long leisurely lunch with wine in a beautiful setting and are prepared to pay at least 20 euros each then fine.Otherwise a promised "inexpensive bowl of pasta" turns into the above.

 

Most tour guides will have deals with local restaurants and assume that tourists want long "european lunches".However if like us you are on a tight schedule and want to see as much as you can in the day the lunch can take nearly 2 hours out of your sightseeing time.Be clear at the outset about whether you want the experience of local cuisine or just want a snack on the way-this will avoid bad feelings later if you run out of time.

 

Apart from that we had a very informative day and the morning pre lunch we sawa lot of Rome sights it would have been difficult to see on our own

[sodell]

Our Driver, Angelino, asked how we wanted to handle lunch. We were at Piazza Navona (sp) and agreed we wanted to just grab pizza and gelato and met back at the car at the car after 45 minutes. He suggested a few places, tho we just went to one that looked good to us. (Ha! they all looked good to us... and they were).

[wactedout]

They are fine for Rome. But I would have liked to pick out a place for lunch that was not a friend of his family. They we horrible in Florence. They gave us to a Taxi driver. I saw nothing.Not even inside one church. HORRIBLE experience for much much money. Would never use the company again for that reason. He returned some eur's. That does not make up for my seeing nothing in Florence but a sqaure of woman selling stuff. The drivers name was Jophnny. He should stick with driving people around.

[wactedout]

I would possibly use them for Rome and Rome only if you get one of the family members. We had a horrible experience in Florence with them. Used them for 2 tours. Did the Celebrity in Oct. What a very sad time for me. I am a art and history major. I wanted to see the famous sites in Florence. Forget that. Horrible English also from the taxi driver they sent.

Rome, could have passed on his place for lunch. Another 25 euros.It proved to be a very expensive day. We bought our Vatican tickets ahead of time so we would not have to wait in line. We got back some money for the day being so poor in Florence. But that does not in any way make up fpor the fact of NOT seeing the famous sites.

[mzfl12]

Cruised on the Gem the week of Oct 18th. Arrived in Rome on Oct 22nd to poor weather conditions. We had 8 of us booked with Miles and Miles that day, and all convened on the ship prior to disembarking since we all met through cruise critic. As we were about to step off the ship the rain and wind picked up and they would not let us off. By the time the weather calmed it was close to 8:30a. With these tours, time is definitely a major factor, especially in Rome since the port is an hour from Rome. We met our driver Francesco and he was cool as a cucumber! His driving skills are phenomenal and he made up the time we lost.

Francesco's love and knowledge of his city made this tour an unbelievable experience despite rainy conditions that day. He was able to get us as close to all the sites as he could without damaging any of the buildings. With only 1 day to see thousands of years of history, this saved a lot of time. Francesco would explain what we were going to see and he also provided visual aids of what the site used to look like when it was first built. We were all very happy with what we saw that day.

Italy is known for some of the world's best food. The Italians take their food very seriously and so do my wife and I. Lunch in Rome was just as important to us as seeing all the sites. Francesco will give you options on what to do for lunch. A quick lunch or a nice sit down at a family ran restaurant. We highly recommend the sit down lunch. We enjoyed tasty wine, along with multiple appetizers consisting of different antipasto's. Then they brought out different homemade pastas that were incredible! It was a lot of great food for roughly 20 euros per person. That was the cheapest meal we had in Europe for the amount of food and drinks we were offered.

We finished our day with a guided Vatican tour. Separate guide and very informative. It is very crowded in the Vatican but our guide knows how to maneuver around in there and still explain everything.

We would highly recommend using M and M and are looking forward to going back to Rome and spending more time there in the future. After talking with other people on the ship who did other excursions, we had definitely seen a lot more than they did that day!

[SaintsJas]

I sent them an email for prices, but no answer yet!. Can you tell me if they can hold a group of 10? Seems to be more for individuals than groups.

[lynster]

Has anyone used Miles and Miles for a tour in Rome? Thanks for any help. Will be in Rome for one day pre-cruise and trying to decide to do on our own or book tour. Any help will be so apprciated. First time to Rome!!

We used Miles & Miles end of Sept for cruise we took into Naples & Rome. I would not hesitate to totally recommend them. We were only 2 because we booked late and didn't have time to find anyone to share with us. We were treated like royalty! We saw so many things and had the most wonderful experience including lunches both days that we will long remember! I just say this - if you get the chance - do it!

[cruisin'tex]

Spending 3 days in Rome pre-cruise so this is helpful info..

[chrissysue]

We used M & M for our day in Rome Nov.19 . I could not have asked for a more personal experience . Francesco showed us his Rome and from the minute he picked us up till the tour with his mother of the Vatican we felt we were with friends on holiday .

[hubofhockey]

Prices look similar to Rome in Limo. I am booking a tour for 6-8 on my roll call for Rome. Francesco has been helpful and flexible with me.

 

For anyone who has used them, did you consider Rome-in-Limo? They seem to be the big Cruise Critic favorite. I like the fact that I am dealing at M&M directly with Francesco.

 

thanks

[ajs922]

Please look at up review of our using them. They were great and I did look at othere but felt they were better. There were as many as 18 people and no one had a bad word to say. Go with them and you will be happy.

[travelgrandpa]

:)Our group of six toured with Miles & Miles in Nov. 2009 after a Mediterranean Cruise. We toured Rome in depth with Francesco and enjoyed every minute. Our visit to the Vatican and Sistine Chapel was also excellent with the guide provided by Miles & Miles. While, my husband and I had previously been to Rome and toured with an exceptional land company, we wanted our traveling companions to also get a good tour of Rome, so I booked a day tour with Miles & Miles. What an unexpected pleasure for the repeaters as we saw Rome in a more intimate way that was a superb experience. Our group is still talking about the wonderful experience we had with Francesco. Whether it is your first or second time in Rome, you cannot go wrong with Miles & Miles.

[binky&jane]

We just returned from our incredible vacation 1 week ago today. We did a 12 night cruise on the Jade and our first stop was Rome. This was our first time in Rome and I cannot imagine spending it any other way. This was my favorite tour of the whole trip. We got to see all of the sites we wanted to see but Francesco managed to keep us away from the crowds. He is a true professional. His Mom, Caren was our guide in the Vatican. What a great lady!! We brought our 7 yo daughter with us and Caren went out of her way to make things interesting for her. She even lent DD her scarf as the temperature dropped when it clouded over. DD remembers Caren as "the sweet lady".

 

We would not hesitate to use M&M again. Actually, my husband says when we return to Italy, it will be wherever Francesco can give us a tour. He was that awesome!!! :)

 

One more thing..we too went to the 20 euro pp restaurant. BUT, we had the option of something fast or a true Italian lunch. Of course, we chose the "real" lunch. It was worth every Euro. We were there maybe 1 hour. But as they say..."When In Rome..."

 

Feel free to ask any questions. We are happy to answer.

 

Karen

[crewmom24]

Karen,

Thanks for your review of Miles and Miles. We have reserved with them for Rome in July from the Ruby Princess. I was wondering about the Vatican. Did they get tickets for you in advance or did you get them on your own? We will have a group of 6 ranging from 16 to 70.

Debbie

[crewmom24]

Does anyone know if Miles and Miles purchases the Vatican tickets in advance for you or if you need to do that yourself?

Debbie

[fiorita]

If you have the chance to take a tour with Miles & Miles you will not be sorry. We did Rome with them this past May 1, and it was awesome. We saw so much more than those that had taken a ships tour. Our tour guide was Franceso and he spoke English very well. I would recommended them. If fact if we get back to Rome I would take another tour with them. They offer many tours. You will not be sorry if you take there tour. Ask for Franceso.

Rita