One day in Rome- looking for a great tour

[glenn1000]

We are going to Il Poggio in less than two weeks and are spending a night at the St. Regis in Rome (Starpoints) before heading home. We've never been to Rome and are hoping to find a comprehensive one day tour that covers most (or at least many) major sites, is high quality and minimizes waiting/transportation time since we only have the one day. We love to walk but perhaps a bus tour makes sense given the time constraint? Though we often like to tour on our own, in this situation we think it would be better to have a guided tour so that we can see as much as possible.

Anyone have a recommendation?

 

[jerseygirl]

We are going to Il Poggio in less than two weeks and are spending a night at the St. Regis in Rome (Starpoints) before heading home. We've never been to Rome and are hoping to find a comprehensive one day tour that covers most (or at least many) major sites, is high quality and minimizes waiting/transportation time since we only have the one day. We love to walk but perhaps a bus tour makes sense given the time constraint? Though we often like to tour on our own, in this situation we think it would be better to have a guided tour so that we can see as much as possible.

Anyone have a recommendation?

I highly recommend this company:

http://www.contexttravel.com/rome/

The tours are "walking," but you could take cabs to the "meet locations" to save time.

You could pick a couple of 4-hour tours and have a wonderful day. If it was my first trip, I'd pick "Roma Antica" (Palatine Hill, the Forum and the Colosseum) and "Arte Vaticana" (the Vatican). Then, I'd walk the streets in the early evening, checking out the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Four Rivers Fountain in Piazza Navona. Finish with gelato at Giolitti.

If you can squeeze it in, you might also just want to ride the full circle on one of the hop-on/hop-off buses. But, I wouldn't spend 8 hours on a bus tour -- you'll get so much more out of it if you have good historians as your tour guides.

You're going to want to go back, you know! It's my favorite place in the whole world!!! Have a wonderful trip!

 

[alfie]

Open bus

St. Regis, good choice...We took a tour of Rome with the hop on hop off bus, called ..trambus-open. It is a red double decker bus that takes a circle route around Rome. You can get off or on when it stops at the various points of interests. You will be staying near the Fontana di Trevi, so you could pick it up on Via del Tritone or at the Termini Station and proceed from there. The entire tour takes about 2 hrs. Of course you will want to get off and visit the sites at some point, but, to see everything I would stay on for at least one round, then go back to something that interests you. There are super line ups at the Vatican museum, but St. Peters is easy to get into. There are also line ups at the Colosseum, so you may not have the time to go in. Save your shopping till the evening, and visit during the day...Drink lots of espresso (for energy). Enjoy..

 

[pwrshift]

Here's something I found for you that might be of help:

http://www.summerinitaly.com/planning/rome_sightseeing.asp

And make sure you throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain .. that ensures you'll go back to Rome so you can see all you missed. Enjoy.

Brian

 

[CarlK]

The owner of this website, Garth Speight, is an artist in Rome. He also rents a penthouse apartment and conducts personalized walking tours. We did a one-day walking tour and were very pleased.

www.home-in-rome.com

Carl

 

[glenn1000]

Thank you for the great advice. I contacted Context Travel and it seems like the only way to do the Roma Antica/Vatican combo in one day, at least on our particular date, is to take a private tour. The cost is 610 Euros plus another 75 Euros or so for entry fees. That tour takes up to six people but we are only two. That's way too much for us. Can you think of a way to hook up with another 2-4 people for the tour to bring down the cost? I've e-mailed the company about that but have not heard back.

I also e-mailed Garth Speight about a tour but did not get a reply.

Our plan is still to tour from about 10AM-6PM and then take in the sites in public places in the evening. We'd prefer a guided tour to avoid or at least minimize lines but it's looking like it may be difficult.

Any other advice would be most welcome. Leaving on Friday!