Vip, Small-group Colosseum And Ancient City Tour

We had a wonderful morning with Filomena. Her knowledge was vast and she shared it with great passion. We saw so much but never felt rushed. Would definitely recommend.

Our tour guide, Paolo, was really knowledgeable and made things interesting by involving individuals in the group to play roles or to help him explain things. He was attentive to the younger members of our group, but made an effort to get to know each of our names as well. He made the Coliseum come alive and I went away with a deeper appreciation for the effort that was made to build it and for the role it played in Roman culture and society.

I think the only thing that could have made this experience worse would be if the guide ACTUALLY called me an idiot. Due to a transportation strike, I was 3 minutes late to the meeting point (9:33 instead of 9:30). I am not sure whether this is what started her dislike of me, but I got there and apologized. She didn’t acknowledge me, just handed me the ear set. About 1/2 hour in, I asked a question about water for the people to use. She gave me an odd look, and as she turned away from me, she said “they had sisterns”, as if it was a ridiculous question. The entire three hours focused on what rocks were used to build different buildings, when they were destroyed and when they were built. That could have been interesting as part of the tour, but it was the whole tour. I wanted to learn of the people, noble and servant, and how they lived, the culture, politics, etc We learned nothing about what it was like to live in Rome in ancient times. She had pictures of what the ruins may have looked like when first built. While she made sure that most of the group saw the pictures, several times I had to ask her to turn her notebook toward me so I could see too. It was all very confusing to me, as she was sweet to other people on the excursion. I forgot to bring water, so by the end of the tour, I was feeling quite dehydrated. I asked the guide for the quickest way out, so I could get water asap. I pointed to steps that looked like they led out. She said no, I had to walk around the whole Colosseum. I gave her my headphones and receiver and left. Turns out those were the steps out. She just made me walk around the entire place before I could leave. Before booking this tour, I read several reviews indicating that the guides were great; interesting, funny, engaging, etc. Perhaps Philomena was having a bad day, but none of those adjectives applied to her in relation to me. Again, she was nice to others.

We choose an English speaking tour. The tour guide was very informative and had lots of information to share but was difficult to understand. We enjoyed the sights but wish we had been able to understand better what the guide was saying.

Our guide Mariana was excellent - she brought alive the experience of the Colosseum and way of life for the gladiators as well as ordinary people of the day. I would highly recommend this tour. I came away feeling as though I’d had a glimpse of the past and learned so much about the Colosseum as well as the Palatine Hill and Forum. Mariana accompanied us to all 3 locations, pacing the tour, with enough time to take pictures and soak up the atmosphere without feeling too rushed. It may seem a little pricey but it’s definitely worth it. You won’t regret doing this tour.