We (2 of us) met her at the Colosseum, which was easy to get to from our b b. Since her rate is hour

We LOVED the private guide we used in Rome last year. Alessandra Mazzoccoli alemazzoccoli@gmail.com guided us through the Colosseum (including the underground and third tier, which absolutely had to be pre-booked, but I don't know if those tours are still offered). She also guided us through airlines tickets cheap Palatine Hill, the Forum and the Basillica of St. Clemente.
Other tours we booked in advance were the Scavi tour at the Vatican (advance bookings required), and the Pristine Sistine tour with Walks of Italy which included the Vatican Museums (and the Sistine Chapel of course).
If you don't want a tour for the Colosseum airlines tickets cheap but want to avoid the lines, go to Palatine Hill and buy your ticket. It covers Palatine Hill, The Forum and the Colosseum. There is hardly ever a line, at least nothing like the Colosseum. airlines tickets cheap Then, go to the Colosseum and walk on the left side of the really long line all the way to the turnstiles. Don't be shy--just keep going.
abenedek, thanks for the recommendation. airlines tickets cheap You say that your guide was "quite reasonable." Can you share what you paid? Was it for a full day, half day, or more? And did she pick you up at your hotel? How many were in your group? Also, does she give tours of the Vatican? Thanks!
We really enjoyed airlines tickets cheap our 1/2 day with Daniella Hunt of www.rome-tours.com . She showed us the Colosseum and Roman Forum; we treated her to lunch afterwards at a great little place near the Colosseum that she had chosen. We used Context Rome for a tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's, and liked our guide. Highly, highly, highly airlines tickets cheap recommend Borghese Gallery for the Bernini sculptures; you will need to book in advance.
You don't say how many are in your group -- that will make a difference. A guide is per hour while the tours are per person. For a party of 4, we found the price of a guide comparable to the higher-end (Context) tours.
Guide: we opted for a guide, airlines tickets cheap Alessia Aletta ( first . last @ gmail.com ) to help us through Ancient Rome. It s not inexpensive but is comparable to one of the fancy tours for a family of 4. We appreciated the knowledge that Alessia had and admired her passion. It initially started out as a 3-hour tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Forums. I signed up for the lower/top level extra tour and that bumped airlines tickets cheap it to a suggested four hours. With a break for lunch it ended up a 5-hour (pay for 4) deal which made for a long day lots of standing. Glad we did it, but I think the adults got more out of it than the kids.
We also took the English tour at Galleria Borghese. The rest (Vatican, Capitoline, Ostica Antica, St. Peter's, etc.) were self guided without audio. The adults liked the info the guides provided. The kids preferred me as a guide. It's a balance.
I believe Alessandra is available for both full day and partial day tours. Either way, she charges hourly (as most of the private guides in Italy do). We paid 50 /hr for 4 hours, but wound up spending about 4 hours and 30/45 minutes on the tour.
We (2 of us) met her at the Colosseum, which was easy to get to from our b b. Since her rate is hourly, I didn't see the need to pay for her time to get us from Campo di Fiore to the Colosseum. However, she may be willing to meet at your hotel if you prefer.
airlines tickets cheap If she doesn't do Vatican tours, you could also try Francesca Caruso francescainroma@gmail.com. She seemed to be well reviewed on these forums, but was not available for our dates. She had given me Alessandra's contact information as a recommendation since she was unavailable.
I have to concur with abenedek. We recently took the group tours in Rome with Walks of Italy (Pristine Sistine and Colosseum Underground/Top Tier tour). Both were excellent airlines tickets cheap and had less than 12 people in the group. All of their tours have 12 people maximum. The Pristine airlines tickets cheap Sistine was fantastic because we got to be one of the first people in the Sistine Chapel and we were in there for at least 15 minutes with only about 20 other people in the chapel. airlines tickets cheap Afterwards they take you back through and it is wall-to-wall people, so the experience is great! Our guide Jon was fantastic and spoke perfect English.
For the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine we had Vincenzo and the tour was also amazing. They took us to the closed parts of the Colosseum, underground where the gladiators and animals were, and up to the highest level where you get amazing views. Once agin the experience of being away from the hoards of people that are filing through like sheep through the rest of the Colosseum was wonderful. Their prices were very reasonable and gave discounts for our children. All in all I'd say the experience was top rate. We also joined their city tour in Venice and it was excellent too, so if you're going elsewhere it may be worth looking into the other cities they tour in (they gave us a discount for booking three tours). Good luck!
We also heartily endorse Alessandra Mazzoccoli who was recommended to us by Francesca Caruso. She was very knowledgable airlines tickets cheap spoke excellent English. Our group of 4 used her last October for a tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Forum and Pantheon. The tour lasted 4 hours and cost 50 Euros per hour. (She would not accept a tip.) At our request, she made our lunch reservations at Armando de Pantheon which is where our tour ended. Her website is www.romeandabout.com
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