I have gone on and recommended Romearound Tours to many people who have had great experiences with them. All of their tour guide are either teaching Art History, are Artists studying in Italy or are Art History Majors and are extremely knowledgeable and engaging. It is worth the money for this personal tour. I recommend going to the Sistine Chapel first as the lines to get into St. Peter’s lessen in the afternoon. Skye recommends just getting to the Sistine Chapel as soon as it opens so that you can experience all the glory without all the crowds. Don’t look at anything on the way, just run to the Sistine Chapel first. If you knew Skye you would understand that this method makes sense and is completely hers. Remember that there are no shorts (or short skirts) and that women must have their shoulders covered so bring a little sweater or jacket. The general rule is that shoulders and knees must be covered.
Scavi Tour - If you have time on another day you should treat yourself to the Scavi tours. It is a tour of the excavations under the Vatican of the original gravesite for St Peter that was found in 1939 when digging a burial site for one of the newly deceased Popes. There are only about 200 people that get to see it daily and you should call and reserve your spot several months in advance. Although I will say that I went the day of and was very nice to the very serious Swiss Guard men (one could not call it flirting – that would have been too hard with these guys ☺) who let me go in and see if there was a cancellation and the ticket person let me join the group. That said I was only 1 person. Dress requirements are the same for the Scavi tours as for the Vatican.
The Colosseum & the Forum
The Colosseum is one of the many fantastic pieces of architecture left in Rome. You should definitely plan to visit. It is right next to the Forum and you can buy a joint ticket for the 2. If you plan to do that you should go in the morning or early afternoon and go to the forum first. I got there an hour before they sold the last ticket and they wouldn’t give me an audio guide and the map they gave me was more or less useless. I mean I was looking at ruins and they don’t exactly leap out at you and tell you what they are.
You should leave yourself 2-3 hours to see the forum and you can either go to the Colosseum after seeing the Forum or use the ticket on another day as is good for 2 days. Another really cool option that I wish I had been able to do is, beginning at the end of August until late October you can tour the Colosseum from 9pm till midnight with an archeological tour guide. It is only on Saturday nights so if you are only in Rome for a few days see if you can plan your trip to accommodate this. I am going to try to do it on my next trip there. Apparently they are doing the same Saturday night tours of the Bath of Caracalla, which I have not been to. I am guessing you should book your tickets in advance as they are sold out for the next 5 weeks. Night Colosseum tours.
The Trevi Fountain –
You should definitely throw your coins into the Trevi Fountain. The legend is (as told to me by my Roman friend): Throw one coin to go back to Rome, 2 coins for new love and 3 coins for marriage. Perhaps I should have thrown 2 or 3 last year because throwing 1 definitely worked and I returned to Rome within a year. I recommend going at night to throw your coins, as it is far less crowded and you will have great picture ops. You might even have to wait in line to get to the fountain during the day.
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