Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome in Vatican City, Italy
Vatican City, Italy

Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome

Outty Ranking 42 3.5 · 4 traveler reviews4 hoursFrom $143
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Outty Ranking

42/100

Worth a Look. Our proprietary evaluation. How we score

Traveler rating

3.5/5

Based on 4 traveler reviews. Ratings and reviews provided by Viator and Tripadvisor.

Quick answer

Is Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome worth booking?

Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome is a 4-hour experience in Vatican City, Italy, from $143 per person. It scores 42 out of 100 on the Outty Ranking, which we label “Worth a Look”, based on a 3.5/5 rating across 4 reviews. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start time. Same-day spots are currently showing.

Outty Ranking
42 / 100
Rating
3.5/5 (4)
Duration
4 hours
From
$143 per person

Travel by comfortable Mercedes car or minivan with air conditioning through Rome to see the city's famous monuments and beautiful squares. See St. Peter's Basilica, Navona Square, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, and Popolo Square. Explore the magnificent Eternal City in one comfortable half-day tour. Enjoy pick-up at your hotel or other accommodation in Rome by a private driver. You will enjoy a wonderful journey through Ancient Rome.

What you get

    About this experience

    Travel by comfortable Mercedes car or minivan with air conditioning through Rome to see the city's famous monuments and beautiful squares. See St. Peter's Basilica, Navona Square, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, and Popolo Square. Explore the magnificent Eternal City in one comfortable half-day tour. Enjoy pick-up at your hotel or other accommodation in Rome by a private driver. You will enjoy a wonderful journey through Ancient Rome.

    What's included

    Included

    • Hotel pickup and drop-off
    • Private tour
    • Transport by air-conditioned minivan or coach
    • Surcharges on fuel

    Not included

    • Food and drinks
    • Tickets/entrance fees for attractions
    • Tour guide
    • Gratuities
    • Please note, a tour guide and tickets for attractions are not included in the price

    What you'll see and do

    1. Piazza Navona

      Defined as a public space in the last years of 15th century, when the city market was transferred there from the Campidoglio, Piazza Navona was transformed into a highly significant example of Baroque Roman architecture and art during the pontificate of Innocent X, who reigned from 1644 until 1655, and whose family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced the piazza. It features important sculptural creations: in the center stands the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers (1651) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, topped by the Obelisk of Domitian, brought in pieces from the Circus of Maxentius;[2] the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone by Francesco Borromini, Girolamo Rainaldi, Carlo Rainaldi and others; and the aforementioned Pamphili palace, also by Girolamo Rainaldi, that accommodates the long gallery designed by Borromini and frescoed by Pietro da Cortona.[3]

      30 minutes here

    2. Trevi Fountain

      The fountain at the junction of three roads (tre vie)[3] marks the terminal point[4] of the "modern" Acqua Vergine, the revived Aqua Virgo, one of the aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome. In 19 BC, supposedly with the help of a virgin, Roman technicians located a source of pure water some 13 km (8.1 mi) from the city. (This scene is presented on the present fountain's façade.) However, the eventual indirect route of the aqueduct made its length some 22 km (14 mi). This Aqua Virgo led the water into the Baths of Agrippa. It served Rome for more than 400 years

      30 minutes here

    3. St. Peter's Square

      he Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal enclave which is within the city of Rome. Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture[2] and the largest church in the world.[3] While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world"[4] and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom

      60 minutes here

    4. Piazza del Popolo

      Piazza del Popolo is a large urban square in Rome. The name in modern Italian literally means "People's Square", but historically it derives from the poplars (populus in Latin, pioppo in Italian) after which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in the northeast corner of the piazza, takes its name. The piazza lies inside the northern gate in the Aurelian Walls, once the Porta Flaminia of ancient Rome, and now called the Porta del Popolo. This was the starting point of the Via Flaminia, the road to Ariminum (modern-day Rimini) and the most important route to the north. At the same time, before the age of railroads, it was the traveller's first view of Rome upon arrival. For centuries, the Piazza del Popolo was a place for public executions, the last of which took place in 1826.

      20 minutes here

    5. Pantheon

      The Pantheon (UK: /ˈpænθiən/, US: /-ɒn/;[1] Latin: Pantheum,[nb 1] from Greek Πάνθειον Pantheion, "[temple] of all the gods") is a former Roman temple, now a church, in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). It was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD. Its date of construction is uncertain, because Hadrian chose not to inscribe the new temple but rather to retain the inscription of Agrippa's older temple, which had burned down.[2] The building is cylindrical with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.[3] The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43 metres (142 ft).[4]

      20 minutes here

    6. Spanish Steps

      n the middle of the square is the famous Fontana della Barcaccia, dating to the beginning of the baroque period, sculpted by Pietro Bernini and his son, the more famous Gian Lorenzo Bernini. At the right corner of the Spanish Steps rises the house of the English poet John Keats, who lived there until his death in 1821: nowadays it has been changed into a museum dedicated to him and his friend Percy Bysshe Shelley, displaying books and memorabilia of English romanticism. At the left corner there is the Babington's tea room, founded in 1893.

      20 minutes here

    7. Roman Forum

      The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum (Italian: Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum. For centuries the Forum was the center of day-to-day life in Rome: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches; and the nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men. The teeming heart of ancient Rome, it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history.[1] Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting 4.5 million or more sightseers yearly.

      45 minutes here

    Where it starts and ends

    Hotel pickup

    Pickup is included for all travelers. Pickup begins about 5 minutes before departure.

    Options you can book

    • Tour Ancient Rome 8 pax

      Explore the magnificient eternal city on a comfortable half day tour, collected at your hotel by a private driver. You will enjoy a wonderful journey through cristian Rome Pickup included

    • Tour Ancient Rome 5 pax

      Explore the magnificient eternal city on a comfortable half day tour, collected at your hotel by a private driver. You will enjoy a wonderful journey through cristian Rome Pickup included

    • Tour Ancient Rome 4 pax

      Explore the magnificient eternal city on a comfortable half day tour, collected at your hotel by a private driver. You will enjoy a wonderful journey through cristian Rome Pickup included

    • Tour Ancient Rome 7 pax

      Explore the magnificient eternal city on a comfortable half day tour, collected at your hotel by a private driver. You will enjoy a wonderful journey through cristian Rome Pickup included

    • Tour Ancient Rome 1 pax

      Explore the magnificient eternal city on a comfortable half day tour, collected at your hotel by a private driver. You will enjoy a wonderful journey through cristian Rome. Pickup included

    • Tour Ancient Rome 3 pax

      Explore the magnificient eternal city on a comfortable half day tour, collected at your hotel by a private driver. You will enjoy a wonderful journey through cristian Rome Pickup included

    • Tour Ancient Rome 2 pax

      Explore the magnificient eternal city on a comfortable half day tour, collected at your hotel by a private driver. You will enjoy a wonderful journey through cristian Rome Pickup included

    • Tour Ancient Rome 6 pax

      Explore the magnificient eternal city on a comfortable half day tour, collected at your hotel by a private driver. You will enjoy a wonderful journey through cristian Rome Pickup included

    Before you book

    Cancellation
    For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
    Languages
    en
    Ticket
    Mobile Only
    Runs on
    Every day
    Group size
    Up to 8 travelers per booking
    Operated by
    Cab Rome

    Know before you go

    • Specialized infant seats are available
    • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
    • Service animals allowed
    • Public transportation options are available nearby
    • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
    • The duration of transfers are approximate, the exact duration will depend on the time of day and traffic conditions
    • Please select tour option that matches number of passengers for correct pricing

    Photos

    visit the city by moving comfortably, Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome in Vatican City

    What travelers are saying

    Outty’s summary of the themes that recur across 4 traveler reviews. Written by us, not quoted from reviewers.

    The guide

    3 mentions

    Travelers single out the guide as the reason the experience works.

    Photo opportunities

    1 mention

    The views and photo stops come up again and again.

    Food and drink

    1 mention

    The tastings and food stops are a highlight for most reviewers.

    Small groups

    1 mention

    The group size is repeatedly described as intimate rather than packed.

    Traveler reviews

    4 verified traveler reviews for Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome. Ratings and reviews provided by Viator and Tripadvisor.

    5 star
    2
    4 star
    0
    3 star
    1
    2 star
    0
    1 star
    1
    Sort
    BERNARDO_R · September 2023

    Did not show

    Never showed, no answer to calls or messages. Refund requested and fortunately received. I don't recommend at all.

    via Viator

    Mena M · May 2018

    Call Dino. The best

    Dino.ncc@gmail.com This email will let you arrange for a service, pick up, or private tour of however long you wish to go, by email and before you even leave to go to Rome. I took a 3 hour, magnificent tour. The driver gets you very close so you can get out and take photos then return to the elegant car. My driver was Mario, a dignified but warm and kind man. We adored him so much, I requested him for my return to the airport when headed home. I saw SO many things I never knew were there. All the major tourist places, but even more of the tiny streets and real Rome. I cannot emphasize how prompt, accommodating and genuinely friendly and kind Mario was, and yet still a dignified and courtly mannered gentleman. You also cannot find a better price. 30 euros per hour. You can even arrange to stop for lunch at a true Italian restaurant...not the touristy ones. My brother in law is remaining in Rome for a few months and will receive mire guests. He plans to use Dinos service many times. Mario got me to the airport, too, when I left, and all but carried me to the desk, after putting my luggage on the cart. But to see Rome. Please be kind to yourself. Call Dinos and ask for Mario. He will remain a favorite memory of mine, after such a brilliant tour. I chose 3 hours but you can get as many hours as you request. I suggest 3, for your first time. When you go, tell Mario the 80 year old Filomena misses him and would wish to tour more, with him.

    via Tripadvisor

    Elmer B · November 2017

    Our driver does not speak English...

    <p>Our driver does not speak English...... unable to tell us our visit sites</p>

    via Viator

    Rose P · July 2016

    This was a great tour. The driver...

    <p>This was a great tour. The driver we had was well informed an helpful. He went above an beyond to make our tore special.</p>

    via Viator

    Good to know

    Duration
    4 hours
    Free cancellation
    Up to 24h before
    Minimum age to book
    All ages
    Availability
    Bookable today
    Runs on
    Every day
    Price range
    $143 to $250
    Hotel pickup
    Included for all travelers
    Booked in 30 days
    1
    Verdict
    Worth a Look

    Who runs this experience

    Operated by Cab Rome, who run 5 experiences we rank across 2 cities, with an average Outty Ranking of 43.7.

    See everything Cab Rome runs

    Why this scores 42

    The Outty Ranking is a weighted composite. Here is how this experience performed on each component.

    Traveler sentiment (30% weight)33
    Review evidence (18% weight)23
    Booking momentum (14% weight)12
    Value for money (12% weight)67
    Listing quality (10% weight)72
    Local standing (8% weight)36
    Booking flexibility (8% weight)100

    Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome: questions travelers ask

    Practical detail on this experience, plus the wider planning questions for Vatican City.

    How much does Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome cost?

    +

    Prices start at $143 per person. The final price depends on the date, the time slot and the number of travelers, and peak weekends in Vatican City usually price higher than midweek mornings. Live pricing and remaining availability are confirmed on the booking screen before you pay.

    How long does Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome take?

    +

    Plan for about 4 hours from start to finish, not counting travel to the meeting point. Most travelers leave another 30 minutes on either side so the rest of the day in Vatican City is not rushed.

    Is Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome worth it?

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    It holds an Outty Ranking of 42 out of 100, which we label "Worth a Look". That score blends traveler sentiment (3.5/5 across 4 reviews), the depth of that review evidence, recent booking momentum, value for money against comparable last minute in Vatican City, and how flexible the cancellation terms are.

    Can I cancel or reschedule Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome?

    +

    Yes. Cancel free up to 24 hours before the start time for a full refund. Inside that window the booking is non-refundable, and no-shows are not refunded.

    Is Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome suitable for kids and families?

    +

    Yes, all ages are welcome. Families should still weigh the 4-hour running time, and strollers are easier on the earlier, quieter departures.

    How far in advance should I book Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome?

    +

    Around 1 people booked this in the last 30 days, so popular slots go early. Two to three weeks ahead is comfortable in shoulder season, while summer weekends and holidays in Vatican City can sell out a month out. Same-day spots do open up when other travelers cancel, so it is worth checking if you are already in town.

    What should I bring or wear?

    +

    Bring photo ID, your booking confirmation on your phone, a refillable water bottle and comfortable shoes. Dress for the weather in Vatican City and add a light layer if any part of the 4-hour experience runs outdoors or after sunset.

    Where does Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome start and how do I get there?

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    The exact meeting point and directions are on your voucher once you book, and they sit in central Vatican City within reach of public transport. Arrive 15 minutes early: late arrivals are treated as no-shows by most operators.

    What are the best things to do in Vatican City?

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    On Outty we rank every Vatican City experience on the same 0 to 100 scale, and alongside this one the highest scorers right now include Rome Small-Group Shared Tour from Civitavecchia: 8 People Max, Skip-The-Line Vatican Museums,Sistine Chapel & Optional Basilica, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peters Basilica Guided Tour. The city page groups everything into most popular, highest reviewed, last minute and family-friendly so you can build a day around what actually delivers.

    When is the best time to visit Vatican City?

    +

    Booking patterns follow the same curve: prices and queues climb in peak weeks, while shoulder season gives you better availability on the top-ranked experiences and more room to change plans.

    How many days do you need in Vatican City?

    +

    Three full days covers the headline sights without sprinting. A workable rhythm is one anchor experience each morning, such as this one, an unhurried afternoon in a single neighborhood, then a food or nightlife booking in the evening. Five days lets you add a day trip outside the city.

    Do I book through Outty or through the operator?

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    Outty ranks and explains the experiences, then hands you to Viator to complete the booking with the operator directly. The price is the same as booking on Viator yourself, and Outty earns an affiliate commission on the referral, which is how the rankings stay free to read.

    What is included in Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome?

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    Included: Hotel pickup and drop-off; Private tour; Transport by air-conditioned minivan or coach; and Surcharges on fuel. Not included: Food and drinks; Tickets/entrance fees for attractions; Tour guide; and Gratuities. Always check the voucher for the final list before you travel.

    Does Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome include hotel pickup?

    +

    Yes, pickup is offered for every traveler from 1 listed pickup location in and around Vatican City. Be ready about 5 minutes before the start time.

    What languages is Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome offered in?

    +

    It runs in English. Pick your language when choosing a date and time, as not every departure runs in every language.

    Will I get instant confirmation and a mobile ticket for Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome?

    +

    Confirmation is sent by the operator after booking, usually within 48 hours; if it is not confirmed you are not charged. Mobile tickets are accepted, so you can show the voucher on your phone.

    Is Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome wheelchair or stroller accessible?

    +

    The operator notes: Specialized infant seats are available; and Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller. If accessibility is critical, contact the operator after booking to confirm arrangements for your date.

    What happens to Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome if the weather is bad?

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    It generally runs rain or shine, so dress for the forecast in Vatican City. Standard cancellation terms apply: free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start.

    What do travelers say about Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome?

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    Across 4 reviews averaging 3.5 out of 5, recurring themes include the guide, photo opportunities, food and drink. Travelers single out the guide as the reason the experience works.

    What booking options are available for Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome?

    +

    There are 8 options to choose from, including Tour Ancient Rome 8 pax, Tour Ancient Rome 5 pax, Tour Ancient Rome 4 pax, Tour Ancient Rome 7 pax. Prices and start times differ by option, so compare them on the booking screen.

    Ready to lock in your spot?

    Pick a date, choose your group, and see the exact price for Private Tours: A Journey through the Ancient Rome.

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