Rome in Limo Florence and Rome

[mardonna]

We are a family of 6.....2 adults, 4 children ages 12, 8, 8, and 5 at time of travel this summer. We have heard great things about Rome in Limo.....and plan on using them for Rome as well as Pisa and Lucca.

I was wondering if anyone just used the driver as a guide as opposed to getting an additional guide at the various sites.....does the driver give you enough information.....they do recommend an additional guide at the Vatican though.

I would love feed back on this....

 

[DisneyMomJen]

We used them in both Rome and Florence and they were great!!! Both places the drivers were a wealth of information but did not go into the Vatican, which we did on our own, the Colisseum, the state of David. They took us to all of these locations, but we went in our own and did fine. We did do the app for our iphones for the Colisseum which worked out well. I would definitely use Limo in Rome again. Have fun and Enjoy! This was the best trip we have been on!

 

[mardonna]

We used them in both Rome and Florence and they were great!!! Both places the drivers were a wealth of information but did not go into the Vatican, which we did on our own, the Colisseum, the state of David. They took us to all of these locations, but we went in our own and did fine. We did do the app for our iphones for the Colisseum which worked out well. I would definitely use Limo in Rome again. Have fun and Enjoy! This was the best trip we have been on!

So your saying in Rome....we will be fine with just driver and at vatican we should request guide as recommended? Do they give you a list of the things you should pre purchae tickets for?

We are not doing Florence with kids.....my husband and I have been and feel the kids are not ready for that yet.....Pisa and Lucca much better for them

 

[lilpooh108]

So your saying in Rome....we will be fine with just driver and at vatican we should request guide as recommended? Do they give you a list of the things you should pre purchae tickets for?

We are not doing Florence with kids.....my husband and I have been and feel the kids are not ready for that yet.....Pisa and Lucca much better for them

You should prepurchase tix for the Vatican and the Colosseum.

 

[abacab]

We are a family of 6.....2 adults, 4 children ages 12, 8, 8, and 5 at time of travel this summer. We have heard great things about Rome in Limo.....and plan on using them for Rome as well as Pisa and Lucca.

I was wondering if anyone just used the driver as a guide as opposed to getting an additional guide at the various sites.....does the driver give you enough information.....they do recommend an additional guide at the Vatican though.

I would love feed back on this....

We used Rome in Limo (in Rome, 2011) and they were fantastic! Our driver was Marco, and our Vatican tour guide was Braydon. I highly recommend getting a Vatican tour guide; it made all the difference! Braydon was a perfect guide for our family. Marco had tons of information about all the other sights. We also used Rick Steve's iPod tour for the Colosseum and Forum.

They will tell you exactly what tickets you need to get in advance (Colosseum and Vatican, I think).

Have fun! It was a real highlight of our cruise.

(Note: there are two different companies. The one we took was "Rome in Limo". There's another one called "Limo in Rome".)

 

[pacurn]

We used Rome in Limo for Rome, Naples and Pisa/Florence

Can't stress enough, get a guide for the Vatican. Our guide was a wealth of information and could navigate around the crowds. We would not have gotten nearly as much out of that visit without him.

For Pisa and Florence we had the driver (who was great and took us places we would not have thought to visit) we arranged climbing the tower and the tix to Accedemia on our own ahead of time.

 

[DisneyMomJen]

We did not epurchase ticket for the Vatican or Colosseum. Our driver took us to the Vatican after lunch and there was NO line to get tickets. Our driver also took us to exactly where we needed to purchase tickets without any line at the Colosseum. If I were to go again at the end of July/August, I would not prepurchase tickets.

 

[tluther5406]

We used Rome in Limo for Rome, Naples and Pisa/Florence

Can't stress enough, get a guide for the Vatican. Our guide was a wealth of information and could navigate around the crowds. We would not have gotten nearly as much out of that visit without him.

For Pisa and Florence we had the driver (who was great and took us places we would not have thought to visit) we arranged climbing the tower and the tix to Accedemia on our own ahead of time.

We also used Rome in Limo for Rome, Florence/Pisa, and Positano/Pompeii. The drivers were wonderful guides. Our Rome driver was the best guide of all our drivers, but we did get the separate Vatican guide. She was informative, navigated the crowds amazingly as stated above, and had connections to bypass crowds and use special elevators. Our Vatican tour wouldn't have been the same without her.

We pre-purchased Vatican tickets as I think the Rome in Limo site recommends. We did have a bit of a wait to see the David in Florence even though our driver was trying to get us in.

 

[abayaflowers]

We used Limo in Rome (http://www.limoinrome.com) in August 2010 and plan to use them again in June 2013.

We purchased tickets for the Vatican online and booked them for 10 a.m., because our family took the Trenitalia into S. Pietro station. Then, we walked over to the Museum entrance to meet our wonderful guide, Emanuela. She was so amazing with all the information.

Was well worth the money. Then, we toured the Colosseum without pre-purchasing tickets. She showed us where to go and got them without standing in the long line.

We plan to use them in La Spezia for our Florence tour. I highly recommend them.

 

[lmb]

We used RIL for Rome and had the guide all day and driver.It was a fabulous day. We opted for a DCL excursion in Florence and I was kicking myself for not using RIL that day. Can't say enough good things about that company, and yes, definately get a guide for both if you can. Our kids were about 4 and 6 and it was a great way for the family to see the Rome.

 

[mardonna]

I'm getting mixed feelings on double guides in Rome......most people have said to get the guide only for the Vatican and then the driver/guide gives you all the information you need.......I have been told the audio guides you can pre load to your iphones are quite good. Looking forward to hearing more thoughts on this....

 

[lilpooh108]

I would not get a guide for the Colosseum, since it's more visual than anything.

I would get a guide for the Vatican--because you have so many kids---someone else needs to engage and explain things to them. My husband and I are museum lovers and we were pretty overwhelmed with the amount of art in the Vatican. We went with a local tour company with college age guides and they were great. The Vatican is like straight line--it's all people. Unlike the Louvre you don't have time to really stop and see what you're looking at. It's really crowded, and a guide will help you navigate through that.

The prior poster who said that advance tix are not necessary---my opinion is to ignore that advice. If you know for a fact you are going to certain attractions, there is no harm in getting advance tix other than if you miss the port you will not get your money back.

Why risk getting there and having to wait in line? Good for her that she didn't have to wait in line. I went once during off season in November and the line was out the door at 1:00 p.m. We were lucky we had booked a tour group that got priority access. I can't imagine holding your 5YO in line for 1 hour and then touring for another 2 hours after that. Lack of planning = bad day.

If you are not getting a guide, you have to prepurchase tix. If you are getting a guide, then ask your guide.

Good luck!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We used Rome in Limo (in Rome, 2011) and they were fantastic! Our driver was Marco, and our Vatican tour guide was Braydon. I highly recommend getting a Vatican tour guide; it made all the difference! Braydon was a perfect guide for our family. Marco had tons of information about all the other sights. We also used Rick Steve's iPod tour for the Colosseum and Forum.

They will tell you exactly what tickets you need to get in advance (Colosseum and Vatican, I think).

Have fun! It was a real highlight of our cruise.

(Note: there are two different companies. The one we took was "Rome in Limo". There's another one called "Limo in Rome".)

Can you explain this?
I wasn't planning to bring a lot of gadgets but this sounds interesting. We'll be using RIL for all 3 Italian ports. We plan to hire a separate guide for the Vatican/Sistine Chapel and for Pompeii. I find it disappointing to look at things, knowing there's a story behind it, but just look and keep going.

 

[lilpooh108]

Can you explain this?
I wasn't planning to bring a lot of gadgets but this sounds interesting. We'll be using RIL for all 3 Italian ports. We plan to hire a separate guide for the Vatican/Sistine Chapel and for Pompeii. I find it disappointing to look at things, knowing there's a story behind it, but just look and keep going.

There are free downloadable tours for specific attractions on the Rick Steves app. If you go to his website there's an explanation of it.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Can you explain this?
I wasn't planning to bring a lot of gadgets but this sounds interesting. We'll be using RIL for all 3 Italian ports. We plan to hire a separate guide for the Vatican/Sistine Chapel and for Pompeii. I find it disappointing to look at things, knowing there's a story behind it, but just look and keep going.

I'm not the PP, but if you go to iTunes, you can download Rick Steve's podcast for the Forum and the Colosseum tours. Then you just hit play and follow along.

I would disagree though that that area is just visual - there is a TON of history and fascinating stories. We used Real Rome Tours for the guides and both our Vatican and Ancient Rome tours were phenomenal! Check them out at http://realrometours.com/

 

[lilpooh108]

I'm not the PP, but if you go to iTunes, you can download Rick Steve's podcast for the Forum and the Colosseum tours. Then you just hit play and follow along.

I would disagree though that that area is just visual - there is a TON of history and fascinating stories. We used Real Rome Tours for the guides and both our Vatican and Ancient Rome tours were phenomenal! Check them out at http://realrometours.com/

I agree that a tour can be great for the Colosseum, but the OP was asking if she HAD to have one. My opinion is that if she's looking to save money, she should hire a guide at the Vatican since she wouldn't know what she's looking at, where as at the Colosseum it is pretty self-explanatory.

That being said, we're doing a tour this time since we skipped it last time.

 

[MrsScooby]

We used Rome in Limo for Rome, Naples and Pisa/Florence

Can't stress enough, get a guide for the Vatican. Our guide was a wealth of information and could navigate around the crowds. We would not have gotten nearly as much out of that visit without him.

For Pisa and Florence we had the driver (who was great and took us places we would not have thought to visit) we arranged climbing the tower and the tix to Accedemia on our own ahead of time.

What time did you buy the tickets for Pisa and Accademia ?
What were the places that the driver took you to in Florence?
Do you recall how far in advance you bought the tickets?

 

[sippican]

We also used RIL and have nothing but wonderful things to say about them! The Colosseum was the highlight if our Rome stops and I credit the Rick Steve's tour, we learned soooooo much more than was posted on the signs ; information that would fascinate children. I disagree that a visit there is self-explanatory. In fact, our tourmates downloaded more RS audio tours when we went back to the ship after we related bits and pieces we learned from the audio clips. As far as the Vatican, we did hire a guide through RIL, Sarah was fantastic. However, it was one of my least favorite experiences, it was absolutely mobbed! I can imagine that children could have been easily overwhelmed by the sheer mass of tall bodies. I am claustrophobic and by the time we reached the Sistine Chapel, I bolted for the door. You may want to see if RIL can recommend a guide that can gear the tour towards a younger audience (and maybe shorten it a bit). I honestly remember very little we saw at the Vatican, but so much of what I learned about the Colosseum.
As far as tickets, RIL advised us on the times and purchase procedures.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

I also downloaded Rick Steve's audio guide tour for the colosseum- did you play it out loud on your device or did you need to use headphones?

 

[sippican]

I also downloaded Rick Steve's audio guide tour for the colosseum - did you play it out loud on your device or did you need to use headphones?

At the Colosseum we used headphones (each had our own iPod). We've seen others sharing one iPhone (or other MP3) by using a splitter for two headphones.