This tour can be extended up to a half or full day tour, to include more of the historic centre such as Piazza della Republica, ancient bath houses, glorious churches with works by Caravaggio, Bernini, Michelangelo, Raphael and others... the Castel St Angelo and St Peter's from the outside, Trastevere, Jewish Ghetto, Campo dei Fiori, Capitoline Hill, Aventine Hill and Circus Maximus.
UNDERGROUND ROME, CATACOMBS, CRYPTS AND MYSTERIOUS SUBTERRANEAN TEMPLES 4.5 - 6 hours (depending on your interests!): an extraordinary journey into the netherworld of subterranean Rome... like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft! We will uncover ancient mysteries, learn of buried secrets, funerary rites and rituals and the early Christian beliefs through symbols and frescoes, as we explore the ancient burial chambers of the early Christians out on the Old Appian Way. We will also explore the archaeology beneath a 12th century church near the Colosseum. It's stunning byzantine mosaic is not the only treasure at the Basilica of San Clemente. We will discover the excavations layer by layer - a 9th century church, a 2nd century Mithraic temple and a 1st century roman house! To extend this tour we can also visit ancient Roman mansions on the Celio Hill, admire the views and secret garden of the Aventine Hill and discover a hidden underground crypt where medieval exorcisms took place...
DRIVING TOUR - the most beautiful vistas of Rome, with hidden gems along the Appia Antica, the oldest road in the world along which Spartacus and the rebels were crucified - now glorious countryside with pagan tombs and ancient aqueducts. The keyhole on the Aventine, the panorama over all of Rome from the Gianicolo Hill. 3.5-4 hours
CARAVAGGIO & VINO - AFTERNOON PASSEGIATA - a visit to 3 churches housing Caravaggio's masterpieces, with a glass of vino to honour the bad boy of the Baroque! 3 hours
TRASTEVERE with or without the beautiful VILLA FARNESINA famous for Raphael frescoes - beautiful historic neighbourhood
JEWISH GHETTO and Campidoglio -1.5 hours
THE MAJOR BASILICAS, a pilgrimage - San Giovanni in Laterano with the Scala Santa, St Paul's Outside the Walls and Santa Maria Maggiore
Due to ticketing difficulties and overcrowding I no longer do tours of the Vatican, or the Colosseum. Please feel free to reach out and I can help you book great tours with top agencies with a discount code.
Villa Borghese - subject to availability, also ticketing issues; however, it is one of the most magical museums in the world, famous for housing 5 of the young Bernini's marble sculptures, the largest collection of Caravaggio in the world, floor to ceiling frescoes, and upstairs works by Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Domenichino and others...
EXCURSIONS OUTSIDE THE CITY
OSTIA ANTICA - Beautiful, well-peserved ruins of Rome's Ancient port town - roads, bath houses, mosaics and frescos, public loos, bakery, apartments, restaurants, temples and burials, a spectacular amphitheatre and so many stories!
TIVOLI: HADRIAN'S VILLA & VILLA D'ESTE
Breathtakingly beautiful ruins of the Emperor Hadrian's Villa - more like a citadel... peaceful and tranquil, absolutely absorbing. Followed by the spectacular Renaissance Fountains at the Villa d'Este.
