Our cruise ship was docking in Civitavecchia for one day only, allowing us about 9 hours to see all Rome has to offer. While we knew we couldn't see everything, we wanted to try and see as much as we could. We found Private Tour of Rome online and was impressed with the itinerary provided on their full day shore excursion. The tour is private so it was a bit on the expensive side for four people, but we were able to connect with another group of four adults on a cruise forum and invited them to come along, which dramatically reduced the cost. We were picked up right outside the cruise terminal and met our guide, Barbara, outside the Colosseum. Barbara is definitely the most knowledgeable and friendly guide we experienced on our two-week European vacation. She expertly guided us through the Colosseum, the forum, to the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon before dropping us off for lunch. (You MUST have the Cacio e Pepe in Rome, trust me!) Then, we got into a cab and headed to the Vatican. It was an insanely hot day, but Barbara knew all the shady spots and moved quickly through the non-air conditioned museum when we asked her to. Throughout the day she would navigate our group through the crowds by simply raising her hand, which became a funny joke amongst our group throughout the day. Everyone agreed Barbara truly made our trip to Rome amazing. I have NOTHING bad to say about this tour or the company - even the women who answer emails were friendly and helpful. Highly recommend this company!

We did the Vatican and colosseum tours and are so happy we used this service! The tour guides are archeologists and it’s so evident how much they love their work. They made entering the venues so much easier and faster and it was great having someone to answer all your questions. Can’t recommend enough!

Had a private tour with Sara and we had an amazing day! Highly recommend for anyone trying to pack as much of Rome has to offer in a single day. I also found their pricing incredibly competitive as some of the other quotes I received was 2x the price. Email communication planning everything was excellent. Will never take a group tour again. A++++

We had a private tour of the Vatican by tour guide Tommaso, and I must say it exceeded our expectations. Tommaso was so friendly, knowledgeable, interesting and interested in us also, I could not recommend him more. Any questions we had he would answer and you could tell he was really loving giving the tour, getting excited about certain writings on sculptures and explaining what everything we saw as we went through the Vatican. Even though the basilica was supposed to be closed, we eventually somehow managed to get in and get a great view of the basilica with even a live choir. Overall 10/10 experience, thanks Tommaso!!

We booked two tours with Private Tour of Rome and both were fantastic! The booking process was very easy. Paula was quick to respond to emails, provided information about the best days/times for our tours, and gave step-by-step instructions on buying tickets for our group. Our Vatican tour guide was Vera and our Colosseum tour guide was Irene. Each guide was very knowledgeable and willing to coordinate the tour around our preferences. They were also very personable and easy to communicate with. We will definitely be back to Rome and will book our tours through Private Tour of Rome again!