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If you're planning to be in Rome, don't miss the unique opportunity to absorb the history and true ambiance of the Eternal City on a tour with Michael or Dennis, Americans who have lived in Rome for over thirty years. Dennis, an artist who has exhibited his works throughout the world, is also the head of the high school art department at one of Rome's most prestigious schools. Michael is the co-author of National Geographic's Guide to Rome, and teaches history at another of Rome's exclusive international schools. Here's what they offer their guests:"Seeing the city from our insider's point of view, stroll with us along cobblestone streets, through spacious piazzas and past world-famous monuments. We'll introduce you to equally beautiful piazzas, streets, buildings and churches that are usually visited only by Romans.
If you're in the mood for an espresso, cappuccino or tramezzino (the uniquely Italian version of the sandwich), we'll stop at a top-notch coffee bar known only to neighborhood residents. We might strike up a conversation with our fellow patrons, or stop to chat with the lady selling wild cicoria in the open-air market, or get some ageold tips from the furniture restorers who hold forth in a picture-perfect alley few foreigners ever stumble across.
As we stroll, we'll tell you the area's history, its scandals, even the pernicious rumors it may have inspired over the ages (for Romans have always loved rumors!). And we'll tell you how each neighborhood fits into modern-day Rome. We'll also be happy to help you plan your own self-guided itineraries, shopping trips, museum visits and so forth. And we'll give you a complimentary copy of our own Rome restaurant guide.
What we offer is an entertaining, personalized way to feel as though you actually live in Rome. If you're traveling with your kids, this is a great way to introduce them to the fun of history and art. Walks are for individuals and groups of no more than six people.”
FROM THE SPANISH STEPS TO THE PANTHEON
Rome's cobblestone streets have been trod for centuries by rich and poor, unknown and famous as they became enamoured of the Eternal City. Gian Lorenzo Bernini's gate at Piazza del Popolo (built to celebrate the triumphal entrance of Queen Christina of Sweden in the 17th century into the city) was the northern, and principal, entrance to Rome (before airplanes and trains). Kings and queens, intellectuals (Goethe and Keats), young lords on the "Grand Tour" of the continent
and artists frequented the area clustered between the Porta del Popolo and the Spanish Steps.
- Spanish Steps
- Trevi Fountain
- Via Margutta (the street of the artists)
- Piazza.del Popolo
- St.Maria dell'Popolo (with the Chigi Chapel of Angels and Demons fame)
- Ara Pacis
- St.Lorenzo in Lucina
- Pantheon
Walks are for private groups of 2 to 6 people. Each walk lasts about two and a half hours.
2 People: 207.00 EURO 3 People: 266.00 EURO 4 People: 315.00 EURO 5 People: 370.00 EURO 6 People: 397.00 EURO
THE FOUNTAINS OF ROME
This especially popular walk features a late afternoon stroll from piazza to piazza, where the noise of traffic is replaced by the soft gurgle of cascading water
- Triton Fountain in Piazza Barberini
- Quirinale Fountain in front of the presidential palace, and the statue of Castor & Pollux in a setting that overlooks all Rome
- Trevi Fountain
- Pantheon
- Piazza Navona
Walks are for private groups of 2 to 6 people. Each walk lasts about two and a half hours.
2 People: 207.00 EURO 3 People: 266.00 EURO 4 People: 315.00 EURO 5 People: 370.00 EURO 6 People: 397.00 EURO
ROME'S HIDDEN TREASURES
- Palazzo Farnese
- Campo de' Fiori (open-air fruit and vegetable market)
- Church of Sant'Andrea della Valle (site of Tosca, Act One)
- Church of San Luigi dei Francesi
- Pantheon
- Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva
- Church of Sant'Ignazio
- Via dei Coronari with its charming antique shops
- St. Agostano with Raphael fresco and Caravaggio painting
- Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva and its hidden cloister
- Bernini's Angel Bridge with its panoramic view of St. Peter's
- Piazza Navona & Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers
Walks are for private groups of 2 to 6 people. Each walk lasts about two and a half hours.
2 People: 207.00 EURO 3 People: 266.00 EURO 4 People: 315.00 EURO 5 People: 370.00 EURO 6 People: 397.00 EURO
ROMAN SPLENDOR, INCLUDING TRASTEVERE
This walk includes a visit to one of the two noble residences followed by an asterisk. Depending on opening hours and time of day, you will visit either Villa Farnesina, a magnificent Renaissance mansion designed by Peruzzi and frescoed by Raphael, or Palazzo Spada, one of Rome’s most ornate rococo buildings, featuring the world’s most famous fake perspective, Borromini’s Corridor, as well as the small but famed Spada Art Collection. This is one of the few noble family art collections where the paintings are still hung as originally displayed, so it gives one a good idea of how the private family collections looked when they were acquired.St. Maria in Trastevere & a stroll through characteristic Trastevere (the Romans’ Rome)
Porta Settimiana & Via della Lungara
17th-century Palazzo Corsini
Villa Farnesina* (Monday-Saturday mornings only)
15th-century Ponte Sisto across the Tiber
Via Giulia (named for Pope Julius II of Sistine Chapel fame)
Fountain of the Mascherone
St.Maria dell’Orazione e Morte (the Church of St. Mary of Prayer and of Death)
Michelangelo's unfinished archway (originally meant to span the Tiber to connect Villa Farnesina on one bank, and Palazzo Farnese, on the other)
Piazza Farnese & Palazzo Farnese (epitome of high Renaissance architecture)
Palazzo Spada* (Tuesday-Sunday morning or afternoon)
Campo de’ Fiori (the most famous open-air food market in Italy – available only for morning walks)Walks are for private groups of 2 to 6 people. Each walk lasts about two and a half hours. Prices do not include tickets, which are 5 Euro/person.
2 People: 207.00 EURO 3 People: 266.00 EURO 4 People: 315.00 EURO 5 People: 370.00 EURO 6 People: 397.00 EURO
POPES AND PRINCES
- Bernini's Angel Bridge
- Castel Sant'Angelo (from outside)
- Via della Conciliazione
- The Borgo
- Piazza San Pietro and Bernini's Colonnade
- St. Peter's Basilica and Crypt
Castel Sant'Angelo
Walks are for private groups of 2 to 6 people. Each walk lasts about two and a half hours.
2 People: 207.00 EURO 3 People: 266.00 EURO 4 People: 315.00 EURO 5 People: 370.00 EURO 6 People: 397.00 EURO
MEDIEVAL AND IMPERIAL ROME
- Church of San Clemente with its 3 archaeological levels
- Church of Santi Quattro Coronati with its secret chapel and hidden cloister
- A stroll along the aqueduct built by Nero
- St. Stefano Rotono - modelled on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
- Villa Celimontana with its lovely Renaissance gardens
- Santa Maria in Domnica (terrific mosaic) and the Navicella
Walks are for private groups of 2 to 6 people. Each walk lasts about two and a half hours.
2 People: 207.00 EURO 3 People: 266.00 EURO 4 People: 315.00 EURO 5 People: 370.00 EURO 6 People: 397.00 EURO
