Verified
Do not miss
Our tour was changed a week before we arrived cutting out the arena visit. The arrival time was also moved from 9am to 11am. However everything else was great on the day. Fantastic site to visit. One not to miss. Our guide was very knowledgable making the tour much more enjoyable than doing it alone. We would definitely have missed some important areas to see without him.
Verified
Amazing sites but …
Our tour was supposed to include Colosseum arena access and a few days before the tour I was told we were not having access. I asked if I can book for a different date,time or language because I can speak several but was told there was no availability. I booked and payed for this tour in March and they waited until 2 days before I was flying into Rome to inform me. I was offered a measly 10 euro partial refund per ticket. I feel I was cheated ! Our tour guide was also not very good, she was quite boring and kept talking about marble and travertine for most of the tour. I had to keep walking away to take photos or else I would have missed a lot of great shots. She should have brought us to the good spots for taking photos instead of talking about building materials. The word marble was used at least 20 times, no joke.
Verified
Great guided tour-best bang for your buck!
Georgia was our guide and she was great. Very knowledgeable, easy to understand and communicate with. She kept the group together and on track. We didn’t feel like we missed anything. She told the history like a story including her own humor and related the history to phrases we still use. My family all enjoyed the tour. Finally go early with a guide. Being with her meant shorter group lines and being on an early tour meant shorter lines, smaller crowds, and less heat.
Verified
Colosseum Vivicos
Few days out from booked colosseum tour advised by operator vivicos that they had cancelled the arena part of the tour and delayed start by 30min. Arena was big reason to go for me so very dissapointed. I could have still got a refund but there were no alternative options. So went ahead, guide was kind organised. There was a misshap at the beginning with member of our group getting lost joining another tour. I dont think it could have been avoided but did delay our start by 30minutes. Despite the arena being removed from the tour the length stayed the same which was filled with lecture education and photos on guides ipad. Great if you are a history buff but it felt information overload and I just really wanted to get to the ruins. I wasnt feeling well so after 2 hours and only a short time to actually see the colloseum with majority of time lecture we left tour early our choice missing the hill and the forum. If I had my time over would go with another operator.
Verified
Colosseum by Vivicos - don’t do it
I’m so upset with this tour, I can honestly say this has been the worst tour I have ever been on. Absolutely no focus on comfort or choice, you are just moved from one place to the other like cattle, no bathroom breaks, no advantage of skipping line. Whether you are a family or a single adult, don’t choose this tour. Ohh and by the way, we had no access to the arena floor. And anything you say or ask will be your fault—definitely without a doubt don’t do it, buy your your own ticket and you will have a much better experience.
Verified
Book with someone else might not happen when you’re there
Told us 3 days before going that it was cancelled when booked weeks prior like it suggested to us to do now that we are in Rome we are going to have to hope to sort something else which looks like it will be very unlikely
Verified
Worst Tour Ever
Tldr; We only saw the Colosseum - no Roman Forum or Palatine Hill. Guide said it was too crowded and she would miss her next tour. Guide took ran to a public bus which had no room for our tour group and left us. DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR! Our guide, Franchesca, was late and complained that her ankle was badly twisted and hurting (more relevant later). Our "tour" started with a slow walk to the Colosseum with limited explanations that were difficult to understand, but she kept repeating the same things over and over. We get just inside the Colosseum and spend 20 minutes off to the side the of the turnstiles for her to repeat the same info over again. Finally, we enter the arena to wander around on our own. No explanations. This is when I submitted a request for refund through Viator. We left the Colosseum to go to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, but there were very long lines. Franchesca said the lines are too long and she will miss her next tour, but follow her and she will show us something "better". Suddenly, her injured ankle is healed because she RAN to a public bus on the street. The bus is full and only some of our tour group were able to get on the bus. The bus took off and we were left to find our way home. The tour operator (Italy Wonders SRLS) denied our request for refund, even though we didn't get 2/3 of the tour and the first part was terrible. I am now disputing it with my credit card company. DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR!!
Verified
Great tour but not the best. The colosseum is awesome and having a guide to explaining its history was well worthwhile.
It was not easy to find the tour. We needed the help of a local tourist information guide to find the right company. There was one representative in a light blue vest surrounded by people. More reps or a flag for visibility would have made the whole process more user friendly. The guide was a lovely lady but with a very heavy accent which we all found difficult to follow.
Verified
Good!
Self guided tour. We had to meet outside a cafe but for some reason even though we were super early by half an hour, we waited outside the exact point but the guides/ tour guide wasn’t in sight. About five minutes after the time, we searched around and noticed them. They had already explained half of the information by that point. The colosseum in general was really informative and beautifully breathtaking! The history around it was interesting for sure! The guides provided us with an audio app to download on our phones and this was good too overall pretty good!
