Top 8 Tours I Recommend in Rome
Everyone wants to visit Rome at least once in a lifetime. There is so much to do and see in this vast city. It is a city full of history and interests. You won’t spend a minute of your time just doing nothing, unless that is what you prefer. I found that I was booked for several tours and I wished I had time for more. Here are the top 8 tours I recommend in Rome.
1. Spritz and Pasta Cooking Class
Experience one of the best combo in the world, two Italian traditions fused together to create the ultimate experience. Spritz and Spaghetti! You will learn to make the ultimate Italian drink (Spritz) and the pinnacle of Italian food (Pasta) Cocktails and Carbonara. Your will learn how to cook the ultimate Carbonara (Vegetarian Option, Caccio Peppe) And also blend a refreshing Spritz. The team will share with you Three different types of Spritz – Aperol – Campari – Limoncello. They will make the cocktails all in between making your dinner. Aperol will be the first lesson. Then a Campari during the pasta and end it with a limoncello. Doesn’t that sound fun? I LOVED this tour!
2. Secrets Beneath Castel Sant’Angelo Guided Tour
Join a small group tour led by a professional guide to admire some areas of the Castel Sant’Angelo that aren’t normally available, such as the Olearie, the historical prisons, and the theater of Clemente VII. Use your skip-the-line entry ticket to save time and begin your 2-hour guided tour of the famous castle erected by the Roman emperor Hadrian as his tomb. You will learn how the building has served as a private residence to popes, a treasury of the state, a prison, and a public execution site. Discover the history behind the castle and take in the magnificent sculptures and paintings. You will be able to see the burial place of the late emperor, the pope’s apartment, and the treasury room. End the experience with a panoramic view over the city from the castle’s terrace.
3. Vatican Breakfast: Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica Tour
You can have the Vatican to yourself on this early morning tour that takes you through closed doors for a buffet breakfast in the peaceful Pinecone Courtyard. This is before anyone else enters the museums. Feast on an Italian American breakfast buffet of cooked-to-order eggs, meats, cheeses, muffins, croissants, fresh fruits, cereals, and pancakes made by the Vatican’s pancake chef. Dine in the Pinecone Courtyard, alongside one of the Vatican Museums’ most beautiful works of modern art, and experience tranquility rarely seen by Vatican visitors. You will continue to the legendary Sistine Chapel. Then to St. Peter’s Basilica. See the altar and marvel at Michelangelo’s La Pietà sculpture.
4. Castel Gandolfo Kayak and Swimming Lake Tour
Immerse yourself in the history and nature of this peaceful lake, located just a short distance from Rome, on a kayak tour with plenty of interesting stops and technical kayaking tips. Stops will include the village of the millstones, the Roman port of the Villa of Domitian, the Trampoline of the Pope, and a beautiful beach reachable only by kayak, where you can swim if the weather is right. Along the way you will see the summer residence of the Popes, atop the mountain of Castel Gandolfo and surrounded by untouched nature. You can Listen to the sound of local wildlife and the water lapping, a unique and unforgettable experience so close to Rome. MY Favorite Tour!
5. Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel Key Master’s Tour
Travel with the Vatican’s Key Master as he opens the Museums, unlocking doors and lighting long, empty galleries for you to explore. The tour will start at the opening of the Sistine Chapel, where you’ll enter completely alone and watch Michelangelo’s frescoes flicker to life. You will have the Museum to yourself for two hours. You will get close to some of the finest artworks in the world, appreciating every detail of the gallery’s masterpieces. You will have the space to appreciate them in all. You will then walk to galleries like the historic Gallery of the Maps and Gallery of the Tapestries.
6. Royal Palace of Caserta
Get on board of a high-speed train and enjoy your trip to Reggia di Caserta. Be enchanted by the beauty of this royal palace built in the mid-18th century for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It is one of the world’s largest royal palaces, boasting 1,200 rooms, 24 staircases, and 1,742 windows. Step inside the enormous estate with included admission, and follow your local guide on a tour through five floors of opulent ballrooms, hallways, and apartments that dazzle with period frescoes, marble floors, mirrors, and tapestries. Also tour the expansive palace gardens, featuring ornate fountains and English and Italianate landscaping.
7. Paranormal Night Walking Tour and Secret Backstreets
Join a tour for a nighttime adventure through the eerie streets of Rome where crowds of ghosts of emperors, popes and artists come out and haunt the city. You will hear about ghosts, gruesome executions, murders, and all the legends and ghost stories that keep Roman kids up at night. The guide will take you to secret backstreets and hidden corners of the Eternal City, on the tracks left by old ghosts and mysteries. With storytelling, English-speaking guide, groups of no more than 12 people, and a beautiful stroll through narrow streets between the grand monuments and opulent churches, this tour is sure to leave you even more fascinated by Rome. Who doesn’t like ghosts?
8. Mazzano Romano: Cooking Lesson and Lunch in the Countryside
Italians take their food seriously, but expect to have a lot of fun on this 6-hour tour. It is the perfect trip for anyone who loves to cook and will teach you all you need to know to prepare a typical 3-course Italian meal. You will pick up some handy tips that you can use when you return home. And at the end of the lesson you will sit down to taste what you have prepared in a delightful country setting. It all begins with a pick-up from your central Rome hotel. You will be driven to the lovely Medieval village of Mazzano Romano. After you have met your chef and tutor, you will either visit a market or pick some vegetables and herbs at the farm. With everything you need to cook your meal, you will be shown how to prepare the classic courses of a traditional Italian lunch. Prepare and cook your appetizers, first course, second course and, of course, dessert!