Anyone Use Walks Of Italy Tours?

[azlove2cruise]

Before I book 2 tours with Walks of Italy, I wanted to reach out to all out there who might have experience with this tour company and be able to provide specific feedback regarding their tour guides and itineraries. Specifically, I am looking at the Pristine Sistine tour and the Crypts & Bones & Catacombs tour. Thanks!

[NancyIL]

Having now gone on 3 Walks of Italy tours in Rome, including the Crypts, Bones, & Catacombs tour with you and your family on the 15th - we both know what a great job they did! :)

[texanitalian]

Can you tell me how many people were in your group?

I have read very good reviews on trip advisor,

and I'm also interested in the Pristine Sistine because

of the early entry time. Was also considering the

Colosseum Underground tour.

 

Would consider using them for Florence, but price seems a little high at 520 euros and 460 euros for transfer only.

[weaselwatchr]

My husband and I toured the Vatican on Halloween day 2011. We booked a private tour with Walks of Italy. The tour was called Pristine Sistine – The Chapel at its Best. We loved it! We met at 7:45am, and were the first group in the Sistine Chapel where we spent approxiamately 45 minutes with only 10 other people. This is a far cry from when we circled back through the chapel on our way out to St Peter's with standing room only pushing and shoving with security telling everyone to keep moving no standing! Our tour ended at around 1:00pm. It was so worth the money.

 

We also did the Underground Colosseum Tour, which we seemed to have had run into some bad luck. Rome had experienced torrential rain storms and the Colosseum actually flooded. We contacted Walks of Italy about this issue before we left for Europe, our tour was days away, and were told that we would be kept in touch about the situation. Right before the tour, we were told the underground was still flooded, and we would have the Forums added to our itinerary. We were ok with that. Well we spent too long at the Colosseum. By the time we walked to the Forums, they were closed. This was totally to the surprise of our guide. It was November 1st, and the Forum had changed to is winter hours. Our guide was devasted, and she gave as an impromptu walking tour of the city. She took us all around, giving us information about various landmarks we would pass along the way. She kept us out until dark, and even made sure we knew exactly how to get back to our hotels. She would have rescheduled, but most of our group was leaving rome for our cruise the next day. We did get a partial refund for this tour from the company. Our guide was Alessia.

 

I recommend Walks of Italy.

[azlove2cruise]

Having now gone on 3 Walks of Italy tours in Rome, including the Crypts, Bones, & Catacombs tour with you and your family on the 15th - we both know what a great job they did! :)

 

Hello again! First, I must apologize for not seeing this earlier and posting my response much sooner. My family really enjoyed touring with you and your hubby. What a nice surprise to be joined by a fellow CC (and share stories).

 

And, to anyone out there who might be looking for specialized tours and have stumbled upon Walks of Italy, our experience was top notch. I didn't find much at all about them on these particular boards. So, it was a little scary, and I hesitated quite a bit prior to booking. But let me just say...They really are fantastic.

 

We chose Walks of Italy for 2 of their tours in particular - Pristine Sistine and Crypts and Bones and Catacombs. We did both tours on day 3 of our arrival, having spent an all day tour with RIL on day 2 (something else I loved but almost cancelled). The Prisine Sistine was $ well spent, as it gave us early access into the museums with a very small tour group of 12 max, and we were able to experience the Sistine Chapel while no one else was around. We even had a bench to sit on! Boy how that changed on our way back! It was literally shoulder to shoulder. I lost sight of my small group of 12 several times as I quickly stopped to take some video (not of the Sistine Chapel, of course...). It was that crowded. I can only imagine what it must be like during the summer crowds. This tour met at 7:30am, so it was an early start.

 

We also loved the Crypts and Bones and Catacombs tour. This tour was later in the afternoon and provided transportation. Same as RIL...nice new airconditioned Mercedes van. It was amazing! You cannot miss the catacombs! And, touring with a small group was really nice. There was only the 5 of us plus NancyIL and her hubby. It got a bit tiresome with all the standing after just having spent the morning at the Vatican, but this tour was one of my favorite experiences. If I could do it all over again, I might split these 2 tours apart and not do them both on the same day. But, this is what we had to do with our particular schedule.

 

And, I also got a discount for mentioning Rick Steve's:D

[NancyIL]

Hello again! First, I must apologize for not seeing this earlier and posting my response much sooner. My family really enjoyed touring with you and your hubby. What a nice surprise to be joined by a fellow CC (and share stories).

 

And, to anyone out there who might be looking for specialized tours and have stumbled upon Walks of Italy, our experience was top notch. I didn't find much at all about them on these particular boards. So, it was a little scary, and I hesitated quite a bit prior to booking. But let me just say...They really are fantastic.

 

We chose Walks of Italy for 2 of their tours in particular - Pristine Sistine and Crypts and Bones and Catacombs. We did both tours on day 3 of our arrival, having spent an all day tour with RIL on day 2 (something else I loved but almost cancelled). The Prisine Sistine was $ well spent, as it gave us early access into the museums with a very small tour group of 12 max, and we were able to experience the Sistine Chapel while no one else was around. We even had a bench to sit on! Boy how that changed on our way back! It was literally shoulder to shoulder. I lost sight of my small group of 12 several times as I quickly stopped to take some video (not of the Sistine Chapel, of course...). It was that crowded. I can only imagine what it must be like during the summer crowds. This tour met at 7:30am, so it was an early start.

 

We also loved the Crypts and Bones and Catacombs tour. This tour was later in the afternoon and provided transportation. Same as RIL...nice new airconditioned Mercedes van. It was amazing! You cannot miss the catacombs! And, touring with a small group was really nice. There was only the 5 of us plus NancyIL and her hubby. It got a bit tiresome with all the standing after just having spent the morning at the Vatican, but this tour was one of my favorite experiences. If I could do it all over again, I might split these 2 tours apart and not do them both on the same day. But, this is what we had to do with our particular schedule.

 

And, I also got a discount for mentioning Rick Steve's:D

 

That's okay, as I returned home from my European travels only 3 days ago! I would've loved to have gone on the Pristine Sistine tour, but we were scheduled for a morning Scavi Tour at St. Peter's. (Did you do that tour when you were in Civitavecchia on your cruise?) Our afternoon Vatican tour (without the St. Peter's tour portion) was very good, but the Sistine Chapel was very crowded. It sounds like it was a bit less crowded for us at about 4 p.m. than for you in the late morning, but certainly nothing like having the chapel to yourselves at 8 a.m.!

[azlove2cruise]

That's okay, as I returned home from my European travels only 3 days ago! I would've loved to have gone on the Pristine Sistine tour, but we were scheduled for a morning Scavi Tour at St. Peter's. (Did you do that tour when you were in Civitavecchia on your cruise?) Our afternoon Vatican tour (without the St. Peter's tour portion) was very good, but the Sistine Chapel was very crowded. It sounds like it was a bit less crowded for us at about 4 p.m. than for you in the late morning, but certainly nothing like having the chapel to yourselves at 8 a.m.!

 

Wow! Only 3 days ago? You've been gone quite awhile! Yes, we did do the Scavi tour, and I'm so glad I reserved the tickets so far in advance. Not too many people know to book the tour, much less to book it at least 3 months in advance to avoid potential disappointment. We wouldn't have been able to go, but were fortunate to get our tour time moved to our last day in Rome (upon our retrurn from the cruise). We had an amazing time. We even got our pictures taken with the Swiss Guard! Welcome home, and back to reality;)

[account4fun]

Before I book 2 tours with Walks of Italy, I wanted to reach out to all out there who might have experience with this tour company and be able to provide specific feedback regarding their tour guides and itineraries. Specifically, I am looking at the Pristine Sistine tour and the Crypts & Bones & Catacombs tour. Thanks!

 

I can't comment on these specific tours but we did just have 2 tours with Walks of Italy. We did the colosseum tour in Rome and a private boat tour in Venice. Both were excellent tours and we liked the guides. The company was very easy to book with and we would recommend them.