During one of my countless wanderings through Rome, I once met an old man who told me about his youthful days in the city. He said he was originally from Venice, but had lived in Rome since he was 13.
I asked him if he missed his hometown. He looked at me with a serious expression and said, "How can I not miss it? Venice is the most beautiful city in Italy. But Rome is the most beautiful city in the world!" Then he smiled.
He passed this phrase on to me, and to this day, the old man is still right.
As for me, I also come from the north of Italy, specifically from the German-speaking part next to the breathtaking Dolomites.
Like many, I got to know Rome through films. I wandered through the Rome of the 1950s with Marcello, rode a motorbike with Princess Ann, took on a different identity with Mr. Ripley, fought with Maximus in the Colosseum, and raced through the twisted alleys with Robert Langdon.
I was so enchanted by the city that I decided to stay. As we all know, all roads lead to Rome, right? I wanted to soak up the beauty of Rome, preserve it, and nurture it.
The best way to discover it was through its history and art. I studied art history in the most suitable city for it on the planet.
This time, I built palazzi and churches with Borromini and Bernini, painted light and dark with Caravaggio, and met Michelangelo and Raffaello in the Vatican.
I want you to experience this fascinating Rome, too! Let yourself be carried away, not only by the countless treasures of the city, but also by its numerous cultural phenomena, and you will see that everything is connected.
Together, we will absorb the spirit of the city, capture the so-called eternal gaze, and ultimately become the Eyes of Rome.
My favourite tours? Our Vatican Museums Early Morning Private Tour of course! I love entering the galleries when they are still quiet and uncrowded. And speaking of early birds, I must also mention our Colosseum Arena Early Morning Private Tour!
Standing on the Colosseum’s arena in spring, with the sun on your face, makes you feel like Maximus from Gladiator.
My tours are definitely a highlight on your Rome trip!
Punctual, professional and very knowledgeable! Was easy to book. Our driver Massimo was punctual, friendly and shared many aspects about Rome. Our private guide, Benjamin was excellent. Very friendly, relaxed and knowledgeable. He has a very strong understanding of the Vatican and was very capable to educate us in both English and German. We highly recommend him and the company
Our private tour with Benjamin was absolutely excellent! He was knowledgeable, engaging, and passionate about the history of Rome. Benjamin brought the Colosseum and Roman Forum to life with fascinating stories, detailed explanations, and a great sense of humor that kept us interested the entire time. We really appreciated how he tailored the experience to our pace and questions, making sure we got the most out of every stop. His enthusiasm and depth of knowledge made us see these ancient sites in a whole new way. This was one of the best tours we took in Rome. We highly recommended for anyone who wants a deeper, more personal understanding of the city’s incredible history!
Diese Tour mit einem Guide kann ich bestens empfehlen. Wir wurden vom Hotel abgeholt und am Mittag zurückgebracht. Da wir eine private Führung gebucht hatten nahm uns Valeria am Eingang der Museen im Empfang. Sie führte uns durch den Vatikan. Valeria hat Kunstgeschichte studiert und konnte uns viele viele Informationen geben, welche wir nicht wusste. Valeria ist sehr Kompetent, Fachkundig sowie freundlich. Also kann ich nur empfehlen und hat sich für uns mehr als gelohnt. Nicht zuletzt da wir zwei waren mit einer Führung nur für uns. Also wirklich hervorragend. Es war auch das grösste highlight unseres 5 Tägigen Rom Aufenthalts!
Benjamin was a wonderful guide! He was extremely knowledgeable and made the tour extra fun and interesting!
Really lovely, informative tour of the Vatican with the extremely knowledgeable Benjamin. We saw the Vatican Museums, St Peter’s Basilica and Sistine Chapel. It was amazing!
Great tour with Benjamin who made things easy for us. He helped us navigate the lines and the museum while providing interesting facts. The Vatican was amazing and should not be missed.
Excellent tour of the Vatican. Our tour guide Ben was the absolute best. We saw things we never would have noticed had it not been for his knowledge.
Benjamin was very knowledgeable about everything within the Vatican walls. He took his time explaining things to us and answering questions that we had. He had to deal with my handicap and some workarounds to be able to get us into various parts of the Vatican. He was a wonderful guide. I would highly recommend him
Wir haben eine private Luxustour gebucht. Abholung- und Bringservice haben einwandfrei geklappt. Ein grosses Danke an Manuela, die uns mit viel Passion und Spaß einen spannenden Einblick in die Museen und den Petersdom gegeben hat!! Die Tour hat sich preislich absolut gelohnt und wir würden sie jederzeit wieder buchen!! Kein Anstehen, direkten Zugang, einen wirklich tollen deutschsprachigen Tour Guide!! 5*****+ für dieses Tour Paket.
Benjamin was an amazing and engaging guide. He was super knowledgeable. None of the cheesy props that some other guides used. 10/10
Great highlights of the Vatican tour. Our tour guide (Benjamin) was excellent. He provided just the right amount of detail and information about everything we were seeing. He did not spend 20 min discussing every little detail like some other guides (THANK GOD!) and made the tour interesting and fast moving, which was exactly what we wanted. So we saw what we wanted, skipped most lines and learned many interesting stories. Great tour!
Benjamin was THE GREATEST. I’ve been to the Vatican before but have never had this level of appreciation for the experience. We had an amazing time on a tour with just our group of two. It was my partner’s first visit to Italy and out of the many things we did he said this was probably his favorite of the entire trip. Worth every penny.
Our trip guide Maria was amazing. Super knowledgeable and friendly, a pleasure to spend the day with. Skipping the lines was also a huge benefit, would highly recommend spending the extra money.
St Paul’s , the guardens, the museum and of course the Sistine Chapel The private guided tour was very educational Benjamin was very knowledgeable
Toller Tourguide Benjamin der mit unglaublich viel Wissen und Liebe zur Sache ein großartiges Erlebnis für uns gestaltet hat. Danke für die wunderbaren Eindrücke einer beeindruckenden Stadt!!
Benjamin was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Made the experience superb. On time, didn’t rush us and made sure we experienced everything we wanted.
Our guide was excellent, provided great details during the tour. Having a private guide was well worth the money as we got in early with no wait and hit the highlights on our own pace. Being picked up and dropped off at our hotel was also a great benefit. Definitely would recommend this tour.
My wife and I chose the luxury option of pickup before the tour and drop off after. It was just the two of us and our guide Ella. She was fantastic and knew so much about the Vatican, the Vatican Museum, The Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s. The date of our visit was 5/25. Understand that even though it’s an “early bird” there will still be throngs of people in the Sistine Chapel and the museum. Our concierge told us that would be the case before we left and he was correct. The comments from others stating that they found few people is not what we experienced. The Sistine Chapel was packed completely. If not for Ella, we would not have been able to navigate it easily. It was pretty much the same experience in the Basilica - too crowded to easily get close to The Pieta - although we did it after about 10 minutes. In conversation with other tour guides, they said that the crowds increase and peak at 11:00 so we likely did benefit from the early start. Also understand that we felt the “one on one” interaction was very valuable for us. This was our first time so we wanted to be taught and led by the hand. Mission accomplished for us. I would recommend this - but it is expensive compared to other tours so you need to feel comfortable that the value is from the very good care they take of you and the one to one conversation.
Alessandro was phenomenal! One of the best tour guides I’ve had anywhere in the world. I can’t recommend him enough, multo bene!
We spent three hours with the brilliant Gianluca touring the Colosseum and Forum. It was fab. My teenage sons are quite shy and were quiet but they have since said that it was the best part of our trip to Rome. We all learned so much beyond the familiar facts and came away with a clear idea of how ancient Rome and its buildings, monuments and people developed over time. It was good fun, absorbing and Gianluca was a fantastic guide. It was a luxury to have a private guide but I think actually good value because of how much we all benefited compared to the very large groups touring alongside us. On our next visit to Rome we would definitely seek out this company again.
Our absolute favorite part of our tour was our private guide, Rosie (Rosabela). We took many tours over our 10 days in Italy and we would book another Eyes of Rome tour in a second if we could have Rosie again. In fact, on our next trip, we'd like to book Rosie for a full day-anywhere! Not only was she extremely knowledgeable and personable but she bent over backwards to make our tour spectacular-in every way. My husband needed to carry a portable chair with us...Rosie made it happen. We needed breaks, no problem. We went over our time slot, no problem. She was able to put all the art and sites into context for us. Her enthusiasm was refreshing-many of our other guides seemed slightly bored. We loved every bit of our experience and can't recommend Rosie enough.
Abbiamo deciso di fare questo tour per vedere al meglio i giardini e il palazzo apostolico. Il biglietto intero costa 27 euro... Un po' caro ma ben organizzato. Abbiamo saltato la fila e siamo saliti su un pulmino elettrico che ci ha portati in giro per i giardini. Ognuno si noi aveva una audioguida è un addetto ci indicava volta per volta quale numero ascoltare. I giardini sono uno spettacolo tra rovine antiche e alberi meravigliosi. Dopo il giardino si visita il palazzo apostolico.
We first contacted Eyes of Rome in 2019 when we began planning our 2020 trip to Italy and wanted to have professional, certified guides for our tours of Rome. From the beginning, communication via email was easy, replies were prompt and proposed itineraries worked well with our schedule. With a teenager and tween in tow, we wanted early morning or late evening tours to avoid the Italian summer heat and Vacation crowds, and Eyes of Rome was happy to help. Our hotel was located on Monte Mario, a bit further from Ancient Rome, and Eyes of Rome coordinated transportation to all three of our tours. When we had to reschedule our trip for 2021, Eyes of Rome applied our deposit to our new itinerary without issue and was very accommodating helping us reschedule. Massimo was our driver for all three tours, greeting us our first morning in Rome with a friendly face and a comfortable, air conditioned Mercedes van. He provided interesting and fun information about the neighborhoods we passed through along the way to our destinations, including a stop at Fontana dell'Acqua Paola for a photo op. Denis guided us on our Saturday morning tour of the Forum and Colosseum; he helped bring to life Ancient Rome through stories and pictures he carried in a book. Denis provided just the right amount of history while keeping a nice pace through the Forum and Colosseum, and taking us to fantastic family picture spots. At the end of the tour, while filling our water bottles just outside the Colosseum and willing the online reservation system to work on my mobile, Denis offered to help by calling the restaurant to secure our lunch reservations. So nice! Marta was our guide on our Sunday evening walking tour of the sites, as well as our morning tour of Vatican city. We first met Marta at a very interesting ancient site beneath Capitoline Hill and she immediately held our attention with the history and stories she told. Although our teenager was less than enthusiastic about the evening’s itinerary, she begrudgingly admitted to enjoying the tour. We met Marta for our final tour of Vatican city early Tuesday morning. Though rules prohibit our guide speaking to us in the Basilica, Marta pointed out things we should be sure to see before entering, and answered our questions immediately after. Unfortunately, the short cut from the Vatican Museums to the Basilica is closed due to the pandemic. After the long walk up the hill and entering the museum, Marta escorted us to a beautiful terrace where, with the aid of her iPad, she walked us through details we would soon see. She prepared us in advance for our time inside the Sistine Chapel with backstories and details to focus on, given the rule of silence while inside the chapel. Our girls faded quickly and Marta adjusted the itinerary so as not to draw out the morning. She helped us navigate quickly to the sites we wanted to see, and avoided unnecessary delays. Our Eyes of Rome guides were friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating. They helped make our trip excellent.
Wir hatten zwei spannende Privat-Führungen mit Valeria: einmal durchs Kolosseum, Forum Romanum und einmal durch die Vatikanischen Museen, Sixtinische Kapelle mit Petersdom. Wir können eine solche private Tour absolut empfehlen! Valeria Canfarini ist sehr kompetent in Kunst und Geschichte, spricht gut deutsch und macht die Führungen auf eine sehr sympathische Art! Wegen Covid haben wir uns jeweils vor Ort getroffen - das hat immer tiptop geklappt.
Es war eine sehr interessante Führung. Wir haben es mit dem Rollstuhl gemacht und es war kein Problem. Der Guide hat unsere Wünsche gut erfüllt und war auch sehr zuvorkommend.
TOUR PRIVATO COLOSSEO/FORI ROMANI - Visita meravigliosa con guida bravissima. Devo ringraziare Alessia R. per la bellissima esperienza. Alessia ha saputo anche modulare la spiegazione per renderla affascinante e coinvolgente anche per i nostri bambini. Nel complesso una esperienza unica come i luoghi visitati che ci ha permesso di arricchirci e di essere "coccolati" e privilegiati in tutti i momenti di questa visita di oltre tre ore. Tutto ben gestito, dagli accessi prioritari alle spiegazioni puntuali dei luoghi di interesse.
Visita meravigliosa con guida bravissima. Devo ringraziare Alessia R. per la bellissima esperienza. Alessia ha saputo anche modulare la spiegazione per renderla affascinante e coinvolgente anche per i nostri bambini. Nel complesso una esperienza unica come i luoghi visitati che ci ha permesso di arricchirci e di essere coccolati in tutti i momenti di questa visita di oltre tre ore. Tutto ben gestito, dagli accessi privilegiati alle spiegazioni puntuali dei luoghi di interesse.
Huge thanks to Serena for a wonderful early morning tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum on Monday. With our 6 and 3 year old in tow, this might have been a challenge, but Serena's hugely warm, friendly, enthusiastic, patient and understanding manner made it a delight for parents and children alike! Serena brought some fun activities for the kids, along with a gift of colouring pencils and all important sweets, which went down a treat and really helped the kids to engage with ancient Roman life (with a modern Haribo twist!)This really was a family friendly outing. Serena's experience meant we also avoided the worst of the crowds and tourist traps. Would love Serena to guide us again next time we're in Rome! She's lovely! Kate, Ben, George and Florence.
Wir waren eine Vormittag mit unserem Guide unterwegs. Die Führung war sehr lebendig. Unser Kind wurde toll in die Führung eingebunden, daher war der Tag absolut spannend und kein bisschen Langweilig.
We had a private tour through this company with Roberta Di Pietro. She was so knowledgeable, interesting and fun! I can't imagine experiencing this amazing area without the benefit of being able to have conversation during the entire tour. Highly recommend the private tour - even more highly recommend asking for Roberta! We even had the benefit of having her for the Vatican the next day! This company is great!!!
What a wonderful experience! In addition to obvious benefit of skipping lines and avoiding crowds, Stefania made entire experience so relaxing and informative. Were able to customize by adding Baths of Caracalla, which were a real highlight of trip.
Am 30.12.2017 hatten wir als Familie (insgesamt 6 erwachsene Personen) eine Vatikan Tour gebucht, mit Abholung vom Hotel. Unser Guide war Roberta, die Kunsthistorik mit Schwerpunkt Renaissance studiert hat. Roberta holte uns vom Hotel ab, mit dem Taxi fuhren wir an der endlosen Schlange Wartender vorbei direkt zum Eingang. Nach der Sicherheitskontrolle betraten wir die Ausstellungsräume. Es war wegen der nahenden Neujahrsfeiertage erheblicher Besucherandrang, Roberta verstand es aber mit großem Geschick, Nischen mit geringerer Besucherdichte zu finden und uns in den verschiedenen Räumen ausgewählte Sehenswürdigkeiten zu erläutern. Wir waren beeindruckt von ihrer großen Sachkenntnis und ihrem Detailwissen zu den einzelnen Ausstellungsstücken. Ihr Kommunikationsstil ist wundervoll empathisch, mit großer Begeisterung brachte sie uns einzelne Kunstwerke, Details zu den verschiedenen Künstlern und den entsprechenden historischen Bezug nahe. In Anbetracht des überwältigenden Fundus, den Päpste über Jahrhunderte zusammengetragen haben, fanden wir die Auswahl der von Roberta gewählten Besuchspunkte außerordentlich sinnvoll. In der Zusammenfassung eine wundervolle, unterhaltsame und lehrreiche Erfahrung, absolut empfehlenswert. Manfred, mit Familie aus Heidelberg
