I hesitated to give 4 stars because this is an excellent tour. Our tour guide was passionate, knowledgeable, and personable. There are two reasons I provide 4 stars for a 'Very Good' rating, instead of an Excellent 4 star review. First, all of our paperwork and tickets indicated that this tour would begin at 8:30 a.m. When our tour guide didn't appear, I called and the company said that the tour would begin at 9:30. Our tour guide did arrive promptly at 9:30, but this needs to be noted and care must be taken to edit e-tickets and communication. Second, I would say that this is a wonderful full day tour, yet it didn't feel tailored to children. We traveled with our 12 year old daughter, and I wouldn't describe it as entertaining. It just felt like a tour we would take as adults. We had taken a previous tour in Florence, which included more visuals and games that felt captivating. This Rome tour is long, and my husband and I enjoyed it immensely, but it felt overwhelming for our daughter, who needed to stop and rest, and who would have benefitted from more games or more engaging activities.

Brilliant tour. We saw all we wanted and more. Even better, it was paced for the kids and kept them interested throughout the whole tour. Lots of great suggestions and things to see. Great way to skip the queue's too, made it much easier with kids. One of the best tours we did!

So we decided to take our tour of Rome with a tour company entitled “Vatican Tours with Vera.” I can’t express enough how great this tour really turned out to be. It started off with our tour guide Thomas, an archaeologist here in Rome. I had no idea that this was a private tour. We were lucky to have Thomas all to ourselves. He was extremely knowledgeable, very nice and made us feel very welcomed. We learned an immense amount of history as a result of Thomas being our guide. He told us all about the history of the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Vatican Museum pieces, the Sistine Chapel, etc. Keep in mind this is a walking tour with the exception of the drive from Rome to the Vatican. Make sure that you wear some comfy shoes and bring some money for lunch and the cab ride to the Vatican. Everything else was included and because of Thomas’ relationship at these historical places, we were fast tracked into everything! For the money that we paid, this was an absolute steal. I highly recommend this to a company and this particular tour.

Let me start this by saying our trip began three weeks ago and in that time we have been many beautiful places including Geneva, Cinque Terre and Florence. Out of all those places and experiences this was at the top. Vera was lovely. Her knowledge and passion of culture and history come out in the way she eloquently teaches about the highlights of the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. She points out fascinating things you would otherwise miss if you were just exploring solo or with a larger group. She let's you know all of the amazing things to pay attention to and gives you brief history lessons on why they are imprtant. I cannot speak highly enough about this tour and would recommend Vera to anybody interested in touring the Vatican. Don't go without her!

Perhaps the best compliment we could give Vera came from 16 year old Ms Brissie over dinner after finishing Vera's tour of the Vatican - "You know dad if I had a history teacher like her I would have really enjoyed it". For enjoy we did. The vatican isn't supposed to be crowded in winter - right ? Hmm - on 28 December 2014 it was packed but we had Vera on our side. Not knowing much (anything) about art we left it to Vera as to what we saw. When I look back on it she gave us a linear history of the development of Michaelangelo in sculpture and art leading to a wonderful explanation of the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica including the Pieta. One important point in Vera's favour was that she didn't try to do too much - an impossibility that would have ruined things. Perhaps sensing the attention spans of 3 teenagers she explained things of significance about Michaelangelo ( and some others) but didn't try to overdo what we saw. There was no rush and no hurry and everything was explained; we even managed to time things to see the changing of the Swiss Guard. Inevitably cheerful and polite ( except for the large obnoxious person trying to push in front of us in a line who firstly got what I suspect was a pointed blast in Italian and when that didn't work Vera's friendliness towards a security guard did !) we had a wonderful afternoon with Vera. Go with Vera - you won't regret it.

Vera took my father, myself and family friend for a private tour of the Vatican. She adjusted our tour when she noticed my 88 year old father was having some problems which we greatly appreciated. She took the time to provide interesting details on the history and significance of what we were seeing including images and back story. I highly recommend her for your tour of the Vatican.

This was my second tour of the Vatican Museum. The first one a few years ago was very good, but Vera took it to a new level. Her knowledge of not only the art but also the artist was amazing. She knew the history and back stories that makes the art come alive. You don't have to be an art lover to enjoy this experience. Vera is light hearted and funny. She made the day very enjoyable. Thank you Vera!

We had a wonderful visit to the colosseum and forum with Veira. She's not just a charming tour guide but also a natural teacher and successfully engaged our whole family, including two boys aged 3 and 13. Her entertaining stories and visual aids really brought the roman ruins to life. Our tour with Veira was a real highlight of our trip to Rome.

Vera took us on well informed walking tours of the Vatican Museum; private tour of the Sistine Chapel (I had goose bumps) St. Peter's Basilica. My adult children loved her. SHe was bright, intelligent, well informed, spoke great english and we booked her the second day for a tour of the Forum. When we left it was like leaving a family member! We hugged and tears in our eyes....this was TWO years ago and Vera is on Facebook with us and we love to stay in touch! What a wonderful way to see ROme with an italian friend like Vera. DO NOT hesitate to book with this gal! she is so worth it and you will have no regrets. Be friendly, light, cheery and follow her well and you will have all that back and more! Bella Vera!!! xo xo <3 Heidi from Richmond Hill Canada

I lucked up on the best tours while visiting Rome. Vera's Guided tour was a private tour of the Vatican Museum, St. Peters Basilica, and Sistine Chapel. She was timely and prompt. The tour was VERY personalized and detailed. Vera was/is a very knowledgeable guide. We enjoyed her personality. I have the gift of knowing much more than I ever thought I'd know about the Vatican, museum and the surrounding areas. I try not to gush over tour guides but Vera was brilliant. She kept our interest and the three hours passed so quickly that we didn't realize the time had gone. I would recommend Vera's Private Guided Tours and if I ever return to Rome, I would definitely sign up for her tour again.

We only had one day in Rome so it was very important we had someone who knew Rome inside and out to show us around. We couldn't have been more pleased with Viera. She met us at the Colesium a 9:30am for a 3 hour easy walking tour. Since no one in our party spoke Italian and we didn't want to wear headphones the entire day, it was a thrill to hear how great she spoke our English language! The sites were beautiful and her knowledge about the history was so interesting. Our 3 hour tour flew by. Viera then recommended a wonderful (must go) place for lunch L'Insatala Ricca Ristorante. By this point my camera battery died and Viera offered the use of her ipad to capture our Vatican 3 hour tour. I cannot say enough about the true beauty and awe you have during this 3 hour tour!!!! If you want to see Rome in a day, we would highly recommend doing it with Viera.

Vera's depth and breadth of knowledge, her ability to communicate her passion for her subject, and her feel for her audience make ancient Rome come to life. She uses the current ruins as a (albeit incredibly impressive) canvas, on which to paint a vast array of fascinating stories which beatifully illustrate the splendour of the sights that one is seeing. I cannot recommend an investment in a few hours of Vera's time highly enough, if you really want to get the most out of a visit to Rome.

With limited time in Rome, I decided that rather than spending a day trying to travel to Pompeii and back that the best alternative was to have a comprehensive tour of Ostia Antica. To my joy, comprehensive it was indeed! The booking was easy to make, the instructions simple and straightforward. We came with cameras and our good walking shoes. Our guide, Vera was terrific. She asked questions to ensure that we saw everything she could show us. Her knowledge of Ostia Antica and the history was fabulous and she imparted all of this most articulately. Vera was so pleasant to walk around with too, a little like finding a new friend. The joy of doing this tour was that it made the whole place come alive and it was so wonderful to be able to clearly visualise what would have been taking place in each of the locations Vera showed us; I think Vera's enthusiasm and passion was very contagious! I thought this was clearly one of our most outstanding adventures and that has to be thanks to Vera.

We chose this tour company based on other Trip Advisor reviews. We've learned that TA is an excellent resource, and this tour provided that fact once again. As honeymooners we wanted a private tour of the Vatican, complete with relevant art history knowledge as well as historical knowledge. Vera, our tour guide, was well versed in all of this, and beyond. She knew her way around, knew some of the staff, and was very relaxed and friendly in her presentation. Her knowledge and personality were both greatly appreciated. Four hours with a tour guide could be exhausting, but with Vera we felt very comfortable!

Two of the three members of our group had taken a Vatican tour several years ago with a large tour company. We were hoping for a better experience this time and we were not disappointed. Our personal tour guide Vera was enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and charming. She gave us a lecture on the Sistine Chapel using her iPad as a teaching tool at the beginning of our tour. This was invaluable in helping us know what to look for and allowed us to ask questions before entering the always crowded chapel. Vera had a knack for navigating our group of three through the Vatican museums and finding spots where we could talk quietly as she directed our attention to a particular work of art. In our past experience with a large tour group we were always straining to hear the guide who was talking over the heads of dozens of people. I cannot emphasize enough how different it was to have a knowledgeable and savvy guide like Vera at our side. We would recommend this tour company, and Vera in particular, to anyone who is looking for a serious Vatican tour experience.