ITALY - Best of Europe 2014 - page 912

with all ages ( [e-mail] ) . Italian-American Sean Finelli, known as “The
Roman Guy,” offers several walking tours and a trip-planning service
( www.theromanguy.com ).
Walking-Tour Companies
Rome has many highly competitive tour companies, each offering a series of themed walks
through various slices of Rome. Three-hour guided walks generally cost €25-30 per per-
son. Guides are usually native English speakers, often American expats. Tours are limited to
small groups, geared to American tourists, and given in English only. I've listed some here,
but without a lot of details on their offerings. Before your trip, spend some time on these
companies' websites to get to know your options, as each company has a particular teaching
andguidingpersonality.Somearehighbrow,andothersarelessscholarly.It'ssometimes re-
quired, and always smart, to book a spot in advance (easy online). I must add that we get a
lot of negative feedback on some of these tour companies. Readers report that their advert-
ising can be misleading, and scheduling mishaps are common.
Context Rome's walking tours are more intellectual than most, designed for travelers
with longer-than-average attention spans. They are more expensive than others and are
led by “docents” rather than guides (tel. [phone], US tel. [phone],
www.contextrome.com ). Enjoy Rome offers a number of different walks and a website
filled with helpful information (Via Marghera 8a, tel. [phone], www.enjoyrome.com ,
[e-mail] ). Rome Walks has put together several particularly creative itiner-
aries (mobile [phone], www.romewalks.com , [e-mail] , Annie). Roman
Odyssey gives readers of this topic a discount on their walks (tel. [phone], mobile
328-912-3720, www.romanodyssey.com , Rahul). Through Eternity offers travelers with
this topic a discount on most tours; book through their website and enter the promotion-
al code “RICKSTEVES” for the best discount (tel. [phone], mobile [phone],
www.througheternity.com , [e-mail] , Rob). Walks of Italy has fun
guides who lead a variety of good walks for groups no bigger than 12 people at a time
(discount for readers of this topic, US tel. [phone], Italian mobile [phone],
www.walksofitaly.com , Jason Spiehler).
Hop-on, Hop-off Bus Tours
Several different agencies, including the ATAC public bus company, run hop-on, hop-off
tours around Rome. These tours are constantly evolving and offer varying combinations of
sights. You can grab one (and pay as you board) at any stop; Termini Station and Piazza
Venezia are handy hubs. Although the city is perfectly walkable and traffic jams can make
the bus dreadfully slow, these open-top bus tours remain popular.