Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter Basilica

Valentina had so much art history and knowledge to share with us-we really loved our tour and would have happily done others with her had we more time!

I booked this tour for my son and his friends. They just returned home and were thrilled with this experience! Valentina was very personable and knowledgeable, and let them ask a lot of questions. This tour was one of the top highlights of their whole two week trip to Italy. Great tour!

Dale R.United States

My wife along with my best friend and his wife have enjoyed many private tours through ToursByLocals in numerous countries over the years, and without hesitation we would rank Valentina among the very best guides we have ever had. We spent two separate three-hour tours with Valentina in Rome—one exploring the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica, and the other discovering the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. Both experiences were exceptional. Valentina is remarkably intelligent, extraordinarily knowledgeable, and a gifted communicator. Her Ph.D. in Art History was evident throughout both tours, but what impressed us most was her ability to bring Rome's history, art, architecture, and people to life in a way that was engaging, understandable, and memorable. She has a true passion for her subject matter, and that enthusiasm made every moment enjoyable. The depth of information she shared about the Vatican treasures, Michelangelo, Raphael, Ancient Rome, and the fascinating stories behind the monuments greatly enriched our visit. We learned far more than we could have from guidebooks or group tours, and her explanations helped us appreciate many artistic and historical details that we otherwise would have missed. Valentina was also warm, personable, patient, and attentive to our interests. She tailored the experience to our pace and made us feel like valued guests rather than tourists. Our time with Valentina was one of the highlights of our visit to Rome. She transformed two outstanding tours into unforgettable experiences. We recommend her enthusiastically and offer our sincere thanks for helping make our Roman holiday so enjoyable and meaningful.

Valentina knows her stuff. She’s very knowledgeable but honestly all the guides should be knowledgeable. Here’s how Valentina stands out above the rest. 1. She’s very easy to understand. She shares enough information but not too much that you are feeling like you’re in a college lecture every few minutes. But she can go deep! Ask her anything about what you’re seeing and she can roll. 2. She moves like a ninja. Weaving through crowds, finding ways to avoid crowds, getting you to the best vantage points while keeping things light and comfortable. 3. Changing up your itinerary on the fly based on crowds and what we wanted to see. She’s not tied to an itinerary, she was there to serve us. Valentina was fantastic. We feel like we made a friend.

The tour was reasonable but the guide did not advise us to get tickets to the Vatican in advance (despite a much earlier booking) and therefore we were stuck paying for very expensive entry tickets through a third party as we were unaware this would be an issue. In addition, we did not see all we bought tickets for- this was due to unreasonable lines- but the guide did not use that time to educate us in any way which would have partially made up for the loss. Despite not getting in to St Peter's or hearing anything about it, we were stuck paying for her unused ticket in addition to our own.

Excellent tour. Highly recommend Valentina.