HAL Med cruise - Rome tour
Pepi
wanted to see the Vatican museum, basilicas, ... Come to find out that the
day we'll be in Rome is a religious holiday and the vatican museums will be
closed so the HAL tour that goes to the vatican is cancelled. However, we
would still like to go to the vatican, just for exterior sightseeing but
there is no tour offered by HAL to do this.
Does anybody knows tour operators in Rome ?? Will we be able to sightsee on
our own ??
will really appreciate any responses. thanks!
Dennis
We are going on the same cruise! Are you part of the Cruise Trek?
http://members.aol.com/cruisetrek/cruisetrek.html
We booked through them. We were told we have almost half the ship!
We (5 of us - friends) were also dissapointed that many tours are
not operating while our ship is in those ports.
We are just transfering to Rome and sightseeing on our own. People
we have talked to say that Rome is easy to get around. Please know
that once you reach Vatican, you have to walk 30 to 40 min to reach
such places as the Sistine chapel. In other words, it seems unlikely
we can visit the Vatican AND visit the other Rome highlights.
We will see you on board!! We are goin to Barcelona a couple days
early to get used to the time change.
Bye from Connecticut -
Dennis
-----------------------------------------
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Philip & Karen Selwyn
>
> However, we would still like to go to the vatican, just for exterior
> sightseeing but there is no tour offered by HAL to do this.
> Does anybody knows tour operators in Rome ??
Great walking tour organization: Scala Reale
I cannot say enough wonderful things about Scala Reale. Before we went,
we knew the words translated to mean "Royal Ladder" and, frankly, we
didn't know what that was supposed to convey. However, we learned that
scala reale is an architectural term which means full scale and that
describes these tours quite well. The guides connected with this
organization are all experts in a pertinent field; they are practicing
architects, classics experts who are working on their doctorates, and
the like.
We went on three tours with three different guides. We ended each tour
with a feeling of admiration for each Scala Reale guide's scholarship
and gratitude he/she could share his/her sophisticated knowledge in such
a pleasant and accessible way.
We went on all three semi-private tours: one focuses on the Vatican, one
on Roman Rome and one on Roman through Renaissance Rome in the center of
the city. Each tour lasts approximately three and half hours has a
miximum number of six participants.
There is also a two-hour orientation tour which costs nothing beyond
Scala Reale's one-time registration fee. We didn't go on that one. Given
our schedule, it would have occurred after the more focused tours.
Although it covers material not in the three basic tours, we gave it a
pass. We needed a sit-in-the-piazza-browse-in-the-shops day after two
weeks of intensive touring.
Scala Reale's web site is as follows:
http://www.scalareale.org/srprices.html
Incidentally, Scala Reale allows you to prepay in US dollars by sending
a check to a US address. If you don't pre-pay, then payment is in Lira
cash.
I'm sure you've figured out we were not on a cruise when we used Scala
Reale's services. I've posted this full report in case other cruisers
are beginning or ending in Rome and want information about a great
walking tour organization. As for your specific problem, Scala Reale
will tailor a tour to individual specifications. It's more expensive
than the set six-person tours but if you're bound and determined to see
specific things in the limited time of a cruise port-call, this is the
way to go.
Hope this is useful information.
Karen Selwyn
Johnny
BATMAN FOREVER RULES THE NIGHT !
Go Fig
As I will be spending sometime this October in Tuscany... I picked this up off of
rec.travel.europe... Might be worth checking them out...
jay
Sun, Apr 30, 2000
mailto:go...@mac.com
> Have arranged day guides
> >through AmEx office previously--WONDERFUL. I want to get similar guide to
> >walk us around city and interperate significant historical and cultural
> >points. Any suggestions?
> >
>
> Here are three that have been highly recommended:
>
> Alfredo Peparini
>
> Office: 06/5195.7226
> Fax: 06/5195.7210
> cell phone: 0335/ 615.8431
> from outside Italy, drop the initial zero on the cell phone number only.
> Home: 06/ 561.3096
> cpep...@pelagus.it
>
> He not only knows Rome, but he is charming, funny, reasonable,accomodating
> and
> extremely knowledgeable. We've made a good friend in Alfredo. He's s given
> us
> a reason to return much sooner than we would have. We miss his sense of
> joy!
> Call him. You can't go wrong
> Alfredo <How much does it cost for Alfredo Peparini to take you on a tour
> of
> Rome? >drove us from/to the airport in Rome, partially because our last
> return
> flight left at 5:45 a.m. We chose to do our sightseeing on our own in
> Rome.
> He, however, steered us to two great family-run places to eat. He was a
> wonderful man. While I prefer to be on my own, if I were to rely on
> someone to
> take me around the town, Alfredo will be my choice. Please e-mail me if
> yoiu
> need his numbers.
> I am doing research for a trip to Rome next May and I came across the
> following
> tour guide on the internet: Tom Rankin, Scala Reale Architural Itineraries
> -
> does tours of Rome. E-mail address: t.ra...@agora.stm.it or
> http://www.agora.stm.it/cybertour/Scalreal.htm. I know nothing else but
> what I
> have gotten over the internet. Good luck!
>
>
> We just returned from a great trip to Rome, thanks, in part, to Scala
> Reale, an
> organization founded by a young American-trained (now Italian citizen)
> architect. Scala Reale conducts personalized (no more than 6 people)
> walking
> tours of various parts of the City as well as some all-day tours outside of
> Rome. We did a total of 3 of their half day tours and one all-day tour to
> Tivoli. Our guide for the day tour was the architect, mentioned above,
> and on the others, we had a young German woman, who spoke flawless
> English,
> and was working on her PhD in Art History for the University of
> Pennsylvania.
> Both were extraordinarily knowledgeable and very pleasant. Recommend it
> highly. They can be reached by E-Mail at scala...@mail.nexus.it
>
> Email p.k...@flashnet.it
> Tel/fax (06) 688 90532
>
> Peter Kilby is especially good for the artistic and historical Rome. He's
> an
> artist himself and somewhat of a history buff. He showed/told me things
> that
> I'm sure I would have missed by just reading a guide book.
> MHS
In article <390C70C2...@optonline.net>, Dennis <dgreen...@optonline.net>
wrote:
> Hi Pepi -
>
> We are going on the same cruise! Are you part of the Cruise Trek?
> http://members.aol.com/cruisetrek/cruisetrek.html
> We booked through them. We were told we have almost half the ship!
>
> We (5 of us - friends) were also dissapointed that many tours are
> not operating while our ship is in those ports.
>
> We are just transfering to Rome and sightseeing on our own. People
> we have talked to say that Rome is easy to get around. Please know
> that once you reach Vatican, you have to walk 30 to 40 min to reach
> such places as the Sistine chapel. In other words, it seems unlikely
> we can visit the Vatican AND visit the other Rome highlights.
>
> We will see you on board!! We are goin to Barcelona a couple days
> early to get used to the time change.
>
> Bye from Connecticut -
> Dennis
> -----------------------------------------
> please remove NOSPAM from e-mail to reply
>
> Pepi wrote:
> >
> > We just receive the documents for our cruise in May. First time in Rome,
> > wanted to see the Vatican museum, basilicas, ... Come to find out that
> > the
> > day we'll be in Rome is a religious holiday and the vatican museums will
> > be
> > closed so the HAL tour that goes to the vatican is cancelled. However,
> > we
> > would still like to go to the vatican, just for exterior sightseeing but
> > there is no tour offered by HAL to do this.
> > Does anybody knows tour operators in Rome ?? Will we be able to sightsee
> > on
> > our own ??
> > will really appreciate any responses. thanks!
--
Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."
TemReGuy
He/she will know what's open and should have brochures for all the
city's tours, sights, and prices. I've done this in several European
cities.