Christianity In The Ancient Rome Private Tour

We traveled with our 13 year old grandson, it was his first time to Italy. The drivers and guides were excellent! Prompt, courteous and professional. Our guide Paola for the Colosseum was so knowledgeable. Our guide, a different Paola for Pompeii was so great interacting with our grandson and so passionate sharing her knowledge. I am a travel agent in the U.S. and I am so confident when I book my clients with Rome Private Excursions that they will receive top notch, personalized service. The BEST!

Cris was an absolute delight as a guide; very friendly, extremely knowledgeable and very accommodating to deal with my wife’s disability and mobility issues- highly recommended

It was good for a general tour - but he didn't bother actually doing the things listed in the itinerary. I suspect tour places throw up huge numbers of "tours" then just do one generic one - and then when they get a bad review the remove that one and move on. Oh well. Not recommended if you actually want a Christian tour.

My husband and I enjoyed this tour immensely. Our tour guide Max was so impressively knowledgeable. This is a seven hour tour and well worth the price. Not only was this a history lesson, it was a spiritual Christian journey through the centuries. I would definitely recommend this tour as one of the best we have experienced.

Do not let the cost prevent you from a wonderful experience. First time coming to Rome and I have a seminary degree in theology. Our driver Max , was great. Engaging personality, extremely knowledgeable of both the city and Christian Catholicism. We were able to see so much Church history. If you have a day in Rome, this is one experience you do not want to miss. I would rebook it the next time I am in town with new people.

It was a wonderful experience! Fun, educational, and delicious restaurant! Cris is wonderful!

We had an overwhelmingly meaningful tour. Our tour guide, Massimo, acted as our docent, and all of Rome’s history was our “museum”. He picked us up on time at our hotel in a spacious, air-conditioned van, and delivered us to the Vatican Museum entrance. On the drive, he summarized the history of Rome’s founding and development through the birth of the Christ. He delivered us safely (no small feat in Rome’s weekday morning traffic) to our Vatican guide, Christiano. Christiano, too, was a font of knowledge. The Vatican museum tour visits a subset of the Vatican’s immense collection, and is still overwhelming. We had about 30 minutes in the one air-conditioned space… the Sistine Chapel. Wow. Just… wow. The Vatican tour concluded with about 30 minutes in Saint Peter’s Basilica. We devoted much of that to observing the sarcophagus of Saint Peter (and many other Popes, ancient and contemporary) under the Basilica’s nave. After our tour of the Vatican, Massimo drove us towards the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Wall, which contains his sarcophagus. Massimo continued with the history of Rome’s persecution of the early Church, it’s establishment as the state religion, and its role after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Along the way, he introduced us to “Alice”, a prominent “pizza by weight” format that had delicious and beautifully crispy thin crust pizza. I wish the USA had that format. We had about 30 minutes at Saint Paul’s before continuing to our final stop, the Catacombs. The most poignant part of this 1900 year old plot of land were the infant-sized niches. The Catacombs tour took about 45 minutes and covered its history and role in the early Christian Church. Massimo was very good with our kids (ages 10 and 7) and a delightful tour guide. His departing comment: “We could do this daily for two weeks and only scratch the surface of what Rome has to offer.” And he is so right! Our tour was in June, so water consumption is crucial. There are fountains at every stop, so be sure to bring a bottle with you!

Knowing from past experience that the best way to see Rome is by private driving excursion, we were looking for a company that could show us the Rome of the Early Christians. Luckily we found Rome Private Excursions. Luca and Team were 5 stars from start to finish! From my initial inquiry, to multiple emails answering all my questions, to ease of reservation, payment and confirmation; it was all very prompt, efficient and cordial. By the time the tour came around, I felt that I was friends with everyone on the Team. The icing on the cake was the day with our guide, Massimo (Max). He was amazing in his knowledge on a level that far exceeded what we could have hoped for. We saw churches and catacombs that were full of history and miracles. Max made our time in Rome so very special and something we will remember forever. Many thanks to you all.

This was an amazing tour. One of our favorite for the week. Getting to see where Peter and Paul spent time and understating better how Christianity came to Rome was very powerful. Our guide was wonderful and we learned so much! Highly recommend!

Outstanding full day tour with a private driver and guide for the Vatican including the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica and key sites in ancient Rome. Ended with a tour of the Catacombs. Extremely knowledgeable guide Maria and driver Michael. Highly recommend

One of the best tours we took while in Rome! Max was the best guide, very informative and willing to help in every way. Very knowledgeable of the Christian catholic history in Rome and surrounding areas. If we are able to come back we will book more time with him. We booked our tour with Luca through romeprivateexcursions.com He made it a very easy process and was very accommodating.

We had a wonderful time on our private tour of Rome. John was an outstanding guide, knowledgeable, friendly and flexible. He was easy to engage with and did all he could to make our day enjoyable. Highly recommend!

It was excellent we had an excellent driver, and we learned so much and so so much in such as she would be ahead of time

Most excellent. Simple and organized. Great information We got to pick where we wanted to go and our driver Max was super about tailoring the trip to what we wanted.

We had a Mediterranean Cruise booked with Royal Caribbean and decided to book our excursions on our own. We did some research and landed on Rome Private Excursions for our day in Rome. We are so glad we did! It was by far one of the highlights of our trip. Mani was our guide and he was the best! We took in all the major sites of Rome, plus some additional ones that relate to our Christian faith. It was most definitely a day that we will remember forever!

This tour is great if you want an outstanding experience visiting important locations of Early Christianity in Rome. Very friendly tour guide (Max). Highly recommend!!!

Max was the most knowledgeable guide we’ve ever had in any place around the world. He shared his vast knowledge in a concise yet detailed manner. He was able to answer our many questions and knew how to maneuver around the city and be creative with parking. I highly recommend this tour.

This Tour was amazing ! He was an archaeologist and professor! The guide was wonderful and had such knowledge of history and the early Christianity in Rome ! I don't know how would would visit rome and not take this tour! Will worth it , I will never forget all the special places he took us !

We had a great time it was amazing trip around Rome. Our driver was excellent room was amazing. The people were great. The food was good.

Guide was amazing! Friendly, knowledgeable and willing to do what we wanted. Very glad we got our guide!

Awesome experience made better by Rome Private Excursions (RPE). Driver picked us up on time right at our apartment and drove us around. Drooped us off at the Vatican for an avoid the lines inside tour of the Vatican museum and Sistine chapel. The tour guide was amazingly knowledgeable about all facets. She was also energetic and funny. Based on our questions, she had no problem providing detailed information on any topic. I would use RPE again in a heartbeat

Rome, private excursions was the company that my wife and I used for three days. We saw every conceivable site, including a private tour of the Vatican in that time. Our driver was extremely fluent in English and showed us things that we would never have seen without his guidance. we had often on Weather, but it really didn’t make any difference to us as we toured all these special sites. I would totally recommend using this company at any time.

Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and responsive to our interests. We visited well known and important sites as well as lesser known compelling sites that would have been difficult to navigate on our own. The visit far exceeded our expectations. Highly recommend!

Visiting the Church of Domine Quo Vadis was so sobering! According to the story, Peter walked the Appian Way, fleeing persecution, where he had a vision of Jesus Christ. In this vision Peter asked Jesus "Quo vadis?" to which He replied, "Romam vado iterum crucifigi" ("I am going to Rome to be crucified again"). According to tradition, Peter returned to Rome after this vision and was crucified upside down, a manner that would have been reverential but not taking meaning away from what our savior did.

This was a highlight of our trip to Rome. Highly recommend for anyone looking for an in-depth tour with an extremely knowledgeable historian as your guide. The tour is Christian centric but I think anyone interested in history would enjoy. Max was so knowledgeable but also explained things to us at our level and showed us out of the way places that no travel guides featured. Wonderful tour!

Tour was fabulous. So much history! Guide was extremely knowledgeable, very friendly, and absolutely great!

The whole tour was amazing. We have done several tours but this tour with Max was by far the best. Max was absolutely awesome, personable, and knowledgeable. He even stopped and showed us some of the plants-capers, bay leaf bushes etc…. I would suggest if you do this tour buying the book Rome reconstructed. It’s a visual flip book that shows the ruins today compared to what they were back- he showed it to us and it really help out it into reality. It’s a little expensive but worth every penny.

This was a great tour. Our tour guide Manny is about the most professional guide you'll meet. You'll see Christian artifacts that are quite interesting and can only be seen here in Rome. Be prepared to be blown away with this private tour!

Our guide and driver The Professor was very knowledgeable and personable. We also enjoyed the benefits of a ver smallTour group. He tools to many off the beaten path sight each one was marvelous. We enjoyed a fabulous lunch as well!!

We had a lovely day with Antonio. He met us at our door for pick up and did an amazing job of taking care of us all day long. He was knowledgeable and clearly loves Rome. He tailored the day to what we desired to see. Would highly recommend.

Thank you, Luca Orlandi and your team at Rome Private Excursions, for collecting up all our crazy list of ‘want to do’s and making it happen! They didn’t miss a bit. With only one week to visit we never felt rushed but were able to be present to each moment, with many delightful extras added in! Exploring Castel Gondolfo then on to Rome’s Appian Way, Catacombs, Church of Quo Vadis, the footsteps of St. Paul…to touring the Colosseum & Roman Forum with Maria Laura, followed by an afternoon at Campo de Fiori, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps, all while pointing out so many amazing sites along the way. Rome Private Excursions gave us the chance to travel across Italy to see the countryside, instead of speeding by train. Our drive took us through different towns, different regions, with the varied landscapes. And with our driver, Manny, we were able to find out more of what we were seeing, to be able to appreciate even more the people and all the work that makes Italy such a beautiful country. Stopping in at the castle town of Ferrara then onto our stay in Bologna, he made sure that all we were hoping to take in was realized. And then onto Venice. I am really very grateful to Luca and Rome Private Excursions for offering this drive. They delivered us through the maze of travelers so that we could purchase tickets to Venice. During our stay there, their tour guide Sara shared the unique history of Venice, life in Venice today, and guided us through St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace. Her depth of knowledge, her love for her home, her willingness to open up her world to us, gave to us, like Luca has to Rome, and Maria Laura has to sites she shared with us, and Manny has to the Italian countryside, made us feel not like strangers waundering through but like friends coming home. Thank you to each of you. Can’t wait to come back to Italy … with Rome Private Excursions.

The guide was amazing. He was very knowledgeable. He was super nice. He took us to a bunch of sites.

Manny was our tour guide and wow! there wasn't any question that I threw at him that he didn't have a detailed answer for. Literally, he knew dates, and stories and locations.. truly a wealth of information. We gave him an overview of what we were looking for and then allowed him to choose our destinations (as it was our first time in the city). He didn't disappoint and took us to places that we didn't even know existed. Some were super popular locations, some off the beaten path and outside the touristy stuff, but we were blown away by all. He took us to places that are not on your typical tour guide itinerary but more local flares that were beautiful. If you hire this company, ask for Manny!

The tour was terrific. Our guide (Manny) tailored to tour to what we wanted to see! He was extremely knowledgeable and friendly and he spoke great English!

We had an outstanding tour. The places were all very memorable and our guide Iovanni was very knowledgable and made the tour very interesting for everyone.

As someone who knows very little about the history of Ancient Rome but loves the Faith, this was perfect. Luca provided a charismatic education about the city which brought it to life. I learned so much that just inspired me to learn more and to fall in love with the city.

My advice - if there is anything at all you are considering splurging on when you visit Rome, then make it a tour with Massimo! He was overflowing with enthusiasm, knowledge, and perspective. My wife and I were instantly put at ease with him from right when he stepped out of the van to say hello. He took us to key spots, entertained our spur of the moment requests, and kept us focused so we accomplished everything set out for our time together. When considering if you want to spend the money - do you want to go on 5 different, half-baked tours with a massive group or have 1 complete day with a new friend who is complete focused on your questions, interests, and needs? My wife and I agree - our best time in Italy was with Massimo and Rome Private Excursions!

We had Max as our guide, he was great! He was a good driver, spoke excellent English, and best of all he was so knowledgeable. Everything we saw was very important to Christianity, yet we would never have found on our own. We all truly enjoyed our day and learned so much. Definitely recommend!!

I loved being picked up and dropped off at the hotel and the private tour of the city and St. Paul and Peter and our tour guide was very nice. I cannot stand nor walk for long periods of time. This private tour allowed me to experience the scenic view drive,and minimum walking.

Was a great tour, John Cedrone, pointed out amazing facts and gave great insights. The artifacts and areas we visited were beyond compare. Highly recommend

Excellent guide and very knowledgeable of his home, Rome. It was my first time in Rome, my partner's 12th time and we both saw things we had never seen and likely wouldn't have on our own. Fantastic introduction to Rome filled with profound insight. Great way to see the city as well as we covered a very large area by car. And to top it off, we were brought to maybe the best Gelataria in the city!!!

This was one of the best tours we’ve ever done. Our guide, John, was both personable and knowledgeable. We saw and learned so much and are grateful to him for his service. (Please note that the visit was a mother daughter trip, both adults, but that was not an option for selecting the type of visit.)

Our guide, John, was great, and let us personalize what we would like to see. We were only in Rome for 24 hours so he made sure to take us to any important spots we had missed, even if they were not a part of the original tour. On an extremely hot day, I can't think of a better way to see Rome than in an air conditioned, private van (getting out as we wanted.) As may be expected, this tour did have a Catholic emphasis.

Our tour guide was John. We communicated by text and moved our pickup time to 9am without any trouble. (Nice being picked up at your hotel). Huge comfortable/nice vehicle. He tailored our day to what we were most interested in (seeing exact location of where apostle Peter and Paul were crucified/beheaded, etc.) He would take us to unique locations that other tourists weren't always visiting b/c they didn't know the history... but John DID and he blew our minds away with all of his knowledge. He wouldn't own up to being a historian, but as Bible School professors/ministers, we felt he was amazing! He took us to a local/private restaurant for lunch that we all LOVED! We were never rushed and actually encouraged to see more even when our time was up because he was such a nice guy. We are already recommending this tour to dear friends. I normally don't leave reviews, but this one was worth the time.

We have been on many European vacations with various tour guides. MAX set a new excellence standard of tour guides. We started at our hotel and were whisked back in time to experience the life of Peter and Paul in chains while in Rome. We spent over 7 hours learning of the core of Christian beginnnings and ended with a trip to the Cattacombs to experience the persecution of the church and early Christians. The prior reviews of Max’s expertise were unstated. He personality and knowledge satisfied our curiosity and quest for history in a manner that we had never experienced before on any of our prior vacations/trips. Highly recommended....

We were extremely pleased with the personalized and detailed day. Our guide, Max, was very prepared and gave us so much history as we moved from place to place. We highly recommend this tour.

You know about St Peter's Basilica, but did you know St Paul was also executed and buried in Rome? Many who visit the eternal city may never visit Paul's Basilica, and if you're a historian or student of the Bible, you won't want to miss this tour!

<p>My wife said it was the best tour she has ever taken and our guide was the best. I would recommend this tour to anyone that goes to Rome. I would say to ask for our guide but I cannot remember his name.</p>

<p>I have always had a passion for reading and learning about religious history and what it teaches us about human nature. When I read about this tour and its focus on looking at early Christianity from a historical perspective, I was cautiously excited. Having been on the tour of the Vatican and taken other tours of religious sites in Rome, I find they focus way to much on reciting church doctrine and fail to give an accurate picture of early Christianity. </p> <p>This tour, by comparison, was led by an anthropologist and historian that is well-read and can help you better understand the context of what was going on in Rome during the early beginnings of Christianity and the conditions that led to the success of Christianity despite fluctuating tolerance and persecution from the Roman emperors at the time. Luca, my tour guide, helped separate historical facts from unprovable church legends.</p> <p>During the tour, you will visit multiple sites that teach about early Christianity including the Roman Forum and Mamertine Prison, Aventine Hill, the Basilica of St. Peter in Chains, the Christian Catacombs of St. Callixtus, the Appian Way, and St. Johns Ouside the Walls. Before visiting each location, you will get a briefing on each location and the context of the location to early Christianity which helps you put the official tours at each location into perspective since the guide cannot lead you at some of the locations due to local laws. </p> <p>In the end, I found the tour very enjoyable and my tour guide Luca was extremely smart about the topic. My one caution is that if you are looking for him to stricly align with your particular Christian church's teachings, this is probably the wrong tour for you. If you want to learn about the historical context of the rise of Christianity though, you will love it.</p>