Classic Vatican

This is a fundamental tour focused on the most popular Vatican City’s attractions: the Sistine Chapel, the Michelangelo’s Pietà, the St. Peter’s Basilica, the St Peter’s square.
To go to the Sistine Chapel, to which a particular comment will be paid to outline its deep significance, we’ll walk through many corridors and rooms of the Vatican Museums that are fulfilled with sculptures, tapestries, painted walls, marble floors. We will be enchanted not only by the Sistine Chapel but also by the beauty and the history spread everywhere in the museums.
After the Sistine Chapel we will explore the basilica of St. Peter’s in the Vatican: the tomb of the saint, pillar of the Catholic Church, is under the main altar. The basilica is one of the most fascinating buildings ever, memorable for its stunning ornamentation, for the spectacular dome and for the famous Michelangelo’s Pietà, first masterpiece of the artist.
The tour will conclude in the celebrated porticoed square designed by Bernini and ornamented with 150 statues.

For the guest who wants to see more of the Vatican there are other options in “Your Vatican”.

City Wonders

Roman churches are like the rooms of a free museum, rooms filled with exquisite architecture, precious marbles, ornate chapels, and of course, amazing sculptures and works of art. It’s a pity that quite a number of them are neglected. In this tour I recall four least-visited masterpieces housed in four different churches that are definitely worth seeing.
The Michelangelo’s Moses, housed in the basilica of S. Peter in chains, carved by the artist for the tomb of pope Julius II; the Ecstasy of St Teresa, in the church of St Maria della Vittoria, considered to be a paradigm of baroque art due to the genius of Bernini; the Contarelli Chapel, in the church of S. Luigi of the French, where for the first time Caravaggio shocked the artistic circles of the city showing his new revolutionary style; the Tempietto, in the church of S. Peter in Montorio, the first perfect example of renaissance architecture in Rome.
An exciting tour for art lovers.

Tivoli Fountains

I’ll pick you up dockside and from Civitavecchia we’ll drive to the little hill side town of Tivoli, in the Rome’s surroundings.
Tivoli has an intact medieval core and two major sites: the ancient villa of the Emperor Hadrian and the renaissance Villa D’Este, a villa built by a cardinal who had great aspiration to become a pope.
We’ll start visiting the impressive ruins of Hadrian’s Villa, where natural beauty and architectural creativity blend together in a magic place. 
Then we’ll go ahead to the centre of the town to have a walk through the narrow streets and visit Villa D’Este where we enjoy the celebrated gardens ornamented with more than 200 fountains.
Stop of your choice for a restaurant, a slice of pizza, an ice cream or a drink.

Cerveteri

If you like to spend just few hours touring a peaceful area not far from Civitavecchia harbor, here is a relaxing tour: we’ll go looking for the main features of the secret and rich Etruscans, a pre-Roman population of central Italy that was one of the roots of the civilization of Rome.

I’ll pick you up dockside and from Civitavecchia we’ll drive shortly to the little village of Cerveteri to explore a perfectly preserved necropolis with tombs based on the homes of the inhabitants and pay a visit to its little museum where we’ll appreciate the elevated economic and social status of this aristocratic society who really had a great influence on the formation of the ancient roman culture.

Lunch of your choice.

Classical Statues

Roma has plenty of collections of classical statues. Each of these collections is worth of a dedicated visit, but if you are fond of sculpture and short of time this tour could be a very interesting option for you.

In this tour i propose to visit 3 of the most celebrated roman archaeological museums: the Capitolini Museums, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Centrale Montemartini.

While we are seeking for the masterpieces of the collections we’ll be taken in the particular atmosphere that each of these museums evokes because of its peculiar architecture. In the meantime the past of the classical civilization will be re-enacted by statues of gods, heroes, emperors, important figures and ordinary people.

We’ll explore one of the most significant heritage of the Ancient Rome!

Famous Paintings

Roma has plenty of aristocratic palaces that house prestigious collections of renaissance and baroque paintings.

Of course each of these picture collections is worth of a dedicated visit, but if you are fond of classic paintings and short of time this tour could be a very interesting option for you.

In this tour i propose to visit 3 of the most celebrated painting galleries: the Capitoline Picture Gallery, the Barberini Palace Gallery, the Doria-Pamphilj Gallery.

We’ll enter these monumental residences where once princes, cardinals and popes lived, re-enacting the history of the buildings and seeking for the most significant artworks of the collections.

The Vatican

This is a fundamental tour focused on the most popular Vatican City’s attractions: the Sistine Chapel, to which a particular comment will be paid to be able to understand its deep significance, the Michelangelo’s Pietà, first masterpiece of the artist, the St. Peter’s Basilica, breathtaking for its stunning ornamentation.

Being the Sistine Chapel located inside the buildings of the Vatican Museums that once were the palaces of the popes, we’ll have a good opportunity to explore the rooms, the corridors and the courtyards ornamented by the popes over a five centuries time period: we’ll be enchanted and amazed by precious marbles, ancient statues, mosaics, tapestries, stuccoes, frescoes, before we enter the Sistine Chapel to enjoy the most famous painting cycle in the world.
Then we’ll walk inside the St. Peter’s Basilica, the tomb of St. Peter is under the main altar: here, besides the Michelangelo’s Pietà, we’ll see artworks of extraordinary beauty and many tombs of popes.

The tour will conclude in the celebrated marble porticoed square designed by Bernini and ornamented with 150 statues.

Ancient Rome 2: Once Upon a Time

In this tour we’ll visit 4 majors of the Ancient Rome: the famous archaeological area known as the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill where the city was first established and the Imperial Palace was built, the Colosseum where gladiator fights and wild beast hunts were performed, the Circus Maximus where the chariot racing used to take place.

Exploring the area we’ll go over the history of the Ancient Rome and the main periods of its unique development from its foundation as a small city-state to the times it was the capital of the largest empire ever known .
Some of the monuments we’ll see in this tour: the Colosseum, the Arch of Titus, the Arches of triumph of Constantine and Septimius Severus, the Basilica of Maxentius, the Curia of the Forum (Roman Senate), the Imperial Palace, the Romulus Huts, and maybe the house of Augustus and the House of the Vestals (these are open only on certain days).

How could the tour’s duration be extended?
Paying a quick visit to the Capitoline Museum (tickets) to supplement the ancient monuments with the original equestrian statue of Marc Aurelius (absolute masterpiece), together with some of the major Capitoline bronzes and with the ruins of the temple of the god Jupiter.
Also, always in order to enlarge the experience of the Ancient Rome, we may add the visit of the Pantheon (no ticket), one of the best-preserved of all Roman buildings.

Shopping

This is a tour for those guests  who consider the style of dress a real pleasure of our time and want to experience the shopping the way the Romans do.
Following your interest a professional shopper will take you in and out the appropriate shops, those ones where the Romans go to buy their high quality clothing, sometimes saving some money, sometimes finding a special item, always having fun.
High fashion, local designers, vintage collections, casual wear, special price shops, outlet markets, whatever is your preference you will get to know the great and charming world of the authentic roman shopping.

Medieval Cities

I’ll pick you up dockside and from Civitavecchia we’ll drive to Orvieto, crossing a green countryside characterized with well-maintained fields, farms, cypress-lined driveways. On the way, we’ll stop off to see Civita di Bagnoregio: built atop a peak rising high above a vast canyon ruled by wind and erosion it looks unreal and really worth of seeing.

Soon after the hill town of Orvieto will show sitting majestically on a cliff of volcanic rock.

We’ll spend the day here visiting the fantastic cathedral, with a vivid façade and a must-see chapel inside, and strolling around monumental buildings, medieval houses and alleyways.

We’ll do window-shopping and enjoy a light lunch of your choice, of course tasting the local wine

Rome

Here you find 3 proposals to see the major landmarks of the city:

A

I’ll pick you up dockside and from Civitavecchia we’ll drive to Rome where I’ll be with you visiting the Sistine Chapel and the Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Then we’ll spend time driving around the usual sites such as the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, etc.

A break for a light lunch will be up to you, as to do some shopping as well.
B
I’ll pick you up dockside and from Civitavecchia we’ll drive to Rome where I’ll be with you visiting the Sistine Chapel and the Saint Peter’s Basilica.

After a break for a light lunch of your choice we’ll explore the Coliseum.

If time allows we’ll fit more sites in our tour.
C

I’ll pick you up dockside and from Civitavecchia we’ll drive to Rome where I’ll be with you exploring the Roman Forum and the Coliseum.

The rest of the day will be dedicated to the highlights of the city centre such as the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps etc.

A break for a light lunch will be up to you, as to do some shopping as well.

Villa Farnesina

Let’s visit Villa Farnesina, one of the noblest and most harmonious building of the Renaissance. Famous for its frescoes, it was the residence of the rich banker Agostino Chigi, great patron of art of his time and great client of Raphael, who painted here the marvellous “Galatea”.
Extending the tour, it would be also interesting to visit the Chigi Chapel, another Raphael’s work, where Agostino Chigi was buried.

Saint Angel Castle

Let’s visit a monument that changed many times during the centuries and it’s considered one of the most emblematic buildings of Rome.
Built originally by the emperor Hadrian as his own imperial Mausoleum, soon became the stronghold to control the city and in the Middle Ages took the name Saint Angel Castle; in the Renaissance was a papal fortress, then a political prison, eventually a place for capital executions until 1870.
Nowadays it’s a museum where the long history of the Eternal City written by the emperors, popes, aristocracy, roman people goes back to life; a building to which the engineering “know how” of the Romans and the creative elegance of the renaissance artists had given a style definitely unique.
The tour ends up to the huge “terrace of the angel” that offers a breathtaking panoramic view of the city.

Caravaggio

During the early decades of the 1600s, the realistic style of Caravaggio upsets the artistic circles in Rome and influences the style of painting of the European artists.
A controversial artist when he was alive, today all the scholars agree his art stands alone in its quality and originality. Rome contains a large selection of his works, visible inside churches and museums.
In this tour we focus specifically on Caravaggio’s work that lies in the places that they were originally created for: we will see the celebrated series of Saint Matthew in the church of St Luigi de’ Francesi, the Pilgrim’s Madonna in the church of St Agostino and the Cerasi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo.
We will be extremely involved in the dramatic spirituality of Caravaggio but also will discover many other splendid works of art.

Rome after 1870

Rome begun to be modernized after 1870, when it became the capital city of the Kingdom of Italy.
At that moment, when the pope stopped to be the king of Rome, the Eternal City started to be ruled by the Savoia family till the end of WWII.
To understand where new streets and new monuments were built to show the new roman leadership and how Rome changed its look of old city into a modern one, moving by car we will go looking for those buildings that still today rise above the others because of their location, dimensions, design.
We explore particularly two monuments: the Vittoriano, key monument of the monarchic ideology dedicated to the King Victory Emmanuel, and the EUR district, designed in order to celebrate the greatness of Rome and of the dictator Mussolini.
Although the itinerary will focus strongly on architecture and sculpture, we will use this as a lens to discuss the concepts of Italian contemporary history (1870-1945).