World City Guide

Tours of the City

Walking Tours
Roma Antica (tel: (06) 45443179; e-mail: davidjlown@yahoo.co.uk; website: www.roma-antica.co.uk) offers a wide variety of tours of Rome’s archeological sites and most attractive or historic areas. The guide, David Lown, is a writer and art historian from Cambridge. Departure points vary, depending on the tour. Tours cost ¬25 (excluding admission fees), last from two to two-and-a-half hours and are available seven days a week (apart from the tour of the Vatican Museums). They include The Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Campus Martius (which takes in much of what is known as the historic centre), the Vatican Museums and a tour entitled ‘From the Jewish Ghetto to Trastevere’. Groups never exceed six people. Private tours can also be arranged.

Also Enjoy Rome (see Tourist Information) offers a number of walking and bike tours in and around Rome, including a tour by bus and foot of the Catacombs and the Appian Way. Prices start at ¬15 and there’s a maximum of 25 people per tour.

Bus Tours
The number 110 open double-decker roofless ATAC bus (freephone: (800) 431 784, information) departs every 45 minutes (daily 0900-2030) from Piazza dei Cinquecento in front of Termini Station for a two-hour tour (with commentary in English) around Rome’s main sights (there are 11 stops en route). Tickets and a leaflet outlining the itinerary are available in English at any tourist information office. The tour costs ¬12.91 if tickets are bought from the kiosk in Piazza dei Cinquecento (or ¬13.94 if bought on the bus) and passengers can get on and off the bus throughout the day.

The environmentally-friendly Archeobus departs every hour (daily 1000-1700 in summer, 1000-1600 in winter) from Piazza Venezia (off Piazza San Marco) for a tour that starts at the Baths of Caracalla and then makes several stops on the Via Appia Antica (Appian Way). Tickets cost ¬7.75 and can be bought aboard the bus.

Boat Tours
Rome now has a public river boat service along the Tiber. The service, run by Battelli di Roma, Via della Tribuna di Tor de’ Specchi 15 (tel: (06) 678 9361; www.battellidiroma.it), makes six stops between Ripa Grande in Trastevere and the Duca D’Aosta Bridge near the Olympic Stadium. Tickets cost ¬1 for a single journey of up to seven stops (three of which have wheelchair access) and can be bought on board or at any of the tourist information points. The same company also organises four daily cruises of an hour and 10 minutes with commentary (¬10), romantic nighttime cruises with dinner that start at ¬30 (¬62 for a full dinner and live music) and a boat service to the site of Ostia Antica that leaves from Marconi Bridge every morning at 0915. It costs ¬11 for a return ticket, takes two hours and 15 minutes and there is a two-hour stopover at the ruins before departing again at 1330. Ask at the city tourist information offices and kiosks for more information and tickets, or contact Battelli di Roma.

Other Tours
Fly 150m up into the sky in the largest ‘tethered’ balloon in the world for awe-inspiring 360° views of the Eternal city. The balloon is anchored in the Villa Borghese park near the Galoppatoio and leaves every 20-25 minutes from 0930 daily until dusk. The ‘flight’ lasts 20 minutes. Price ¬15 on weekdays and ¬18 euro on weekends (concessions ¬12). Tuesdays and Fridays sip an aperitivo in flight as you watch the sun set for ¬25 (book beforehand). No flights when raining or windy (tel: (06) 32111511; website: www.aerophile.it)