Rome at Night
For those who have taken the Week in Venice, Florence and Rome trip recently, it appears the evenings in Rome are busy with a farewell dinner and a visit to the Vatican. I've always wanted to see the monuments and fountains lit up at night. On either of the nights in Rome, on the way back to the hotel from the farewell dinner and Vatican visit, does the tour guide take the group on a "drive by" of the lit monuments? Or is this something I should plan to do on my extra day at the end of the tour?
Thank you in advance for your replies.
Thank you in advance for your replies.
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Comments
Karenna, When were you able to fit this in with the tour nights in Rome?
Hi debop. I spent an extra night in Rome after the official tour and that is when I did the golf cart tour. You wouldn't have time for this during the tour when the nights are spent on a private Vatican museum tour (amazing) and the farewell dinner.
Rome at night is fantastic. The tour situation is great. We did that when we drove from Paris to Rome and hired a driver/guide to take us around the city. You have Tauck doing most of that. However, if you have a few hours in the evening, a car service is fantastic to see the sites. I used the same service from Rome to set up cars/guides for all the ports of call on a Disney Cruise from Barcelona to Venice. Although Disney had excursions for each of those ports, the car service was individualized for the five of us (two young children) and allowed us to change our stops on the fly. The cost was a push and I didn't have to sit on a bus with 55 passengers (many of them spoiled, screaming children). If you are interested I'll give you the service I used. I get nothing out of it except the satisfaction that I know you'll enjoy your trip more. My sister used Roberto on her trip. I assume he is still in business. His email is info@driverinitaly.com.
ndvb- DriverinItaly is still in business. Did you see where Roberto (Melaragno) recently got married?
We had breakfast with Roberto and his wife in 2014. So if he recently got married this must be a newer wife. His wife, when I met him, was also his business partner. I’ll have to call or email him and have him fill me in. Thanks for the update.
AlanS, I woke up to a nice note from Roberto. He said he got an email saying I needed to talk with him. I assume that came from you. Thanks. He is in Miami with his new wife for an extended honeymoon. We'll be discussing the extra days I have in Amsterdam and Brussels and having him set up some visits to places I won't see with Tauck. Besides you, I have set up my daughter and her family, and my sister to use him for their trips to Europe. He does a nice job. Again, thanks for starting that conversation.
Nial, before I saw your post I sent you a msg with links confirming his (new) marriage.
For those wondering who we are talking about- Roberto Melaragno is a Canadian-born Italian who re-emigrated with his parents back to Italy when he was a teen. He is founder and owner of DriverinItaly, a Rome-based provider of guided group and private canned and custom tours and driver-only excursions, primarily in Italy but in other areas around the Med. Evidently, from ndvb's post, in other non-Med areas as well. Both ndvb and I (and possibly a few others on the forum) have used him with great success in the past. We did two private tours (Capri and Herculaneum/Naples/Pozzuoli) before and an on-tour driver-only excursion from Florence to Pisa with his company during our Classic Italy, small groups tour several years ago. All were fantastic. I've posted about them on the forums.