Italia Bella 2024 Bridges
We are going in June, 2024 with our twin grandsons, age 14. What experiences should we plan for them the day before the tour starts? Colosseum? The afternoon of the first day says "city sights on a sightseeing drive". What exactly do you see? Any stops?
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Would definitely recommend doing the underground at the colosseum.
Also, time permitting the Roman forum and palatine hill.
Trevi fountain, pantheon and Spanish steps are right by each other and so is navona plaza.
If you are interested there is the synagogue and Jewish ghetto also.
We have taken 4 of our grandchildren on this tour and they all have wonderful memories of it.
The underground at the colosseum (done on our own) has been especially memorable.
I understand they no longer do a gondola ride in Venice and I would highly recommend doing it on your own and taking lots of pictures.
Enjoy - it is a wonderful trip
Jnco9, I’m sure lots of would be Tauck Bridges people would love to see a review of the tour when you have been. Please consider doing that!
Jnco9, we are also going in June 2024 with our 12 year old granddaughter. We were on this tour in 2022 with a different granddaughter and the “sightseeing drive” of the first day stopped at the Colosseum and we toured it (this tour did not include the underground , arena, Roman Forum or Palatine Hill). This time that does not appear to be the case since it is not specifically mentioned. I am definitely going to book a tour of the Colosseum for the day before the tour starts as I think that is a must and I want my granddaughter to experience it. I have done some research and underground tours are very limited and the entry time can vary all the way up to the day before which won’t work for us but it sounds like if you have a tour that includes the arena you can at least view the underground area from there. Hope this helps! Have fun!
Don’t forget, there is a better preserved ‘Colosseum’ in Nimes, France. We were very impressed by that one and there are not the crowds you get in Rome.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_of_Nîmes
I cannot imagine going to Rome with grandchildren and not seeing the colosseum.
Ours still talk about the underground experience that we did on our own. It really helped bring the whole idea of the colosseum experience to life for them.
But at the very least go to the colosseum.
We are going June 20 tour 2024, with twin 15 year old girls, 11 and 8 yr boys. Anyone else?
One of the most interesting places in Rome that I took my family too when we went years ago, and my Mother-in-Law still talks of it, was the tour of Basilica of San Clemente. It was also a short tour, and one that was allowed us to beat the heat of the summer as much of it was underground.
Taken right from their website: "The entrance to the Basilica of San Clemente is located in Piazza San Clemente, a five-minute walk from the Colosseum. The Basilica with its underground archaeological complex is one of the world’s great treasures, a place loved by pilgrims, students of art and visitors from all over the world. Here, as in no other place, one can visit and experience different levels of Rome’s past. Descending below the present church, one enters a 4th century church containing some of the world’s finest medieval frescos, dating from the 8th to the 11th century. Going down lower again, one enters the 1st century area with its Mithraic temple, and across a narrow alleyway, a large public building, around whose foundations flow the lost waters of ancient Rome. Above the excavation stands the present 12th century Basilica, with its magnificent mosaic, early renaissance frescoes, the 6th century marble chancel from the earlier church, the Cosmatesque floor, etc"
It was an absolutely fascinating descent through time!
We went at end of June and had a wonderful time with Marco as our tour director. We went to the Colosseum the morning of as others have suggested here and our twins loved it. I would also like to give a "shout out" to the guide in the Uffizi Gallery and the scavenger hunt. As a former middle school teacher, she was excellent with the teens and knew just how to keep them engaged!