For those who want something more than the usual tour, Rome has many options. You can tour Rome on a vintage Vespa or Fiat 500. Take the family on a tour designed for kids, become a gladiator for a day, go underground to the Colosseum, or enjoy an after-hours visit to the Sistine Chapel with these Unique tours.
The following are some of our favorite tours of Rome with special interests.
After hours private tour of the Sistine Chapel
Visit the Sistine Chapel without the crowds on this special after-hours tour. Your two-hour tour inside the Vatican Museums with an English-speaking guide includes several of the most important galleries, including the Raphael Rooms and the Gallery of Maps, as well as the impressive Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s masterpiece. This tour can be arranged as an exclusive and expensive private tour, or you can join a small group tour at a lower price.
Both Select Italy and The Roman Guy offer private or small-group tours before or after Vatican Museum hours and Sistine Chapel tours.
Be a Roman Gladiator for a day
Have you ever dreamed of being a Roman Gladiator? With this unique interactive adventure, you can become a gladiator for a day. You will start with a tour of the Gladiator Museum in Rome, where you will learn about the daily life of a gladiator. Then, you’ll dress up in gladiator armor and enter the training ground for a lesson that includes using weapons and defending yourself. This is a great family activity suitable for ages 6 and up and those who prefer not to participate in the lesson can view it for free. This activity takes place on Via Appia Antica, the old Roman road, outside the historic center.
Dungeons and upper levels of the Colosseum
You will need to book in advance for a limited access tour of the underground passageways and dungeons of the Colosseum. You can then continue to the upper levels, or Belvedere, for an unforgettable view of Rome. The entrance to the Palatine and the Roman Forum is included in the ticket, valid for two days, but they are not part of the guided tour.
Tour Rome in a Vintage Fiat 500
What could be better than seeing the Eternal City as a passenger in a Vintage Fiat 500, or Cinquecento , a famous Italian icon? Guests have a view of Rome’s top attractions as they travel with an English-speaking driver-guide who will brief them on the sights as they drive through. Several companies offer day and night tours, including ItalyXP.com and Select Italy, and many hotels will also book a Fiat tour for you.
Tour Rome on a vintage Vespa
If you’ve seen the movie Roman Holiday , you can imagine yourself doing the same thing as Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck: riding around Rome on a Vespa. Scooters are truly the best means of transportation to navigate the narrow streets of the historic center of Rome. With DeaRoma Tours, you are the passenger on the back of a Vespa, carried by an English-speaking driver-guide. With MyScooterinRome, you drive your own Vespa on a group tour / tour.
The Domus Aurea, Nero’s Golden House
The Domus Aurea, or Golden House, was the massive and enormously extravagant palace of Nero, one of Rome’s most despotic emperors. When he died, his successors ordered the palace to be filled with rubble. Tours of the underground archaeological site, located near the Colosseum, are now offered on Saturdays and Sundays by reservation. Helmets are provided to tour the scaffold site; remember to bring a light jacket. Near the end of the tour, a transfiguring virtual reality experience takes visitors back to Domus during its heyday.
Underground Rome and Catacombs with the Roman Guy
This small group guided tour takes you through the layers of history under the Church of San Clemente, then takes you to the Appian Way (transportation included) for a look at the ancient road and a guided tour of the Catacomb. Domitilla , the oldest and one of the best preserved Roman catacombs.
Crypts, Bones and Catacombs with Italy Walks
The underground tour of the crypts, bones and catacombs of Rome includes one of the spookiest places in Rome, the Capuchin Crypt, as well as a tour of the catacombs with the oldest known image of the Virgin Mary and the Roman ruins and remains of an early Christian basilica and pagan temple below the basilica of San Clemente.
Rome for kids
Rome4Kids offers a series of family itineraries geared towards teenagers and younger children, but suitable for all ages. Options include scavenger hunts, golf cart tours, and the Rome Metro.
Eating in Italy Food Tours in Testaccio or Trastevere
On these food tours, you will leave the historic center to walk through one of Rome’s traditional neighborhoods. You’ll visit small food stores and bakeries for tastings, eat pasta in a Roman restaurant, and finish with ice cream. You will also get a bit of history and culture during the hike.
Updated by Elizabeth Heath
