Small Group Guided Tour to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill

Definitely the worst tour we took on our two-week trip to Italy and Greece. We are grateful we were able to book this tour last minute and see the Colosseum because a Vatican tour had canceled on us last minute, and we couldn't find a suitable replacement there. Our guide was not pleasant to be with, and most of the 'guided tour' was her yelling at us to get closer to her in an exasperated manner. She waved a calendar around with some pictures a bit but didn't tell us much of anything interesting. The other groups around us seemed to have a more personable and engaging guide. We didn't have the opportunity to go to any of the gift shops and were run through most of the exhibits, and yelled at if we paused to read a display. Our headphones were taken back early during the tour for seemingly no reason at all. Half of our group decided to leave the tour early because it was uncomfortable. We abruptly switched guides halfway through the tour when heading to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. It was strange because we had to wait in different areas several times with this new guide, but when we got inside the gates, he waved his arms in two directions saying, "That is the Roman Forum, and that is Palatine Hill. Goodbye.' and left us on our own. Overall, the company seemed unorganized and rushed. I wouldn't recommend touring with Sun in Rome. We paid more for this tour than four other tours we took on our trip, and it added the least value to our trip.

Our guide was really inept. She was more worried about the return of the audio pieces than the tour. We lost 45 minutes in just getting inside and once inside she seemed to tired to take us inside the collosium as it was sunny. Overall it was a very very poor experience.

Keep in mind what a small group means - there were at least 30 of us total. This included some children - which was a super big deal at the beginning of this tour - because our guide kept calling out for the kids to be in the front before we went inside the gates. This tour included access to the Colosseum main level and upper level ONLY. It does NOT include underground where the Gladiators lined up, etc. It also included ENTRANCE ONLY to the Palatine Hill/Form area - NO GUIDED TOUR there...your tour guide will help you gain access, collect your hearing devices, and leave you on your own. Keep this in mind. Also - one major thing - and there were plenty of announcements being made about this - anyone selling bottles of water near the Colosseum MUST sell them for ONE EURO - do NOT pay more than that for a bottle of water. You have been warned. Now for the tour - the biggest complaint we have is our guide. She spoke super quickly, made some sarcastic and otherwise off-color jokes, but was also difficult to find and follow along. There are SO MANY PEOPLE on tours in the Colosseum. You MUST keep up with your guide or you WILL be left behind. You do rush through and there is NOT enough time to capture EVERYTHING or read and learn about EVERYTHING. I feel to do this, you MUST travel solo without a tour. But - what are the positives??? Well, our Guide was full of details and information you may never have known unless you did extensive research. Our guide also got us in with extremely LITTLE WAIT - the lines were chaotic at best for everyone else on their own. Not a great way to spend your day by waiting in lines. Our guide also gave us the BIGGEST TIPS about seeing things along the tour and how to research more - she even showed us photos she took on her own and gathered from her own research. I wouldn't say this was terrible, it's just NOT what we expected and the words used to explain the tour are a bit misleading. They are accurate, but perceptions are reality and this is NOT the tour we wanted.