Thanks to Francesca, our Colosseum tour was the highlight of our Rome trip. She kept our young boys (6 and 8) engaged and focused. The Colosseum is a huge place... read more and the kids often got distracted but Francesca had no problems getting their attention back. She patiently answered their many questions (including random ones totally unrelated to Rome). She answered many of the adult questions too, satisfying our curiosity. Because of her, we the parents, managed to admire the majesty of the Colosseum.

Without her, I'm sure the boys would have gotten bored quickly and the adults, having to keep a constant eye on them amidst the crowd, wouldn't have had such an enjoyable experience.

Booking with Joy of Rome tours was easy and fuss free. They answered all questions promptly via email.

  Francesca was extremely knowledgeable. She has great enthusiasm for the art, artists, the gallery and helping us learn. She answered our questions and welcomed them. It deepened... read more my experience immensely. I am still thinking about the major pieces - one which made me cry.

While an art historian private guide may seem pricey, I would trade the cost for visiting another museum or two or a fancy dinner.

  We had a private Vatican Tour on a Friday night with Serena. It was incredible! Serena was so engaging and knowledgeable. Her enthusiasm was contagious. ... read more We appreciated the extraordinary privilege of her guidance on a relatively quiet evening in this blessed and special museum. This tour was one of our highlights in a monthlong visit to Italy. We highly recommend a private tour as it is personal and directed toward your specific questions and interests. You will not be disappointed!

  Joy of Rome is a sheer delight! We went on 4 tours with them and all were supremely fantastic! The wonderful Serena took us on The Highlights of Rome walking... read more tour and the next day the Ancient Rome tour. We then had the delightful Giulia guide us on the very special Tour Tivoli and finally Francesca who showed us around The Vatican. All guides and tours were first rate and i recommend our guides and The Joy of Rome tours to make your stay in Rome extra special!

  Arianna opened our eyes to marvels that we would have never known without her guiding us through this extraordinary museum. We loved her enthusiasm, knowledge and great ability to... read more connect critical events together so that we could understand history in a much more in depth way. She made the 2-1/2 hours the definite highlight of our four days in Rome.

  I would highly recommend Joy of Rome. The whole experience from booking the tickets by email to being guided to the meeting point to the tour itself was faultless.
I... read more went with my 7-year old daughter who by 15h30, when our tour started, was pretty tired after a whole day of walking. But Alessandra, our guide, had enough spark, passion and interesting facts to keep my daughter interested throughout!
Alessandra and her guided tour were pure Joy!!!!

  the thing i liked the most about the tour was that Grace our tour guide was an expert in the field and showed how professional she was by her excellent... read more manor and handling of my family (young children and a child with special needs) attention to the details i had discussed particular for my family! it made the whole experience worth it for my son and gave my husband and me a chance to look around and enjoy the tour too rather than worry and fret about the kids. the tour was tailor made in speed and content . Grace was so polite, patient and kind! thank you for a lovely experience!

  We were looking for an engaging, informative tour of the Colosseum for our kids (and us!) and Serena was the perfect solution. She brought the experience to life through storytelling... read more that kept both my kids (ages 7 and 3) entranced throughout the 2.5 hours. She was extremely knowledgeable about everything. We also spent a bit of time at The Forum, and it wasn't too much. Would highly recommend this tour!

  SUPERLY AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEIR TOURS!!!
We followed 2 tours (becoz 1 is definitely not enough), separately with Serena for Caravaggio theme and Massimo for Dark Ladies theme. To say... read more that the two tours changed my understanding of Rome is a great understatement. They have literally broadened my views of both the city of Rome and even the history of the world. Both Serena and Massimo have exhibited very comprehensive knowledge base of the city and the stories. And especially, the way they tell these stories were extremely attractive, humorous and interactive!!!! They have made Rome such a lovable city, full of stories, adventures and love.

  We had a truly wonderful tour of the Colosseum with Serena. It was the perfect length, with just the right amount of content and fun for our 7 and... read more 9 year old kids. She was kind, patient and super informative. They also made the entire experience super easy and smooth in terms of process. I HIGHLY recommend booking a tour with Joy of Rome - we will certainly be doing so the next time we are in Rome.

  We absolutely loved our Caravaggio tour with Serena. She is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about art history and,more specifically, this intriguing and enigmatic artist. We visited three churches over a... read more two hour period and saw some of his greatest works while also gaining some insight into the mindset of the artist. Serena has a wonderful talent to draw us into the artist’s life! We highly recommend this tour, and especially Serena, if you are interested in art history.

  Our amazing tour guide was Francesca. Her ability to articulate what we were seeing and why it was important kept us two adults, two teens, and 10 year old... read more engaged in the whole tour. This was not a tour it was an experience. In fact, this is a MUST do experience if you are going to Vatican City!

  Another amazing tour from Joy of Rome. Francesca managed to entertain all of us - me, 2 children (9 and 12) and two students, with a wide variety of knowledge... read more about art. The 2.5 hours went by very quickly, and we all left really enthused. Maybe not cheap, but has given us great memories. Completely different to going round it on your own, whci I'd done before. Francesca obviously knows her subject inside out, and has an infectious enthusiasm for it - highly recomended.

  Our family of four, with two girls ages 13 and 11, enjoyed a wonderful tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel with Francesca last week. Francesca was terrific--she... read more was able to create context for the museum that our girls could easily understand, and her explanation of the Sistine made our collective experience of it so meaningful. While I had already seen it before, I learned so much more with Francesca. She procured the tickets in advance, met us promptly at the appointed hour and breezed us through check-in and security--enabling us to really enjoy the tour. Our girls immediately bonded with Francesca. We would definitely seek out another Joy of Rome tour, and Francesca in particular, on our next visit!

  The intimacy of having a one-on-one guide, Emma, for both the Vatican and the Colosseum was second to none. I highly recommend this tour company and if at all possible... read more ask for Emma. From the beginning they were easy to communicate with and felt secure in dealing with them even if I was half way around the World.

  Francesca’s knowledge of art history and her charming and warm personality are a winning combination.

  Francesca was an amazing tour guide for our family with kids ages 10, 10, 6. She kept them engaged the whole time, explained the historically significant aspects of the... read more tour in ways that kids found exciting--and adults, too. I highly recommend her and the company. A+ bravo!

  We visited with our three boys, ages 12, 9, 7. Grace was amazing! She had so many interesting details to share with us. Grace is energetic, kind, incredibly knowledgeable... read more and made our tour so fun for the kids as well as us adults! If we had done the typical audio tour it would not have engaged the kids, as we did this at the Vatican one day earlier and the children were not nearly as interested. Grace had several books that helped to explain and enrich our experience. Can’t recommend a children’s tour with Grace and Joy of Rome enough!!

  Amazing tour hosted by Francesca. Kids thoroughly enjoyed all parts of the Colosseum. Francesca was so engaging with the kids, made it fun and adapted to what they wanted to... read more see and learn about. Super knowledgeable.

  We did the Vatican tour and the Colosseum tour with Francesca! She was amazing with our two boys aged 9 and 12. They both said her tours were their favorite... read more part of our trip. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Highly recommend to anyone in Rome with kids.

  My friend and I did Francesca's tour together; it was a wonderful experience!
Even though we both have been to Rome several times, we had never seen
these smaller... read more churches with their stunning Caravaggios. Francesca is the
perfect tour guide; she is passionate about the art, but also has a very engaging
personality, and a great sense of humor. We learned so much - now we must find our way back to Rome!!

  We had a fantastic Colosseum tour with Francesca today! She was very knowledgeable and our children (ages 5, 7, and 10) were completely engaged. She adapted well to their interests... read more and attention span, and the adults were rapt as well!

  Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!

Never have I been on a virtual art tour and my sense of Google Earth is limited.

There are THREE Caravaggio paintings that I am... read more obsessed with. I had no idea that during this virtual tour that I would see them.

My mouth dropped, I had to compose myself and pray I did not bust out crying in delight when Francesca discussed them. This may have been a virtual tour but the enthusiasm that Francesca gave to each painting helped me understand the background stories of the work.

The three Caravaggio paintings that I am totally obsessed with are:
1) St. Matthew and the Angel
2) St. Jerome
3) David with the Head of Goliath

My introduction to Caravaggio's work was through the cover art of E.S. Posthumus' albums. All of their cover art is of Caravaggio's paintings - specifically the ones I have listed.

When Francesca started sharing photos on Google Earth and the painting of St. Matthew with the Angel came up, I almost wet my pants in delight. The rest of her tour was pure bliss.

I can't thank you enough for this taste of Caravaggio's work. I look forward to doing more tours specifically with Francesca. I am a fangirl of her forever!

Watch out! I may be fluent in Italian by the time COVID is under control, and I can speak to her in her native tongue!

Possa Dio proteggere te, la tua famiglia e il tuo paese in questo periodo difficile. So che tutti ne usciranno vincitori. Rimani vigile nel prendere precauzioni per proteggere la tua salute.

Sei Yamato! -- from Jennifer (Washington, DC - USA)

  Francesca gave an insightful virtual tour of the Caravaggio painting in Rome. I felt like i was in Rome walking the street. Francesca was awesome.

  I have enjoyed all of the online classes/tours from Joy of Rome so much. They are inspiring and fun and informative and I especially love all the great stories of... read more not only the art but the artists lives and their passions and challenges. The tour guides are experts and do a phenomenal job of making every tour interesting and incorporating pictures and location shots that enhance all the stores. So happy I found you all and can experience all this great art even from my home in New York! I didn't know the work of Bernini or Borromini or at least I didn't think I did until this amazing class and seeing work I've seen before but now in a new context and I can't wait until I can get back to Rome and admire the works in person!

  I have been so sad regarding our cancelled trip to Europe in July. Joy of Rome is now offering virtual tours via zoom that felt like we were... read more touring with them in Rome. This was a great experience and I plan on doing this again until I can go in person.

  Last November I had the the experience of a life time touring Rome with this outstanding company. I toured the Caracalla Baths, Colosseum, Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and the Villa... read more Borghese. Experiences I will never forget, done by professionals who are exceptionally knowledgeable, love their city and want all the people whose lives they touch to go away knowing more about it’s history and seeing it’s beauty. I want them to know that there are so many of us out here who have had the pleasure of meeting you are watching and praying for you all. When your thoughts turn dark, just think of how many people who’s eyes, hearts and thoughts of your beautiful city you have opened. Here’s to the future!

Hear ye! Hear ye!
Come one and all
Book all your tours through Joy Of Rome

Don’t waste your time
Bypass those long lines
They know the way
Make the most of your day

Guides with knowledge and professionalism unsurpassed
You’ll have memories of Rome
A lifetime to last

Imagine the Romans frolicking in the Baths
One of their favorite pastimes
Down the primrose path

Experience the Colosseum
Like they did in the past
Emperors and slaves
All had a blast

Gaze in amazement
At a ceiling above
Done by a master
An act of love

Meet Apollo and Daphne
One cool duet
At the Villa Borghese
You’ll never forget

Whether young or old
Or somewhere in between
You’ll have vacation memories
Like those in you dreams

So don’t hesitate
When a tour you must book
Joy of Rome’s the Only One
Hurry! Be quick!

  My husband and I had a wonderful experience with Joy of Rome tours. They provided 3 of our tours while in Europe and they were the best tours of our... read more 3 week journey. I cannot recommend this company enough! The private tours are definitely worth the price if you want a great experience. I would recommend them to any one and will use them again on our next trip!

  We first toured with Joy of Rome 5 years ago and enjoyed being with Francesca so much that we toured again 3 years ago and then again last May. ... read more Most recently, we did the fascinating underground Rome tour with the incredibly passionate Francesca, the Coliseum , Forum, and Palatine Hill with Sylvia, the Vatican with Angelica and Borghese Gallery with Francesca. Wow! What experiences. You can’t be around Francesca more than 5 minutes without recognizing how easily and passionately she imparts her vast knowledge of art and history. She is so infectious! Angelica is a guide’s guide. I couldn’t begin to tell you how many times other tourists and even other guides approached her with questions. We found amazing places in the Vatican that most tours don’t see. Be sure to take the longer Vatican tour that includes the Raphael painted apartments. Phenomenal.... Sylvia (bless her heart - it was raining most of the day, but she cheerfully hung with us) made the Coliseum and Forum come alive. We participated in both group tours (6 people) and private tours. Both have their pluses, but if you want a truly customized tour with a soon to be cherished friend, spring for the private tour. We can’t wait to go back to Rome and see more of its history and art with these ladies. David and Rosemarie, Dallas, TX