Good to know....
Children in Rome: with us
[revised February 2026] Following our post dedicated to families travelling to Rome, and our tips to enjoy your spare time with your children on own, here is the final section dedicated to what we can do for you: we offer tours and activities especially planned for families. Up to 6 year old. Very young travellers […]
Children in Rome: on own
[revised February 2026] Following our post about how to arrange a family trip in Rome when young travellers are involved, here we collected several suggestions on how to spend your spare time with kids in Rome, divided by age groups: Up to 6 year old. Casina di Raffaello (indoor): it is a game room located […]
Children in Rome
[revised February 2026] Rome offers a lot to families with children: many open-air attractions, the food every child loves, curiosities for any interest or age, and professional guides with a special attitude with kids (yes, that’s us!) At A FRIEND IN ROME we do not offer proper kids tours, but a selection of itineraries and […]
10 fun facts about St. Peter’s basilica
[revised January 2026] When the pandemic started, I understood how serious it was when St. Peter’s basilica shut down (March 2020). It never happened in the history of this church, never! Many visitors go to St. Peter’s from the Vatican Museums in order to skip lines, which is surely smart. But after the visit of […]
How do we create a new tour?
[revised March 2026] Preparing new tours is one of the most exciting moments in our tour guide job! How do we proceed when we decide to introduce a new itinerary in our portfolio? (BTW, current portfolio already includes more than 90 tours/activities, but we love diversity, even when it comes to tours!) first of all, […]
Virtual tours? No, thanks
[Editor’s note: this post was written during the pandemic, in April 2020] Sometimes what better defines you, is what you are NOT. For instance: we do not lead big groups, we do not put strangers in the same tour, we do not offer segway tours or golf-cart tours, we quit the Vatican Museums. And now […]
How to start planning a trip to Rome: 5 tips
[revised January 2026] In time of Covid-19 we learnt that sometimes you cannot travel and you just have to wait and dream. But this is not necessarily a lost time. Have you ever heard of the “Grand Tour”? It was a “travel habit” of the bygone days, just reserved to upper classes (and mostly male travellers), […]
Bike tours in Italy
[revised February 2026] We are in touch with some energetic colleagues across Italy who also offer bike experiences as we do. So here we are pleased to list them and we are sure the number will increase: biking is a great way to discover a new city or country, it is sustainable and slow enough […]
Lean thinking and tours
[revised January 2026] I just finished reading an essay about contracts and negotiations (“Extreme Contracts“). The main reason I read it – honestly – is because it was written by a friend, Jacopo Romei, but I’m always surprised by the way any source of new knowledge can be applied to any field, including the market […]
Eating in Rome
[revised April 2026] There is such a wide choice of places and options to eat in Rome: street food? A gelato? A fancy restaurant with a view? A traditional trattoria? A wine-bar for fine tastings? Midnight cornetto? It’s impossible to list them all… We are “out there” everyday and we constantly ask for feedbacks from our […]