It's arrived!
Colosseum Under the Moon
with VIP access to Arena & Underground
Our best-sellers…
combine any 2 of our top selling Rome tours & save 10%
Vatican Early Access Tour
with Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's
Enter the Vatican Museums one hour before the general public to experience the Sistine Chapel at its most peaceful.
Vatican Best-of-the-Best Tour
MORNING SEMI PRIVATE TOUR
Explore the highlights of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica in a small group of 12 people.
Colosseum Underground Tour
Dungeons, Arena Floor & Forum
Revel in Ancient Rome with our award-winning tour. Includes VIP access to the restricted areas of the Colosseum.
Colosseum Under the Moon
WITH UNDERGROUND & ARENA FLOOR
JUST ARRIVED! Escape the Roman sun with our Colosseum Night Tour. VIP off-limits access to the Colosseum Underground & Arena floor
Why Choose What a Life Tours?
#1 Rated on Tripadvisor
Only the Best
Officially Small
Meet our Guides
MARCELLO - EQUAL PART ROMAN & TEXAN!
Loved by all and especially adored by our US guests, the jovial but encyclopedial Marcello was brought up with the best of both the old & the new world...
Find your dream tour…
Customer reviews...
Amar Bajwa
14th July 2018
Absolutely amazing!!
Colosseum Underground Tour - We had the privilege of having Marcello as our tour guide and from the moment he introduced us to the moment he said goodbye, it was the most amazing experience! He was well-spoken, informative, respectful, flexible, funny, easy-going...the list goes on.
Debbie Kovac
14th July 2018
Vatican, Sistine Chapel & Basilica
Booked online great communication contacted by email to check on our booking which they thought we had double booked. Lovely greeting and drink. Grant our guide was knowledgeable, interactive, kept us informed and gave us lots of information without being too boring or overloading with information. Would definitely recommend, as I was also. Debbie
Julie Hagglund
6th July 2018
Colosseum Underground & Vatican Early Access
These two tours were the highlights of our time in Italy. Michael and Mario were amazing! Their immense knowledge of the history of Rome made the Colosseum and Vatican come to life. Loved their humor, too!!! Wish I could give this more than 5 stars!!!
Melissa Brunette
5th July 2018
Exceptional Guide and Tour
I would highly recommend What a Life tour if your interested in seeing in Vatican/St.Peter’s Basilica, and learning about all the history. My suggestion is to request Mario as your guide. He is extremely knowledgeable, informative, and will make you laugh. I thoroughly enjoyed the time we had with him. Instead of rushing to the Sistine Chapel first, he took us to the empty parts of the Vatican Museum before they got busy with other groups and tourist. At the end of our tour, he gave us the option to stay and explore more of St. Peter’s Basilica which I loved because there is so much to see!
RoseAnn Tripodi
4th July 2018
Colosseo Under The Moon
The wonderful tour I took with Marcello was not booked by me - it was done so by someone I traveled with as recommended to her by someone in Rome.
Even so, I can submit a review on my own.Our tour guide was Marcello -a lovely young man who was a wonderful guide. He has studied well and one can see that in the history he shared with us - about 18 people on this tour. The head sets were easy comfortable and easy to use and one could hear very clearly. I do not recall the name of the young lady archaeologist who guided us at the Colosseo, but she too was a knowledgeable guide and very passionate about her work. To visit the underground of the Colosseo and to stand on the arena floor is a gift many will never experience. I have been several times to the Colosseo during the day to upper tiers, but being below and seeing the " backstage " is very special -and if Rome, do not miss it!
I will most certainly look forward to What a Life again on my next trip to Italy and highly recommend to anyone visiting in the future
Grazie mille at tutti a What a Life!
Ciao
Ci vediamo
RoseAnn
Rick Manning
27th June 2018
The Best Vatican Tour in Rome
Grant was the “Best” Tour Guide for our trip into the Vatican. His knowledge of things we toured & his sense of humor was extremely welcoming. I highly recommend this tour to everyone who wants to see the Vatican.
Elizabeth Duthoo
26th June 2018
Early Vatican and Sistine tour
Wonderful experience with What A Life tours! We booked online very easy and all questions were answered. We chose the option for hotel pickup certainly took the stress out of navigating the city. We arrived at the office and enjoyed fresh coffee and pastries. Here we met our fabulous tour guide Ana and were awestruck with her wealth of knowledge. She knew how to navigate the crowds at the Vatican and we really had a comprehensive tour. The Sistine Chapel was so peaceful and we enjoyed sitting on the benches marveling the masterpieces and we gained an understanding of the history behind the paintings. The museum is absolutely beautiful. Entering St. Peters Basilica through the Holy Doors was spiritual. Perfect tour . Thank you What A Life for arranging our tour. Ana was The perfect tour guide.
Pat Rind
25th June 2018
Carlotta was great!
We loved our early access Vatican tour with Carlotta. She was really knowledgeable and fun and knew exactly where to go when to avoid the crowds. She also had a great sense of humor!
Henk Smelter, Australia
9th June 2018
Brilliant - Colosseum Underground Tour
We took this tour June 9 with Carlotta as our guide. Her knowledge and deep understanding of Roman history was absolutely amazing. Carlotta's explanations were clear and easy to follow and her presentation made the history come alive. This is a long tour (3.5 hours) but the way she went about it made it seem like it was only a couple hours. We could not recommend this tour highly enough and make sure you ask for Carlotta.
Bruce Stretar
7th June 2018
Top Notch Tours
Awesome experience with What a Life Tours. We were promptly greeted by our driver at our hotel and were escorted to the What a Life Tour offices for a light breakfast. Our Vatican tour guide, Mario, was awesome. His knowledge of the different sections of the museum was remarkable. He gave a great overview of what to expect and how to behave in the Sistine Chapel and St.Peter's Basilica. In the afternoon we toured with Vanessa on the Colosseum Underground tour that included walking through the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill area. Like Mario, Vanessa was extremely professional, knowledgeable, and courteous of our group, ensuring we understood what we were seeing. I would recommend doing these on separate days, as we didn't have enough time to explore St. Peter's and the surrounding piazza.
Ciara Petrov
27th May 2018
Vatican Best-of-the-Best Tour
We really enjoyed this tour, it was very well organised. Our tour guide, Grant, was excellent! He was very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. Would highly recommend it
Przemyslaw Kociuba
25th May 2018
Express Vatican and Colosseum
First off the tour was amazing, informative and well thought out. Your guide Marcello Moghbel was a rockstar!!!! I was a bit leery of doing a semi-private tour due to the cost but boy am I glad we did. We were on our honeymoon and my wife tends to lose interest in history but Marcello kept both of us entertained and full of knowledge, that I know we wouldn't have got by doing it ourselves. The location of the office to the Vatican was a quick walk and placed perfectly to arrive early at the entrance. Marcello gave us so much history that we both were unaware of but most importantly made it fun, interesting and entertaining. After our Vatican tour, we had a private car waiting to pick us up and zip us to the Colosseum. This portion was amazing and super well organized! So many things Marcello taught on the history of the Colosseum and Rome itself.
I would also like to make a special thank to Marcello for helping with a photo of my grandfather in WWII, that he took on part of the ruins of the Colosseum. My family has been trying to pinpoint this exact location and Marcello almost got it instantly. He studied the picture meticulously and finally discovered the point my grandfather was sitting on when he took the picture. Thank you again Marcello.
Louise Williams
14th May 2018
Underground tour of Colosseum
An excellent tour access to all levels, felt very privileged to have gates unlocked for us! Also extensive tours of palatine hill. Our guide Canotta friendly, professional and so knowledgable. All the details taken care of. We were part of a group of 8. Personal service thank you would not hesitate to recommend.
Darren Downing
8th May 2018
Fantastic tours for life long memories.
My wife and I went on the Colosseum underground tour with our guide Carlotta. She was full of information and answered all our questions in great detail. It was a fantastic experience.
The next day we went on the early Vatican tour starting with a light breakfast at the main office. Our guide Martina was again very informative and had a vast knowledge of the Vatican and Roman history. We went straight to the Sistine chapel after Martina had spent some time explaining all the details. It was amazing and well worth the early start to miss the crowds. Both tours will live long in our memories. Thank you, we hope to see you again soon. Darren X Kathryn.
Kevin Collins
1st May 2018
Fantastic afternoon
Colosseum Top Tiers VIP Access
Carlotta, our guide, used her wonderful knowledge and great sense of humor to keep us entertained and informed on a long afternoon walk. We had a wonderful time and really felt that we had got the very best out of this experience.
Kevin Collins
1st May 2018
A good tour with a good guide
Crypts & Catacombs tour
Marcello, our guide who spoke excellent English and did his best to know more about us and the aspects we would find interesting - even taking us for a quick visit to Keats and Shelly graves in the non-catholic cemetery. We had a really wonderful time, packed with information and an excellent walk - the catacombs were really fascinating. Good experience and would highly recommend to all visitors.
Alison Knight
26th April 2018
Exceptional Service
Absolutely wonderful tour, small group,of us Carlotta was lovely and so informative, you could really tell she loved her job and her city, she told the stories and explained everything, we will definitely be booking with her again.
Michelle Williamson
25th April 2018
AMAZING GUIDE
Our tour guide was Carlotta (Charlotte). The knowledge she had about the colosseum & the roman forums was outstanding. we was all blown away. Thank you for an amazing afternoon.
D Black
18th April 2018
Excellent Tour of Colosseum and Underground by Carlotta
Carlotta was a fun, interesting, and informative guide!
Karl Crosby
16th April 2018
Vatican Tour
Tour guide was a bloke called Grant. He did a fantastic job, certainly knew his stuff. Well worth the tour money as cuts the cues
Karen Wyatt-Jones
15th April 2018
Colosseum tour
A fantastic way to spend your time in Rome. Our guide Carlotta was warm and friendly with an excellent knowledge of the Colosseum. She even engaged our son for nearly four hours - a tremendous feat!!! We highly recommend this tour company.
Sandy Murray
10th April 2018
Vatican tour with Mario
Toured the Vatican this morning. It was beautiful and very informative! Excellent tour guide! I am glad we had him as he knew the history and told it with passion!
I would recommend this tour to anyone wanting to see the Vatican! Thank you!
Kate Smith
9th April 2018
We loved Ana and the Vatican tour!
Terrific tour by Ana! She was knowledgable, friendly and funny! We recommend her and what a life tours 100 percent. Coffee and pastries were such a nice touch! Grazi!!
Peter Sjogren
2nd April 2018
Great tour for the Vatican
Great tour & guide (Grant) to get the ”best of” to see the Vatican and Sistine chapel. Impressed by the level of knowledge, insigts and enthusiasm that Grant guided us through the impressive area. Its large at scale with many people, and massive queing - which is solved swiftly by using the service of a tour guide - highly recommend what a life tours!!!
Christopher Cesare, USA
25th February 2018
Marvelous Mario
This was another private tour we booked with What a Life and had the good fortune of having Mario as the tour guide. Mario was fantastic! He showed us the highlights in both the Colosseum and Roman Forum. He was able to bring to life the ruins of Ancient Rome!
Peter Van Hattem
22nd February 2018
This tour was exceptional as led by Carlotta. You could not ask for a better guide. Money well spent.
Van Hattem family
Dominica Wyndham
27th January 2018
I arranged these tours for both of my daughters last July and they enjoyed them very much. They thought the guide was very good and were so glad of the privilege to see so much history and faith in the tours. Highly recommend your tours!
Gaynor Christie
23rd January 2018
What a fantastic early access Vatican tour from start to finish! Patrick Madden our guide was very knowledgeable and informative, he did not rush us and answered all of our questions thoroughly! Nothing was too much trouble for him. Patrick was absolutely excellent, he had a very pleasant manner, we could not have asked for a better guide!! We would not hesitate to recommend What a life tours and Patrick, they were very welcoming on our early morning arrival, making us feel relaxed and at ease from the very start of the tour! Thank you for the whole Vatican Tour experience, it exceeded our expectations!!
Chloe Newcombe
17 January 2018
Mario - you are a little legend. We booked with What a Life Tours for the VATICAN ART, HISTORY AND LEGENDS tour. We had only six people in our group and Mario our guide was brilliant. It was everything you could possibly want in a tour – a good guide, skip-the-line access & seeing all the major highlights in 3 hours all at a decent price. Mario was knowledgeable, clear & explained everything very well. He had a lot of knowledge about everything and was passionate when he spoke. It was the highlight of our Rome vacation for my family and I. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone. Thank you Mario for such an amazing day!
Chloe Newcombe
Claudia Wencelblat
2nd January 2018
Booking and organization were very smooth. Our guide, Daniela, was amazing in both tours. She provided very interesting and colorful information resulting in a great experience. Very professional, friendly and knowledgeable.
We had no waiting time anywhere. Highly recommended!
Jamie Rose, USA
10th December 2017
Our tour guide, Mario, was incredible. I can't say enough good things about him! He has an advanced degree in Ancient Roman History and was incredibly knowledgeable. I have a degree in history myself so I was very impressed by everything I learned. Mario is also very charismatic and has a great sense of humor - he had our group laughing from start to finish. This was by far the best tour I had in Rome!
Jamie Rose
Annika Ramsay
1st December 2017
The only way to see the Vatican if you want to avoid the crowds. Very knowledgeable tour guide. I'm an Art Historian myself and I really enjoyed this tour. I wanted to show our twins Rome before they are out on their own. I have been in Rome and the Vatican many times, but that was in the early 80s when nobody cared about seeing the Sistine Chapel.Now you can't see anything, unless you take an early tour, the place is packed. I recommend that you spend the money, it is worth it. You got to see the Vatican at least once in your lifetime.
Donna Izer
27th November 2017
My husband and I were blown away by this tour! The guides were friendly and quickly escorted us to the Colosseum..We were taken through a special entrance with no wait and promptly started the Underground part of the tour. We were amazed to see the original flooring, the hallways the animals and Gladiators used, and a remake of an elevator used to transport them. Next, we were guided by Carlotta, who was so knowledgeable and so much fun. We never felt rushed and had plenty of photo ops. Since we were there in October, we were allowed to go to 2 more upper floors!! The views were breathtaking! The Roman Forum was just as amazing made special by our guide Guiliano. This was a tour of a lifetime made perfect by What a life tours! I would highly recommend this tour as it was exactly as stated with so many extras along the way. Thank you!
Donna Izer, USA
Gary Bradford, UK
23rd November 2017
Quick four day visit early November. Glad we found "Whatalifetours" on google, as there our loads to chose from. Our guide at the Vatican took us straight off on his route which enabled us to visit the main and most impressive parts of the Vatican all on our own (he new all the short cuts) great knowledge on all areas, and never felt rushed. Personally you can't beat ancient Rome history, and the Colosseum is it's centre point, our guide this time is also an archaeologist his passion on the subject came through, with all the answers to my questions answered with passion. Both these tours we felt were worth while, with the lady from the office being in attendance at the start of both, making sure they went off on time. Listening to a recorded voice on tape, as some of the other tours are run, just would not have the same feel at all. Thanks once again, and if/when we visit Rome again we will be booking again.
Gary and Angela, U.K
Kathleen Douglas
10th November 2017
My husband and I did the Vatican early access tour with Mario as our guide. The tour was so much better than we expected, Mario was an excellent guide, his knowledge of the Vatican and its history was communicated to us in an engaging, entertaining and comprehensive way. It was very special and something that I will never forget. I thoroughly recommend this tour!
Anne Cox, USA
9th November 2017
In Oct. 2017, I returned to bella Roma where I had grown up as an American teenager many decades ago. My adult son joined me for a few days in Rome. Our tour with Daniela of the Colosseum and forum was the best I've ever experienced, and I've been on many. She was exceptionally knowledgeable, interesting, and personable. I learned so much about the construction of the buildings, typical day and events at the Colosseo, and many fascinating insights about the Roman culture. When my camera storage was full and I couldn't take any more photos, my guide took the pictures I wanted on her own camera and had them sent to me through What a Life tours. Can't rate this experience, guide, and company any higher!
Gábor K, Budapest, Hungary
6th November 2017
We would like to thank to Ana the superb guidance through the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and Basilica of St Peter. We had the early morning tour what we definietly recommend to everyone who would like to avoid the big crowd. Don't forget to climb the dome of the Basilica after the tour finished!
Susanmillerjones
26th October 2017
I booked this tour based on very little knowledge of how good this team was. They were BRILLIANT! They called us before we arrived to make sure we were close. The awesome content, care and pace were perfect. Group size was good and our two guides were simply excellent. Our 8 year old son was kept engaged for 3.5 hours - he loved every minute. I thoroughly recommend this company. We will definitely be using them again.
SaraWnorthampton-MA: Easthampton
25th October 2017
What a Life Tours was great! We had been advised to book an early morning Vatican tour to avoid the crowds. We started with breakfast in their office and at 7:30 walked with our guide, Marcello, to the Vatican, where he gave us an excellent history and description of what we would see in the Sistine Chapel, while we waited for the doors to open at 8. We were delighted to find that when we got to the chapel, we had it almost all to ourselves....a powerful contrast to the wall to wall crowds we had to elbow through a couple of hours later. Marcello, our guide, was cordial and extremely knowledgeable...
robinlivingstone
25th October 2017
Had a fantastic, informative and interesting tour of the Vatican. Thanks so much Carlotta for sharing your vast knowledge and endless enthusiasm.