Press & Media
Our tours have been featured and reviewed in travel articles in The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, the Daily Telegraph (UK), Sunday Times (UK) and Irish Times, as well as on some travel forums on the web. We hope you enjoy reading them.
R E I S E N S E C T I O N
Lesen Sie mehr über uns in "Ein Abend mit Michelangelo" ein großer Artikel in Die Zeit. Klicken Sie hier, um die PDF (1,4 MB) herunterladen.
Read about us in "Ein Abend mit Michelangelo", a feature article in Die Zeit. In German. Click above link to download.
We got a neat review in London's "The Nudge". Excerpt here. To view review online - click here
"Those who have visited Rome will attest to the misery of stickily shuffling through the endless corridors of the Vatican museums, alongside thousands of tourists, in order to reach the Sistine Chapel - the focal point of everyone’s visit.
You deserve better: to explore the museums, and the Sistine Chapel, in the same way as celebrities and visiting dignitaries do - privately.
As the final crowds of the day are being ejected from the Vatican you’ll meet your guide for a glass of wine by the offices of Italy With Us, on Via Vespasiano. After the debrief you’ll take a short walk to the imposing entrance to the Vatican and, to the bemusement of those who know the Vatican to now be closed, a large door with slowly creak open and allow you to quietly move inside.
Your small group and your guide (if it’s Anton, ask how his bicycle ride from England to China’s progressing..) will be accompanied by a lone Vatican guard with one set of keys - and together you’ll have the run of the place.
Unencumbered by the crowds of the day, you’ll peacefully amble through galleries and courtyards filled with Roman sculptures, tapestries and 15th Century paintings, until heading down a small staircase that leads into the Sistine Chapel. There you’ll learn about the paintings that adorn all of the walls, as well as the famous ceiling; you’ll hear stories of Michelangelo’s strained relationship with Pope Julius II (who commissioned him to paint the Chapel) and you’ll be shown the secret messages and insults that he deftly snuck in to his work."
Nick Trend writes about the unique experience of seeing the Vatican "After Hours" with ItalyWithUs...
... "I joined a private Vatican tour run by Italy With Us one Saturday evening in April. Rolling up to the great bronze door of the museums an hour or so after closing time we were admitted to the cavernous ticket hall, which normally swarms with tourists. Our group was nine strong – all American – led by our art historian guide and escorted by a museum attendant. While the cleaners dusted and polished around us, we were whisked through the ticket gates and glided up the empty escalators into the heart of the museums. I know the place very well but I'd never seen it like this: devoid of people and so quiet, almost melancholy."
... "The feeling in a deserted Sistine Chapel is different. Obviously, the frescoes are visible no matter how crowded it becomes but compared to the usual whispering tide of tourists, there is a stillness that entirely changes the mood." Read full article here.
Tony Perrottet's writes about his new book "The Sinner's Grand Tour" in Huffington Post Books and names ItalyWithUs as his best source for special crowd-beating and "After Hours" Vatican tours and specialized individual tours of little known Roman sites. Tony also visited the Doge's Palace in Venice. Read his article here.
Nick Trend asks in Cultural city breaks: Great art, kept all to yourself, "How do you avoid the ever-growing crowds that pack the big European museums?" And names ItalyWithUs as the best tours for the Vatican, Ancient Rome and the sights of Venice and the Doge's Palace. You can read Nick Trend's article here.
My Day:
Geraldine Torney, travel agent, Rome
Interview with Geraldine Torney of ItalyWithUs, covering a day in the life of the leading Vatican tour operator.
"Our first tour is at 8am – one hour before the normal opening time of
the Vatican museums. Once in the office I greet the people who have
booked the VIP tour online. They will be taken straight to the Sistine
Chapel before they start the actual tour of the museums, so every minute
counts. During a normal day there are more than 2,000 people inside the
Sistine Chapel at any one time. It can be very uncomfortable indeed. We
specialise in getting people into the chapel in the smallest possible
numbers, according to the time of day. The most awesome tour we offer is
the evening tour when the Sistine chapel is exclusively ours." Read more on the Irish Times website here.
New York Times feature article about our After Hours Tours of the Vatican
Cultured Traveler: Alone (or Almost) With Michelangelo in Vatican City
"We walked the length and breadth of the chapel, heads tilted back and
mouths open, enjoying each discovery of a new perspective from which to
appreciate the frescoes that arched above us and covered the walls.
Only our footsteps broke the silence. We had the place to ourselves."
Click here to read - or Download PDF here
Los Angeles Times article about our Vatican City and Sistine Chapel night time tour
"These tours are for those who want to see the chapel as it was meant to
be seen: as a place for contemplation and prayer, the whole spiritual
experience, preferably lying down so you can fully savor the view of
the tremendous goings-on up on the ceiling."
Click here to read - or Download PDF here
Chicago Tribune article – "Splurging at the Vatican worth it"
"Stepping into the Sistine Chapel in the rear corner of the museum, any
remaining twinges of doubt evaporated into sheer wonder. The colors,
500 years old, were shockingly vivid. The silence was palpable. And
best of all, the floor to stroll around and admire it was wide open."
Click here to read - or Download PDF here
New York Times article - Rome at Night - about our Vatican After Hours and Rome tours
Galleries packed to a slow shuffle by day are, at night, emptied like
drawing rooms of dreams. The Sistine Chapel is shared by as few as a
dozen others, and no one yells if you take a picture.“It’s overwhelming,” said Angela Desmond from Washington, on a tour with Italy With Us (www.italywithus.com). “You have it all to yourself.”
Click here to read - or Download PDF here
Slowtalk Forum comments about our tours
Other Forum comments about our Vatican After Hours tour
