We booked a Joe Banana tour via the internet for the Civitovechia, Rome – 9-hour tour. The process was very easy, they answered our emails promptly and thoroughly. We asked to see the main highlights of Rome in 8 hours. Alex delivered, despite some heavy traffic to/from Rome!
Our driver, Alexander (Alex), spoke excellent English. He met us at the cruise port Civitovechia entrance. It's about a 90 minute drive from the port to Rome in traffic. Alex was very punctual, respectful, extremely knowledgeable and proud of the Rome, Italy history, landmarks, etc. He really should be a history professor with his intimate and detailed knowledge of all of the buildings and sites in Rome.
Alex is extremely passionate about the history of the city, and thoroughness of his explanations of all of the major and minor buildings, sites, churches, landmarks, etc. We saw St. Peter’s Square, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, overlooks of the city, the Forum, the Pantheon, Plaza Navona, the "Wedding Cake" (Il Vittoriano Monument), Climb the Spanish Steps St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, and the Trevi Fountain.
Alex drove us around the 7 hills of Rome explaining each to us. He took us to see the nondescript door to the Priory of the Knights of Malta up on the Aventine Hill, just past the orange grove. We peeped through the “keyhole” to see a perfect view of Saint Peter’s Basilica across the city.
We were 3 adults driven around in a very clean, comfortable Mercedes S class vehicle. Alex was flexible during the 8-hour tour and even got us to the St Peter's plaza in time to see Pope Francis’ weekly Wednesday brief speech. That was the highlight of this 1st time trip to Europe for us!
While some people may not like all of the history lessons, we thoroughly enjoyed it. It was much better than listening to a fixed audio playback. Alex was very concerned that we got to see all the splendor of Rome, and understood what each site was. Alex is a fabulous driver & tour guide! Thank you, Alex and Joe Banana for providing us with an extraordinary visit of your fine city!