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The Roman Guy

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Colosseum Arena Floor Tour with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill

Skip-the-line Vatican Tour with Sistine Chapel & St Peter's

Skip-the-line Colosseum Tour with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill

Rome in a Day Small Group Tour with Vatican and Colosseum

Rome Food Tour: Hidden Gems of Trastevere with Dinner & Wine

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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

The Roman Guy - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

A team dedicated to building the best Rome tours & activities on the market!

Its easy! We combine the right attractions with passionate people who find ways to see them better.

1. Start with an attraction locals love

From the Colosseum to Catacombs and even local delicacies!

2. Find a more unique and exclusive way to experience it.

Go in through a back door, visit at night, before opening, or even go underneath it!

3. Find the best guides possible

We handpick and work with guides who are passionate about history and storytelling.

4. Make it affordable

We design group sizes that keep tours intimate and small, but still keep the cost per person down.

How Can we Take Your Rome Trip to the Next Level?

Who is the roman guy.

The Roman Guy isn’t a person, but a group of people. The word “guy” only reinforces that we are not just a company, but real people. It also reminds us that we serve real people. We’re definitely not only men, quite the opposite most times.

The Roman Guy is a brand that operates tours in Rome with strong brand recognition and a large group of loyal customers (thank you!). The Roman Guy did such a good job it has become The Tour Guy and expanded to many cities such as Paris, Florence, Venice, London, and even NYC!

We also now are growing our line of tours globally. While you can find all our Rome tours on this site, all our international tours are found on The Tour Guy including our Rome tours.

Our mission is to, “Help travelers unlock the full potential of each destination experience."

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Roaming Historian

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Roaming With The Roman Guy—a Tour Review

As the time grew near for our first tour with The Roman Guy (now known as The Tour Guy), I grew increasingly excited. I’ve found tours to be a great way to learn—as long as the guide is knowledgeable, experienced, and passionate. The Roman Guy guides were all of the above. As a history professor with over a decade of teaching experience, I know that the deepest level of learning occurs when the person conveying the message is enthusiastic and impassioned. Our guides, Jowita, Leah, and Raffaella, showed a true love for the city’s sites that made our Rome sightseeing memorable, fun, and educational. Both our Colosseum and Vatican tours, although briskly-paced, gave time for photos and to rest periodically. Thanks to our awesome Rome guides, I saw some of the world’s greatest treasures and best things to do in Rome while not wearing myself out.

Colosseum Dungeons, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill Tour Overview

We passed by the impressive Arch of Constantine on our way to the peaceful and picturesque Palatine Hill. Originally home to the palatial estates of Roman nobles, their gardens and some structures still exist. Always knowing the best place for a photo opportunity, Jowita led us to a viewing area that provided aerial context of the Roman Forum. We then descended to the Forum where our guide’s experience and knowledge proved invaluable. Along with a book showing us the way ruins looked in their heyday, Jowita made the Forum come alive as she verbally reconstructed ancient Rome to us. She reminded us how colorful it would have looked with different hues of marble and paint. As there are very few placards or markers in the Colosseum, on the hill, or in the Forum to denote what you are seeing, a guide frees the traveler from stumbling around the stone streets with their nose in a guidebook. Jowita contextualized everything we were seeing and told us fun stories that brought the past to life. Having been to all of these places, I found the tour really elevated my experience and made seeing them even better. And I didn’t think that was possible, as I adored them the first time! Once you are inside the Forum or Palatine Hill you can go back and forth between the two. I would suggest bringing a snack in your bag if you want to keep exploring. Also, make sure that you bring a bottle of water—there will be opportunities to refill it and you will likely get thirsty as this tour features a lot of walking and numerous steps.

“Privileged Entrance” Vatican and Sistine Chapel Tour Overview

Having been to the Vatican Museums before, I knew just how crazy entry lines could be (and that was with a reservation). I also knew how packed the Sistine Chapel could get (not that any amount of people could deter from its breath-taking beauty). I was incredibly excited, therefore, to skip the lines and get dedicated time in the Sistine Chapel—before the masses arrived. Using visuals, our guide, Raffaella, explained some of the more notable parts of the paintings we would see. Then, our group went hurriedly…but thoughtfully…through the Hall of Maps and Tapestry Gallery to have twenty minutes in silence in the Sistine Chapel. I didn’t think that anything could make the Sistine Chapel better, but having the place devoid of the crowds upped the ante and enhanced my experience. After the Sistine Chapel, we went back through and toured the museum. The Vatican Museums are vast and filled with treasures. It was nice to have Raffaella curate the museums for us and show us some of her favorite highlights. After a couple of hours, we cut through the Sistine Chapel (it never gets old) to get to St. Peter’s Basilica. With general entry having started, we could see how privileged indeed we had been. The chapel was filled with people.

Our tour ended in St. Peter’s Basilica where Raffaella took a nice photo of my husband and I in front of Bernini’s canopy under Michelangelo’s dome. St. Peter’s Basilica is one of the largest churches in the world and is filled with beautiful objects of art from Renaissance and Baroque “greats.” Raffaella showed us around the church and offered to stay after the tour to answer more questions. She also helped me find the Swiss Guard—their whimsically colored Renaissance uniforms contrasted their sometimes violent past and serious position as papal defenders. The vastness and richness of the Vatican can almost overwhelm, but Raffaella made it manageable and, more importantly, explained the significance of what we were experiencing. Side note: you’ll be walking over a lot of marble so wear cushioned shoes.

Favorite Aspects of the Tours

There were many great aspects to both tours, but three of my favorites were the guides’ knowledge , the camaraderie created within the group, and the insight into Rome that The Roman Guy provided.

Knowledge —I pride myself on being a life-long learner and, boy oh boy, did I learn. From the special little details that were shared—did you know that Michelangelo used lapis lazuli to create the vivid blues in the Sistine Chapel?—to broader narratives, the guides showed a mastery of their domain. The tours put the sites into historical context, especially important for the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill tour where so much of what we explored was in ruins. Although I had visited these places before and have studied ancient Rome fairly extensively, I learned a lot more from listening to Jowita. I was never quite sure if what I thought was a specific ruin was actually the structure I thought it was. The Roman Guy freed me from the guesswork and enriched my travels. Our guides seemed to know an answer for every question. And I think I asked some pretty obscure ones!

Camaraderie —Our guides creating a sense of camaraderie by asking us where we came from and having us introduce ourselves. We were no longer strangers. In one of our tours, it so happened that two of the tour goers lived about an hour and half away from us in Michigan. The rest were from outside the States. Traveling can feel quite solitary! Even when part of a couple, it can be difficult not speaking the language fluently. You may feel left out of the conversation…wondering where to eat and what to do. You might start to crave interaction with people other than your partner, but find that the language barrier obfuscates your efforts to make friends. The Roman Guy tours gave us the chance to be part of an intimate group with an “insider.” Our guides were able to navigate difficult waters for us by talking to site officials on our behalf. They gave us tips on their city—it was obvious they didn’t want us to have a bad experience in their beloved Roma. Raffaella taught me how to spot an artisan gelateria and gave me the name of one by my hotel. It was nice having a friend to help me out.

City Insight —Another invaluable aspect of The Roman Guy is the city insight they provide. After we booked our tours, The Roman Guy sent us a list of restaurants to eat at so we could avoid tourist traps and savor all the wonderful delicacies that Rome has to offer. I was frequently in touch with Lorna—their “social butterfly”—who answered all my tour questions and seemed genuinely excited about making sure our Roman vacation was perfect. This meant answering questions beyond those strictly related to the tours. She even provided logistical advice about how best to get from our hotel to one of the tour starting points and how long it would take. When she realized that we would be traveling by train from Florence on that day, she even suggested what time our train should arrive in order to give us enough time to get settled at our hotel, grab a bit to eat, and sight-see on a leisurely walk to the Colosseum. The Roman Guy wanted my time in that city to be as pleasurable as possible.

Some Memorable Things I Learned about Ancient Rome and the Vatican

• Although the Colosseum was free, everyone had to have a ticket and the numbers above the gates (you can still see their faint outlines) denoted where to enter. The passages, called vomitorium, could spew out attendees (between 50,000 and 80,000) quite quickly.
• The colorful marble that had decorated the Roman Forum, Colosseum, and Palatine Hill was looted over the centuries…some of it was “borrowed” by the Vatican where one can see it now.

• Raphael (quite the ladies’ man) often painted himself into his works, as well as other greats that he admired. Although other Renaissance artists were originally portrayed in his “School of Athens” fresco, he wasn’t going to include Michelangelo (quite an introvert), but after he saw the beauty of the Sistine Chapel he gave him a prominent and powerful character.
• Falling is prohibited! Signs around the Vatican portray prohibited actions, such as showing too much skin, taking pictures in the Sistine Chapel, and…falling!

I found booking the tours to be a breeze through their nicely laid-out and easy to navigate website . The website shows each tour’s duration and level of difficulty, which is handy for those who may not want a lot of exercise or those who are looking for more activity. The Roman Guy hosts tours in Rome, Vatican City, Florence, and Venice, and also has many day trips too. I’m sure all their guides are as fabulous as Jowita, Raffaella, and Leah. Having enjoyed their tours so much, I would love to try out one of their Italian vacations—especially the ten-day “Italian Vistas” trip!

The Roman Guy takes care of all the reservations and ticket buying. This is a very nice service for travelers—it’s like having a personal assistant! Also, for many of their tours, you are able to skip the lines—as was the case with the two that we took. Having guides navigating behemoth sites is particularly helpful saving both time and energy. In short, for those who enjoy getting VIP treatment, like fun tours with experienced guides, and want to feel connected to a city, the Roman Guy tours are for you. Have a great time on your next Italian adventure!

Are you looking for a fun small-group tour in Europe or the United States? Roaming Historian is an affiliate of The Tour Guy . They offer unique experiences, small groups, special access, and exceptional guides. Use our affiliate link, Tour Guy , or visit our page dedicated to them to learn more about the Tour Guy .

Rome Tours: https://thetourguy.com/tours/rome?partner=2

Disclosure: Although The Roman Guy provided me with complimentary tours, I paid for my husband to attend and was thereby able to undergo the process as a regular customer. All views and opinions expressed in this blog are always my own.

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9 thoughts on “roaming with the roman guy—a tour review”.

I think that what you wrote made a great deal of sense. However, think on this, suppose you were to write a awesome headline? I ain’t suggesting your information isn’t solid, however suppose you added a title that makes people desire more? I mean Roaming With The Roman Guy—a Tour Review – Roaming Historian is kinda boring.

You ought to peek at Yahoo’s home page and see how they write news titles to grab people to open the links. You might try adding a video or a related pic or two to get readers excited about what you’ve got to say. Just my opinion, it might bring your posts a little bit more interesting.

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Like Liked by 1 person

Thank you for your kind words! I appreciate them.

• Pingback: Art Treasures of Rome—Michelangelo, Bernini, and Raphael, Oh My! | Roaming Historian
• Pingback: Things to Do in Rome…Colosseum Area | Roaming Historian

I like the option of forwarding (email) your insights to a friend. I have been to Rome before but friend Jackie and I intend to return next summer? Here’s an opinion. Loved your comments about guides. Forwarded to Jackie but did not see a spot to indicate to Jackie why I was forwarding it. I sent her a separate email to explain….no big deal but would have been nice to comment to her in the initial forward. So glad you had a positive experience with your guides…going local is SO important with travels.

Thanks for the feedback, Karen! I’ll check into it and see what’s up.

Hi Karen, I checked with the engineers at WordPress (who host my site) and they say, unfortunately, that the ability to add a message is only available through the social media buttons. At least I was able to make them aware that this is an issue and doesn’t make for easy sharing via email. Thanks for letting me know; I usually cut and paste the URL so I had no idea that the button didn’t allow for a message. Take care. Amy

Hey, Amy. Thanks for the follow-up. How else can we improve upon technology. You’re doing a terrific job as a wandering historian. Love your posts. Keep it up….traveling, that is!!!

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Number 1 Best Tour in Rome | The Roman Guy Tours

by Progressive Traveller | Europe , Featured , Italy

Ancient Rome Guided Tour with The Roman Guy

Visiting Rome is on most people’s bucket list but deciding what to see in Rome in a short time frame can be somewhat overwhelming. No matter what you finally decide on, your Rome experience will be forever etched in your heart. I’ve been fortunate to visit Rome on a few occasions and I’m now starting to visit Rome like I’m a local.

New visitors to the Eternal City must see the Rome city wonders – Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and the magnificent Rome Colosseum. Preparation is the key to enjoying the best that Rome has to offer. It is essential that you Skip the Line and book Rome tours well in advance to ensure you see and learn all about the ancient history of Rome.

Best Rome Tour Guides

There are a dime-a-dozen Rome tour operators however not all tour guides are created equal! With limited time on your hands, it is important that you connect with the best Rome tour operators. I can highly recommend ‘ The Roman Guy ’ Italian tours and experiences, as they offer the best small group and private guided tours throughout Italy. I believe, their passionate English-speaking guides are the best informative tour guides in Rome .

Although, I have been to the Colosseum before, I decided on my recent Rome visit that I would take the Colosseum Underground  and Arena Floor Tour with The Roman Guy. To skip the line, pre-purchase Colosseum tickets online. It’s super easy.

Dungeons and Passageways

The three-and-a-half-hour tour started in the Colosseum dungeons where the slaves and animals were kept and awaited their grisly fate. Hundreds of wild animals were stored below the Colosseum for 3 or 4 days without food before an event. Slave hunters fought the wild animals (not the gladiators) with most hunters being mauled to death. The highlight of the games was the last act of the day when the gladiators did battle on the Arena floor in front of the roaring crowd.  

In 2010, after a $1.4 million renovation project the Colosseum underground was opened to the public. The Hypogeum as it is known is an entire network of underground passages, tunnels, lifts and trapdoors. Here is where our guide explained the architectural history behind the roman construction of the Colosseum and how the gladiators and wild animals could appear onto the arena floor like magic. As I wandered through the underground network I could imagine the gladiators walking these same corridors and feel the slaves terror!

Who Built The Colosseum?

This magnificent stone and concrete monument was built by tens of thousands of Jewish slaves between 72AD and 80AD. It is the largest oval shaped amphitheatre in the world measuring 189m long x 156m wide and around the height of a 12-story building. The original Arena floor was made of timber and the building could seat almost 60,000 screaming spectators and VIPs. A large awning of sails called a ‘Velarium’ was used to protect the spectators from the burning sun and Rome summer heat. Today, only one-third of the Colosseum remains after being damaged by fires, earthquakes and vandals. Your best Instagram photo opportunities are from The Arena Floor of the Colosseum.

After taking dozens of photos, the tour continued to the Colosseum’s first and second levels. The Emperors once sat here and this is where our guide educated us on the rules of the gladiatorial games for both competitors and spectators. The women’s section was located on the top level with no seats or water fountains unlike the other levels.

Ancient City of Rome | The Forum Tour

Included in the Colosseum Arena Floor ticket is a guided ancient Rome tour of the Roman ruins inside The Forum. Referred to as the “Ancient City”, this Roman archaeological site was once the location of downtown Ancient Rome. During our tour, we visited the most famous Roman Forum buildings, including the Temple of Julius Caesar, Arch of Titus, the Roman Senate House and more.

Julius Caesar Temple

The Julius Caesar Temple was built in his honour and this is the location where his body was burned after he was stabbed to death at Largo di Torre Argentina. I found the guide’s tales of Mark Antony, Cleopatra and the Vestal Virgins totally fascinating. Rome’s Eternal Flame is now only ruins but the story lives on how the Vestal Virgins took vows of chastity and were charged with keeping a sacred fire that was never to be extinguished.

Senate House

Palatine Hill | Perfect for Picnics and Sunsets

Also included in The Roman Guy ticket is a guided tour of Palatine Hill situated on one of the seven founding hills of Rome. Palatine Hill in my opinion is one of the best ancient sites in Rome. According to legend, Lupercal Cave at Palatine Hill is where the she-wolf saved the young twins Romulus and Remus from certain death by suckling them from her teats. In adulthood, Romulus killed Remus in anger and later became the first King of Rome. The panoramic sights from the hill offer unparalleled views over the Roman Forum and Rome city.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Roman Guy tour of the Colosseum Underground and Arena Floor plus learning about the history surrounding The Forum and Palatine Hill. This tour is an ideal way of ticking off a number of key sights in Rome in a short time.

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Italy has captured the hearts of travellers for centuries. It is a country that you will want to visit again and again. You will adore the history, architecture, food and its people. Our Italy blog series will help you to discover the best of Italy, fall in love with all things Italian and enhance your stay in this magnificent country. Ciao!

• 1 Night in Verona
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• Puglia Italy Road Trip – Part 1
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The Tour Guy   Reviews

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Reviews 4.3.

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Awesome tour and overall experience

Awesome tour and overall experience! We toured the Forum and Colosseum with our tour guide Laura. She was exceptionally engaging, kind, helpful, and knowledgeable. She went out of her way to make sure everyone me enjoyed the tour, helping with basic things like bathrooms and getting quickly through a couple lines. She really showed her interest in all the sights we saw, sharing both her knowledge and passion. Highly recommend!

Date of experience : February 21, 2024

The Vatican with Tour Guy - amazing!

The private, early morning tour of the Vatican was beyond words. Our guide was a Vatican scholar- so much in-depth knowledgeable, fun, easy to understand, always ready to stop and discuss certain spots - just awesome! The Vatican is overwhelming visually and historically but our Tour Guy guide touched lightly on so much, you really begin to appreciate the depth of the place. Use Tour Guy - you can't go wrong!

Date of experience : October 01, 2023

Rome Day tour …

The guide was knowledgeable and friendly. She's an archeologist who provided extra insight about the sites we visited.She also provided tips on where to eat and made recommendations for other places to visit during our stay in Rome. We also had a lovely group of people on our tour which was a bonus.

Date of experience : April 10, 2024

Not a value for money tour

Seeing the inside of Doge's Palace and St Mark's and gondola ride was rewarding and worth five stars. Our full day tour did not visit the Rialto markets or hidden local alleys. At times it seemed that our guide was new. If it was her first day on the job she did well. Too much time standing outside in the sun rather than inside the above two places. And at both sections of the tour (before and after lunch) our group guide turned up literally one minute before starting time, so obviously considerable time then wasted getting earphones pieces and getting organised. Would we recommend this tour to friends: no.

Date of experience : April 30, 2024

It was a great tour

It was a great tour! Our guide was awsome and flexible for some members of our group who were having a little difficulty with walking He slowed down his pace for them and still added interesting things to show us as we walked to our next destination.

Date of experience : May 01, 2024

The Tour Guy made our 40th Anniversary Special!

My wife and I traveled to Rome, Italy in late November, 2023 for our 40th Wedding Anniversary. The Tour Guy was invaluable to the enjoyment and deeper historical understanding of the sites we toured in Rome. Wow! Terrific and knowledgeable, English-speaking guides go the extra mile to make these tours great and enjoyable. We cannot recommend The Tour Guy highly enough. Take a tour with them. You'll be very glad that you did. We were too!

Date of experience : November 28, 2023

Missed half the tour at the colosseum…

Missed half the tour at the colosseum because the meeting point is confusing. Called and no one answered. Another couple we found were in the same position. All savvy travellers who showed up early and still couldn’t find the location. Company wouldn’t book us on the next tour. Do not recommend this company. Use Get your guide instead. The app has a map and all your company contact info embedded in your app and ticket.

Date of experience : August 31, 2023

2 great and one not so great, but do recommend!

We did three separate tours with the Tour Guys and two were 5 Star: Trestavere Food tour and Colosseum tour. Our Vatican tour was more like 2-3 stars. I would highly recommend the Tour Guy, one bad experience was addressed and the others tours were well worth the money.

Date of experience : April 11, 2024

We had a private tour of Vatican

We had a private tour of Vatican - just the two of us. Then a private tour of Da Vinci painting. Both were fantastic. Much better than previous tours. Knowledgeable friendly helpful guides. Worth every Euro, but not expensive.

Date of experience : April 27, 2024

It is all in the details

All 3 of our tours were changed to a different day or time. 1 tour was late starting because the guide was misinformed of the details. And at the Vatican, we were left outside in the rain for 30 minutes waiting for the guide for the second half of our tour rather than being given extra time inside St. Peter's Basilica. Our experience on the tours was good and the guides were excellent but the confusion with the details is stressful when you are traveling.

Date of experience : May 09, 2023

100% I would book again and again and again!

100% I would book again! In all cases the host guides were amazing, making everyone not only feel comfortable but able to relax and enjoy the experience. We took 4 "Tour Guy" Tours in Italy including Florence Uffizi, Florence David Statue, Rome in a Day, and Rome Foodie Tour. - Don't miss the Rome Foodie tour! All the others are well know , this one is just as awesome.

Date of experience : October 19, 2023

Tour Guy changed times at last minute.

You changed the time on the second part of a tour that was bought as a package, because you advertised it as a package. We had to race across Rome, with no chance to have lunch between tours because you moved the second half of the tour up the day before. I would never use Tour Guy again, nor would I recommend it to anyone.

Date of experience : January 12, 2024

Tour guide was honestly amazing

Tour guide was honestly amazing. She was so passionate and made it feel way more exciting by far! Would definitely recommend, going without a tour guide seemed like a nightmare.

Date of experience : November 05, 2023

Unmatched knowledge and enthusiasm

The in-depth knowledge and energy of our tour guide was incredible. Her love of The Vatican kept my energy and excitement for what we were seeing up, even in hour-5, where my back and legs were questioning my life decisions! Lol. Have recommended your company to everyone traveling Europe!

Date of experience : October 17, 2023

We had a wonderful time in the Louvre…

We had a wonderful time in the Louvre with Ramona! She is just wonderful, probably one of the most knowledgeable guides we ever experienced! The details that she gave us with the passion and love for art - were amazing! Thank you Ramona!

Our tour guide was excellent

Our tour guide was excellent. It's been several months, so I can't remember her name, but we enjoyed her very much. I also love your blog and video blogs. I used them to choose restaurants, hotels and lots of sites not to miss during our multi city stay.

Date of experience : May 31, 2023

Rome crypts and catacombs tour

Your hosts were very knowledgeable and made everyone welcome. It was great to have small groups, however at the catacombs the group was too large the guide was provided by the catacomb's location not but the tour guy. Saying this the guide was well informed and tried to ensure everyone got the chance to see things. The tours in other languages was much smaller.

Date of experience : April 28, 2024

Will Use The Tour Guy Again!

We enjoyed our tour with The Tour Guy in Rome. We weren't exactly sure where to meet our guide, but it was easy enough to find the leader. Learned a lot. In Naples we had more trouble. We were part of a larger group that was delayed, and so our tour started very late. We were one a cruise port stop, so ended up leaving early. Customer service was very understanding and did issue a partial refund, which was appreciated. Overall, we will use them again!

Date of experience : June 20, 2023

We have been using The Tour Guy since…2017

We have been using The Tour Guy since 2017, and have never been disappointed! We’ve used in multiple cities on multiple trips! They are always professional and so knowledgeable! I refer all my friends to them when traveling.

Loved most the tours but disappointed…

Loved most the tours but disappointed that we were left off of one of the tours. After getting to the meeting point, we were informed that we were not on the list for our tour of Cinque Terre. Even though I had the voucher showing that we booked and had paid, we weren't allowed to join the tour. Major disappointment. We were so looking forward to that one.

Date of experience : May 21, 2023

2018 Primetime Emmy & James Beard Award Winner

In Transit: Notes from the Underground

Jun 06 2018.

Spend some time in one of Moscow’s finest museums.

Subterranean commuting might not be anyone’s idea of a good time, but even in a city packing the war-games treasures and priceless bejeweled eggs of the Kremlin Armoury and the colossal Soviet pavilions of the VDNKh , the Metro holds up as one of Moscow’s finest museums. Just avoid rush hour.

The Metro is stunning and provides an unrivaled insight into the city’s psyche, past and present, but it also happens to be the best way to get around. Moscow has Uber, and the Russian version called Yandex Taxi , but also some nasty traffic. Metro trains come around every 90 seconds or so, at a more than 99 percent on-time rate. It’s also reasonably priced, with a single ride at 55 cents (and cheaper in bulk). From history to tickets to rules — official and not — here’s what you need to know to get started.

A Brief Introduction Buying Tickets Know Before You Go (Down) Rules An Easy Tour

A Brief Introduction

Moscow’s Metro was a long time coming. Plans for rapid transit to relieve the city’s beleaguered tram system date back to the Imperial era, but a couple of wars and a revolution held up its development. Stalin revived it as part of his grand plan to modernize the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s. The first lines and tunnels were constructed with help from engineers from the London Underground, although Stalin’s secret police decided that they had learned too much about Moscow’s layout and had them arrested on espionage charges and deported.

The beauty of its stations (if not its trains) is well-documented, and certainly no accident. In its illustrious first phases and particularly after the Second World War, the greatest architects of Soviet era were recruited to create gleaming temples celebrating the Revolution, the USSR, and the war triumph. No two stations are exactly alike, and each of the classic showpieces has a theme. There are world-famous shrines to Futurist architecture, a celebration of electricity, tributes to individuals and regions of the former Soviet Union. Each marble slab, mosaic tile, or light fixture was placed with intent, all in service to a station’s aesthetic; each element, f rom the smallest brass ear of corn to a large blood-spattered sword on a World War II mural, is an essential part of the whole.

The Metro is a monument to the Soviet propaganda project it was intended to be when it opened in 1935 with the slogan “Building a Palace for the People”. It brought the grand interiors of Imperial Russia to ordinary Muscovites, celebrated the Soviet Union’s past achievements while promising its citizens a bright Soviet future, and of course, it was a show-piece for the world to witness the might and sophistication of life in the Soviet Union.

It may be a museum, but it’s no relic. U p to nine million people use it daily, more than the London Underground and New York Subway combined. (Along with, at one time, about 20 stray dogs that learned to commute on the Metro.)

In its 80+ year history, the Metro has expanded in phases and fits and starts, in step with the fortunes of Moscow and Russia. Now, partly in preparation for the World Cup 2018, it’s also modernizing. New trains allow passengers to walk the entire length of the train without having to change carriages. The system is becoming more visitor-friendly. (There are helpful stickers on the floor marking out the best selfie spots .) But there’s a price to modernity: it’s phasing out one of its beloved institutions, the escalator attendants. Often they are middle-aged or elderly women—“ escalator grandmas ” in news accounts—who have held the post for decades, sitting in their tiny kiosks, scolding commuters for bad escalator etiquette or even bad posture, or telling jokes . They are slated to be replaced, when at all, by members of the escalator maintenance staff.

For all its achievements, the Metro lags behind Moscow’s above-ground growth, as Russia’s capital sprawls ever outwards, generating some of the world’s worst traffic jams . But since 2011, the Metro has been in the middle of an ambitious and long-overdue enlargement; 60 new stations are opening by 2020. If all goes to plan, the 2011-2020 period will have brought 125 miles of new tracks and over 100 new stations — a 40 percent increase — the fastest and largest expansion phase in any period in the Metro’s history.

Facts: 14 lines Opening hours: 5 a.m-1 a.m. Rush hour(s): 8-10 a.m, 4-8 p.m. Single ride: 55₽ (about 85 cents) Wi-Fi network-wide

Buying Tickets

• Ticket machines have a button to switch to English.
• You can buy specific numbers of rides: 1, 2, 5, 11, 20, or 60. Hold up fingers to show how many rides you want to buy.
• There is also a 90-minute ticket , which gets you 1 trip on the metro plus an unlimited number of transfers on other transport (bus, tram, etc) within 90 minutes.
• Or, you can buy day tickets with unlimited rides: one day (218₽/ US$4), three days (415₽/US$7) or seven days (830₽/US$15). Check the rates here to stay up-to-date.
• If you’re going to be using the Metro regularly over a few days, it’s worth getting a Troika card , a contactless, refillable card you can use on all public transport. Using the Metro is cheaper with one of these: a single ride is 36₽, not 55₽. Buy them and refill them in the Metro stations, and they’re valid for 5 years, so you can keep it for next time. Or, if you have a lot of cash left on it when you leave, you can get it refunded at the Metro Service Centers at Ulitsa 1905 Goda, 25 or at Staraya Basmannaya 20, Building 1.
• You can also buy silicone bracelets and keychains with built-in transport chips that you can use as a Troika card. (A Moscow Metro Fitbit!) So far, you can only get these at the Pushkinskaya metro station Live Helpdesk and souvenir shops in the Mayakovskaya and Trubnaya metro stations. The fare is the same as for the Troika card.
• You can also use Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

Rules, spoken and unspoken

No smoking, no drinking, no filming, no littering. Photography is allowed, although it used to be banned.

Stand to the right on the escalator. Break this rule and you risk the wrath of the legendary escalator attendants. (No shenanigans on the escalators in general.)

Get out of the way. Find an empty corner to hide in when you get off a train and need to stare at your phone. Watch out getting out of the train in general; when your train doors open, people tend to appear from nowhere or from behind ornate marble columns, walking full-speed.

Always offer your seat to elderly ladies (what are you, a monster?).

An Easy Tour

This is no Metro Marathon ( 199 stations in 20 hours ). It’s an easy tour, taking in most—though not all—of the notable stations, the bulk of it going clockwise along the Circle line, with a couple of short detours. These stations are within minutes of one another, and the whole tour should take about 1-2 hours.

Start at Mayakovskaya Metro station , at the corner of Tverskaya and Garden Ring,  Triumfalnaya Square, Moskva, Russia, 125047.

1. Mayakovskaya.  Named for Russian Futurist Movement poet Vladimir Mayakovsky and an attempt to bring to life the future he imagined in his poems. (The Futurist Movement, natch, was all about a rejecting the past and celebrating all things speed, industry, modern machines, youth, modernity.) The result: an Art Deco masterpiece that won the National Grand Prix for architecture at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. It’s all smooth, rounded shine and light, and gentle arches supported by columns of dark pink marble and stainless aircraft steel. Each of its 34 ceiling niches has a mosaic. During World War II, the station was used as an air-raid shelter and, at one point, a bunker for Stalin. He gave a subdued but rousing speech here in Nov. 6, 1941 as the Nazis bombed the city above.

Take the 3/Green line one station to:

2. Belorusskaya. Opened in 1952, named after the connected Belarussky Rail Terminal, which runs trains between Moscow and Belarus. This is a light marble affair with a white, cake-like ceiling, lined with Belorussian patterns and 12 Florentine ceiling mosaics depicting life in Belarussia when it was built.

Transfer onto the 1/Brown line. Then, one stop (clockwise) t o:

3. Novoslobodskaya.  This station was designed around the stained-glass panels, which were made in Latvia, because Alexey Dushkin, the Soviet starchitect who dreamed it up (and also designed Mayakovskaya station) couldn’t find the glass and craft locally. The stained glass is the same used for Riga’s Cathedral, and the panels feature plants, flowers, members of the Soviet intelligentsia (musician, artist, architect) and geometric shapes.

Go two stops east on the 1/Circle line to:

4. Komsomolskaya. Named after the Komsomol, or the Young Communist League, this might just be peak Stalin Metro style. Underneath the hub for three regional railways, it was intended to be a grand gateway to Moscow and is today its busiest station. It has chandeliers; a yellow ceiling with Baroque embellishments; and in the main hall, a colossal red star overlaid on golden, shimmering tiles. Designer Alexey Shchusev designed it as an homage to the speech Stalin gave at Red Square on Nov. 7, 1941, in which he invoked Russia’s illustrious military leaders as a pep talk to Soviet soldiers through the first catastrophic year of the war.   The station’s eight large mosaics are of the leaders referenced in the speech, such as Alexander Nevsky, a 13th-century prince and military commander who bested German and Swedish invading armies.

One more stop clockwise to Kurskaya station,  and change onto the 3/Blue  line, and go one stop to:

5. Baumanskaya.   Opened in 1944. Named for the Bolshevik Revolutionary Nikolai Bauman , whose monument and namesake district are aboveground here. Though he seemed like a nasty piece of work (he apparently once publicly mocked a woman he had impregnated, who later hung herself), he became a Revolutionary martyr when he was killed in 1905 in a skirmish with a monarchist, who hit him on the head with part of a steel pipe. The station is in Art Deco style with atmospherically dim lighting, and a series of bronze sculptures of soldiers and homefront heroes during the War. At one end, there is a large mosaic portrait of Lenin.

Stay on that train direction one more east to:

6. Elektrozavodskaya. As you may have guessed from the name, this station is the Metro’s tribute to all thing electrical, built in 1944 and named after a nearby lightbulb factory. It has marble bas-relief sculptures of important figures in electrical engineering, and others illustrating the Soviet Union’s war-time struggles at home. The ceiling’s recurring rows of circular lamps give the station’s main tunnel a comforting glow, and a pleasing visual effect.

Double back two stops to Kurskaya station , and change back to the 1/Circle line. Sit tight for six stations to:

7. Kiyevskaya. This was the last station on the Circle line to be built, in 1954, completed under Nikita Khrushchev’ s guidance, as a tribute to his homeland, Ukraine. Its three large station halls feature images celebrating Ukraine’s contributions to the Soviet Union and Russo-Ukrainian unity, depicting musicians, textile-working, soldiers, farmers. (One hall has frescoes, one mosaics, and the third murals.) Shortly after it was completed, Khrushchev condemned the architectural excesses and unnecessary luxury of the Stalin era, which ushered in an epoch of more austere Metro stations. According to the legend at least, he timed the policy in part to ensure no Metro station built after could outshine Kiyevskaya.

Change to the 3/Blue line and go one stop west.

8. Park Pobedy. This is the deepest station on the Metro, with one of the world’s longest escalators, at 413 feet. If you stand still, the escalator ride to the surface takes about three minutes .) Opened in 2003 at Victory Park, the station celebrates two of Russia’s great military victories. Each end has a mural by Georgian artist Zurab Tsereteli, who also designed the “ Good Defeats Evil ” statue at the UN headquarters in New York. One mural depicts the Russian generals’ victory over the French in 1812 and the other, the German surrender of 1945. The latter is particularly striking; equal parts dramatic, triumphant, and gruesome. To the side, Red Army soldiers trample Nazi flags, and if you look closely there’s some blood spatter among the detail. Still, the biggest impressions here are the marble shine of the chessboard floor pattern and the pleasingly geometric effect if you view from one end to the other.

Keep going one more stop west to:

9. Slavyansky Bulvar.  One of the Metro’s youngest stations, it opened in 2008. With far higher ceilings than many other stations—which tend to have covered central tunnels on the platforms—it has an “open-air” feel (or as close to it as you can get, one hundred feet under). It’s an homage to French architect Hector Guimard, he of the Art Nouveau entrances for the Paris M é tro, and that’s precisely what this looks like: A Moscow homage to the Paris M é tro, with an additional forest theme. A Cyrillic twist on Guimard’s Metro-style lettering over the benches, furnished with t rees and branch motifs, including creeping vines as towering lamp-posts.

Stay on the 3/Blue line and double back four stations to:

10. Arbatskaya. Its first iteration, Arbatskaya-Smolenskaya station, was damaged by German bombs in 1941. It was rebuilt in 1953, and designed to double as a bomb shelter in the event of nuclear war, although unusually for stations built in the post-war phase, this one doesn’t have a war theme. It may also be one of the system’s most elegant: Baroque, but toned down a little, with red marble floors and white ceilings with gilded bronze c handeliers.

Jump back on the 3/Blue line  in the same direction and take it one more stop:

11. Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Revolution Square). Opened in 1938, and serving Red Square and the Kremlin . Its renowned central hall has marble columns flanked by 76 bronze statues of Soviet heroes: soldiers, students, farmers, athletes, writers, parents. Some of these statues’ appendages have a yellow sheen from decades of Moscow’s commuters rubbing them for good luck. Among the most popular for a superstitious walk-by rub: the snout of a frontier guard’s dog, a soldier’s gun (where the touch of millions of human hands have tapered the gun barrel into a fine, pointy blade), a baby’s foot, and a woman’s knee. (A brass rooster also sports the telltale gold sheen, though I am told that rubbing the rooster is thought to bring bad luck. )

Now take the escalator up, and get some fresh air.

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Best things to see and do in Moscow

Moscow is the capital of Russia and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia. It’s rich and complex history is a constant reminder of its strategic position between Europe and Asia and makes it one of the cities you should visit once in your life. In terms of the many iconic landmarks, the delicious cuisine, and the characteristic, colorful architecture it has, Moscow is full of surprises for first-timers and seasoned travelers. Apart from the main attractions, it has like the Kremlin or Red Square, Moscow has many hidden gems for you to discover on your free walking tour with your local guide. 

On any of the free guided tours we offer in Moscow , you will be able to find a selection of many tours which are available in different languages and at different times of day, like the morning, afternoon, and evening. Since Moscow is such a large metropolis, getting your bearings by doing a guruwalk with a local guide who will show you all Moscow’s hidden gems is a great idea. This way you get to learn as much as possible about the local culture and way of life. A trip to Moscow wouldn't be complete without visiting iconic places like St Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin’s Mausoleum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, or the State Historical Museum, before getting some fresh air at Gorky Park, the medieval church of Kolomenskoye, or shopping at Izmailovsky Market. Don’t miss visiting the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Bolshoi Theater, or checking out the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve. 

Many travelers have left their r eviews and opinions about the local guides , gurus, and the routes they walked. If you have any questions about the routes or what is included in the tour, check out their opinions. 

Free walking tour near Moscow

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