SCAMS & GIMMICKS
This page is still under construction.If you have any suggestions for useful information for this page, please e-mail us. As with any major tourist city, you have all sorts of ingenious (and some not-so-ingenious) scams going on all around! As a rule, if a stranger approaches you with something that seems a little suspect if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
Free Flower
One of the most common scams you will see is the free flower. Men offer a rose as a “gift” to women,
insisting when you politely decline that it is simply a gift. They never take their eyes off their roses, however, and it is only a matter of seconds before they are approaching the woman’s partner, who, they hope, will be too embarrassed to return it and will pay.
Other street sellers will offer the most ridiculous items – from bubble-guns to magnets
which make the most annoying sound. The one good thing about these guys is that they hang around
all the tourist hot-spots, so if you see them, you know something good is close by!
Gladiators
The so-called “Gladiators” – the men who dress up in fancy dress (which is closer to a Legionnaire’s uniform than a gladiator’s) - are to be avoided. To the unsuspecting tourist, they are like the Disney characters you see at Disneyland, who invite you to take a photograph with them. This is where the similarities end, howver. These are not nice people. They are ruthless men who try every trick in the book to make you part with your money.
Rome Survival Guide
They never discuss money until after the photograph, and depending on how gullible they think you are,
they make take anything up to €50 from you, for taking a photograph with your own camera.
Usually found outside the Colosseum, they are extremely territorial and a number of violent episodes have occurred in that area when a competitor stepped on the wrong turf. The sooner these criminals are off the streets the better, and the only way to do that is if people stop supporting them.
Street vendors
While it may be tempting to purchase a lookalike Gucci bag from an unlicensed vendor on the street,
you should be aware that these operations are often funded by organised criminals,
and if the police catch you buying you are culpable as well as the vendor.
The unlicensed vendor should not be confused with the licensed stalls you see on many streets.
The unlicensed vendor will walk around with his products, and make a run for it when he sees a patrol car!
The stalls are licensed and totally legal, even if they will only give a receipt when asked!
You will usually get a lot better value here than in stores, and the seller may be prepared to haggle,
which you should always try anyway!
If you are looking for souvenirs or books about Rome, buy them from these street sellers. They will always sell for a lower price than in the shops. If you don’t get a good price from the outset, offer them a lower price and see what they say.
Usually found outside the Colosseum, they are extremely territorial and a number of violent episodes have occurred in that area when a competitor stepped on the wrong turf. The sooner these criminals are off the streets the better, and the only way to do that is if people stop supporting them.
Street vendors
While it may be tempting to purchase a lookalike Gucci bag from an unlicensed vendor on the street,
you should be aware that these operations are often funded by organised criminals,
and if the police catch you buying you are culpable as well as the vendor.
The unlicensed vendor should not be confused with the licensed stalls you see on many streets.
The unlicensed vendor will walk around with his products, and make a run for it when he sees a patrol car!
The stalls are licensed and totally legal, even if they will only give a receipt when asked!
You will usually get a lot better value here than in stores, and the seller may be prepared to haggle,
which you should always try anyway!
If you are looking for souvenirs or books about Rome, buy them from these street sellers. They will always sell for a lower price than in the shops. If you don’t get a good price from the outset, offer them a lower price and see what they say.
Street Vendors
What Our Clients Say
-
“Our tour guide was outstanding. His knowledge of Rome and history was impressive.
He had a natural ability to communicate this wealth of knowledge in a way
that was easy to grasp and enjoyable. I look forward to visiting Rome again
in the future and highly recommend your company to everyone.
Thank you for a wonderful day in Rome full of amazing memories!”
– Shauna, USA -
“We had a great tour and we were very impressed and overwhelmed with the guide’s
abundance of knowledge! He was great and made it wonderful because we learned so much!
The group size was small which was very nice.
I will definitely recommend your company to others traveling to Rome!
Thank you.” - Kim, U.S. -
“Tour with Richie was wonderful. Everything we expected and more.
It was singlely the best decision we made when planning our trip!
Richie was very knowledgable and we enjoyed spending the day with him.”
– Kristy, USA -
“All three of our guides' level of historical, archeological and artistic expertise
is to be highly commended. I cannot say enough positive words about all three tours.”
- Wendy, Connecticut. -
“Your 3 tours made our time in Rome really worthwhile.
The sunset one with Richie was great; he was so helpful and informative.
The Vatican tour with Alexandra was equally good
and we could not get over how much of a difference it made to the holiday.
Thanks too for the easy to understand directions and meeting places,
we had absolutely no problems at all.
You are all wonderful……..” – Jenny, Slough -
“We had a wonderful tour and Richie was a great guide!
He was wonderful with the children (ages 7 and 4) as well as us adults.
We highly recommend him to others!
Thank you for helping us have a truly wonderful experience in Rome!
Also, a special hello and thank you to Richie!!
We still talk about him!”
- Susan, USA.