Francesca De Santis

I studied art history at La Sapienza and wrote my thesis on Caravaggio's patrons, which means I have spent an unreasonable number of hours standing in front of three paintings in San Luigi dei Francesi. I have been a licensed guide for the Vatican Museums and the Galleria Borghese since 2017. What I try to do on a tour is slow things down. The Vatican has around 20,000 objects on display and most visitors walk past nearly all of them in a blur, so I choose a route and we stop where it matters: the Laocoön, the Raphael Rooms, the ceiling. At the Borghese we have two hours by timed entry and I plan every minute of them. I speak Spanish because my mother is from Valencia, and I run some tours in it each week. I am strict about punctuality at the Vatican because the entry slots are strict with us. If you are travelling with children, let me know. I have a shorter version of the route for them. These days you can join me from anywhere: I walk Rome live with my phone and answer questions on the spot.