Panoramic Tour Of Rome On A Segway

Parichay MehtaOctober 20, 2018

Rome, the city of history & art is a splendid example of how all the cities should be. Every city should have a history, an art, a style, a story in itself. Nothing beats Rome though. We explored Rome for 4 days & it was a wonderful time. After roaming around Rome (you see what I did there?) for some time by metros, Big Bus & on foot, we decided to do something different.

We had read some amazing reviews about a company which provides Segway tours in Rome. Funnily enough, they are known as Turtle Tours! After going through their website to check out different Segway tours, we decided on one & contacted them. We had an instant confirmation over call & reached their office in the evening.

The owner himself decided to give us one of his Segway tours in Rome. The tour is called the Panoramic Tour. It cost us only EUR 50 per person & the tour was about 2.5 hours long.

Let The Segway Tour Begin!

Obviously, none of us knew how to ride a Segway because we had never driven one before. Mattia (The owner) gave us some good lessons on how to operate a Segway. After we all were assured that we can handle this vehicle out on the road, he gave us a Green signal & started the tour.

Stop 1: Aventine Hill

We went around a few historical fountains around the area of Piazza Mattei. After knowing their stories, Mattia took us to the famous Aventine Hill. The excitement of riding a Segway on an inclined road was a delight because we did not have to climb that steep hill. The panoramic view from the Aventine Hill was breathtaking! It felt like even a month in Rome wouldn’t be enough to explore this magnificent city.

Riding the Segway downhill is more difficult than going up for sure. We had to take a lot of precautions on not to over-speed or well, fall down. Segway is all about your body balance & once you know how to use your body to ride the Segway, it becomes like a piece of cake. Mattia was particularly looking after each & every member on the tour & offering help to those who were falling behind. He is a very good tour leader for sure.

Stop 2: Circus Maximus

From Aventine Hill, we started riding towards Circus Maximus. This horse racing stadium of ancient Rome is simply awe-inspiring. Since horses used to run here, we asked Mattia if we could race for a short distance. Initially, he disagreed because the terrain was definitely not suitable for a Segway race there. But then he found a nice patch where we could do a lame version of Fast & Furious: Segway.

We had a lot of fun around Circus Maximus because we did not have to take care of the crowd, traffic or anything else. If it was up to me, I would have spent the entire time of the tour in Circus Maximus only! But we had to move on to see the next destination. We arrived at the theater of Marcellus.

Stop 3: Theater of Marcellus & Jewish Quarter

The first sight of the theater of Marcellus may give an impression that it is a copy of the world famous Colosseum. But interestingly, the theater of Marcellus was built in 13 BC & the Colosseum built in 70-80 AD which actually makes it a copy. It is not as well preserved as the Colosseum but it is just amazing to the structure. After knowing this unknown history from Mattia, we headed to the Jewish Quarter of Rome & went through many alleys.

We were so grateful to Mattia for not only being our Segway tour guide but also being our history guide in Rome. This Segway tour was not about just riding around but also about knowing the soul of the city. The viewpoints that Mattia showed on this panoramic tour were amazing.