My name is Chiara Mataloni, and I’ll be your guide for all the tours listed here. I started out as a professional tourist guide after my PhD in Art History. I knew that a passion for food, a love of walking and a knack for talking had to intersect somewhere, and this job was definitely the sweet spot. I got my license in 2009 and I haven’t stopped since then. On any given day, you’ll find me going back and forth around the city with my clients, just as likely to be describing an incredible work of art as I am discussing the intricacies of Roman cuisine or the latest trendy gelateria around the corner.
The layered beauty and complexity of Rome, with centuries of history and countless masterpieces on offer, is uniquely suited to the private tour experience. It’s the best way to enjoy the Eternal City to the fullest. While I put a lot of thought in designing the tours I offer on this website, I want to stress how important personalization is. Private tours can become something special when we know a bit more about each other – so get in touch and tell me about yourself and the people joining you on this trip.
Finally, if you need a tour on a specific date and I’m not available, I’ll be happy to refer you to some amazing colleagues that I can absolutely vouch for.
Please contact me at upper link or the form on the left specifying:
– number of people (including the age of children, if any)
– dates of your stay in Rome
– if it’s the first time in Rome or not
– any other information you think can help in tailoring the tour around you
Grazie mille!
Chiara was our guide for Ancient Rome and we followed up with a tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. Such a great way to learn interesting facts and get prepared for seeing everything up close. We could not recommend her more for a tour with kids.
Chiara is the bee’s knees. She made what would have been a totally overwhelming trip into one that was relaxed, simple, fun and educational. I cannot recommend Chiara enough.
Chiara is amazing! She is able to share the wonders of Rome with the way she explains the history and what is that n front of you. She was amazing with our kids (8 & 7) and we could not recommend her more.
Outstanding! Chiara communicated prior to our walking tour, taking in to account our concerns about the summer heat and the locations we could visit. Once we met, the conversation flowed naturally, Chiara was eloquent and very well informed. […]
[…] Chiara and Valeria were both absolutely great guides – so very knowledgeable, passionate, engaging, and energetic. We highly recommend Chiara (and Valeria).
Without Chiara’s assistance our trip to Rome would not have been the same. Spending 2 days with her really made a great trip to Italy the best trip of our lives. She is energetic, so knowledgeable and a lot of fun. The whole family really enjoyed our time with her.
We had a wonderful experience with Chiara. She was so knowledgeable, passionate, patient and all around enjoyable to spend the day touring Rome and all its sites. Chiara was the best guide we’ve ever had! […]
Chiara was incredible knowledgable about the vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel & St. Peter’s Basilica! We learned so much, and enjoyed our tour completely. I highly recommend her services to you.
Chiara was a wonderful guide. She was so knowledgable about the history, architecture and people of ancient Rome, she made the place come to life. She also is so accommodating and helpful. I would wholeheartedly recommend her services to you.
Chiara made our tour fantastic, not only is she knowledgeable, enthusiastic and interesting, she is a really friendly person. My two teenage sons found her facts informative and engaging they really enjoyed themselves. I would recommend her to anyone.
Chiara is as good as it gets as a guide–she is a genuine expert in art history but more importantly she knows how to help you “see” in a new and deeper way. We were delighted by her ability to put the art or architecture in the context of the time and the artists work. […]
We had a great tour with Chiara, we did both the Coloseum and Vatican with her she did an English tour which was geared towards our boys 9 and 12.
Chiara – was a fantastic guide for our visit to both Ancient Rome and the Vatican. Her knowledge on all topics was amazing! We got so much out of our visit because of all she was able to share with us. All of her recommendations were excellent.
Absolutely top notch tours. We feel very blessed to have Chiara as our guide to the Vatican. She was absolutely an amazing guide. Her knowledge, passion and personality were all 1st class. My wife and I learned so much because she made it so easy to do so. […]
We met Chiara on our first day in Rome and she gave us a walking tour of the city. We were immediately impressed with her friendliness, knowledge and fluency in English. We explored the areas north and south of the Tiber River by the Ponte Sisto. She made us feel very comfortable. It was a great way to begin our stay in Rome.
This was the third tour we had with Chiara and it was just as enjoyable and informative as the others. I can’t say enough about how knowledgeable and passionate she is about her work. […]
Chiara was a wonderful tour guide. Very knowledgeable and gave us lots of information including little known facts/details about the various places we visited. It’s obvious she thoroughly enjoys showing people her home town. […]
Chiara did an incredible job. She was very informative and knowledgeable of Roman decor and history. She worked very hard in making sure everyone understood everything thing she showed us. Our entire group was thoroughly impressed!
Chiara is a fantastic tour guide. We met with her on two different mornings, and were impressed by her knowledge of history, art, language, culture, food, and politics. She went out of her way to accommodate us and make sure we stayed hydrated during the tours. […]
[…] What a delightful experience on so may levels. Chiara is extremely well-informed and passionate about her city, its history and its art. She conducts her tours with an openness to questions, an ability to adapt to the interests and needs of the group, and a wonderful sense of humour. We felt like we were spending time with an old friend, not a tour guide. […]
Well my husband and i did not know what to expect with our private tour with Chiara – She was recommended by a family member and she is amazing!! This is our first trip to Rome and Italy. I was never a history or art lover – but i am now after Chiara’s infectious desire to teach. […]
Chiara was the BEST tour guide that we had on our trip to Italy and Greece – she was the first tour guide of our trip and no other tour guide on our two week vacation came close to the quality of her tour. She was truly excited to show us her country and how much she loved it. […]
My husband, two adult sons and I arranged a tour of The Vatican for a few days before Christmas with Chiara. In addition to being kind, amazingly knowledgeable, and patient, Chiara went above and beyond during a special situation: Papa Francisco decided to close The Vatican for a few hours on the day of our visit. […]
My husband and two older sons took both the Ancient Rome tour and the Vatican tour! We loved every minute of it! Chiara Mataloni was our guide for both and we will definitely ask for her the next time we are in Rome! […]
We really liked what we read on this website so we booked Chiara for a tour of the Vatican for our family of four. She was very helpful and personable via email in our planning stage. It was a pleasure to meet her in person and tour with her. Her English is excellent which is so helpful in crowded or quiet areas. […]
I had the good fortune of spending 3 hours with Chiara on a private tour of The Vatican. Chiara is very knowledgeable and brought to life so many of the aspects of The Vatican Museum collection. She is great at setting the scene, and this provides context for viewing the vast collection. […]
Lisa gave us a great tour of the Coliseum and the Forum. With her archeological background, she highlighted points that we would never have noticed on our own. We had a 19-month-old and she was very mindful about what could keep him happy. […]
There is so much to see at the Vatican Museum. With only a few hours to spend at the museum, it only makes sense to have a guide. And Chiara is a wonderful guide. She gives background, details, and points out her favorite pieces. I told her ahead of time some of the things I wanted to see, and she managed to get it all in. […]
Absolutely amazing. We saw so much. Chiara was able to get us through the crowd to see a great deal in a limited amount of time. She is knowledgeable about the history, art and the architecture of Rome. She answered all of our questions. […]
We loved our two tours with Arianna. In addition to being just a lovely human being, Arianna has a PhD in archaeology, and is incredibly knowledgeable about the history and the architecture of the Colloseum and the ancient city, the history of the Church and the Papacy, and the art and architecture at the Vatican. […]
We had such a wonderful time with Chiara. She was so professional, caring and knowledgeable throughout our tour. Her expertise on Vatican history was thoroughly enjoyed by our entire family. Chiara told us all of the highlights, and answered all of our questions throughout the tour. […]
We booked a tour of the Vatican with Chiara and it was one of the best decisions we made on our entire trip. Chiara made the whole process stress free and relaxing so we were able to enjoy every minute. […]
It was a pleasure meeting and having a private tour of the Vatican with Chiara. She was so helpful in advance of our trip to Rome. Once on the tour, we learned so much from her descriptions, stories, examples and knowledge. […]
Ciao Chiara!! Valeria was an excellent tour guide! She made the whole experience memorable, not only for the adults, but also for the children. She was very sweet and engaged with them and kept it interesting and adventurous! […]
We had Chiara for our Vatican tour and after already seeing Ancient Rome with Lisa, she has big shoes to fill….but she did not disappoint!! Chiara’s knowledge and passion for the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel is amazing and kept our 3 teenage boys interested and enthrawlled! […]
Chiara guided our family through the Coloseum the Forum and Palatine Hill on a hot summer morning. The experience was fantastic as she was knowledgeable, great at navigating the sites, engaging, and masterful at finding the shade. The ancient sites would have never been as meaningful without Chiara’s explanations. […]
Chiara was great! Loved the personal touch and all the details on the history in such a short time. I left the tour with much more knowledge of the Vatican. Very nice! Thanks!
Chiara was an amazing tour guide! She provided so many interesting facts about the art in the Vatican and she was very adept at navigating around the crowds. We truly enjoyed our Vatican tour and would definitely book Chiara for future tours!
Laura is absolutely wonderful! I highly recommend Born&Bred in Rome tour agency!
We are a family of 5, children 22, 19 and 15. This was a wonderful tour with Chiara. She was not only knowledgeable but passionate about the art. She met us on time and whisked us past the lines. She guided us through the museum with all the amazing art, while stopping and discussing many of the pieces. […]
Chiara is a pleasure to be with and is an authentic tour guide. Our tour in Ancient Rome was memorable and we gained a new appreciation for the history and culture of the great city of Rome. Chiara was also excellent at engaging our children aged 13, 10, 8 and 5. […]
Chiara was wonderful, full of details and photos, easy to understand. Our group of four were all quite pleased with how Chiara got us around, in the sites and found the time to meander a bit. […]
We had a wonderful tour of the Colosseum, Forum and Capitol Hill with Valeria. If you are debating whether to get a private tour- DO IT! This was honestly the best money spent, especially for a family… […]
Valeria was wonderful. Knowledgeable, personable, entertaining. Highly recommend her and the tour.
We enjoyed a great tour of the Vatican with our very friendly and knowledgable guide, Arianna! After some helpful scheduling conversations with Chiara, our contact at B&BinR, we decided on a time that suited us best, and with the smallest crowd possible. […]
No less than OUTSTANDING! Chiara was an amazing tour guide! We were very fortunate to have Chiara for both the Vatican Tour and the Ancient Rome Tour. From bypassing the long lines, to her immense knowledge, Chiara’s passion for Rome is quite evident! […]
Absolutely perfect. Lisa was incredibly knowledgeable, patient and spoke perfect English. We did two tours with her, Vatican Museums and Ancient Rome, and both were made memorable by her insights and passion.
Just a wonderful adventure with Born and Bred in Rome. Lisa our tour guide was just wonderful… her passion for her city, it’s art, history, architecture and treasures was just wonderful, and it was fabulous to see the city through her eyes. […]
Arianna was our guide for two 4 hour tours. We were traveling with our children, ages 12 & 14, and we all learned a lot. Arianna was extremely knowledgeable and kept the tour interesting with the use of visual aids. […]
Our family of four, two adults and two sons, ages 17 and 19 took a wonderful tour with Francesca to the Vatican. Francesca was extremely knowledgeable, interesting and gave us a completely different perspective and insight into the Vatican than when we had visited previously. […]
[…] Chiara not only accomplished that for us, but she also helped me gain a much better appreciation for the Vatican than we had after visit several years ago. Chiara is so friendly and knowledgeable, and she uses various learning aids (photos, etc.) to help explain the importance of what we were seeing there. It was great!
I have been to Rome several times before and have taken other tours but they paled in comparison to the experience we enjoyed with Chiara as our guide. Her knowledge and love of her subject is infectious and the history of the places we went to came alive as she explained the evolution of the sites we visited. […]
This tour was super — just the right length, right level of detail, right amount of history without being overwhelming. Chiara obviously knows her history and her art history, but also knows as visitors we can’t absorb every detail. She meters it out based on your interests and helps you understand the most important points.
Chiara, so much to say. Rome can be overwhelming with history and big groups to get around. So much to see and take in. The olny way to do Rome is with Chiara. She loves the history and sharing it. […]
Emanuela Mastrangeli was very knowledgeable and educated on our tours. We enjoyed her very much! Emanuela was very nice to our entire family and even our kids enjoyed the tours and were never bored. […]
Some family members and I were lucky enough to book both the Vatican and Ancient Rome tours with Chiara in September 2015. What a pleasure! She is so enthusiastic and informative we really enjoyed our time with her. […]
We booked our tour with Chiara Mataloni on the recommendation of a couple we met in Montepulciano. We are so glad that we did, especially after wandering aimlessly through the Uffizi without a guide or a clue. […]
My family of four just returned from an amazing weeklong trip to Rome. We have two kids aged 10 and 12. When we got home I asked the kids “what was your favorite part of Rome?” and the response was overwhelmingly “Chiara!” our tour guide. […]