My honest review of the Rome vespa sidecar tour I took with my son. What to expect, how to book, why we absolute LOVED it, who is it for.
There is something magical about whizzing through the streets of Rome on a Vespa.
As the wind caresses your face and the Colosseum passes by, it’s impossible not to feel like the main character in your own private movie, your worries slipping away like the landscape around you.
I first had this experience in my twenties: being out and about on the back of a Vespa with my groups of friends is what Roman summers nights of my youth were all about.
Driving a Vespa in Rome, however, is no joke.
Small wheels, traffic and cobblestones do not play well together, and nothing kills the magic of your Vespa technicolor fantasy faster than having to stop every few minutes to check your phone for directions.
I know this is a well: I am from Rome, and while navigation isn’t quite the issue for me that it is for visitors, I can tell you that riding a Vespa now that my youth carelessly has faded, makes me more than a little uncomfortable.
So what is the answer if you want the experience but not the stress?
I asked myself this very question and got the perfect answer. A Vespa tour, of course — or better still, a Vespa sidecar tour!
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Why I chose a vespa sidecar tour
I am always on the lookout for fun ways to experience Rome and the idea of a vespa sidecar tour was immediately appealing to me.
A sidecar is not a typical sight in Rome. A tour like this is a quintessential tourist offering, but it is an offering that answered all my wishes: the excitement and pleasure of a Vespa, the stability of three wheels, a guide who took all the stress away and a bit of a fun, cool, hip factor that comes with the uniqueness of the sidecar.
It also added a little VIP feeling as people literally stop and wave at you as you pass, because the sight is so fun and unusual!
The tour was all that I had hoped for and more. The one we took is this one and it went like this.
Our Experience on the LivTours Vespa Sidecar Tour
I booked our Vespa sidecar tour with LivTours as a birthday treat for my son. I know LivTours well: I have taken uncountable tours with them, all excellent, so for a special occasion, I had no intention of being experimental and test anyone else: I wanted my son to have a special birthday and went straight to the best.
We booked on their website directly and chose the semi-private option (max 6 participants), as we liked the idea of meeting other travelers. It worked great!
On the day, we met our guide in the city centre and our tour companion was another family with kids, which made for a perfect match.
They got us to take photos with the Vespa, fitted our helmets, explained how the headphone (to hear the guide) worked, had a chat — and then we were off. I rode on the back of the vespa and my son in the sidecar beside me.
The other families had a vespa each, so the group was 3 vespa sidecars to gather, each with a driver, an adult and a kid.
The Vespas are fast compared to a car or a golf cart, so the tour feels well-paced and not boring, which was my biggest fear with a teen boy from Rome!
What We Saw During the Tour
They took us to several stops over a large area, spanning from the city center, to Monti, Colosseum, Aventine, Janiculum and more.
One if the highlights was a wonderful viewpoint over the Colosseum, followed by a stop at a local café.
As a Roman, I particularly appreciated the choice of venue: the guides didn’t choose a swanky social-media-friendly spot, but a proper local place (and paid for our coffee/ drink and snacks).
As it happens, the very café I used to go to during my student years, since I did my Master’s degree near the Colosseum. A lovely and unexpected full-circle moment!
As well as the Colosseum area, we stopped at the Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona, but also ventured further afield to less obvious spots such as the Aventine Hill and the Janiculum — the kind of places that make the tour feel like more than just a greatest hits run.
One thing I did not expect about the tour and added to the fun was the reaction of the people as we passed by.
Sidecars are not a normal sight in Rome and as we went, so many people stopped and waved at us smiling! They would point, smile, wave, some even took photos – felt like VIPs and since it was my son’s birthday, this was great to have a tour that had that little extra ‘special’ vibe to it.
The tour lasted about three hours and was comprehensive and excellent.
At the end, the family we had shared it with asked to be dropped at a restaurant, and our guide helped them choose one.
He then asked where we wanted to go, and since it was just the two of us by that point, I climbed into the sidecar myself and experienced it that way too. So fun, and surprisingly comfortable!
The day was an absolute success and has become my new favorite way to see Rome: a reinterpretation of a simple local pleasure in the form of a tour, with all the joy and none of the stress.
Some practical info about this tour and how you can book it too:
The link to book is here: LivTours vespa sidecar tour (we took the semi private one as it was cheaper and we wanted to meet others, but they have a private option too.
Best time to book: we took this tour in the morning, in July, at it was perfect. The city was not yet too cahotic and the temperature perfect.
Age: height and age restrictions apply and kids must be over 5 years of age. Kids ride in the sidecar alone and cannot go on the vespa itself – you ride on the vespa, sitting behind the driver. You are close enough to your child that you can hold hands. I found this ideal for teens but we had much younger kids on our tour too and they had the best time too!
Stability: the sidecar LivTour uses is large, very comfortable and very stable. You do feel bumps on cobbles more than you do on a golf cart tour but your are not shaking like crazy: it is just a little bumpy at times – most of the tour is not on cobbles and the ride is smooth and we felt stability and comfort were never a problem.
The tour comes with headphones so you can hear your guide as you go. The guides were enthusiastic and gave us good insights. However, I feel the real joy of this tour is the vehicle – if you want a more in depth tour of the city, with more commentary and the option to ask many questions to the guide as you go, I feel a golf cart tour or a walking tour are more suitable.
What do to think, could a vespa sidecar tour in Rome be something you’d like to try? Safe travels!