What Civitatis is
Civitatis is a Spanish online travel agency founded in Madrid in 2008. It grew for fourteen years without outside investment before taking capital in 2022, and by 2025 listed over 97,000 activities across more than 4,270 destinations. Its distinguishing choice is language: the company built its catalogue around the 750 million Spanish and Portuguese speakers worldwide, so its tours are run in those languages by default, with English, French and Italian as secondary options. The platform reports an average activity rating of 9.1 out of 10 from millions of reviews.
In Rome, Civitatis works with local operators who employ Spanish-speaking licensed guides. The catalogue is tour-led: guided Colosseum and Vatican visits, walking tours of the historic centre, Trastevere by night, catacombs, day trips and airport transfers. Plain entry tickets are a minority.
How it works for Rome
Choose your site language, browse “Roma” and pick a date; listings show the tour language, duration, meeting point, group size and the cancellation deadline. Book with a card or wallet, or on selected tours choose to pay at the meeting point. The confirmation email and app voucher carry a booking reference or QR to show the guide.
Free walking tours are a Civitatis hallmark: you book a place at no charge and tip the guide at the end. They are a good first-day orientation in Spanish, but expect groups of 20–30 in high season. For timed products that include Colosseum or Vatican entry, the operator supplies the tickets; you do not need to buy anything on the official sites.
Four checks before paying:
- Confirm the language on the listing; a few Rome tours run in Spanish and English on different days, and the calendar shows which.
- Check the meeting point on the map; Spanish-language Colosseum tours often meet at the Metro B Colosseo exit rather than the monument.
- Read the cancellation deadline; day trips with train tickets sometimes require 48 hours’ notice.
- Bring ID for timed entries; the Colosseum matches names on tickets at the turnstile.
Fees, prices and price parity with official ticket offices
Civitatis adds no fee at checkout. Its Rome pricing is comparable with GetYourGuide on guided tours: at our last check, a Colosseum, Forum and Palatine tour in Spanish typically lists in the €40–60 range with the €18 official ticket included, and a Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel tour in the €55–75 range with the €20 plus €5 official ticket included. The value is in the guide, not the ticket; for ticket-only needs the official site remains cheaper, and Tiqets usually undercuts on audio-guide entries.
Prices are shown in euros or your local currency, including Latin American currencies, which avoids conversion surprises for travellers from Mexico, Argentina or Brazil.
| Product type on Civitatis | Typical price | What is included | Official ticket cost inside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colosseum, Forum and Palatine tour in Spanish | €40–60 | Licensed guide, 3 hours, entry | €18 |
| Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel tour in Spanish | €55–75 | Guide, fast-track entry, St. Peter’s when open | €20 + €5 |
| Free walking tour of the centre | Tip-based | Guide, 2–2.5 hours, no entries | None |
| Pompeii and Naples day trip | €100–140 | Coach, guide, Pompeii entry | €18 |
The comparison to make is not against the official ticket alone but against the official ticket plus a separate Spanish-speaking guide, which in Rome costs €150–250 for a private three-hour tour. On that basis the group tours are good value; on plain entry they are not the cheapest route.
Cancellation and refunds
Most Civitatis activities carry free cancellation up to a deadline shown on the listing, commonly 24 or 48 hours before the start; a smaller number of products, mostly timed entry tickets and some day trips, are marked non-refundable or carry partial refunds inside the window. Cancel from your account or the app; refunds go to the original payment method within a few business days. If the operator cancels, you receive a full refund or an alternative date.
For free tours, cancel if you cannot attend: places are limited and no-shows are the most common complaint from guides.
Strengths in Rome
- Guided tours in Spanish. Colosseum, Forum and Palatine; Vatican Museums with Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s; and combined “Roma imperial” walking tours, all with Spanish-speaking licensed guides. This is the widest such choice on any platform.
- Free walking tours. Centre, Trastevere and a night tour, tip-based, well reviewed and useful for orientation.
- Day trips with Spanish guides. Pompeii and Naples, Tivoli’s villas, Florence by high-speed train, Castel Gandolfo and the Roman countryside.
- Transfers and practical add-ons. Fiumicino and Ciampino transfers, Civitavecchia port shuttles and Rome-to-Pompeii private cars.
- Portuguese options. A growing set of tours run in Portuguese for Brazilian travellers.
Weak spots
- English-language tours exist but are fewer and carry fewer reviews than on the marketplaces.
- Entry-ticket-only inventory is limited; small museums are barely covered.
- Free tours can be large and are only “free” until the tip, which guides expect at €10–15 per person.
- Some products in the Rome list are run by the same supplier under several titles.
Customer support and disputes
Support runs 24/7 by chat, email and phone in Spanish, English and other site languages. For same-day problems, chat from the app while at the meeting point so the operator can be reached. For later disputes, submit the booking reference and a description; Civitatis mediates and refunds when the supplier is at fault. Its ratings are collected after the activity and published unedited, so operator histories are visible.
Civitatis vs the alternatives
- GetYourGuide: larger English-language catalogue and flagship tours with huge review counts; start at the Rome hub on GetYourGuide.
- Tiqets: entry tickets with audio guides and small museums; see Rome attractions on Tiqets.
- Viator: more private tours and day trips with English guides.
- Headout: a curated fallback for sold-out mainstream tickets.
- Klook, Trip.com, Musement: regional alternatives with fewer Rome strengths.
Our walking tours guide and booking platform overview give the wider context.
Our relationship
AllTours Rome has no affiliate agreement with Civitatis. References here are plain text; we earn nothing if you book there. Our booking links go to GetYourGuide and Tiqets, where we are affiliates.
Verdict
For Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking visitors, Civitatis is the best place to book a guided tour in Rome: the widest language-matched choice, free cancellation on most products and round-the-clock support in your language. For English-language tours, plain entry tickets and small museums, the marketplaces and Tiqets serve better. Treat Civitatis in Rome as the language specialist rather than the general store.
Ratings are reported from public review platforms and the operator’s own pages; we do not host reviews.
