I paid $400 for my family to take a Vespa tour of Rome. It was worth it, even if we just swung by all the major tourist attractions.

• My family took a Vespa tour on a recent trip to Rome that cost us $400.
• We drove passed a lot of famous spots and briefly stopped to take pictures of others.
• I wish we’d been able to take this tour earlier in our trip because it was so insightful.

When I was planning a family trip to Rome, I knew I wanted to experience the city like a local by zipping around on a Vespa.

However, once I saw the congested city’s chaotic traffic firsthand, I also knew I didn’t want to take my children’s lives into my own hands by driving one myself.

Instead, I looked for a Vespa tour where someone else did the driving and easily found one led by locals. It cost 125 euros a person, which came to about $400 total for the three of us with the exchange rate.

Even though it wasn’t a typical city tour that involved long stops at notable sites, our Vespa tour wound up being a highlight of my visit to the Eternal City.