Italy Land Tour Recommendations

Hello all:
We are planning to visit Italy the first two weeks of September 2004,
and are trying to decide if we are better off doing a Mediterranean
Cruise and adding shore excursion packages at ports to sightsee, or
just taking an escorted land tour.

Regarding the land tours, we are concerned about the hurried pace and
the tight structured schedule you have too keep. We have also read
considerable negative feedback about some of the land tours regarding:

1. Placing customers in average to below average hotels that are in
outlying areas and not near the "downtown" or "city centers" that we
would want to see, with food that was average at best. I have also
read that several of these "4-star" hotels did not have air
conditioning.

2. Land tours requiring the purchases of optional add-on packages to
see many of the sights or events that "appeared" to be listed in the
brochures.

3. We are considering Trafalgar, Perillo and Globus Tours for a 14 day
"classic" Italy itinerary (Rome, Sorrento, Florence, Venice, Milan or
similar). Any personal experience with these tour operators would be
greatly appreciated. We also looked at Tauck Tours, and they seem
great but are out of our price range.

As far as cruises go, we have cruise before and love it, but are
concerned that the limited amount of time in ports will not allow us
to really take in much of Italy, plus there will be the considerable
added expense of purchasing shore excursion tour packages.

Thanks in advance for your responses and suggestions
Tom

"Tom Altizio" wrote in message
om...
Hello all:
We are planning to visit Italy the first two weeks of September 2004,
and are trying to decide if we are better off doing a Mediterranean
Cruise and adding shore excursion packages at ports to sightsee, or
just taking an escorted land tour.

Regarding the land tours, we are concerned about the hurried pace and
the tight structured schedule you have too keep. We have also read
considerable negative feedback about some of the land tours regarding:

1. Placing customers in average to below average hotels that are in
outlying areas and not near the "downtown" or "city centers" that we
would want to see, with food that was average at best. I have also
read that several of these "4-star" hotels did not have air
conditioning.

2. Land tours requiring the purchases of optional add-on packages to
see many of the sights or events that "appeared" to be listed in the
brochures.

3. We are considering Trafalgar, Perillo and Globus Tours for a 14 day
"classic" Italy itinerary (Rome, Sorrento, Florence, Venice, Milan or
similar). Any personal experience with these tour operators would be
greatly appreciated. We also looked at Tauck Tours, and they seem
great but are out of our price range.

As far as cruises go, we have cruise before and love it, but are
concerned that the limited amount of time in ports will not allow us
to really take in much of Italy, plus there will be the considerable
added expense of purchasing shore excursion tour packages.

Thanks in advance for your responses and suggestions
Tom

You might consider getting your own hotels, so they meet
your needs, and take day tours in each city, or those cities
you might want to. Last year in Rome we stayed at the
well air-conditioned and quiet Albergo Nazionale A Montecitorio
and wandered ourselves to the Vatican, the Spanish Steps,
the Trevi Fountain. At the Coliseum we bought a tour.

We stayed at a villa just outside Sorrento, but the city is
easy to wander through. You can take a hydrofoil to
Capri, and take a tour boat around the island or take
a boat to the blue grotto that has a tour. From here
you can also get to Pompeii by train, and take a day
tour there.

In Florence we also stayed at a villa outside the city.
But to see Florence you need to see the museums,
and you can even get reservations at the museums
from here through weekendafirenze.com

In Venice we stayed at the Bel Sito hotel, which
has great air conditioning and is a few small bridges
from San Marco square. Venice is great for wandering
around, and you can get tours for the attractions.

We liked renting cars, since we often weren't staying
in the city, but trains can get you to the city centers.
Our Italian is very sparse, yet in these cities we had
no trouble with English. Package tours won't give
you enough extra time to linger in places you really
want to see. I've done the med cruise thing, and it
really, really gives you just a taste of each stop.
It's not that hard to get around, and it is well worth
it to do it on your own.

We did Globus a couple of years ago, and we liked it. It was our first
time to Italy, and from what we had heard previously, felt it was the
best way to go. True, they do pack a lot in, and you get some sales
pitches posed as craft demonstrations, but you don't have to hang around
for them, just be sure you're back in time to catch the bus. The tour
guide really can make or break the tour. Also, the group we were in
varied in age from 17 to 81, with the mean age about 45, so it wasn't an
old age tour. All in all, I would say that if you've never been to
Italy, which has so much to see, it is probably the best way to get your
feet wet. A way to find out what you really want to see.

Tom Altizio wrote:
Hello all:
We are planning to visit Italy the first two weeks of September 2004,
and are trying to decide if we are better off doing a Mediterranean
Cruise and adding shore excursion packages at ports to sightsee, or
just taking an escorted land tour.

Regarding the land tours, we are concerned about the hurried pace and
the tight structured schedule you have too keep. We have also read
considerable negative feedback about some of the land tours regarding:

1. Placing customers in average to below average hotels that are in
outlying areas and not near the "downtown" or "city centers" that we
would want to see, with food that was average at best. I have also
read that several of these "4-star" hotels did not have air
conditioning.

2. Land tours requiring the purchases of optional add-on packages to
see many of the sights or events that "appeared" to be listed in the
brochures.

3. We are considering Trafalgar, Perillo and Globus Tours for a 14 day
"classic" Italy itinerary (Rome, Sorrento, Florence, Venice, Milan or
similar). Any personal experience with these tour operators would be
greatly appreciated. We also looked at Tauck Tours, and they seem
great but are out of our price range.

As far as cruises go, we have cruise before and love it, but are
concerned that the limited amount of time in ports will not allow us
to really take in much of Italy, plus there will be the considerable
added expense of purchasing shore excursion tour packages.

Thanks in advance for your responses and suggestions
Tom

I understand your concern, which is why I always have travelled solo.
If I had to take a tour, it would be one of Rick Steves'. I think his
site is ricksteves.com. I say this because he is the one who hooked me
on international travel with his TV shows, and sells his books (and
tours) as 'not the stereotype' kind of tour. So check it out.

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from US Parks and all over Europe:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda