<p>My husband and I are contemplating taking a tour to Italy. We know people who took a Tauck tour and raved, but it is not in our budget. Has anyone taken a Perillo tour or any other tours of Italy? Is it crazy to spend the money on a tour; would it be worthwhile to set off on our own?</p>
<p>Our only experience in Europe has been in Paris where we did not tour, but we had our daughter who was studying abroad at the time to point us in the right direction!</p>
<p>Travel in Italy couldn’t be easier. Train travel is especially easy. You might want to consider renting and apartment for 4-5 days in a few different cities that attract you. For example, in a town like Verona you could rent an inexpensive apartment and make day trips to spots like Venice, Padova, Mantova, and Vicenza. Start reading the forums and recommendations on sites like tripadvisor.com. It’s a great
starting point. Consider traveling in the fall. Not crowded, inexpensive, nice weather and the seasonal food and wine couldn’t be better.</p>
<p>A business acquaintance pointed me in the direction of Go Ahead Tours. She’s taken several of them including one of the Italy tours. She says the tours are great because you settle into a nice hotel for several days in each city on the tour - no feeling of being rushed about. While one day in each city is scheduled tightly, the other day(s) are loose with optional side tours offered. She usually opts to go off by herself on the optional-tour days. I am thinking about taking their walking tour of Switzerland next year. Here’s their website if you want to find out more:</p>
<p>[European</a> Tours, Europe Tours, Tour Packages | Go Ahead Tours](<a href=“http://www.goaheadtours.com/]European”>http://www.goaheadtours.com/)</p>
<p>Disclaimer: Being a teacher, I’d have to go in the summer.</p>
<p>How much time will you have, what in particular attracts you (art?history? food?) and what cities are you interested in?</p>
<p>Art? History? Food? Yes, yes, yes! Definitely the art and the history.</p>
<p>We’d like to see as much as we can, as who knows if and when we will get back to Italy again? </p>
<p>We’d have up to 2 weeks.</p>
<p>I’ve not done a tour but I’ve been to Italy a couple of times and enjoyed Italy. In both cases I drove a rental car that I rented in another country in Europe and drove through several countries. Driving gives one the flexibility to go where one wants, stay longer than planned in some places and less time than planned in other places. I’d heard stories that driving in Rome wasn’t too cool for a first timer in that city so in Rome I left the car at the hotel in the outskirts and took a cab into Rome which made it easy.</p>
<p>I’ve never done a tour so I can’t comment on those. I like to go on my own.</p>
<p>If you want a tour, another option you have is a cruise. A friend just did a western med cruise (NCL) that left out of Barcelona and made stops in Rome, Naples (went to Pompeii and Sorento), Livorno (went to Cinque Terra but other shore excursions from here went to Florence or Pisa). The up side is the lodging is, of course, taken care of - no new hotels and packing/unpacking, and the cruise amenities like the food, but the down side is the relatively short shore times. The cost of the cruise was pretty low, $499 pp for 7 nights which is pretty cheap, but the shore excursions were a little steep at around $100 pp each (but going up from there). This was a 7 night cruise but there are others that are longer. If you like the idea of mixing a cruise in with seeing some of Italy then it’s an option but if you want to spend more quality time in Italy then you’re better off with a land tour or just doing it yourself either by renting a car or taking public transport.</p>
<p>btw - I went in summer and be forewarned it’s pretty hot in Rome in the summer. It’s not that big of a deal though and still well worth going. You can offset some of the heat with gelato!</p>
<p>^ I don’t think we’re interested in a cruise at this point. Thanks.</p>
<p>Even though I’ve lived in Italy and traveled back over a dozen times, I’m not a fan of driving.(unless it’s the countryside you are after and it sounds like that’s not the case) Personally, I’m in my car a lot and for me a vacation means being OUT of the car.
Start reading up on Venice, Florence and Rome. For the first time, I would recommend four days in each. Four days in any of these cities will only scratch the surface of what there is to see, but will enable you to see all of the more famous sights and you will not feel too rushed. Train travel between the three is a cinch and in each case the train will let you out in the center of town. If you want a guided tour, each of these cities has plenty of reputable companies that offer good day tours of the city. Some of them focus on specific themes and interests.</p>
<p>I am also dreaming of taking a first trip to Italy, so thanks for the suggestions. I don’t want to drive either! If summer is too hot, when would be a good time to go? I’m hoping to take in Venice, Florence and Rome. Also, we don’t speak Italian, although it would be a good reason for me to finally get Rosetta Stone and start learning!</p>
<p>Fall and late spring are the best times to travel. Mid October to mid November is especially nice in Florence and Rome. Italian cuisine is seasonal and with the fall comes truffles, wild mushrooms and wild game.
Though you will need to keep your eye on the aqua alta(high tide) in Venice at this time. Just consult the tide charts before traveling to the Veneto.</p>
<p>We used to go to Italy few times a year, it is one of my favorite country to visit. We have rented a villa (farm house) in Tuscany area, and drove around - Florence, Pisa, Luca, even some of coastal towns. What I really love about Italy is it’s country side, accidentally come across a restaurant with best wine, pasta or seafood. We have been lost many times, and often it’s the fun of it. H is a bad driver when it comes to sticks. I used to suck it up and put our life in his hands, but I started to rent automatics(with higher price) and just tell H it’s the same price. We have been to both east and west coast of Italy. </p>
<p>I am not a tour person because I like to relax when I am on vacation. If I like a particular place then I want to stay as long as I want. At the same time, if I am not interested in a museum or a restaurant then I would want to be able to leave as soon as possible. Waiting, is not my middle name.</p>
<p>If you don’t like to drive, train is great. I would avoid flying within Italy. We took a train from Milan to Florence (our plane was fogged in), and it was very nice and convenient.</p>
<p>Add me to the list of those planning first-time trips to Italy. H and I are hoping to go next fall, most likely taking a walking tour. Has anyone here done a Country Walkers tour? They are quite expensive, but seem to be just what we are looking for. </p>
<p>LurkNessMonster – I am using Rosetta Stone’s Italian Level 1 to give me a bit of familiarity. Italian is such a melodic language – I am loving being able to speak even a little, though I am not progressing as quickly as I’d like.</p>
<p>Also, if you are traveling in the summer, you might want to avoid staying in Venice. Crowded and expensive. Verona is nice…you can make a day trip to Venice, and several other fascinating cities of the Veneto are only a very short train ride away. It’s worthwhile booking tickets to the summer opera performances at the Arena in Verona. FANTASTIC!</p>
<p>Just got back from 8 days in Italy and didn’t do a tour. I’m not a tour person as I like to make my own schedule. What’s great, is since Italy really caters to tourists, there are mini tours available everywhere. Pick up a tour book, I like Rick Steves, and plan a day at a time. All the museums have audio guides, and many places also do guided tours. I absolutely loved Italy. You can get around speaking basic Italian and English in the major cities.</p>
<p>Travel couldn’t be easier. The train system is great. For the longer trips, I’d recommend the Italian Eurail as it can cut travel time in half, only 90 minutes between Florence and Rome. However, the regular train is just fine. I took that from Rome to Naples, then a local line which has a stop right in front of Pompeii. The Metro in Rome pretty much stops everywhere you’d want to go, but you can also walk if you stay central.</p>
<p>If you are going in the Summer though, my biggest piece of advice is to book reservations at major galleries early. These include Uffizi, Academia, Pitti Palace in Florence, and Vatican Museum and Borghese Gallery in Rome. In Rome, I also recommend getting the Roma Pass as it allows you to bypass the line at the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine. Otherwise it can take hours to get in. I forgot to book at the Vatican and waited in line for nearly an hour and that was early on a weekday in October.</p>
<p>Why are you considering a tour? Do you want someone else to do the planning? Do you think the price will be better? </p>
<p>Several of the airlines put together packages that include hotels and transportation between cities as well as the airfare; so do Expedia and Travelocity. That’s kind of a compromise between a fully planned tour and one you plan all by yourself.</p>
<p>Naples and the “costa amalfitana” are great places and for those interested in history, naples has a lot to offer as it used to be the capital of the kingdom of the two Sicilies.
If you have only 2 weeks, you have to choose an area to visit, otherwise it will become a ‘japanese’ type of tourism rushing from one place to the other. There are great “agriturismo” which are rural B&B you can stay in. You can use the excellent regional bus services (see [SITA</a> S.p.A.](<a href=“http://www.sitabus.it/wps/portal/OrariCampania]SITA”>Sitabus.it - Informations on bus, autobus and trasports.)) to visit Amalfi, Positano, Ravello etc.</p>
<p>I agree that unless one of you is a VERY confident driver used to driving in major cities and other countries, take the train! Do travel very light if you’re doing this though.</p>
<p>I would not tour as I enjoy pacing it as it works best for us. I think Rome is a must and a good place to start. I would spend about 4 days and from there I would choose to go either North or South, but would not do both in 2 weeks.</p>
<p>My preference would be to head South. I would see Naples, Sorrento (see Pompeii from here), the Amalfi Coast (stay in less crowded Priano and visit Positano, Amalfi and Ravello) and finish with a few romantic days on Capri. I would have to agree with the Italian chef on the Food Network who always says there’s no place like Capri in summer. Perfecto!</p>
<p>Or go north and see Tuscany, Venice, Milan if you like clothes, and the Cinqua Terra.</p>
<p>I got back in June from 2 weeks in Italy. Also a first-timer, although I was visiting my d who had just spent her semester abroad in Rome. We didn’t do a tour; I arranged the whole thing. We went to Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Rome, Florence and Siena, with day tours in Tuscany.</p>
<p>In Italy, I would drive ONLY in the countryside, not in the cities! Not only are Italian crazy drivers, and the streets are narrow and winding (but the Italians don’t seem to notice!), but there are various “permit required” areas in places like Florence and Siena. If you inadvertently drive in, there are cameras that will take pictures of your license plate, and each time you pass one of those cameras, your rental car company will receive a violation notice for (I believe) about 250 euros. </p>
<p>Get a good guide book, and you should be fine without a tour.</p>