michelley573

Hi all,

I've spent some time looking through some threads trying to find information about guided tours. From the looks of things, most of the contributors on this site are independent travelers (maybe I will be one day!!!), but hopefully I can still get some good advice. I have done minimal traveling since I'm only in my mid 20s, but my boyfriend and I have decided to take a 10-12 day trip to Italy. We are interested in seeing the iconic sites, unique architecture, and beautiful landscapes of the country as well as enjoying the local food and wines, as we are both foodies.

My main reason for being interested in guided tours is because we both lack experience in planning a trip like this. It will be our first time in the country and it seems like a guided tour is an easy way to experience the country for newbies. It will eliminate the (nerve-racking) task of choosing hotels, arranging transportation, and there will be someone guiding us to places.

In researching different tour companies and analyzing the options each provides, I have sort of narrowed it down to the following choices:

1 - https://www.insightvacations.com/us/...6?tab=overview

2 - https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/ita...-florence-rome -- would the "My Way" tours be a better option?

Any suggestions, personal experiences, or critiques of the tours are welcomed. Am I getting a good bang for my buck? Are these good hotels? What's the age of these groups like?

I really wish I was brave enough to plan the trip myself, but there are so many unknowns and the task seems pretty daunting for someone who doesn't have much experience. Maybe after this first trip I will feel more comfortable in attempting to plan my own!

Grandma

I'm an old lady - so my opinion is probably irrelevant but if I were you I'd use these tours as a guide and plan your own itinerary. I can guarantee it will be more satisfying than a tour. AND… the planning is half the fun.

Rick Steves didn't show hotel names… but one of those on Insight was the Splendid in Venice. Have stayed there and it's a great location.

ekc

The Insight tour is WAY too packed IMO. You only have 1.5 days in each of Rome, Florence and Venice. Rick Steves is better, but no hotel information - not sure what "My Way" is.

Generally, group tours have an older demographic. I would not be surprised if you are the youngest of the tour, by several years.

I think Grandma's suggestion of using the tour (Rick Steves) as a guide and plan your own trip - it is not as hard as it seems and we are here to help!

isabel

I understand your hesitation with trying to plan the trip yourselves but have you really thought about the drawbacks of a tour.There are numerous threads here on the subject, of you search you'll find many threads. Here's one: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-in-italy.cfm

First, there are very few tours for people your age, mostly it's much older people. Do you really want to spend your vacation with people your grandparents age? The ones that are geared to 20 somethings are 'party-heavy'. Not all, but most.

Second - you already found this forum so you must know how to use a computer and in this day booking hotels, etc is so incredibly easy that it should in no way be time consuming or confusing or in any way stressful. On a 10-12 day trip you really should only try to see 3 main places (maybe with some day trips) so researching and booking three hotels should take you half an hour, max.

Third - that first tour you list gives you essentially a day and a half day each in Rome, Venice, Forence and Sorrento. Really not enough time to see anything in any of those places. You'll be spending HOURS on a bus, on a boring highway. You will not be SEEING Italy. Those four major destinations are all really easily linked by train (faster than bus). Consider picking three out of the four (or increasing your trip to 15-16 days) and spend 3-4 nights in each. If you are unsure of what to do once you get there then book some local tours. If you read carefully the descriptions of the tours you linked that's all they are doing anyway. Look at the 'free time' they mention. Basically, except for the bus between the cities, all they are doing is putting you in a hotel and giving you some local tours and some free time.

Fourth - Out of curiosity I looked at the hotels in Rome and Sorrento. The one in Rome is 'ok' location, but their website is horribly deceitful in how close they say they are to the major attractions. The one in Sorrento is also 'ok' but there are many more much better located.

Fifth - the price is outrageous. Those are low season dates and they want about $5000 for two people for hotel, transportation, and a few admissions (the flight over is not included). Seriously, you can do it for half that and stay in nice places.

But if you really want a tour, Rick Steves gets good reviews.

tuscanlifeedit

ekc was correct in saying we would help you with every step of the planning.

ekc

Wow, I didn't even look at the prices. $5,000 is crazy! You can do it for MUCH cheaper than that!

Lexma90

In making a decision to take a guided tour, have you thought about how you have planned trips or vacations that you have taken in the U.S.? Or plans that you have made for anything else? Planning a European vacation isn't that much different. (And while my 16yo kid says I'm old now, I planned several trips to Europe while I was the age that you are now.)

One thing about almost all guided tours is that the food tends to be not at the most interesting restaurants, and the hotel locations tend to be in places that it's a little more difficult to come up with foodie-worthy places. (Choosing restaurants and learning the local foods is another thing we can help out with, whether or not you do a tour.)

Yes, we Fodorites would be happy to help you plan every step. It's second-best to planning a trip for ourselves!

And starting with the itineraries of those tours, and what you especially like about those, is a good way to start out.

zorrosf

Step 1: Decide the maximum number of nights you can spend. This will determine the maximum number of days available.

Step 2: Get one or two guide books and prioritize. You say you are foodies, and like wine (who doesn't?), "iconic sites,unique architecture and beautiful landscapes." You won't find all of these in any one spot, so you have to make some hard choices.

Step 3: Prioritize: will you be satisfied if you don't see the Vatican, the Grand Canal, the Last Supper, the Amalfi Coast? You cannot see it all. You must decide whether to see two or three (at a maximum) different places at some leisure, or four or five places at warp speed. Most on this Forum would recommend the former. At your ages, you will be back.

Step 4: Pencil out some itineraries. Be sure to include travel time and don't underestimate! Here is just one example:

Day 1: Leave USA
Day 2: Arrive Rome, walk around a bit and recover from jet lag.
Day 3: Tour Vatican (pre-book!!!) or Classic Rome.
Day 4: Explore Rome
Day 5: Travel to Tuscany by train; rent a car and stay in hill town, such as Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino.
Day 6: Explore Tuscany (for food, landscapes)
Day 7: Explore Tuscany
Day 8: Train to Florence or Venice (NOT both); explore
Day 9: Explore Florence or Venice
Day 10: Explore Florence or Venice
Day 11: Return to USA

If you have more time, add to Rome. I recommend Venice over Florence for the first time visitor, but others will disagree.

Step 5: Go on Kayak website and investigate "multi city" tickets, flying into Rome and home from Venice (or vice verse, which ever is cheaper). Start to get an idea of the cost and the hours involved.

Step 6: Go onto TripAdvisor and Venere.com to investigate hotels, B&B's, etc. Read the reviews carefully and with a skeptical eye. Get an idea of why different travelers liked/didn't like a particular section of town, facility or location.

Step 7: Go onto Trenitalia website and investigate train tickets/schedules. The cheapest tickets go on sale roughly 90 days before departure. You may use RailEurope for schedues, but the tickets are cheapest on trenitalia.

Step 8: Go onto Kemwel or AutoEurope websites and investigate the costs of renting a car. You will need an International Driver's License for Italy rentals. You ONLY want a car for Tuscany, NOT for Rome or any other city.

Step 9: After investigating all this, compare the relative costs involved in a do-it-yourself v. tour. If this all sounds too complicated, write the check to Rick Steves and forget the above. An undescribed downside of tours is that you will be traveling with several dozens Americans most of which will be considerably older than you with very different interests than yours and you will NOT be able to linger in the places you find interesting. It will be "suitcases outside the door at 6:00 a.m. and board the bus" for most of the days. I've done both, but prefer my own planning.

suze

It's not hard to plan a trip to Europe if you keep it really simple. I've done it 5 times now.

I can't imagine there would be may other 20-somethings on either of those organized tours.

For 12 days in Italy: Buy plane tickets into Venice and out of Rome (use expedia to research options, they purchase direct from the airlines). Take trains from Venice to Rome (or include Florence in the middle if you want one more city). Buy your ticket at the train stations. Book a hotel in each city.

That's really all you have to do. The rest you can figure out as you go along (taking city tours, wandering on your own, places to visit, etc.) Happy travels!

suze

THEN purchase direct from the airlines - sorry confusing typo!

kybourbon

>>>You only have 1.5 days in each of Rome, Florence and Venice.<<<

Not even that really. You would arrive Rome after an overnight flight, jetlagged and not feeling like doing much. The next day is your full day in Rome. After that, you leave.

>>>I really wish I was brave enough to plan the trip myself, but there are so many unknowns and the task seems pretty daunting for someone who doesn't have much experience.<<<

What are your fears? Perhaps we can help you sort through them.

As for tours, one of the biggest expenses will be flights so try to find something that allows you to stay as long as possible (lean towards 12 days or 14 would be even better).

You can also book packages on such sites as Go-Today or Gate 1 which include flights, hotels (you choose among their list) and trains between cities. Usually an orientation tour in each city is included. You can book your own sightseeing (we can help if you figure out what you want to see). It's pretty simple to do all of that yourself though (including flights/hotels/trains).

michelley573

Zorrosf - your post was extremely helpful, not only did you list steps to take but also how to get started on each step. Much appreciated! The more I read different threads throughout this forum the more empowered I feel to plan the trip myself.

Kybourbon - I think one of my fears is being in a country where I don't know the local language and feeling lost. The security of having a guide to fall back on makes it seem less intimidating. Having maps and a good guidebook should help here right?

I will be back for more advice if I ultimately decide to do it myself! I'm about 75% convinced to do so.

Grandma

Go for it! I've been to Italy more times than I can remember and still don't
speak Italian. The only word lodged in my brain is….Chiuso… (that means
Closed - Lack of Italian in the areas you're interested in is no problem at all.

Sassafrass

The tours are coming in at about $5,000 for two - without airfare. Well, add another at least $1,800 to $2,400 for airfare, you are up to $7,000 plus for two people. Didn't look to see included meals on RS, but Insight rarely provides lunch, and dinner only about half the time. So, add another $400 for lunches, snacks and several dinners and you are up to $7,500 for two people. You could cut that cost considerably by doing it yourself, or for that money plan a more luxurious, customized trip by doing it your self.

As Suze pointed out, planning for Italy is pretty simple and straight forward.

nytraveler

You say you are "foodies" - so it seems likely you would want to be able to try local cuisine in a variety of places- perhaps a couple upscale. But tours are the antithesis of this. They generally provide dinners in hotels with poor food and usually serve an americanized version of local cuisine.

To really explore the food and culture you need to be on your own.

And agree that most of your tour mates are likely to be much older than you are. In my tour experience (Scand and Russia when that was the only way to go to Russia I - late 30s - was the youngest. There was a woman in her early 40s on the tour with her mother and one guy in mid 40s. The rest were 60s and up.)

I know that planning your own trip may seem daunting - but it's really not - esp if you are focusing on the major cities in Italy.

ElendilPickle

>>Kybourbon - I think one of my fears is being in a country where I don't know the local language and feeling lost. The security of having a guide to fall back on makes it seem less intimidating. Having maps and a good guidebook should help here right?<<

Yes, those things will be very helpful. Also take the time to learn a few Italian words - hello, goodbye, please, thank you, where is the ____, etc. Mr. Pickle downloaded an Italian translation app for his phone and used it quite a bit.

We spent 11 nights in Italy in May (our first visit) and had a great time. Here's a link to our trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...y-may-2015.cfm

Lee Ann

jent103

<i>I think one of my fears is being in a country where I don't know the local language and feeling lost.</i>

I totally get this fear - I have it too. But I think Italy is one of the easier places to handle when it comes to this. They're incredibly used to tourists, especially in the places most first-timers go, and tons of people speak English (especially those in the tourism/hospitality industries). There's also signage in English in many places. Learning a few basic words and phrases will definitely help you, but you'll be able to get around fine.

With all the money you save doing it yourself, you'll be halfway to a second trip!

michelley573

So I've started the process of planning my own trip! Any thoughts on the itinerary I've started???

Day 1: Leave US

Day 2: Arrive mid-afternoon in Venice

Day 3: Explore the Grand Canal

Day 4: Explore St. Mark's Square

Day 5: Train to Tuscany (maybe stay in Siena or Volterra?). Stop for a walkabout in Florence on the way?

Day 6: Wine tasting and exploring in Tuscany

Day 7: Day trip to Pisa or Cinque Terre

Day 8: Train to Rome. Vatican Tour

Day 9: Pompeii Day Trip

Day 10: Tour of Ancient Rome

Day 11: Return to US

I've also started to research hotels in this locales. If anyone has good suggestions based on the activities I'm interested in, please do share.

ekc

Congratulations - you are off to a good start!

IMO, you do not have enough time for the day trips on Days 7 and 9.

Keep in mind that each time you change locations, you lose valuable vacation time, often up to 1/2 day: pack, check out of hotel, get to train station, find train, train ride, get from train station to new hotel, check in, drop bags, now it's nearly time for lunch.

"Tuscany" is difficult to see without a car. If you do not feel comfortable enough to rent a car, then you could consider basing yourself in Florence and doing a day trip to Siena (by bus) and doing a wine tour a different day. But including both those day trips would only leave you Day 5 to see Florence and even then only half of Day 5 by the time you get there from Venice. But if you would rather see Siena (lovely) and go wine tasting than see lots of Florence, then by all means DO IT! It is your vacation and Florence isn't going anywhere!

As I said earlier, with only 2.5 days in Rome you really don't have time for a day trip to Pompeii. Once you sit down with a guidebook you will be astounded by the sheer volume of things to see in Rome. But if you REALLY want to see ruins, you could take the train out to Ostia Antica, which would only take a couple of hours.

To get good hotel suggestions, you need to list your budget per night in euros.

Congrats on your trip!

michelley573

ekc - I had a feeling I may be trying to get too much into one trip, especially in Rome. Although, I would like to see Pompeii I think your recommendation of remaining in Rome for the day is probably a good idea.

I would like to keep the rooms around €160 a night.