We are all in agreement that we want to see Florence, Umbria and Tuscany. That, all 4 couples are in agreement with. We all enjoy some cooking, wine tasting and the woman of course have no trouble doing some shopping. Any suggestions as to where we should go in particular, as well, how would you break up this trip over 14 days?
In order to salvage these great friendships, would it be more or less advantageous to hook up with an organized tour (less disagreements?)or have a round table discussion before hand in hopes of all parties agreeing on an itinerary?
Much thanks and gratitude in advance.

Hello lilbear, 4 couples, 8 people. Sort of a mini tour group.

Will you all be travelling by train? Or will you be renting cars?

Personally I would never consider an orgaanized tour but than I would never travel with a total of 8 people for 14 days either.

I would personally check into the cost of an organized tour (carefully checking out excatly where the hotels are, what is included in the tour etc) compared to planning this trip independently. I would imagine travelling on your own would cost less.

But in any case I would personally and strongly suggest some meetings with all four couples. I would want to know what each couple plans budgetwise. What type of lodging accomodations each couple wants and expects. How much each couple plans on spending at restaurants etc. What places, what sightseeing etc. is everyone interested in. Round table discussions before hand would be the paramount I would think.

I personally would strongly suggest that each couple not be joined at the hip with every other couple. That would be very tiring and stressful IMO for 14 days.

In that you are asking how to "salvage these great friendships" are you really sure this trip is the best idea. I ask as it seems to me that you already have some worries. Best regards.

I would spend time at www.slowtrav.com and learn about rental properties in Tuscany and Umbria. Some locations would enable both. Always start with the basics: When, how long, and how much???

If you like walking/hiking, then I would recommend Girosole. This is a company that does walkihg tours for no more than 8 people -- it is tailored to you. We went with them a few years ago and loved it. I wanted to walk about 3-4 hours and sightsee and shop etc the rest of the day. They were wonderful as the whole trip was tailored to what we wanted to do -- and there was always one more thing the guides had to show us. We were picked up about 9 in the morning and often we stayed out with them until 8 or 8:30. We had wanted 2 meals a day and thought we sould be on our own for the evening but they always had something more for us.

The restaurant for lunch they chose was always authentic italian -- a place we probably never would have found but one chosen because the food was very good and very local.

We spent a few days in Rome on our own and then went with them for a week in Umbria and Tuscany and they went a few days in Venice on our own. They assisted with EVERYTHING including recommendations for places to stay and making the reservations for us. We wanted a guide for a day in Rome and they found one for us. When we were to take the train to join them, there was a train strike so they called us and arranged to come to get us. We cannot say enough good about them.

What a challenge!

Here's some ideas:

Begin by flying (separately or together) into Firenze, and book yourselves into separate hotel rooms in the same hotel or B&B for 4 days. Let everybody set their own timetable and itinerary and do their own sightseeing during the days, together or separately. Plan two or three group dinners in Firenze. Allow for people to opt out.

Next, have three "free days" where couples can either head off from Firenze to the Mediterranean coast or the wineries or Rome or whatever.

Finally, have everybody regroup for the final week in a large villa/agriturismo with a swimming pool on the Tuscan/Umbria border (or in Umbria).

I recommend renting at least 2 cars, and possibly 3 to allow for independent sightseeing during the final week.

I don't think you should try to get 4 couples to agree in advance how to spend the time. (Even 2 people end up changing their minds once they see Italy and get a feel for their own travel rhythms.)

I suggest that you select a villa or agriturismo that offers an on-site cook, to treat yourselves occasionally and to prevent a situtation where the women are *obliged* to shop when they'd rather relax or visit great hilltowns.

Buona fortuna!

Thank you all for some great advice and suggestions. That tour company Girosol recommended by mpkp sounds quite interesting and will definitely look into it further. As for travelling with 8 people, it could definitely be a dubious proposition. Currently we have 2 other couples confirmed, the 3rd couple is still unsure....which may work out for the best, based on the majority of the responses.
I will anxiously await further suggestions and will follow-up with those already submitted.
Thank you all again for your time.
lilbear

Dear LoveItaly;
More then likely based on the amount of people, we will be travelling by train.

Not totally comparable - but just to give you some ideas to think about . . .

I organized a trip for 13 friends to the UK. We rented 3 flats flats in London for a week and then picked up 3 rental cars (2 cars and a people mover) and went out into the country for a week. We originally looked for a large country house for the 2nd week. But then found a terrififc watermill that had been converted to 4 small cottages and it was perfect.

For your trip you might consider something similar - 5 days to a week in one major location - Maybe that would be Florence. Then rent a large villa out in the country somewhere for a week. Then folks can break into 2's, 3's, or 8's for that matter, for day trips.

This would end up a fraction the cost of all eight of you paying for an organized tour.

Don't even try to organize day to day itineraries (except for travel daye of course) -- a large group of friends traveling together is a perfect example of "herding cats".

It will be great fun - but the less &quot;organized&quot; and regimented the easier on everyone. Trust me - w/ 8 in tow (Just think of 13!!) there will be at <b>least</b> 6 or 7 different &quot;body clocks&quot;, walking speeds, museum touring speeds, eating styles, and on and on . . . . . .

lilbear:

You can not really enjoy Tuscany and Umbria by public transportation. Do you mean that you don't plan on renting any cars at all? Wine tasting? Don't you plan to drive to any wineries?

While there are bus connections, can you imagine dragging 8 people around for bus connections?

If you really plan to travel by train, I think you need to rethink your destinations, or pick maybe 3 places to base yourselves, and each of them should have good train connections.

In Umbria, I would suggest Perugia. More trains and better bus service. Plenty of hotels.

In Florence, your good.

I don't like seeing anything in Tuscany by public transportation, but San Gimignano and Siena have decent bus connections. Trains are really a tertiary form of tourist transportation within Tuscany.

Topping

Hi Lil,

For Umbria and Tuscany, I also suggest touring by car - at least 2 cars so that you can split up.

my suggestions would be:

1- you HAVE to rent a car. there's no way you are gonna enjoy tuscany by public transportation

2- I definetly recomend that you visit Montalcino.

lilbear-See our trip report at
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34699548
We were suppose to be 4 couples but circumstances arose and one couple didn't join us for the Rome portion of the trip. Barb decided to come alone so joined us for the Tuscany and Cinque Terre portion (making us 7 travelers). It worked out quite well. We had a pretty good plan of what we wanted to do, see, etc. Happy Planning! Shirley

&quot;That, all 4 couples are in agreement with...&quot;

I am a bit concerned about the wording of your original post. Correct me if I am wrong but if this is the ONLY agreement you've gotten so far then you've got your work cut out.

BUT...I would agree with others above who recommend that you leave the days open for independent sightseeing so that nobody feels obligated to do what someone ELSE is doing.

Accommodations and exact locations:

how are you handling this? How are the final decisions to be made?

I would advise against being the &quot;travel agent&quot; on this because whether you think so or not, somebody is going to be dissatisfied unless they ALL agree.

And are you planning on being &quot;the facilitator&quot; because it all sounds like such a wonderful idea and you are determined to make it work?

I've done this and it can be wonderfully rewarding or a nightmare. Again, I suggest you insist on complete buy-in by EVERYONE and don't set youself up for heartache....if it wasn't meant to be then so be it.

One thing is for CERTAIN...if this comes off you are going to learn MORE about these people than you EVER thought possible..and hopefully it will turn out to be wonderfully memorable.

I think I'd look into a Gerasole type company that would do the organizing for you but is still not putting you on a big bus all day!

If you don't go that way, I would suggest breaking the tour into as many parts as you have couples and have each couple responsible for &quot;their&quot; part (after deciding on budget, target locations, etc.)

Whoever does the arranging is held responsible, so I think it is best to spread it around. I agree strongly with the others that no one person should be the &quot;travel agent.&quot; Just MHO!

You ALL have a huge amount of work ahead of you.

First you have a couple of decisions:

Accept that all 8 will not be tied at the hip but will break up into smaller groups for the day or even several days.

You need to figure out how to do this without one person suffering all the work (divide up the tasks now - if anyone is dilatory they will only be more of a pain as time goes on).

And you need to figure out how to handle finances. No couple should pay all bills in advance - every couple should pay as they go - and must make/pay for reservations for plane, hotel etc - immediately the decision on each item is made. (Otherwise there will be the &quot;takers&quot; and the &quot;fixers&quot; and you will all hate each other at the end of the trip.) Make a budget right off the bat so each couple knows going in they are committing $10,000 - or whatever - and doesn't decide it's too much 2 months before you leave.

How well does it work out if all 4 couples go out to dinner? Are you in the same budget range? Is anyone an embarassingly bad tipper? Does someone make a fuss that they didn;t have a drink so they should pay less? Is anyone a whiner?

(I've traveled with 4 adults at most - and it was my brother and I and our respective spouses - so we had known each other VERY well for years - and had long since settled all these issues. Also, we had all been to europe numerous times before, knew we had the same basic style of travel, expectations and budget. And no one had hurt feelings when we wanted to do differnt things at the same time - by couple or by gender.)

I wish you all the luck you're going to need.

I rarely give this advice, but I would look into a tour in your situation. I would not want to try to plan a trip for 8 people, by train, and covering the countryside. I don't think that will work very well.

If you were simply saying Rome and Venice, for example, I would feel differently.