Ruth

My husband and I are leaving Sept.4th for a tour of Italy with American Express, has anyone taken their tour? <BR>

Wallace

Hi Ruth, <BR>We went to Italy with American Express 5 years ago. The tour was for 12 days and included Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan. Travelling between the cities we made stops in Bologne and a few other towns. The name of the tour was either Romantic Italy or Essential Italy. The hotels were very nice. Although many dinners were included we ventured away from the group and found some nice (and inexpensive) restaurants on our own. Our tour guide was Gardi Block, and if you get her you are in luck - she was great! <BR>If you have any questions please let me know. <BR>

Tony

We went on the Romantic Italy tour in May. We also spent time on our own before and after the tour, which I would strongly recommend. We had a group of only 26 people because of fear of war at the time. That made it very comfortable for spreading out and lounging in the bus. I am glad it was not full. We also tended to go on our own rather than participate in the optional tours. The hotels were on a whole very nice and all were centrally located. The hotel in Lake Como and in Assisi were especially charming. We sent the time on Capri walking along the paths and having a nice lunch in a restaurant above the town. Very romantic. The tour leader was organized, but a bit controlling for us. We had mostly Americans , but also a young couple from Mexico, and a family from the Phillipines. Please email me if you have any questions. <BR>Tony

michele trunfio

Does anyone know about the half day tours of Rome that American Express offers? I heard they have a tour office somewhere near the Spanish Steps. <BR>Thank You for any helpful tips.

Walter

Michele: I searched online for someone before, looking for the tours they offer in Rome with no luck. But they do offer tours at the Rome AmEx office and also your hotel will usually have pamphlets in the lobby and will book tours for you. If you take the Metro get off at the Spagna stop, when you exit the Spanish Steps will be on your left and maybe 30m past the steps also on the left is the AmEx office. If you walk to the steps, standing at the bottom facing the steps AmEx is 30m to the right. You might also want to visit the Keats-Shelley Museum which is at the bottom (right corner) of the Spanish Steps. HTH Regards, Walter <BR>p.s. Why don't you post a message on 1/2 day tours in Rome and what you would like to see. There are other options, a poster in rec.travel.europe praised a tour guide that meets you at the site and charges $50US per hr for a *group* of 1-4/5, min. 3hrs? Which gives a more detailed history of the sites. I have the website, somewhere. <BR>