Mulan

Hello Everyone, <BR>We just returned from Trafalgar's Best of Italy tour. This is our first time with a tour group so we did not know what to expect. We visited 18 towns/cities in 12 days which we would not have been able to do on our own. Overall, we were generally happy. <BR> <BR>Some things to note in Italy: <BR> <BR>1. When vendors entice you with 20% VAT tax refund, they are lying. Chances are you will only receive about 12% since the other 8% goes to admin, service charges, etc. <BR> <BR>2. When the posted hour of close is at 6 say, that means that the employee will leave the door at 6. It doesn't mean you can come in at 5:55 and expect service. Anticipate the door will be closed at least 1/2 hour before closing so that the employee can cash out etc. <BR> <BR>3. Italy is not wheelchair accessible. Do not expect 2000 year old roads to be flat. There are a lot of steep hills, etc. Wear comfortable shoes. <BR> <BR>4. The boat trip to Venice from the mainland is about 1/2 hours. It is not exactly calm waters on a lake. However, it is not too choppy. Remember that Venice is near the open seas. <BR> <BR>5. The boat trip to Capri is choppy. The boat is a hydrofoil so it goes pretty fast but it is the choppiest water I have ever experiences. The ride is about 1/2 hour. <BR> <BR>6. The worst boat ride and most misleading attraction is the Blue Grotto at Capri. You will board a 20 person boat for about $5 US to go to the Grotto. The boat ride is highs and lows, the waves are crashing, etc. It will take 1/2 hour. As you heave a sigh of relief as you near the Grotto, you will realize that there is a wait list of approx. 10 boats (10 boats x 20 people=200) who will be bobbing up and down in the gasoline scented waters for 2 hours. Yes, 2 hours, before you will be transfered to a 2 person row boat for a charge of $10US and then rowed through an opening of 3ft into the cave and charged another $10US to visit the Grotto for 10 min. While the water is churning, all around you people are ill. Meanwhile, the waves are so high that it closes the 3 ft opening and row boats cannot go in or out. Therefore it is a long wait if you are up to it. <BR> <BR>Please reply on this site for more feedback! <BR>

Elsa

Thank you for your feedback. Did you go to Tuscany at all, and if so where & what did you think of the town(s)? <BR> <BR>Thank you, Mulan.

Marie

Mulan - were you happy with Trafalgar's hotels, meals, tour director, and did you feel you "got your money's worth"? Am possibly interested in a future Trafalgar tour, would you reccommend them? Thanks. Marie

Jeff

I have some of the same questions as the others about quality of hotels (and proximity) and food. Also, did you feel the "optionals" were necessary or could you strike out on your own and do some of these things for yourself? My biggest questions though is regarding the pace of your trip. did you feel overwhelmed visiting so many cities? Did you actually get to get out and view sights rather than seeing them from the bus? How much tiem was actually spent on on the bus on an average day? It seems like you didn't get to see much in depth.

Mulan

Hi Jeff and Marie, <BR>Hope this will give you some insight into the Trafalgar tour: <BR>My husband and I are in our early thirties. During our past vacations, we would plan it all out (transportation, hotels, etc.), regardless of Western Civilization or Eastern Civilization. However, on our last trip to Thailand, a frightening thing happened (we were both ultimately safe, though) that prompted us to re-think our safety, language barrier, etc. limitations. That is why we opted to try a packaged tour. <BR> <BR>Considering that we do not know Italian, we thought that this would be a good tour to try. <BR> <BR>Our trip started in Rome and went to the following (pls excuse spelling): Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Positano, Pompeii, Assizi, Venice, Burano, Milan, Verona, Lagano, Lake Maggoire, Isola Bella, Strasa, Berona, Florence, Pisa, Sienna (and some others I can't remember). Amalfi Coast, Amalfi Coast, Burano, Isola Bella, Strasa were optional thus were additional costs. The mix of the bus crowd was 50ish to retired Americans, Canadians, New Zealanders and Austrailian. Mainly mom and daughters or groups of women or couples. We were the younger. We do not drink, party so were were not interested in the Contiki crowd. We also like to live in relative comfort so we did not opt for the lower cost/comfort of Cosmo. <BR> <BR>A typical day is on the bus at 8 am, drive for 2 hours, stop and sight see, drive some more, have lunch and sight see, drive some more, dinner at 7 and then bed. Most sightseeing had guided tours. Tour operators stand there at the end of their speel and expect to be tipped. There is some (about 1 hour) for your own exploration. Sometimes that wasn't enough. You are not limited to sightsee with your group. JUst remember to return to the bus at the posted time. <BR>Hotels were good and bad. Rome hotel was small. Hotel rooms were either much larger or much smaller than North American standards. There is always a bidet. AC did not work at ANY hotel. It was not cold but stuffy in most hotels. People travel with their dogs so there may be feas. Some hotels were pleasant surprises where location outweighed amenities: Lake Maggoirie, Assizi (hotel is in a Monistary). <BR>Food sort of sucked. 8 dinners were included. It was hard to plan for such a large group, though (50 in our group). It comprised of eating at the hotel: pasta, meat, veg, dessert, coffee/tea. We found we had better Italian food at home than in Italy. By the time we found a gem (Trattitoria Trione in Rome) we had a flight home the next day. <BR>Lots of optional tours. <BR>Overall, pretty good. There would be no way we could have visited that many places by ourselves. However, you can get by on Engligh if you wanted to do Italy by yourself. <BR>If we want to visit any more exotic places (Egypt, etc.) we will take a tour again.

stefanie

Mulan, <BR>could you tell me what happend in Thailand? Just curious...am considering going there next year...

conan

&lt;&lt;Food sort of sucked&gt;&gt; <BR> <BR>Wow, if you went on a tour of Italy and the food sort of sucked, I would call that tour a colossal failure. I didn't realize that food in Italy could be anything but exceptional. Sounds like the tour operator is cutting corners!

bill

I agree if the food sucked on an Italian vacation I would just go to Canada.

Bev

Mulan, what was the weather like? I leave next Tuesday for Italy and because I live in Phoenix I have a hard time remembering to that it's not 95 degrees elsewear in the world. I will also be going on a group tour with my mother and two aunts. The tour group has just informed us that we will not be doing the Amalfi Coast drive because buses are not allowed anymore and will be going to Capri instead. I'm wondering if we should try to arrange a private car tour of the Amalfi Coast instead. What do you think? Thanks for the help.

lynn

Mulan - <BR> <BR>Please do tell about your trip to Thailand. Or, post about it on the Asia board. <BR> <BR>I would be most interested as my husband and I have gone twice on our own and did not have any difficulties. <BR> <BR>Like Stephanie, I am very curious! <BR> <BR>Lynn <BR> <BR

Howard

I realize that there are advantages and disadvantages to taking a tour vs. travelling independentally, but where you seem to think that visiting 18 places in 12 days is great, I would think that visiting such a high number of places is way too much. You barely arrive there before it is time to leave, with only time to hit a the tourist highlights and maybe on your one hour of free time, something like the main shopping street or equivalent. For me its ideal to combine the famous "sites" - e.g. chathedral, museum, palace, with some at least sort of out of the way nook and cranny of a place. On a tour, there is no (or extremely little) chance to do this.

Con

We just returned from our first group tour - 35 adults and 11 8th graders to Rome, Florence, Venice. We went mostly because we were unwilling to let our 13 year old cross the Atlantic without us, even though we trusted the teacher in charge completely. <BR>I would not take a tour again, although kids were well behaved and adults were congenial. Too structured for us. <BR> <BR>About the food. All breakfasts and dinners were included, and we did not have high hopes.Most of these 4* hotels <BR>just shuttle groups in and out constantly and have to feed "the lowest common denominator" (not meant as an insult). We had people who didn't eat fish, beef, veal, most vegetables, pasta sauce with any ingredient other than tomatoes, etc. etc. So most meals were truly innocuous. We were able to escape for a couple of really good lunches.

bill

Uggggh! These tour group stories are depressing me. They seem to destroy all the passion that is ITALY! I am so glad I planned every detail of my trip myself, and will go where I want, when I want, and eat whatever I want. These cattle like tour groups sound like some Orwellian existential nightmare and not at all what a trip to the most passionate country in the world should be like. Waste of time and money! Stop being so lazy people, get on the internet and put your own wonderful Italian vacation together. It's well worth it! What a sin to spend over a week in Italy and have to report that the meals were "Nothing Special!" Sad.

Rex

I thought I posted to this thread this morning but maybe it didn't take. Surely it wasn't censored. <BR> <BR>I hope that "bill" won't think that I am running afoul of his impassioned message to SAVOR Italy, but I think that our proposed "Fodorites' trip" to Italy will be a perfect hybrid - - avoiding the plague of "plain vanilla" dining, tour buses and havning your bags at the curb at 7 a.m. - - while still enjoying the added security and benefits of "two heads are better than one" - - and at the same time benefitting from other people to laugh with and learn from. <BR>

Dianne

Hi, <BR> <BR>I took a Trafalgar Italy tour this spring as well. I was glad that only 4 dinners were included (3 of them sucked). It's not that food is expensive in Italy, because I had very good, very reasonable meals at the local restaurants. Also, when I went with Cosmos in 1999, most of the included dinners were quite good. I don't know why first class Trafalgar can't do at least as well as budget Cosmos. <BR> <BR>I've found tours to be a convenient way to travel when I have limited time and want to see a lot. I always do my research though so I can get away and see what I want to see too. For example, I didn't want to be an Optional Excursion prisoner in Capri, so I checked out a guide book and website and had a wonderful time exploring the island on my own (at a fraction of the cost naturally). Our time was limited in Florence, but that didn't stop me from seeing 3 of the main museums, again because I planned ahead. <BR> <BR>Hotels were fine, but often poorly located. The front desk is the best source of public transport info. In my experience, the Cosmos hotel locations were no worse and sometimes better than Trafalgar. <BR> <BR>Some people like Optional Excursions, but I think most of them are too expensive and cut into your valuble free time. Occasionally, they can be convenient and good value. <BR> <BR>We had a really good tour director who loved to talk about Italy. I learned A LOT about art, history, Italians, etc. from her. <BR> <BR>Bev, there were public buses from Sorrento to Positano and Amalfi when I was there. Our coach was able to travel the Amalfi coast in March, but the tour director said they can't in high season. I would expect the public buses could still run, though I'm not sure.

NORA

Mulan, you are so young to opt <BR>for a tour. Italy is fine for <BR>you and your husband. <BR>Get a base hotel and venture out from there, and really get to know the country. <BR> <BR>I can't imagine the rush to <BR>see so much in so short of a time. <BR>If my friends and I can do it, <BR>almost anyone can. <BR>Of course if there is some underlying <BR>factor not mentioned, I apologise. <BR> <BR>

Jo

I have taken American Express tours and have liked them very much. <BR> <BR>They give you enough time on your own to not make it seemed to structured. <BR> <BR>We would sight see in the morning or in the afternoon and the rest of they day was yours. <BR> <BR>It included breakfasts in the morning and a couple of dinners but that is all. <BR> <BR>It was nice having someone arrange for transportation and entrances fees but other than that you were pretty much on your own. <BR> <BR>

yp

Hi Mulan, <BR>Thanks for your report. I am taking the same tour with Trafalgar next week. I will appreciate if answer my questions: <BR>Are they really strict with carry-on luggage, is it supposed to be only Trafalgar's bag? Did you have any problem with that? <BR>Can you take one of those hang-on bags? <BR>Did you have time for shopping? It's sounds that you didn't have much time on your own. <BR>Did they really rotate sits on the bus? <BR>Thank you

russ i

A note about food in Italy: <BR> <BR>Having lived there for 2 1/2 years, I can say that I had truly bad food on only 2 or 3 occasions. The worst was when my cousin passed through Florence on an 8 day group tour. The group leader kindly offered me to have dinner with them, which I accepted. What a mistake! The meal was completely flavorless. For dessert, when they started to distribute little pre-packaged plastic cups of factory-made tira mi sł, I asked if a cup of fresh berries were possible. You should have seen the look of envy on the faces of the others when it came. I felt so sad afterwards. 8 days in Italy, and they probably never had a decent meal. <BR> <BR>By the way, you DON'T have to spend a lot to get good food in Italy. Go to a local trattoria or osteria and get a bowl of tagliatelli Bolognese or con sugo di porcini. For $5 or $6 dollars you will be in heaven.

Jane

To YP: take your own carryon bag by all means, it shouldn't be too big however. I've never had a problem with someone critiquing my carryon size. Whatever you do - don't use the Trafagar bag! It looks pretty hideous, and marks you as a 'tour' member. <BR> <BR>Make time on your own, break away and have dinners on your own and if your solo, talk to the other soslos and see if they're interested in dinner out. The TD's will try to guide you to stick <BR>with the group, as it makes their job alot easier, they won't have to worry about a few strays. But do it anyways! It's your money, and your trip. Stay away from the 'glass-blowing demos' etc. They're sales pitches, and eat into your free-time. Don't take all of the optionals, alot of them are really overpriced, and not worth it. Pick a 'dinner out' optional and leave the rest, again, these cut into your free time. Don't be a lemming, find out when/where the bus is leaving from, and head out on your own. You'll have alot more memories to bring home, as the locals avoid the 'packs' of tour groups like the plague, and you won't be held up by by group. <BR>