My wife and I will be taking our first trip to Italy this fall (escorted tour). I've been pouring over this board to get all of the information on tour companies that I could. It is almost dizzying - the amount information and the compnaies to choose from. But basically, I understand that - Tauck is the top of the food chain as a "luxury" tour company. Next - are the first class group companies - Perillo, Collette. Another group of first class tour companies fall in the shadow of Perillo and Collette - those being Insight, Gate1, and Alitalia. The last group - economy - is composed of Cosmos, Globus, Brendan, and Trafalgar.<BR>I basically have the cities I want to visit and my the departure dates. Given that I need to travel on certain dates, by process of elimination - I am down to just a couple of the "first class" companies. <BR>Before I commit to a tour - for those of who who have been on several of the escorted tours - is my assesment close to accurate?<BR>Thanks in advance for the response!

Michael:<BR><BR>There's a chance that you won't get the responses you are hoping for as the title of the thread is vague. I suggest that you repost with a title such as "First Class tour companies - help me choose the best".<BR><BR>You have obviously done your homework - good luck with planning your trip.<BR><BR>Regards

Rex<BR>you give it away with regards!!!!Don't be afraid to give advice, you will just be "giving in" to them!

I'm not Rex....

Cosmos and Globus are part of the same company, with Globus being the more expensive of the two. Cosmos is truly a tour company for the budget traveler. Accommodations are closer to the city center with Globus, and the similar tours are like night and day.<BR><BR>When you read a tour brochure, underline the words "see" and "visit". "See" usually means passing by on the bus.<BR><BR>Just a piece of advise, if you do decide on a tour company, find one that has the fewest changes in hotels. You don't want to be getting up at the crack of dawn each morning to get on a bus to get to the next destination. Also, get out a map and try to estimate the mileage between each stop at about 40 mph. You don't want a tour where there are long travel times between stops. I only mention this, as I have made this mistake in the past.

I haven't had any experiences with an escorted tour but wanted to warn you to stay away from alitalia or italiatours. We booked with them but cancelled 2 weeks before the trip due to lack of service...never could get tickets or confirmations from italiatours.<BR>We ended up booking everything on our own and had a wonderful trip.

A coworker has been on at least 2 Perillo tours of Italy, and is now getting more comfortable with making her own arrangements. But Perillo (more than my budget allows) is definitely a first-class, all-included operator, staying in 4* or 5* hotels.

To add to the mix, did you look at GoAhead Vacations tour called "Venice, Florence, Rome"? I booked that one but had to cancel due to concerns unrelated to travel or the tour company. Their website will show you some photos of the hotels they use, and will list the potential 'optional' excursions that might be offered. Price was comparable to Trafalgar (whom we have used twice, Europe and France only). Anyway, just another option. . .