Mari

My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy at the end of April . The hardest job so has been the choice of the tour company. They all seem to be doing the same thing more or less. What is the most crucial item one should look for in a tour to make sure the trip will be a memorable one? What is a "First class" hotel in Italy compared to shall we say in New York city? <BR>2- Is traveling with a coach from Milan to Rome within 10 days doable? <BR>Mari <BR>

rlk

Mari; <BR> <BR>There's alot of 'do-it-yourselfers' on this forum, more so than folks who opt for an organized tour package. Which is not to say you won't find posters who have used a tour company and can offer up their experiences. <BR> <BR>I'm one of those independant travellers. From what I've seen discussed (pros & cons), the most critical overall issue to to ask very specific questions regarding the schedule to determine exactly where you'll be going & how much time you'll spend in each city or at a site. AND when they say you'll "SEE" a particular site, do they mean you drive by & it's "oh, look --- there's Pompeii" or do you actually get OFF the bus/coach & have xxx amount of hours to walk around. Never assume anything. I have seen a post in which someone described their "visit" to Pompeii as a drive-by. <BR> <BR>Another important factor is how many people will be on the tour --- limited to 20 only? or 45? <BR> <BR>As to your hotel query, I fall into the budget hotel class and so for me, I'd love to be able to stay in Italy's first class hotels. Speaking in broad generalities, you should be aware that all of Italy's hotel rooms will be smaller in size than much of what you may find in the United States. <BR>

Leslie

To the above response regarding hotels, my problem with tour-operator hotel selections is not so much the quality but location and size. To be in a jumbo-sized hotel on the outskirts of Rome or near the seedy areas of the train station dimish the experience. My suggestion is that you look up the hotels your tour operator is offering on a web site such as www.itwg.com or www.venere.it to see photos and location maps as well as links to the hotels' own websites that often have additional photos. <BR> <BR>And, yes, I think Milan to Rome in 10 days is quite do-able on a tour. Enjoy.

xxxxx

I have taken collette Tours and they were exelent hotels were top notch you should keep in mind the size of the group and the age of the others in the group when making your choice but keep in mind that on a tour you are not on vacation but a regimented itenary no sleeping in and time spent on a bus you do see a lot in a short period of time . its great if your a first timer to europe it will give you a great overview so you can tackle it on your own next visit to europe. try collette tours ! www.collettetours.com

Linda

I like to take a tour the first time I go to a country; it helps me to "get the lay of the land" better. The next time I go on my own. <BR> <BR>First, make sure the tour is going where you want to go. If it doesn't, keep looking for another one. <BR> <BR>Second, how long does it stay in a stop? From experience, I've found you should stay away from the ones that spend just one night most places. You spend too much time on the bus and not enough seeing what you came to see. <BR> <BR>Third: Do they give you free time to explore (a must in my opinion)? <BR> <BR>As to hotels in Italy: my general opinion, for what it's worth, is that if you simply subtract one star, you are close to an assessment. (A four star would be equal to a three star in the U.S.) This is not a hard rule, but it generally falls true. Also, as mentioned above, expect rooms to be smaller.