This is my first trip to Italy - so I've been posting lots of questions, everyone is so helpful! I'll be traveling with my dad and he suggested possibly doing a hosted tour that will get us to each destination but also give us free time to explore. I've alway had a slightly negative opinion of tours because I find it more fun to head off the beaten path, but I'm open to anything. If it were just my husband and I, we wouldn't be considering it - but my dad is more about "having a plan". What's everyone's thought on tours?

I am using a trip planner - she is helping us to book day trips and excursions to help me get the most out of a trip to (you'll never guess) Tuscany. The way the schedule will work out leaves us every afternoon and two whole days to do whatever we like, as well as every meal.

There's a plan, and there's a schedule, but it's not the all-encompassing horror that is shuffling in a herd of strangers from Greatest Hit to Greatest Hit with a guide you can't hear that gets kickbacks if you buy souvenirs from a particular vendor.

Hi C,

>a hosted tour that will get us to each destination but also give us free time to explore. <

The problem with tours is that you have to go where they want to take you.

If all your interested in is getting to a desination and having a hotel, you can easily do that yourself.

What's your planned itinerary?

There are some unstructured tours that include air/land/transfer and maybe a 1/2 day tour of the cities. I've done some of those when I was an inexperienced, younger traveller. They usually offer lots of optional tours, but the basic package got you to where you were going and did a basic tour, the rest is on your own, or you can pay extra, as you go, for additional organized tours. I don't know of nay like this now, but I'm sure they exist.

Honestly now that I do my own planning, and with the internet and forums like this, it's pretty easy to do your own planning.

Ira - to answer your question...
we want to see Rome, Florence/Tuscany and Venice. However, we also are planning to go to Cirigliano. It's a small village in the Basilcata region (about an hour South of Matera) where my grandparents grew up. We were thinking of flying into Rome, seeing Rome for 2-3 days, then heading to Matera and after that taking a train to up North for the remainder of our trip and flying home out of Venice.

I see the pros and cons of both a tour and no tour. I definitely don't want to end up being a part of what Tuscan Tweety described - which has always been my impression of a tour.

Hi C,

>we want to see Rome, Florence/Tuscany and Venice. ...planning to go to Cirigliano. <

I could be wrong, but I really doubt that there are any tours to Cirigliano.

It's about 6:30 - 8:00 hr from Rome to Matera by train. (www.trenitalia.com)

It's about 5hr by car from Rome to Cirigliano and 9 hr from Venice.(www.viamichelin.com)

If Cirigliano is a must, may I suggest
that you fly into Naples for 3 days, rent a car to visit C and then head for Venice with an overnight stop in the vicinity of Pescara.

If you also want to see Tuscany, this is a motor trip, and you won't be able to do it with a tour anyway.

wow - well this changes everything. I didn't calculate correctly, therefore not realizing how far Matera was from Rome.

I do realize there aren't any tours to Cirigliano - I have an agent looking into a private tour guide to get us there and be a translator.

The Naples idea is a good suggestion - but I need to figure out how we can still fit in Rome...something will have to be cut out or shortened...OR I just need to get more vacation time!

When is this trip? (I see that earlier posts you made reference "September or October&quot.

I might be willing to be your "hosted tour" guide, and I won't charge a penny, nor seek any payment of my expenses. Is it just the three of you? I speak passable Italian, and I like to drive (to the extent that your itinerary merits renting a car).

Best wishes,

Rex Bickers
Floyds Knobs, indiana

thanks Rex - we are leaning towards doing this ourselves vs. a hosted tour. After doing research and speaking to many on this site, as well as friends who have traveled to Italy, I think we can handle it. thanks for the offer!

You're welcome. That's what this forum is all about - - helping you develop an awareness of the things you will need to know, to do it by yourself.