godin

Hi

I am planning a trip to Italy with 6 other people. None of us want to drive, therefore I am looking for alternative. Does anyone know of companies that would do private tours for small group ?
Thanks

ellenem

Depending on where you want to go, driving may not be necessary. You could arrange it all yourself and travl between locations by train. In what places is your group interested?

kybourbon

Provide a little more information. Do you want tours in cities that you are visiting? Do you want transportation between cities also? Which cities?

ellenem

Another alternative is to use trains between major cities, and hire drivers for daytrips into the countryside.

For example, if your group was doing a usual first-timers trip of Rome to Florence to Venice, trains would be the best way to travel between the cities. Then, during your stay in Florence, you might hire someone like Luca Garappa of hillsandroads.com to drive and guide you though the Tuscan countryside for the day. He has a large van that would fit your group and his rates are reasonable for the enjoyable day you would have visiting hilltowns, wineries, whatever you prefer.

In what area(s) of Italy and activities are you interested?

godin

Thanks everyone for your response. 2 of us have been to Italy several time, for the others it will be their first time. Therefore we want them to see the more they can of Italy.
We want basicly transportation between cities and maybe a few city tours.
Here is what I would want to do:
Milano
Lake como
Venice
Florence
Montalcino( with of course wine tasting in mind)
Pompei( guided tour)
Sorrento
Rome
Thanks and anyfeed back is appreciated

godin

Hi ellenem,
I looked at the website you provided for Hills and road. This seem great. I assume that you have used this servic before right?
Do you need to book early in advance?

kfusto

godin, I booked with Luca of Hills and Roads ten months ahead for our trip next week. He has been very good to work with and we are touring the wineries with him for two full day. Even ten months ahead, we did not get our first choice of days.

I have planned this trip for 4 couples. We are doing the big three with some daytrips and taking trains for travel from city to city. We fly into Venice for two days then onto Florence for a week. We are booked with Luca for two days, have museum reservations two mornings and will head up to Fiesole and perhaps Sienna or Lucca.

We finish in Rome with one day trip to Orvieto.

I have booked two private guides in Rome, Francesca Caruso for the Colosseum and Forum and Vatican Tours, Inc. for St. Peters. We are also confirmed for the Scavi Tour which I requested 8 months in advance. I also booked an entry time for the Borghese Gallery.

I have pre-booked several restaurants since we are a large group and dine late, which is popular with the Italians.

I will post a full review when we return.

godin

kfusto,
I will look forward to your feedback from your trip.
Enjoy Italy.

ellenem

Yes, my friend and I had a lovely day with Luca. We let him plan our day trip out of Florence. He picked us up at 9AM and took us south along the Chianti road. We visited a number of hilltowns close to one another, poked around Greve in Chianti, had a great lunch overlooking dramatic rolling hills, stopped at a winery for a tasting, visited another town or two, and then he drove us back to Florence. It was a great day--we never would have been able to cover so much territory on our own, yet we never felt like we were rushing about. Luca was fun to be with and I think he genuinely enjoyed us as well. And--important for my friend who had experienced a serious car crash over a cliff--Luca is a very safe driver.

Flame123

We also had fantastic experience with Luca about a year and a half ago, with 2 separate touring days.

He is a very safe and courteous driver, an excellent guide and in love with his country. He is an intelligent and fun young man and we loved spending the day with him.

He drives a big van which will accomodate you all. I hope you manage to book with him (try early to get the date you want and don't be discouraged if he does not answer you right away - he does not check e-mail every day!!). I think you will love it!!

annhig

hi, godin,

I agree with the other posters who have recommended the train/private guide route.

what you haven't told us is how long you have for this trip. the destinations you have named would fill 3-4 weeks easily. in 2 weeks you'd be really pushed to see them all.

assuming you have the "normal" 2 weeks, I suggest 3 alternative itineraries:

1. a northern tour. Milan, Como, Venice, Lucca, Florence. this could include wine tastings in tuscany.

2. A southern Tour. Rome, Sorrento, positano, Capri, Naples, Pompeii.

3. A classic 3 tour - Venice, florence, Rome.

you'll have more time for touring if you are able to arrange "open jaw" flights.

happy planning,

regards, ann

cmt

Italian Connection does.

emannen

Boy, do I have an answer for you! We just got back from Italy on Saturday. Our entire trip was planned by On The Map Travel([email protected], I dealt with Anne and Audrey and her phone number is 314.726.0065). They did everything for us...cities to visit, guides at the cities, restaurant recommendations, accommodations, you name it, they did it. They do it all from a very first hand, user friendly perspective. They were just fabulous and SO EASY to work with. We visited vineyards in Tuscany, had a private tour of the Vatican, etc., etc., etc.. Reasonably price, fantastic service. There were 6 of us and it could not have been more perfect!

annhig

hmmmmm...just checked our enthusiastic new poster, emannen. strangely, s/he has never posted before.

call me a suspicious old cynic, but...methinks may be an advert.

regards, ann

Weadles

Another vote for Luca Garapa. We did several day trips with him a few years ago, and thorougly enjoyed his company.

I can also heartily recommend Giovanni Gargiulo for transportation and tours of the Sorrento peninsula, Pompeii, and Amalfi Coast. We've used him many times, and sent several friends his way, too. He can be reached at: Tourofitaly.com.

vetralla

Guidebook writer's tips:
-for central Italy airport transfers (especially for visiting friends, relatives so I dont have to drive to the airport) I use Pietro DeLellis and son Francesco www.limoserviceitalia.it
Luxury vechicles and mini van for groups, courteous and Francesco speaks several languages. tel. +39-06 2055993 [email protected]

godin

Thanks everyone for your response.
I will look at tour of italy and Luca Garapa from hills and road.I will let you know our final itinary and plan.
thanks again

boom_boom

If you're looking in Assisi/Umbria check out www.annesitaly.com for a great guide.

In Rome, Florence, Naples or Venice consider www.Contextravel.com

For Tuscany/Florence check out Natale Cerbara at www.traveltaste.com

Enjoy!