pjblmb

We are an active senior citizen couple planning our first trip to Italy. We would like to incorporate a private guided tour of two or three major cities along with a self-guided driving tour into the countryside encompassing approximately 14 days. We are looking for a source that could provide an English speaking guide and also prepare a driving itinerary for us (pointing out places of interest and suggesting country inns or Bed and Breakfasts). Budget is not a major issue. Thanks in advance for any help.

nytraveler

for the kind of trip and services you want I would suggest a travel agent specializing in italy. the only problem is that you will need one that is very sophisticated and really familiar with all of the options (the one in the mall cannot do this at all).

I would suggest you check out the web sites of Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler - they both have (I think) annual feaures on top rated travel agents that specialize in certain areas of the world and are capable of doing the kind of specialized planning you're describing.

ms_sue

You sound very much like us. We just returned from our first trip to Italy. We used Hidden Treasures of Italy to help us with our itinerary: http://www.htitaly.com/. They are associated with Karen Brown Guides. I dealt with Mariella, who was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. She sent us links to a variety of hotels/inns/B&Bs, with her suggestions. We told her what we wanted in terms of amenities, she helped us choose, and then did the booking. She suggested an appropriate amount of time in each location and made rail and car reservations. The only thing HIT doesn't do is airline reservations.

We visited Venice, Florence, and Rome, plus toured a bit in the Tuscan countryside. May I suggest that you might not need a "private guided tour" of the cities but rather a couple good tours of some of the sites (like the Vatican). We did just fine on our own, with some good travel books.

We absolutely loved Italy. Good luck!

rex

When do you seek to do this? You specifically want someone who would be driver and guide? Or do I misunderstand the question?

Possibilities exist.

Best wishes,

Rex

ira

topping

bobthenavigator

Go to slowtrav.com and look under their planning section for Italy.

ms_sue

Ira (or anybody, for that matter): I'm new here, so could you explain what "topping" means. I did read "help" but am still unclear. Thanks.

Lorac1127

Topping or ttt brings your post to the top of all the posts. This helps to generate more replies to your question.

ms_sue

Lorac 1127:

"Topping or ttt brings your post to the top of all the posts. This helps to generate more replies to your question."

I can't believe how stupid I must sound here, but I still don't get it. When ira posted a message that said "topping," what exactly then happens?

I checked FAQs again, to find this:

"What does TTT mean?
Some Travel Talk participants use "TTT" as an abbreviation for "to the top" - they often "top" an old thread that answers a recent question."

So my curiosity trumps my embarrassment at not understanding yet.

jamikins

When someone replies to you email it gets bumped back to the top so that more people can reply and see it. It generates more answers to your post.

Ira didnt have a response, but was just helping you out by adding a response "topping" to get your post to bump to the top again. He could have put anything, but topping tells us what he is doing.

Hope this helps!

jamikins

Sorry, it should say replies to your post

ms_sue

Thanks, jamikins. I "think" I have it. I don't know why I find this so difficult. Speaking of format, I noticed your smiley. How do you do that in this forum? And can we use any HTML tags here?

rex

See http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=34488030 for smileys and related discussion.

Henry

pjblmb, check out Bobthenavigator
http://www.bobthenavigator.homestead.com/ .While I have never used his services it is obvious from his frequent posts that he is knowledgeable about Italy and loves the country. If you click on his name at the beginning of his post you can get an idea of his grasp of the Italian tourist market.

Sunnyboy

While I'm sure ms_sue (and others) found the discussion on "ttt" interesting it didn't really seem to help the original poster (pjblmb). Of the the 13 resopnses 5 were on point, one was the "topping" (which I'm sure was appriciated by pjblmb) and 7 were about "topping". Unfortunately, I can't help pjblmb since I've never been to Italy so I hope others may be able to add to the advice already given since I too am interested in this topic.

ms_sue

While I'm sure ms_sue (and others) found the discussion on "ttt" interesting it didn't really seem to help the original poster (pjblmb).

At the risk of sounding defensive, Sonnyboy, I really must point out that I did write a rather informative reply to pjblmb's post before asking my admittedly off-topic one about TTT and format. And I welcome any further dialogue from pjblmb.

I'm sure you remember what it's like to be a newbie. The best way, IMHO, to learn how to navigate a site is to ask questions, and I appreciate the help I received.

Sunnyboy

To: ms_sue: I wasn't trying to be overly critical but merely pointing out the "ttt" posts didn't help the original poster. I also acknowledged that the "real responses" to pjblmb's question were appreciated since I too am interested in this topic. I've already been researching some of the suggestions that have been made for my own trip.

I understand that newbie's to this site often ask questions as a way of learning how to navigate the forum but perhaps posting a seperate question on "ttt" might have been more productive for both you and pjblmb since half the responses were directed to one poster and half to another. By the way, I'm now guilty of adding 2 posts that don't answer pjblmb's question - so Mea Culpa!

pjblmb

Wow! We never in a million years thought our question would start any type of controversey. We want to thank all those who responsed to our question and are in the process of using all the tips we received here to further research our trip.

In answer to Rex's questions, our first preference is to make the trip in late April or early May 2005. If that doesn't work out we are open to the late September or or Early October 2005. We were originally thinking of using a guide and driver for the city portions of our trip and driving ourselves through the countryside. We understand this would mean a different guide in each major city as we only want to see the highlights of the cities and spend most of our time in the country. We suspect it would be easy to ask the concierge at our "city" hotel to arrange for the day tour. Setting the itinerary and route for the countryside driving is where we could use ideas and guidence. Thank's again to all who have responded!

pjblmb

Thanks to all who have replied. Your replies have helped us with sources we now must investigate to make our trip most memorable. We are currently thinking of doing Tuscany, Umbria and Abruzzo. Is this feasible for a 14 day trip? Thanks in advance

bobthenavigator

I am sorry I cannot be more definitive, but your question is so broad it is hard to answer. Yes, those 3 regions are doable in 14 days. You may want to see some of my sample itineraires at slowtrav.com. With 14 days I would suggest 4 destinations. A typical scenario might include Rome, Florence[with guided tours in each], and then a driving itinerary in both Tuscany and Umbria--all very doable. Early May is a perfect time. Again, I would spend some time at slowtrav.com where you can get more detailed help for your planning phase. There are many good options. We too are active seniors and have been fortunate to have traveled Italy 12 times. The last was 15 days in just off-the-path Tuscany. Read some, narrow your choices, and get back. You will love Italy.