Thanks to all who provided answers to Italy: Land or Sea! My sister and I have decided to go on a land tour, does anyone have any suggestions which tour company is a reputable one. We're middle-aged, middle income fairly active women who've never been to Italy. We may go on a tour and then spend some time on our own traveling around, I understand it's easily done by train!

Thank you!

Where do you want to go? You may be better off just traveling by train and booking sightseeing tours in each city that interest you.

Hi; If it's a tour you want, Trafalger or Globus are reliable companies. There are many more. However, you should then consider booking with www.cheapertravel.com/ as they offer 10% off. Dick

What leel of travel are yuo looking for. Many of the tours are very early starts, most of the day on the bus and hotels far outside towns. You need to red the brochures very carefully, understandint that a "view" of a sight means out the bus window as you drive by, a "stop" is a 5 minute photo op outside of the sight and only a "visit" means that you actually go inside.

My parents have friends who sometimes do tours to simplify luggage handling (sine they're elderly) but they will do only Tauck, which is usually a littel slower paced (so you see more) and has better hotels. Butm the prices are much higher.

I would compare the various tours and how much time they give you where - then decide if you would prefer to organize yourself and do day tours from major cities.

Go-today and Gate 1 Travel both offer packages where you can select your hotel, which sightseeing tours you want and includes trains between cities. It's not really a tour. You can extend your return flight (no extra charge0 if you want to stay and travel after the end of the package.

http://www.gate1travel.com/italy-travel/default.aspx

http://www.go-today.com/site_gtweb/i...ions.asp?p=968

We just returned from an Italy vacation with QueensLander Tours (yeah that's what we though too very australian sounding) but they do a small group tour to Italy that we thought was phenom. We did their great cities tour and visited venice, florence, tuscany, rome and we extended to the amalfi coast. they called it the 'enchanted' amalfi coast and they were right. We loved Sorrento and Positano. Capri was okay but we felt the amalfi coast itself offered more diverse scenery. Oh and they only allow 15 people on the tour so it really is a small group tour. We found them online and I think it's their name .com or some variation. We called and spoke with Mark Story (he's a nice young man very enthusiastic about Italy!).

Sorry, found their website, you can do either the long name or just enter www.QLTours.com and then click on their Italy tours. I cannot recommend enough. they included just about everything and had their "tour captain" as our host throughout. Their hotels were superb, always in the hearts of towns. We checked Tauck, Trafalgar and Globus before settling on Queenslander's small group tour. Happy Travels to Italia! Arrividerci!

mtnest, I would suggest Insight tours, an upscale Trafalgar. Hotels pretty good. Tauck is great but quite pricey ...

take a look at this website they have several different reliable tour operators http://www.trekescapes.com/

When we travelled to Italy last year we went to www.escorteditalytours.com where you can pick trips by budget, and I think they had a rail section.

You mentioned you were active. Not sure if you would consider a bicyclye vacation. I did a Vermont Bicycle Tour (VBT.com) through Tuscany in June. You don't cover the same amount of geography with this type of tour but you get a feel for real Italian life. As part of this tour we helped prepare an Italian meal in someone's home. We also stayed at vinyards and stopped in little villages. The Italian people in that reagion have a love of cycling and were very friendly. The best part; you can eat all that wonderful Italian food and drink that fantastic wine and still loose weight. We had Gilato every day without guilt. There are all levels of cyclists on the tours with a van back up if you get tired. There are other companies that offer this but after 2 VBT vacations I don't think I would consider anyone else.

If cycling is not your thing, Trafalgar offers more tradional tours. I've travelled with them to Germany and France. These tours are reasonably priced and you stay at mid level hotels. I agree with NYTraveller. Pay attention to the wording in the brochure/website. To "see" something could be as you ride along the highway. Most bus tours do have an early start and pack a lot into them. It's important to know your own tolerance for fast pace travel. If getting up early and packing the day full is ok with you then you'll be fine on a bus tour but if it's not your thing it can ruin your vacation. Best of Luck. Have a great trip.

I recommend Tauck too, though it does cost more. They stay at top hotels in choice locations, and everything described is included; there are no hidden extras. I am a single woman and feel completely safe with them. I also like not having to handle my luggage. Their meals are usually very good too, usually a la carte. They are the only company I will use. I have taken 2 tours to Italy with them, a 10-day Rome, Venice, Florence & more tour and also a 14-day Classic Italy tour that also goes to the big 3 but adds the Cinque Terre, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Orvieto, San Gimignano, Assisi, etc.