cbgetaway2015

My husband and I will be in Italy this May. We fly into Venice and out of Rome. We will be traveling by train with time spent in Cinque Terre, Florence and Siena along the way. Our trip is about three weeks.
As I have mentioned in some of my other threads we plan to do a few walking tours since this is our first visit to Italy. I have been mainly looking at Walks of Italy. They have several tours I am interested in, and there seems to be a small discount when you book 3 or more. I am looking at: the Colloseum underground tour, the Complete Vatican Tour. I am also looking at one in Florence and am considering their Welcome Tour for Venice...it includes a gondola ride and is only €58 per person, which seems like a steal since that is way less then the price of a gondola ride on your own. Too good to be true?
Many people have recommended the secret itineraries tour for the Doges Palace. Walks of Italy has one but it is €90some compared to Select Italy which is about $40. For those of you who have experience with this tour, who did you book through?

mama_mia

You can book the Secret Itineraries tour through the Palazzo Ducale directly. It is 20 euros and is offered in English at 9:55 and 11:35. It gives access to the rest of the Doge's Palace, although other areas are without a guide.

http://palazzoducale.visitmuve.it/en...etitineraries/

kybourbon

You don't need a walking tour of Florence. The historic center is very compact and you can easily walk it on your own.

I wouldn't want to book their Complete Vatican Tour unless you don't care about much time in the museums.

I think their VIP claim about the underground tour is a bit much. In their description they state you are combined with another tour (they didn't say another tour from their company) for the underground part. Perhaps that is the Colosseum's own underground tour.

The gondola price sounds cheap. How long is the ride? The higher prices people talk about are often for more private gondola rides (2 people). You will be a group which makes it cheaper (they split the cost among the 6 people or so).

mama_mia

Re the Walks of Italy Florence tour. It looks like the half day tour mainly gives you entrance to and tour of the Accademia and the Uffizi, with some walking between the two with art and history discussed. You would then be on a set schedule for enjoying these two wonderful museums, rather than at your leisure.

I don't think a tour of Florence that gave historical and architectural information is a bad idea but, for myself, I would prefer to explore the museums on my own.

annhig

cbg, the only tour that I would really want a guide for is the Forum. you can book the Colosseum's own underground tour or just entrance tickets, ditto tickets for the Vatican, with or without a tour. The same applies to the Uffizi and the Academia.

it may be less expensive per tour to book 3 or more, but it's cheaper not to book them at all.

PS - I've been to Venice 4-5 times and never yet set foot on a gondola.

mama_mia

The gondola tours can be touristy, but if that is what you dreamed of when you thought of Venice, why not? In that case, I would just make my own arrangements so that we did not have to share. Also make sure your ride takes you through some of the smaller canals.

Of course, you can also enjoy views of Venice from the vaporetto or numerous bridges for less money.

cbgetaway2015

A gondola ride is not a must have for us.

And I do not have to do a tour in Florence. Is the Firenze card a good option for museum entry then?

If I did do a tour for the Vatican would we have to leave after the tour? It would be nice to have the tour and then have some time to look deeper on our own.

annhig

cbg - the Firenze card is valid for the Uffizi, etc., but it's a very expensive way of seeing them. The main problem is that it's only valid for 72 hours and it's quite difficult to cram €72's worth of museums entries into 72 hours. it does include public transport but Florence is so walkable that you probably wouldn't use it that much.

here's the official website for the museums of Florence where you can buy tickets on line for the Uffizi and the Academia:

http://www.uffizi.firenze.it/en/

I'm not sure whether you can wander around by yourselves after a Vatican tour - I suspect that you can but I can't give you a definitive answer. but you can just buy entry tickets and guide yourselves if you want to - then you can spend as long as you like.

kybourbon

>>>The main problem is that it's only valid for 72 hours and it's quite difficult to cram €72's worth of museums entries into 72 hours.<<<

Especially since entrance fees are around 6.50€. The Firenze Card includes transport, but most people don't use transport in Florence since it's so compact.

>>>If I did do a tour for the Vatican would we have to leave after the tour?<<<

If you book the Complete Vatican tour, it ends in St. Peter's so you would no longer be in the museums. If you book a tour of the Vatican Museums only if they offer one (the Vatican offers their own you can book), then you should be able to stay in the museum longer if you want. The Vatican offers a combo tour that includes St. Peter's also which might not give you as long as you want in the museums. You can also book entrance tickets only to the museums and rent an audio guide. There are also audio guides available to rent in St. Peter's.

If you do book Vatican museums only tours, you might have to return with the group to turn in your headset, but you are still in the museum. Sometimes the tour guide collects them and turns them in.

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-In...i_audio01.html

http://www.vatican.va/various/basili...audioguide.htm

brdcollie

In Venice, I highly recommend Walks Inside Venice, especially if this is your first trip. Roberta and her staff do a wonderful introduction to Venice.

http://www.walksinsidevenice.com/index.php