LOCAL CITY TOURS OR NOT?
 

My husband and I are leaving to Italy in 2 weeks. We will be in Rome for 4 days, Florence: 5 days, Venice: 2 days and Milan: 1 day. <BR> <BR>We are not sure if we should book city tours to see the major sights or do them on our own? We want to make the most of our time without killing ourselves to see all the sights and also have some time to do as the Italians do. What should we do? Are tours just as expensive as doing it on our own? If we want to do local tours, is American Express a good option? <BR> <BR>I would greatly appreciate any advice!! Thanks in advance for your help...I can't wait for our trip!! I will definately post a message about our experience when I return. <BR> <BR>Roxanne <BR>Miami, Florida

In Rome I did a half-day tour of the city, just to get my bearings, and I was glad I did because it is a large city and there is so much to see. (I did this in London, Paris, and New York too -- I find it helps with larger cities.) Afterwards I went back to various sights on my own over the course of several days, but it was nice having an "official" overview before venturing out on my own. Sorry I can't remember the tour company I used. <BR> <BR>In Florence and Venice I did not do a tour and just visited the sights on my own. Those cities are smaller and, to me, more manageable. I had no problem -- just a good guidebook or two and a good map.

By chance we ran into some young gentlemen who give tours "on the side" shall we say. They are not official tour guides due to the heavy tax laws but are very knowledgeable history students. They gave us a tour of the Coloseum and we realized how much we would have missed out on had we not been with them. We met up again with them for a Forum and a Vatican tour. <BR> <BR>The tours were fabulous and one of the highlites of our trip. They told us much more than the guide books and really brought the history to life. You can reach Jasper at [email protected] <BR> <BR>All they asked for was a tip if we liked the tour. I think we ended up giving about 5 bucks per person per hour of tour and they seemed happy with that. It was some of the best spent Lira of the trip. I still regret not getting a guide for Pompeii. <BR> <BR>If I can be of any help feel free to drop me a line and if you end up using their services please say hi from the turnip for me!

Toxanne, actually when in a larger city, like Paris or Rome my husband and I really like taking a nice half day tour or a bus tour like the Paribus. It gives us a nice overview and helps us to get our bearings. Then we can spend the evening or the next day tooling around on our own, going back to the places that looked interesting. We've found this especially helpful in cities where our time was limited.

Sorry for the type o Roxanne, I have sticky fingers today.

We really enjoyed the half-day American Express tours we took in Rome. We liked the first (overall city sights) so much that we went back the next afternoon for the Vatican tour. Both were in English and had very knowledgeable guides.

I'm with Lisa, here. In Florence and even less so in Venice there's very little an organized tour may add ... <BR> <BR>Rome is a much bigger city and some organized tours may be handy. For instance, if you plan to visit the Santa Maria Maggiore and San Giovanni in Laterano Basilicas, together with the Scala Santa and Battistero and one catacomb, this would be quite inconvenient to do on your own because of the distances involved ... <BR> <BR>Haven't used Amex tours but apparently they're better than Carrani/Appian Line tours. <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR> <BR>

I highly recommend the Enjoy Rome tours. Their office is easy to find near the train station, and they speak English very well. Actually, our tour guide was Australian and just charming in addition to being very knowledgeable. I strongly advise a city tour. My husband and I have travelled to Europe 3 times and each time a city tour made the difference as to whether we enjoyed a city or not. Enjoy Rome has a website (www.enjoyrome.com) and they will set you up. Have fun!

Tend to agree with the rest... <BR>For larger cities that I've never been too, I think a city tour is very helpful in that you can see alot of main points, get a feel for the city, and hear some basic "interesting" facts - quickly. After the fact, I can better organize where everything is in my head, and go see what I really want to see on my own. <BR>In smaller places (ie. Venice) I love to just tour on my own or get a guidebook like "VeniceWalks", or heck, just get totally lost! <BR>Better yet, meet some locals and get them to show you about!

I almost always take a half day city tour the first morning after I arrive on a first-time visit to a city. This way I get my bearings early in the visit. In Rome and Venice we did Amex tours which were fine.

Thank you all for your advice. I think we'll do a brief city tour and then venture out on our own. Can't wait!!! <BR> <BR>Roxanne :)