We will be traveling to Italy for about 12-15 days in either May or September of 2005. We are looking for an escorted tour operator (we cannot drive or handle luggage by ourselves for a train) such as Grand Circle, Go Ahead, Club ABC etc that are not handled by Travel Agents. We have the brouchures for Perillo, Globus, Trafalger, and most of the advertised tour companies. We are primarily interested in Rome, Florence & Venice and do not want a series of "1 nighters". We also have no desire to do our own hotel bookings.

Hi lovebirds,

The problem with escorted tours is that they take you to places you might not want to go and "cheat" you out of the places you do want to go by not giving you enough time there. I took a quick look at Grand Circle Travel (I have friends who use this company and they have high opinions of GCT), Insight, Collette, and Taulk. None of them go only to Rome, Florence, and Venice and the tours that do go to those three cities only stay in each city for 2 days. That wouldn't be satisfactory for me. If it's fine for you then I would book with one of those companies are they are top rated, especially Taulk and Collette.

An alternative is to use a travel agent for air and hotel bookings and use private tour companies in each city. You can arrange for a limo service to pick you up at the airport/train station and handle your luggage. Even if you were part of an escorted tour group you would have to get your luggage off the baggage carousel at the airport and through customs before anyone could help you with it.

In Rome I'd highly recommend Scala Reale. They can put together an entire sightseeing package for you. They are affiliated with a tour group in Florence and I'm sure they could recommend someone for Venice. Venicescapes comes to mind.

There are many options you could consider that would meet your needs of not booking hotels and not carrying your own luggage.

You might look into independent-type tours, where the company only,books your air, hotel and train reservations, but then you plan your own itinerary within each city. American Express, Delta and others offer this type of tour.

Hi
adreienne gives great advice above, I hope you find a way to do this outside of a large bus group.

I haven't done an escorted tour, but let's assume for a moment that you decide to go with one of the companies mentioned.
I would think about this:

Choose one that includes as few meals as possible (or none.) That way your evenings are your own, and you can explore the wonders of great Italian dining without being herded into a restaurant and served a meal that will just have to be less than it should be.
That way too you don't have to spend the evening with all the same people you just spent the day with. If you make some new friends, great, plan dinner with them!

I'm surprised to hear above that none of the tour companies concentrate only on the 'big three' cities. I certainly hope there is one somewhere.

A few years ago I ran into a small group company, I think it was called Bella Donna. That one, or others can help you compromise between a large group with an escort, and going it entirely on your own. There are also tours in small vans that specialize in regional food or other special interests.

If you rely on someone else's hotel bookings, be sure you confirm on a map that the hotels are centrally located.
Too many tour companies use hotels that are near airports or train stations or convention centers, but not necessarily in the center of town or in a charming area.

If you are of a certain age, Elderhostel also has programs and arrangements that may appeal.

The Italian tourist office in your country (USA?) is also bound to have suggestions.

good luck, and let us know what happens

Both Trafalgar and Globus vacations have specific icons next to each tour they provide. The icons represent leisure, comfortable, or fast paced travel. My parents did a Trafalgar tour of Italy last year and were very happy.

Collette Vacations (collettevacations.com) has an "Italian Vistas" and "Reflections of Italy" tour you may be interrested in.
Tauck (tauck.com) also has a 10 day (not including tre travel day) Venice, Florence, and Rome tour. You can always extend a night or two on your own.

These are just the brochures I have, I'm sure other companies offer comparable itineraries. Enjoy!

Just wanted to add that I did a wonderful tour of all 3 cities with maupintours.com 4 nts in Florence, 3 in Venice, 3 in Rome and 2 in Sorrento.I believe it is a 15 day tour but we cut our Rome part short. The tour has gone up significanty though, with the fall of the value of the $$. Hope this helps.

The first, and only, "organized" tour I took to Italy was through Club ABC and it certainly did do the "big three" and was well-organized.
I disagree re the comment that these tours "cheat you" out of places you want to go. How can that be if you know the itinerary in advance...seems a simple matter of NOT taking a tour that has an itinerary you don't like.
Tour operators are in business to make money so it seems logical they will offer itineraries they feel MOST people would find attractive.
Organized tours are no different as far as an itinerary than your OWN independent travel once you decide on your own itinerary and schedule...you usually stick to it just as a tour group does. What IS different, of course, is the ability to deviate when you are on your own.
I think the suggestion about an "independent" tour might be good for you but if you don;t wish to drive or you don't wish to pay for help with luggage at hotels, etc., then you may have to make do with what group tours are out there.

jonjon,

If you had read my entire sentence you would have understood what I meant by the word "cheat." I did not say the tours cheat you out of the places you want to go (that would be a silly comment)...I said that they "cheat" you out of the places you want to go to (in this instance Rome, Florence, Venice) BY NOT GIVING ENOUGH TIME IN THOSE PLACES. You can disagree with me all you want but please first understand what you are disagreeing with.

I've looked at many tour groups and find the itineraries are too varied and there is too much time traveling between locations rather than staying put in a couple of places and more thoroughly exploring.

Go over to the Frommer's message board --- www.frommers.com. Just got my emailed newsletter from them and one thread they hilighted was a discussion about tours to Italy. Poster had asked about an ItaliaTour, however the responses cover several other tour group operators. You may find it helpful to review the feedback.