nytraveler

Actually, there were a couple of honeymoon couples with our group and they seemed to enjoy themselves...were always teased if they were late to breakfast..they took it in good spirits.

Now, there's the perfect way to spend your honeymoon!

crefloors

Hey...what do I know from honeymoons?!!Never had one..got married one day and went to work the next. So, I guess what ever floats your boat. I actually didn't hang around with the group all that much but when I saw the honeymooners, they seemed to be having a good time...oh heck..what do I know anyway..the older I get, the less I know, and I forget the rest of it!!!!

suze

I notice in my travel magazines, they all have lots of advertisements for different types of tour companies. This might give you a good overview of what's available. Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, National Geographic Traveler, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure are all ones I read.

Because I subscribe to some of the above I also receive advertisements in the mail. One recently from www.classicjourneys.com. This is not a recommendation as I know nothing about the company, but their tours looked interesting (but expensive), small groups, culinary tours, etc.

Kate_W

As first timers who'd really prefer to travel with a group (but who are also honeymooners), perhaps you should consider some kind of combination of tour and travel alone, such as:

1) If you're active and like to walk or cycle, check out the Sherpa Expedition's trips (a UK company). They move your luggage from hotel to hotel, arrange for prepayment of hotels and about half your meals (but you get the flexibility of finding some of your own), and provide you with very detailed tour notes. It's like you have a virtual, invisible guide who tells you where to walk and what to look for (but who doesn't intrude on you privacy). I think Sherpa is moderately priced, with some option to upgrade hotels. You might look for something similar at a slightly higher standard.

2) Travel with a tour group for a week or less, and spend the rest of the time on your own. The best timing might be to arrive and spend a night on your own, then join a group for 4-6 days, then do your own thing.

3) If you like to learn, join an educational program (like learning a language, or taking art or cooking courses) for a week, in your two-week holiday. You'll get the benefit of a group to interact with - and do some sightseeing with (as well as the organization provided by the school - accommodation, etc), but you'll have a fair bit of free time (probably half days and your evenings) to do your own thing.

4) Finally, you could book a flight/hotel package through an agent (perhaps one of the reasons you want a tour is so that you don't have to deal with these details), and then ask the agent to book some day-long tours or excursions for you. Reduces your hassle factor, but still gives you lots of flexibility.

For our upcoming honeymoon, we're thinking of booking a Sherpa trip in Morocco, and then spending a week studying Spanish - using Granada as a base to sightsee.

mgfit

I took a tour on my first trip to Europe in my mid 20's and I wish I had done it on my own. I was on a bus most of everyday with old people. We were up early every morning and sometimes on the bus by 7am. Meals that were included were mediocre. I personally would not recommend a tour on your honeymoon.

We just returned last month from getting married and honeymooning in Italy and I would not do it any other way. It took alot of planning on our part, but I use to be a travel agent years ago and my hobby is travel so I didn't mind.

If you are not so experienced with planning and doing it all on your own, see if you can find a good travel agent that has experience booking trips to Italy - one that specializes on independent travel - not tours. A good travel agent can help you decide the itinerary, recommend hotels her clients have experience with and also book tours for major attractions in advance. I use to do all of this for my clients when I worked in the industry.

If you are feeling up for the challenge, continue to seek advice from this board. People here are very expierienced and offer excellent suggestions. You can easily book this on your own with the help of others from this site.

If you want to see my trip review - do a search under wedding/honeymoon trip review for Italy and it should come up. If you have specific questions I can help with my email is [email protected].

Italy is the perfect honeymoon destination. You will love it!

Infotrack

mgfit, what was your tour company? Not all are created equal. Sorry you had a bad time, but actually, you COULD have had a better time with a different attitude. And the "old" people (anyone above 30?) have so much information and knowledge....too bad you did not take advantage of it.

Tours are not for everybody. But most who tour will not have your same experience. Those who want to tour but party and get up late should take a totally different kind of tour.

--Marv

walkinaround

i think that the only "benefits" of a tour are:

- you don't have to bother learning how to order food in the native language (and the fun of experiencing the inevitable mistakes)

- you don't need to bother learning how to get around on the city's metro system.

- you don't need to bother to learn about the local customs and ways of doing things as you will be surrounded mostly by people from your own culture. there will also be a pro there to save you from any mishaps.

- the tour guide can explain his idea of the local ways so you don't have to bother experiencing them yourself.

- of course, as Infotrack says, you can always choose a tour tailor made for your age group. this way you don't have to bother to figure out what to do and see. you will always be assured that you are doing what your demographic group is "supposed" to do when visiting europe. After all, the tour companies do a lot of research to know what 18 - 35 year olds, for example, "should" be doing and seeing in europe.

prizren

If you are definite about going on a tour, my suggestion will not help. If, on the other hand, your desire for a tour is because of being unsure about being able to cope with things independently, you might be interested in the Untours program (www.untours.com). They provide you with your transatlantic flight, a two-week rental apartment, a rental car, and loads of support service, including a local person who is available to help you if you should need it. They also have a program where you could spend one week in Rome and one in Venice, but they don't have any winter programs. I just checked their prices, and starting prices(per person) including flight, 2 weeks' rent, car and support services are:
Rome - $2207; Tuscany North - $2179; Tuscany South - $2189; Umbria - $1869; and Venice $2189. On their website, click on the Trip Logs link at the bottom of the homepage to read reports from people who have done this.