Senior tours Umbria
 

My husband and I- early 60's are thinking of booking " senior tours. Ca" for an all inclusive trip to Umbria .
We would stay at a 3 star hotel for the entire 14 days.
Does anyone have experience with this tour company or just with touring Umbria .
Thanks

I think this looks like a nice trip. I would ask for a complete itinerary - the web site only shows the first 5 days, tentative.

I've been to Umbria but on my own, not on a tour.

If you want to make your own accommodations you could check this company.

http://www.hillsandroads.com/

Thanks Adrienne.
It is a new tour so we will call and find out what else is involved
I am concerned about a 3 star hotel rating!
Can you comment on this?
The tour books the hotel for the entire 14 days.
I like the idea of staying at the Same place , if it is comfortable.

What concerns you about a 3-star hotel rating?

Are you aware that the star rating system in Italy isn't at all comparable to the star rating in the USA?

Can't help you with a tour - never been on one - but I spent 8 weeks in Umbria a couple of years ago and before that visited a handful of times. It's a lovely area.

affordabletours.com for other options

travelzoo.com for awesome sales on Italy

Perillo has some wonderful deals.

Lots of bad 3 stars in Umbria particularly in Perugia

so review check sites carfully like booking.com

to be sure yours is well located and ok

Odds are your tour company is subbing u out to someone else.

Check them out by googling for complaints and canadian BBB.org

insuremytrip.com always pay with CC so no worries

Go to that area a lot was in assisi.com and Orvieto very

nice but usually save a lot booking myself on sites like

Otel.com regional trains were nice and cheap as was food

most everywhere.

Happy Travels,

<< I am concerned about a 3 star hotel rating!
Can you comment on this? >>

Please say what your concern is. I have no idea why you are concerned.

<< if it is comfortable >>

What is it about the hotel that may be uncomfortable?

I just re-read the itinerary. There are only 5 included day trip in the 2 weeks (I misunderstood the itinerary the first time). For the cost of the trip ($6,600 per couple) and only 5 sightseeing days included I think you should go on your own. One question to ask the tour company is if they offer optional tours and what the prices would be.

My concern would be eating at the same place every night; I'd rather experience different restaurants and I'd rather not eat every night at a tourist hotel. I'd also rather stay in smaller towns and move around a bit. Unless you have a car it may be difficult to go to other towns for the 7 days where a sightseeing excursion is not included. Sometimes public transportation takes a long time to get from one town to another.

This is an Italy rich board and there is tons of information here if you search.

Fleuvee, I visit Umbria whenever I can -- it's a gorgeous region with so many wonderful hilltowns to visit and fantastic scenery. So I think you're on the right track!

But this tour does not look like a good deal. Perugia is one of my favourite cities, but I can see on a TripAdvisor map that this hotel is way out in the suburbs. That means you won't be able to easily walk anywhere; you'll be completely reliant on where the tour operator takes you. And you'll likely be charged extra for every little "excursion."

An itinerary that only covers five days of a 14-day trip also looks like bad news. This close to the travel dates, there should be a much more detailed itinerary available.

In terms of the hotel's 3-star rating, the Italian system of rating hotels by stars is based on what services are offered. So if a hotel room has a TV and telephone(even if they're total junk) that hotel will get a higher star rating. That said, looking at the hotel website for this tour, it looks fine. Except that it looks very North American, every modern, not at all atmospheric.

It isn't too difficult at all to plan and organize your own Italian vacation, you can rent a car (as a Canadian, I've found it's very easy to do and not too expensive.) You can find lots of help here, or on slowtrav.com where there are lots of Umbria experts.

Good luck!

I would not take this tour, myself. (We are seniors who have been traveling in Italy on our own for two decades.)

You can book a nice apartment in two separate towns in Umbria (one on the eastern side, and one in Orvieto, for example) and drive around by yourself. There's some lovely areas of Etruscan history to the west of Orvieto (some of which is actually in Lazio) in addition to the stuff this tour provides. Go to the library and look at some guidebooks to see what all is available.

Fleuvee - forgive me, but usually the point of a tour is that the operator takes the stress of organising the transfers, hotels, excursions etc upon themselves. Here, they don't have to do that, because there aren't any! [apart from 5 ones over 14 days].

what you actually have is what in england is known as a package holiday - the operator provides the flight, the transfers and the hotel, and then more or less you are on your own. frankly, i can't see the point, unless they can [rovide you with something better and cheaper than you could provide yourself. I have no idea about price, but being struck on the outskirts of Perugia for a fortnight doesn't strike me as a great deal.

Charness has given you a much better one!,

Thanks so much for all the advice.
I agree now that we can plan a better vacation on our own.
We have done many bus tours and cruises in Europe . We tend to like things being organized for us, however we like to eat in restaurants that are local and of our choice.
I will re think our plans. Thanks to everyone .

And for heaven's sake, in your early 60's, don't think of yourself as "seniors!"

good for you fleuvee. you will find some excellent advice on this forum [and I'm sure on others] about how you could plan a holiday in Umbria by yourselves.

in fact, there are a number of threads going at the moment which are trip reports of just that. if you search the forum, you will find them and many others.

I appreciate everyone's advice.
I will keep reading posts to get ideas.
Thanks

Here are a few places to stay that may interest you-

http://www.lecasegialle.it/
(very central, near Bavagna. I love it!)

http://www.portasandonato.com/
(not as central but lovely)

http://www.linguardo.com/alba/en-gallery-interiour.php
(Todi)

http://www.italybackroads.com/
(Beautiful apartment in beautiful Spello)

http://www.brigolante.com/en
(near Assisi)

In addition to information and help found here on Fodors, these Umbria trip reports may give you some ideas and good information-

http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/triplist.asp?r=Umbria

This is one of my favorite trip reports on Umbria-

http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1084

And here is a link to help you plan-

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/planning/index.htm