Senior Travel to Italy
 

I want to send my mother to Rome and Florence. She is sixty and walks with a limp. I am looking for a tour, she will be alone and want a tour that she will not feel lonely. Thanks for the help.

Elderhostel offers wonderful tours.

Hi cc,

If whe will be gone for 2 weeks, www.untours.com might interest her.

((I))

DH & I are in our 60's. We took a Globus tour, Best of Italy, 12 days. We booked thru affordabletours.com for a 10% discount. May not be a good tour for your Mother, as our tour was very fast paced, up very early, day ended late. However, you could check out the website for a "leisurely" tour.

We loved the folks on our bus. Still in contact with some of them. The tour guide was excellent, the bus was new, the hotels were good to great but sometimes not in the center, but that did not matter to us since we mostly stayed with the group.

I've read that Trafalger is about the same as Globus.

You might also talk with a travel agent. Even if you don't book with that agent, you can get some good tips & brochures.

Also, pre-trip decision, I got brochures for all of the companies & compared rates, itinerary, & what was included versus optional.

Good luck, Julie

What about a Tauck tour. We haven't been on one but several of our friends have and they have been very pleased. I understand they handle everything. From what I understand they're a first rate company.

First, I must say that when you said Senior Travel to Italy, I thought your mother would be 80, not 60. That is senior in my mind.

I went on a tour my first time to Europe and really enjoyed getting to know people from all over the world... Australia, South Africa, China, India, Jamaica, UK and the US. I am going on a tour to Morocco with Cosmos next week. They are budget but usually have varying ages and nationalities. I am going on a 2 month trip solo for the rest of the time and look forward to this period with other travelers. Tours have their drawbacks but also some very positive points. It is nice on occasion to leave the details to others.

gg

Does she want a tour, or do you want a tour for her? I turned sixty this year, have recently recovered from a broken ankle, and am about to leave on a month trip from Budapest to Venice, on my own. No tour needed. But if she really wants a tour, she could look at the Rick Steves' Venice-Florence-Rome tour.

a tour may not be the best thing for your Mom.

Just a couple of reasons:

- the Elderhostel mentioned above does great tours. But they are not for the infirm. They are for healthy/active seniors who are up to a fair amount of physical activity.

- Rick Steeves tours are also good. But on most RS jaunts folks are responsible for their own luggage and there is a TON of walking.

If it were me, I'd want to settle in Rome and Florence for 4 or 5 days each and take day trips w/ local tour companies. There'd be less packing/unpacking and if she was having a bad day she could just stay put and enjoy a leisurely lunch or whatever w/o having to jump on a coach at 8 a.m.

Hello ccountykerri, I have never taken a tour but the friends that I know that have often have come home very exhausted even though they do not have any physical problems.

I like janisj's idea. But of course it all depends on what your mother prefers. Do read the various tour brochures carefully and know that "seeing" something can mean driving by in a bus versus visiting a site for example. Best regards.

Why does your mother limp? Is it a localized problem like an injury that is healing or is it an infirmity related to other physical difficulties? If the limp is not caused by an injury that is in the process of healing, then my suggestion would be a question: can you go with your mother on a trip that would allow you to arrange for tours on certain days and for days off from tours on other days. That way, your mother would not always be "on the go" but would have a chance to spend a day here and there savoring the passing scene. Just a thought...

I second IRA's recommendaton for untours. I am working with a small group of senion ladies and these tours are quite appealing to them.

Does she go to church? My mom put a small group of widows together from her church and they are looking at a few trips.

Rome will be harder on her than Florence, IMO, unless she does well in cities like New York. Avoid the summers due to heat and crowds.

I suggest you consider a river cruise. These are very small boats, about 100 passengers, they go into smaller ports, have lots of included tours, cater to a mostly senior crowd, are low key and friendly. It might work better than a tour and she is likely to meet others.

I've seen people in Italy sitting in the lobby, all there luggage around, waiting for their tour bus, and they looked miserable. From what I've heard from friends that go on tours, there's a lot of bus riding, then dropped off for a few hours, then bussed again, and dropped off.I suggest she hotels, close to the towns that she'll be in,to give her access to either go a short distance, or take a day tour from the hotel & back. And at 60, the limb doesn't make her old. Also, there's so much action in Florence that she'll be to entertained to be lonely - Rome however, is a rather fast city. May be best to have her pin-point what she wants to see & do in Rome, and there again, arrange it through the hotel.

Good point from JanisJ. My 60 year old friend who does all the Elderhostel tours is in excellent physical shape. She is usually the youngest in her groups.

I thought of it more because they focus on educational opportunities and encourage comraderie that the OP was seeking.

http://www.vantagetravel.com/home.aspx
I have done two 15-day tours with this company and the attention to detail was wonderful, with very personable program managers. Obviously, there was time on a bus between locations, but with frequent rest stops. At times our groups were even split into "faster walkers" and "slower walkers" to accommodate the diffrences in age/agility. Vantage caters to the "retired" age group - as preferred to "senior." :)

I too heartily recommend a Tauck tour. I just returned from my fourth tour with them at the end of September. I have traveled with a companion and as a single traveler, and each time was wonderful. Everyone on our tour was very friendly, and the single travelers never had to dine alone, unless they actually wanted to do so. I had my own room, but your mother could actually share a room with another female traveler. (I believe that Tauck would arrange it, and your mother would pay the cheaper "double" rate; if no female traveler was available, she would have her own room, still at the double rate).

On a travel morning, your luggage is picked up in your room. It is brought to you after your arrival at the next hotel. The tour directors are always great--helpful, interesting, well-informed, creative. Tauck stays at wonderful, almost always, 5-star hotels in central locations. All sightseeing listed in the itinerary is included, and no extras are peddled.

I have seen many travelers 60 and above on the tours and think that your mother would be very happy.

Most who criticize tours haven't toured with the right company. It is much easier to maneuver around a foreign country when you are not trying to drive your 60-year old self or heft your luggage from platform to train. Tauck spends as little time driving as necessary, and the coach drops you right where you need to be. I am only 35 and like to plan and tour on my own once I arrive at my destination, but I don't like handling my large bags. Also, staying at 5-star, centrally located hotels for several weeks can be cost-prohibitive when booking 1 room; Tauck's buying power removes that problem.

If your mother wants to travel first class and not be alone, check out Tauck.

About Elderhostel: on the website, they have now posted the degrees of difficulty with explanation how many miles a day of walking, how long standing, stairts, etc...

All European programs are on more difficult scale, out of 5 - 3 and up, so check it out if it's OK for your mom.

If you never been on a tour, be aware also that a "leasurly" tour is usually a tour with more "optionals", meaning they will have more additional tours to sell, can you mom say "no"?

An organized tour may work for her as usually the tour guides, who want to be tipped, will tell her where to rest while the group climbs something, or maybe to skip an activity. It will also offer more free time to rest, to take a slow walk.

For a European trip I would pick a tour like Globus or Cosmos over Elderhostel - any tour depending on how much you're willing to pay.

My mother enjoyed Tauck tours into her 80s. We always had to talk her into spending the money (Tauck tours are a bit more pricey), and she always came home and agreed the trip was worth the cost. Every trip was "wonderful," "fabulous."

we sent my MIL on a Tauck tour recently and she LOVED it. It was very well run, very high end and she met many wonderful people. She travelled alone and had her own room, but she made friends with people on the tour and never had to dine alone. She did say though that it was a lot of walking for her, but it was a trip of a lifetime. she's a young 70 with no physical ailments.

Just returned yesterday from my first Tauck tour ( Italy). I would approach any tour with caution especially if there are physical limitations. The crowds were huge in Italy which meant that we waited in long lines even with a booking. It was also very crowded and there was a great deal of walking involved not to mention stair climbing. Several people in our group had problems keeping up. Even with the help of special taxis,lifts etc., they found it very tiring.

IMO janisj's option is the best. Even going on a Tauck tour will not limit the physical aspect of walking and climbing steps. If you do decide on a tour please inform them of your mother's limitations. They should be able to advise you as to how best to proceed.

We've been on a number of Tauck tours. In most of them, there has been one or more people who had some trouble getting around. The catalogues are pretty clear on the amount of walking (and the difficulty) involved but they are very good about not requiring people to do what they are not comfortable doing. In some cases, they have paid for taxis to restaurants out in the country for people who cannot/don't want to go on the tour of the day. There are also, typically, single people such as your mother.

Dh and I wll be taking our 4th Globus tour next May to Italy.We will have 5 days in Rome,3 days in Florence and 3 days in Venice.I learned from my first tour to only take tours that have at least 2 days in each place. The 2 extra days in Rome are on our own and we have also traveled to London on our own. Last summer we took an Avalon(Globus) river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam.The River Cruise was absolutely the most relaxing trip we ever had however you cannot take river cruises everywhere. If you could,I would.
Globus is an excellent company but I strongly suggest if you take that route that it be a tour that has a minimum of 2 days in each location.

I don't know if this poster is still looking for info - I don't think she ever posted again on this thread, but for what it is worth:


'Tauck tours are a bit more pricey'

First of all, I would like to comment that this is the understatement of the year. Tauck tours are EXPENSIVE. That said, however, they may provide a level of luxury and attention to detail that other tour companies don't come near. My sister in law and brother in law, and also my mom and her partner have each taken several, and found them great. But they don't strike me as being for the middle class (sorry if that isn't pc). My mom commented that when on a Tauck tour, she was meeting primarily travelers from very upscale communities, while on her tours with other companies she was meeting a more diverse group of people.

Secondly, this is not really the right place for advice re taking a tour. Many, if not most of the posters here are die hard do it yourselfers, and I think they would recommend independent travel for anyone breathing, appropriate or not. Sometimes, they are right - I let myself be steered into an independent Italy experience for this April - I'll be posting on my return whether this was a good choice. But I don't agree that a 60 year old traveling alone, with some sort of disability, should be doing a trip by herself unless she has always traveled that way. Why not look into trips from companies that offer 'leisurely' tours that spend 3 nights in most or all of their destinations. There are a number of them. The one that interested me the most was Insight's Easy Pace Italy, which spends 3 nights in 4 places. I didn't take it because they were still using their less than great hotels for the dates I wanted - but now they have improved their hotels (and upped the price). My strong recommendation is that you make sure that the hotels being used by the tour company are centrally located, so that your mom can get out and view stuff when she is not traveling with her tour group.

Or - another option to consider is sending your mom on a Mediterranean cruise. You can choose one that departs from &/or ends in an Italian port, and then your mom can spend several days on her own in that city if she wants. On the cruise ship, she only has to unpack once, she will meet lots of people in the dining rooms, and she can choose day trips sponsored by the ship or independently. She won't see anything in depth (except on her pre or post cruise stay), but she might not care. Not everyone wants to visit every ruin, church and museum. If they did, there wouldn't be so many cruise ships out there.

A tour is a great way to see Italy and she will meet some great people. We have taken two of Perillo's extended tours and both were well worth the money. www.PerilloTours.com I don't believe you can go wrong with either Perillo or Trauck tours, but Perillo I believe while just as good, is a "little" less expensive.
Whichever way she sees Italy, may she have a great time and give thanks for someone who cares.
Lee

There are four factors that control the quality of a tour:

1. amount of ground covered ("if it's Tuesday, this must be Ravenna")
2. Whether everyone can keep up
3. quality of hotel and meals
4. air travel arrangements: friends recently had a great tour of Sicily but had to be ready to go to the airport at 4 AM to make their connection
5. quality of tour conductor

You can assess the first two before you book the tour; unfortunately you don't find out the flight schedule until after you have booked, and you don't meet the tour conductor and other people until you get there.

We have taken two tours with Odysseys Unlimited. Both had a good pace, better hotels than I would have booked on my own, and one had a terrific tour conductor. Local guides were uniformly excellent, but the second tour conductor was awful, and the travel arrangements home were horrible both times. So never again unless we book the ground portion only. Both tours had people who had ignored the physical requirements in the brochure (ability to walk on cobblestones, climb hills,etc). They were nice people but constantly felt bad for holding everyone else up, though most of us really didn't mind.

re the title of this thread "senior travel to Italy":
I am so confused when anyone uses the term "Senior" to describe a 60 year old person. I just turned 60 during a trip to Italy and was accompanied by my mother, who is 87 years old. I've met people in their 50's who seem more creaky and old that either of us does!

She not only kept up our pace, but set the pace in many cases. Perhaps it was because she was not treated or percieved as helpless.

I planned the trip, and tried to find places to stay that didn't require too many steep steps. I also included a train trip (she wanted one) but rented a car for most of the time.

She often refused help with her bags, but it was always offered. I took steps to make sure we traveled very light, and did lots of research about exactly where we could have access to bathroom facilities. I made alot of effort beforehand to make things look as seamless as possible. I kept major sites to a minimum and chose just 1 or 2 in each place. Then I let it go and we just enjoyed ourselves. During the trip, she gave me what has to be the best compliment I've ever received from her: During a long relaxing lunch in Pienza one afternoon, she leaned over and said "You know, dear, I'm so happy I could just die right now!" We had a good laugh then.

I don't think a tour could provide such a customized experience, but then I've never done a tour. I have seen some elderhostel tours that looked interesting though.

I think that if an older person has a tangible physical ailment or limitation which requires special conditions, they are much better off traveling with a friend or relative, not "sent" on a tour.

I second Virgi's suggestion that the OP accompany the mother to Rome and Florence.

My mom has trouble walking due to an extensive injury, and did fine in both cities, especially Florence, as it's a smaller city and has many places to sit. Of course, my friends and I were with her, and my friends were often more tired than my mom who wanted to keep walking to see everything she could.

Anyway, you've been given a lot of good advice. Good luck on your decision.

ccountykerri

I have to admit after I read the contents of your post I was a bit taken aback. With the title, I truly thought you would be talking about a couple of decrepit 85 year olds who would be taking a trip.

hey julies,
I am (a bit joking) a bit taken aback by the phrase "decrepit 85 year-olds" (read my post). My mom would give you a piece of her mind, which is sharp as a tack!

Why would something think the use of the word "senior" would refer to decrepit 85 year olds? And why is it okay to do that. People in the US really like the word senior and seem to start using it for special fares and events after age 55 or so. A lot of people are in denial about age and try to pretend 70 is middle-age. That is the real problem, that people have such a bias against age that they have to say how terrible it is to be called a senior when they are only 60 or 70 or that being a senior means you are "decrepit". You'll get old, too, someday you know and it's people who attach negative biases to simple words who create a lot of the problems. Senior itself is a real euphemism just being people thing being call "old" or older or whatever is a nightmare too terrible to contemplate. Actually, it is good to have a word that conveniently refers to a broad age group. I know they use the word senior in France, also, on railpasses and it doesn't only refer to "decrepit" 85 year olds.

Blissa--

You and I are peers. I purposely used the term "decrepit" to describe a certain type of person. Obviously, your mom doesn't fit that category. And, "no" I hadn't read all the replies, just the initial one, and that is what prompted my comment.

Still, you wouldn't say, for example a "decrepit 25 year old".

Christina-
I think age bias is usually assigned by other people (often younger people), rather than by those of 50 and above. And it's not just in the U.S. There are cultures that treat older people with respect, but many Western cultures are somewhat lacking in this regard.
Sometimes it is subtle, other times it is more overt, but it's always undeniably there.
In the U.S., 60 is still too young to be officially eligible for "Senior Citizen" status- those benefits start at age 65.

I agree with the Untours nomination.
You would have an apartment for two weeks and tour at your own pace where you want to go. www.untours.com

We used them for Switzerland this year and are staying in an Untours apartment in Leiden in 2008. We however are a bit senior to your mother.

<<the Elderhostel mentioned above does great tours. But they are not for the infirm. They are for healthy/active seniors who are up to a fair amount of physical activity.>.

But is she infirm? Or is it a slight limp because of a bad knee or arthritis? The severity of the limp is a more important factor than being 60, which is when a lot of people retire and begin to travel.

The last Elderhostel tour (Italy) that I took one person walked with a cane and one used a walker.

Elderhostel offers a wide variety of tours and ranks the activity level from one to five, so you can judge where you would fit. The focus is on education with several lectures by experts in whatever theme -- music, art, food & wine, etc. Most use one or two hotels as a base so there is not a lot of packing and moving.

Keep in mind the minimum age for Elderhostel is 55 so there are many participants well over 60 and not in top condition. The very fit would lean toward the four and five category tours that focus on hiking or bicycling, but there are many tours offered for less active participants.

The best source of information is the web site: elderhostel.org

Geez-56 years old and still flying international as a flight attendant!You have put me in my place.......

I have some friends who are seniors and took the Perillo tour a few years ago. Other that the flight over they said it was the best trip they ever took. If they didn't feel like going one day they would just hang around their hotel and visit-they had a ball-Chris

I have been getting the Elderhostel catalogue for my husband the past year. Personally,for someone on a fixed income they are awfully expensive.

<<Personally,for someone on a fixed income they [Elderhostel]are awfully expensive.>>

I agree, EH tours are not cheap. I get the catalogues too and have noticed the price increase. I took two EH tours, one to France, and one to Italy and the one to France was wonderful and reasonable in 2004 but the price has increased considerably.

Some loyal EH travelers will argue that everything is included but I really prefer "optionals." Almost everyone on both tours skipped one or two days and either rested or did something else.

The advantage of EH for someone like the OP's mother is selecting a tour that fits her fitness level and having the company of people in her age group.

I agree with Lusiah about the Elderhostel tours. I looked carefully at one in Sicily, but was put off both by the lack of free time, and by the fact that ALL dinners were in the hotel restaurants, as well as several of the lunches. Not only would I want to explore the local restaurants, I was worried the meals might be buffets, which I hate. Instead I signed up for a Rick Steves' tour, which will get me around the main tourist sites with a guide, includes just half the dinners and has plenty of free time. I will then spend another couple of weeks on the island on my own.

I am 54. I don't think I will ever see myself as a 'senior.' I feel 23 and a hot babe. Of course I have really good genes and take really good care of myself. The gym every night, size 4 jeans, trendy. This is not your grandmother's 54 year old body. No I can't fight gravity forever, but I never lost that sense of wonder and magic. I would not look kindly on anyone deciding for me what my trip should look like. Encourage her to do the research and make up her own mind. People can grow, stretch their comfort zones and learn independence at any age.