Tour companies
Jun 1st, 2006, 10:01 AM
#3
Join Date: Oct 2003
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Most of the people on this board favor independent travel and will reco against tours.
If you want info on tour companies do a search below for previous threads.
But - unless you have special reasons I too will encourage you to avoid tour travel - IMHO you get more for your money - and more of what YOU want - by organizing the trip on your own.
If you want info on tour companies do a search below for previous threads.
But - unless you have special reasons I too will encourage you to avoid tour travel - IMHO you get more for your money - and more of what YOU want - by organizing the trip on your own.
Jun 1st, 2006, 10:36 AM
#4
Join Date: Jul 2003
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My first trip to Italy was a Brendan tour, and I can highly recommend them. I had no interest in driving, I didn't want to schlep 4 people through train stations, I spoke maybe 50 words in Italian, and I had a limited amount of vacation days. Our tour was wonderful, but there are 3 things that can make/break a tour. #1 is the guide - ours was fantastic, fun and so not a cookie cutter tour leader! Get one who is a dull dud and the tour experience could be ho-hum. Second, check the locations of the hotels - you don't want to stay outside of major towns, you want to be in them. And the last thing is read the tour descriptions carefully so you know how much time you spend on the coach, and what places you actually visit versus those you drive by.
Jun 1st, 2006, 10:43 AM
#5
When do you want to go? For how long? How many of you and what ages? Is there a reason you must take a tour (can't handle your own luggage or some such)
In general (there are some exceptions), independent travel will be cheaper and let you go exactly where you want for as long or as short as you want.
In general (there are some exceptions), independent travel will be cheaper and let you go exactly where you want for as long or as short as you want.
Jun 1st, 2006, 11:28 AM
#6
Join Date: Apr 2006
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I just returned from 10 days in Italy. I planned an independent trip for our group of 6, ages 15-67. I used Luca Garappa from Hills and Roads twice. He picked us up from our Villa in Santa Marinella (about 45 minutes north of Rome) and took us one day to Orvieto and another to Assisi. It was such a pleasure to have someone drive us around after hitting the train into Rome and walking all over Rome. I, too, did not want to do the "tour" thing, but it was nice to have it for 2 days out of our 10.
