Senior couple planning as escorted trip to Italy 10/08. Would like to use Central Holidays. Hope they use centrally located hotels, use restaurants that serve good food and are a reliable co. Has anyone out there heard of them?

If you prefer to use a tour Tauck has a good reputation for centrally located hotels and decent food.

Many others - esp Perillo - are known for substituting hotels in far distant locations (even using Mestre for Venice).

Suggest you have a look at the affordable tours board for further info.

How senior? Rick Steves' tours use central hotels, but you do have to pack light and be energetic.

You have plenty of time between now and October - why not plan your own itinery? You can go where you want, when you want, how you want. There is an abundance of expertise on Fodor's TALK and great city tours available all over Italy. I have done this on five trips to Italy and have never had a bad experience! Try Context Rome and its affiliates, they have absolutely excellent services in Rome, Florence, Naples, and Venice. Rick Steves' City Tours are a good compromise between totally independent travel and a totally planned coach tour. With a coach/bus tour, you have to be up when they tell you, eat as fast as they tell you, put up with grouchy folk, and forget about spontaneous adventures. I find Italy fascinating, a visual feast, full of friendly Italians, easy to navigate, clean, and safer than many big US cities. Be brave, be adventurers!

You might consider Grand Circle Travel or Overseas Adventure Travel. Their tours are excellent and their tour guides are the best in the business, imho. OAT limits the group to a maximum of 16 people, while GCT has larger tour groups. The hotels on our tours with them have almost always been centrally located.

They offer great value for the money and an excellent tour product.

If you have any questions about them, feel free to email me.

We've taken Tauck's Classic Italy tour and the hotels are very well located and the food is excellent. We've taken Tauck five times now, and have already booked two more tours for 2008.

No, I have not heard of Central Holidays.

Rick Steves uses centrally located hotels, restaurants that serve good food, and is a reliable company. However, they are expensive, but worth it, in my opinion.

Have fun in Italy!