Hello- I'm looking for those exp. travelers for some help. I am planning on visiting Italy in May 06. Small group of three. I speak a little itailian. I am planning on staying at least 8 nights (10 days w/flights)I would like to go it alone but most people suggestI take a tour vs going it alone.... Any suggestions? I've always heard the tours are a little rushed. I would like the best experince of Italy so would go either way if strongly advised. Thank you in advance for any help! Wendy

Hi Wendy,

I just got back from my first trip to Italy 3 weeks ago and I would suggest you go without the tour and do it yourself.

I had originally booked a group tour but ended up canceling it and going solo. And I am soooo happy I did!! I came across those tour groups a couple of times, and there weren' a lot of happy faces. Plus I was able to see what I wanted too and at my own pace.


Which ever way you choose to go, have a great time.

Tom

Follow your own gut feeling (you say "I would like to go it alone&quot and stop giving thought as to what "most" people are suggesting to you!

I've done both - travelled alone and with tour groups. As much as I enjoyed the tours I took, I doubt I will ever take another one again. Tours generally do offer some "free time," but most also have a very structured schedule with early days and lots of hotel changing. The most aggressive tour I ever took was 23 cities in 30 days (with most days starting around 7:30 a.m.) and at the end, I was a very tired/cranky/blistery person.

The "best experience" you can have in Italy is by doing the things you want to do at the pace in which you want to do them. Choose 2-3 (3 max...I would choose 2) bases for your adventure. Don't even think about seeing "everything" - leave something for a future adventure and enjoy the destination/s you choose. It's always good to have an excuse to take another trip.

Wendy - since you speak a little Italian I say "go it alone". Italians are incredibly friendly and helpful. You might take city tours when you arrive to get your bearings. Keep reading here - you'll get lots of helpful info.
Enjoy!

I suggest you go it alone. Our first trip to Italy was a trip that I planned completely. We really didn't know much about Italy, train travel, the language, the cities, etc., but we learned a lot that first trip. I could not believe how helpful everyone was to a weary traveler.
Needless to say, we fell in love with Italy and return every two years. Now we're very comfortable, take others with us, and have a ball doing it.
We go WHERE we want to go, WHEN we want to go, and IF we want to go.
If we find something interesting that takes us two hours to look at, that's fine. You won't have that kind of flexibility on a tour.
The people on this forum and others are VERY willing to share their knowledge, expertise, and experiences, with you. Take advantage of it and plan a trip to Italy that belongs to you. You will be enchanted and have the time of your life.
Whichever you choose, and I truly hope you do it yourself, enjoy and have fun!
Ciao.
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You have to make a few basic decisions.

Are you the kind of person who will carry your own suitcases, make your own plans and go with the flow? If yes, then go solo. Otherwise you may not enjoy yourself.

I once helped plan a trip for some friends. I told them when they get off the train in a city/town they beter be prepared what they're going to do. Otherwise they'll still be standing there three days later.

I have never gone on a tour and doubt I ever will.

On a tour you will travel more efficiently. As you are doing one thing, they are preparing for the next.

Also, you have to understand the structure of a tour. All travelling is done during the day. Therefore you're up and on the bus quite early. Then, if the trip will be more than a few hours, you'll stop in some 'hidden treasure'. This stop is to break up the day but will be made to look as if it were a planned stop that cannot be missed.

You then arrive late in the afternoon and have a couple of free hours.

Phrases like 'you will pass xxx on the way from yyy to zzz' are quite common. I just want to wander the street and see what's there. I have in mind what I want to see but the wandering if important.

We were in Rome and overlooking the Forum. Some high school kids from South America were there and we started to talk to them. My wife asked one to say something in Spanish. The response was 'Hosta la vista baby (sp)' followed by a lot of giggling.

Our first trip to Europe was on our own and we've been doing it that way since.

Remember, you have to do you homework. Nobody will tell you what you want to see.

And have fun!!!

Hi
We've been traveling to Europe for many years and have always done it independently. We rent a car after we leave our initial destination. Independent travel puts you more in touch with people also. you don't get off a tour bus, visit a site and get back on. At night, you can walk around, enjoy desert w/o having to stay in a hotel, perhaps far out of the city center. We also take a city tour at times when we first arrive to get a layout of the city. Italy, to me is best enjoyed relaxed, sitting out in a cafe, walking to a museum, or just walking the shopping area etc. You should also pack lightly. For 8-10 days, your clothing should fit into a carry on. We take one apiece plus a small bag each. It also depends on your personality, if unsure about getting by on your own in a foreign country makes you nervous, then a tour maybe for you. We always drive. Buy a good road map. Being independent allows you the freedom to come and go when you please. Enjoy Italy.

Hi rb,

You have come to a forum with a decided bias toward independent travel.

I will also suggest doing it yourself.

Now is a good time to start searching for airfares and hotels. Some hotels will want you to wait until after Jan 1.

Have you a preliminary itinerary?

You might find this thread helpful:

Helpful Information: Italy 2
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34568596

Since Fodor's attracts mostly self-planners, you'll find the opposite advice here (not "most people suggest a tour&quot!

Do you mind making your own plane and hotel reservations either by phone or using the internet? And read a guidebook or two? That's truly about all it takes to get a trip started. You can move city to city by train very easily. You can add 1/2 day tours in various cities if you would like a bit more structure to your trip.

For me, because I would hate being on a tight schedule, traveling on a bus, getting up early, eating with the a group of strangers, going where I am told to go, etc. a tour is simply not for me.

I do have a girlfriend who recently returned from a tour of Italy, she had never traveled internationally and was simply not comfortable trying it on her own, and enjoyed it fine.

rbwend - start planning a trip with an itinerary that matches the tour you are considering. If you also research the things that you want to do and see, I believe that you will find that the tour is impractical. I also believe that you have begun planning your own trip. And I also believe Ira has it pegged - you have come to a site full of independent travelers.

I, personnally, could not stand the rigors & structure of a tour. That being said, lots of people like to have all the planning & what not done for them. I doubt you'll find many of those on here, as for most Fodorites, planning the trip is half the fun.

If I travel alone, I usually join a tour paying single supplement. This is because I hate to be alone.

You'll have a group of 3. More power to you! If I'd have a companion I wouldn't join a tour. Or maybe a short one with time on my own AFTER a tour.

The ideal is to make your own hotel reservations, buy your own air (even if on a tour!) and when in Italy, you'll have a choice of joining a 1 or 1/2 day tour to get aquianted with the area, or maybe a walking or a culinary tour, then off to explore on your own.

Search this site for hotel, restaurant, itinerary advices. You still have time to do it.

Hi,
I have traveled to Europe three times on my own and once with a tour. I am definitely not a tour person. My sister and I and my daughter went on our own to Italy a few years ago. We spoke very little Italian and we had just a wonderful time. My advice to you is if you don't like to plan and are willing to follow someone else's directions at all times take the tour. All of the unknowns are covered in a tour. But if you want to stop when you want to, to eat, shop and just plain look at something longer go on your own. Believe me, on your own is easier than you think. But most of all no matter which way you go, go with a positive attitude and have a wonderful time!

Tours do limit you. If you like a place you can't linger. I'd hate getting up when I don't feel like it or leaving when I'm enjoying myself.

rbwend,

As Bruno suggested, there is a third alternative. That is, book half-day or day tours of major sites where you would like more information about the place you are visiting. To get feedback of tours from posters here, do a search on "Tour Rome" or Tour Colosseum, etc.

You also could select a B&B or inn-style accommodations that, if you are concerned about loneliness, could introduce you to other travelers, and create a little camraderie.

Also, if you really are uncomfortable booking your own flight, you could go to a travel agent. Since the airlines no longer give them a cut, they will probably charge a straight service fee for this. Even with the fee, they still may match Internet prices. If the flights change and you need rerouted, it may be worth it.

On your own.

Many tours are overpriced and move too fast. You see a lot, but don't really see anything. Some only spend 1.5-2 days in Rome, 4 better.

I like independent. I can take my time where I want and hurry through other sights. Rest and relax when I want. Eat what and when I want.

Most sights, or day trips, can be done easily on your own. For more compicated day trips, you can take a day tours.

Decide what you wish to see, and what kind of pace you want.

I vote for independent travel. You can take guided tours of places of particular interest to you.

I am assuming you're willing to invest some time planning and researching. I actually like doing that as it whets my appetite for my destination -- as do most people on Fodors. If you're not really into doing the legwork upfront, then a tour is likely a better bet for you.

After one bus tour, I decided to go independent. Your knowing to speak Italian a little is very helpful. I say 'go it alone'.

Hi, I can sympathize with your decision.
I have tried it both ways, and the only satisfactory tour I found where we were in the bus for daily transpoortation was with Backroads Touring, a UK company.
It was a small group tour, very few of us and we had daily input into where we went and what we saw within the limits that they were tours of Wales.

In Paris, we have gone on our own, using Internet to reserve hotel rooms.
While there we took selective day tours to known objectives. These tours provided convenience and transportation by bus that was not fully duplicatable by train.

For that reason, I suggest you plan where you want to be, when you want to be there, and then investigate the availability of half day or full day tours to definite objectives.

Now let me tell you where I made a mistake. In London, we got enticed into taking a "Lake Country In a Day" tour run by Evan Evans. It sounded good on paper, but turned out to be a long train ride up and a long train ride back.
I think the rule of thumb is that if you spend more time getting to the destination and back than you do actually sight seeing, then the tour is questionable.

Our tour in France was to Vaux le Vicomte and Fontainebleau. Fontainebleau is reachable by train; Vaux at the time was not easy to reach without an expensive taxi ride out and back.

I think you need to weigh the alternatives, but most of the big bus tours I have made the mistake of taking were such that I don't even recall some of the hotels. We took an 8 day one in Ireland, mainly because I did not want to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road. It was a semi disaster and ha more to complain about than there was to find satisfaction. We spent most of he day riding from one place to the other with a liberal sprinkling of "optional" tours at worthwhile places. Those who did not go on the optional tours were left twiddling their thumbs while the others went off somewhere else.

There were also several commercial stops daily where we stopped at some place that sold woolen fabric and plied the guests with Irish coffee. There was nothing else there except a restroom.
But we had one of those almost every day. And then at a worthwhile place like the Cliffs of Moher, we had 45 minutes. That was when I almost jumped ship.

I am not sure if it was the pace of the trip, or the lack of appeal that Ireland had for me, but one day the most memorable event was finding the toilet handle in the shower in my hotel room!! (I am not trying to joke here, that it where it was.)

So before you decide to go with a canned tour, take a good look at how much time is spent actually seeing something and how much time is spent just riding and watching the country side whiz by.