I AM LOOKING INTO TOUR PACKAGES FOR WHEN I GO TO ITALY THIS SUMMER WITH MY 70 YR OLD MOTHER IN LAW.. sHE IS IN GOOD SHAPE. WHAT WOULD YOU SUGGEST WE LOOK INTO? SHE WANTS TO GO TO ROME, VENICE AND FLORENCE. WE ARE LEAVING OUT OF NYC AREA. THANKS

You and your mom should try going with Trafalgar. They have many tours going to Italy. When I went last year there was a group of 5 older ladies, maybe even older than your mom, and they did fine. There was not a lot of walking but a lot of bus time. The tour that I went to was called European Spotlight.<BR>you go browse their different tours at http://www.trafalgar.com<BR>Hope this helped you.

Tauck has a wonderful tour of Venice, Rome and Florence...look for their website for the description and/or get a brochure at a travel agency.

Tauck is the best of all. The best hotels, the more sensable schedules and better thought itineraries, small groups, but it's also expensive, although it's worth, no doubts about it.

Does it have to be in summer? There might be a group trip organized right from visitors to this board in the fall.<BR>

Look into ABC tours of New Jersey and Perillo Tours. Have been on both and have been satisfied.

Dear Jayne<BR><BR> I have used Globus tours and they offer a number of Tours to Italy, which include Rome, Venice, Florence. The book to ask for from your travel agent is Globus Europe &amp; Great Britain. I would compare them to Trafalgar and see who has the best price. We have enjoyed using Globus and have not been disapointed in them. In their tour books each tour indicates the pace of the tour so you can decide how much activity you want to do or not do. Good luck. Part of the fun of planning a trip is the research that goes with it. <BR><BR> Peace, Robbie

globus tends to have accomodations far from the central areazs. try show of the month club in boston. they do a reaasonable job for a moderate amount of $

good morning, Jayne<BR>We just received a copy of CIT Tours, Italy, Apr-Oct 2001 And was very impressed with the variety of tours<BR>that are available. They are not cheap but do have a variety of price ranges<BR>for the traveler with pretty good selection of hotels. Actually on some<BR>tours they have six ranges of rate for<BR>the same tour. They have a web site<BR>of htttp://www.cit-tours.com. and<BR>e mail address: [email protected]<BR>We did take one CIT tour many years<BR>ago and that was of Sicilia, which we<BR>found very good. Richard of LaGrange Park, Il...

jayne<BR>the decisions are yours and personal, but is there a necessity for you to choose a tour as opposed to the two of you planning and traveling on your own?

Beware when picking up a tour. Cheaper sometimes is not really cheaper. Check the hotel locations, check what is included and what is not. <BR><BR>Nearly all tour operators do this itinerary, but some offer extra bonus, as some stops in between. Some will offer a train trip instead of an exclusive bus, most will give you a hotel in Mestre ( ugly and mainland) instead of a hotel in Venice, the island itself. Compare apples to apples, and bananas to bananas.