First trip to Italy! Will "train" from city to city on our own. Can anyone recommend an interesting site-seeing tour group for visiting major sites in Rome and Venice? Would also like recommendation for tours of vineyards in Tuscany from Florence. Grazie!

Although I am not a connoisseur of local tours, I can tell you that there are some good remarks about the American Express tour in Venice - - it includes an affordable way to get a taste of a gondola ride.

In Rome, there are many positive things said about Scala Reale, but they are quite expensive.

And this thread has several useful ideas regarding tours in the winery country of Chianti:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34369615

Best wishes,

Rex

We used the Amex tours in Rome and Venice and found them to be fine for an "overview" of the city.
We had a group in Florence and had a private guide to tour the wine area. Her name was Paola and the website for her company is www.florence.com. We also visited a private winery and villa through www.accidentaltourist.com. Both were excellent.

Hi!
i have seen that u are interest in wine!! that's nice.i am from florence and what to say? all the countryside in toscany is wonderful and there are so many places u can go for nature and/or wine! what i can suggest u is "cantine aperte" which is on 25 may: all the "cantine" (the firm where the wine is made) are open that day, and u can taste superb wine for free. u can visit "cantina" after "cantina", sourrounded by the countryside and tasting wine.
have u got an accomodation overhere? maybe i can suggest u some places,if u want.mail me!
bye
Nicola
[email protected]

I had very good experiences with walking tours given by Enjoy Rome (www.enjoyrome.com), one of ancient Rome and one of the Vatican. Less expensive than Scala Reale.