My sister and I are planning a trip to Italy in October 2009. We could be gone for 10 days and we would like to see Rome, Florence and Venice. I'm 56 and my sister is 61 and we want to go on a tour. Any suggestions for a good tour company? We want to stay in nice hotels and eat in good restaurants. Thank you for any suggestions you can give me.

Rick Steve's travel company does a 10 day Italian tour that covers those 3 cities. You can email the tour office and ask for the hotels that they might use next year or are using for this year, research them and find out if they meet your definition of a nice hotel. I've been on his tours and the food was usually very good. Go to www.ricksteves.com.

You may want to take a look at Tauck. Good Luck and Happy Travels.

I'm one of the rare posters on Fodor's who has no problem at all with people who prefer taking tours as opposed to independent travel. However, Rome - Florence - Venice is probably the easiest "tour" for anyone to do on their own, and you can get great advice here on hotels, restaurants etc.
If you decide on a tour make sure they do not include meals as they will no doubt be at your hotel and more like "wedding reception" food. You will have to go back to your hotel to eat a prepaid for meal, and pass by great little restaurants.
If you decide to do it on your own, research and book a nice hotel near each train station and prebook exactly the city tours you want to do on such sites as viator.com. Train tickets for these cities are very easy to book in a few minutes at the stations.
Unlike lots of very complex trip itineraries, this one is probably much better done on your own. Pack light, and enjoy!!

Hi coffee bean,

I have to agree that should you decide to go it alone without the tour you will enjoy great food and see the sights without problem.

Rome, Florence and Venice city centers, the centro storicos, are compact. Italy is a country built long ago for humans to walk.

Whatever you decide, you will love Italy.

I second the Tauck suggestion. They do a 10-day tour that includes Venice, Florence, Rome & the Italian Lakes that I have taken before. It is quite well planned, and the hotels are quite luxurious. Meals are wonderful as well. I think you would really enjoy.

Agree to look at Tauck for better hotels and food. Most of the less expensive tours use marginal hotels at the end of hell and gone - and bad "americanied" versions of Italian food.

http://www.tourofitaly.it/

or

http://www.ladolcevitatours.com/home.htm are the best ones I know

When choosing the tour company, make sure that you have plenty of free time, and free mealtime too. It's a pity to be herded around in these cities that only need wandering, or given "foreigners' food" instead of trying the real thing. Transit, accommodations, and a few basic art tours should be the extent of it. In preparation, check out ItalianNotebook.com for ideas, dishes, and experiences that you want to have while you are here. Send your email address and I'll send you our KISS, Keep It Simple Seniors, for senior travel in Italy.
You'll have a lovely time, no matter how you do it.

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions. My sister and I are going to get together and make a decision. Whether we do it on our own or go on a tour I'm sure it will be a wonderful experience. Thank you all again!

DH and I took a Globus tour(Leisurely Italy) last May and it was just great. This was our 5th Globus tour and we have always been very happy with them.The tour is 3 days Rome,3 days Tuscany(1 in Florence) and 3 days Venice.We went to Rome 2 days early in order to have a little extra time there.We were very glad we did.This is a pretty relaxed tour with quite a bit of free time.