tours to italy
 

Has anyone ever used Gate1 land tours? Are they reputable? Any other recommendations for tour companies to Italy for my late 60's parents? Thanks

Hi G,

You are asking a group of mainly DIY types for tour suggestions.

Italy is very easy to DIY.

How infirm are your parents?

Are they just unprepared to go by themselves?

When, for how long, what do they want to see.

Some folks here have recommended Untours.

((I))

((I))

GDKSS, Ira is right. It's hard to tell you anything without more info about when, where, etc. your parents want to go.

We are in our 70s and never take tours. But we have been to Italy at least a dozen times, so I guess that does not count. Nevertheless, I would say some reasons for taking a tour are:

1.You don't know what to see or do.

2.You don't have any particular interest except to "see" Italy.

3.You don't want to worrry about travel arrangements.

4. You are worried that Italy will be too scary or daunting for you.

On the other hand, reasons for NOT taking a tour are;

1.You often get schlepped from one city to another too fast to do more than glance at them. This means you will do an awful lot of packing and unpacking and moving around. And getting very tired.

2. If you see a place you'd like to stop in a little longer, you can't. When you get home, you may have trouble remembering the places you went to.

3. If you need a day of rest, you can't get it.

Untours, as I understand it, arranges travel and then accommodations in an apartment for a week or two at a time, but with an advisor available to help if you need it, and also arranges one or two optional outings while in the city where you are staying. Some friends of ours have used Untours twice in northern Europe and liked it. The bad news here is that the selection of towns in Italy is somewhat limited. And the length of stay is not flexible.

Anyway, if you get a good travel book (actually, you should get two or three!) and read carefully, you will begin to understand what appeals to you most, and with the books and this travel board and also Slow Travel www.slowtravel.com you can go on your own.

Further advice: don't try to "do" Italy all at once. Settle on one or two places and really see them. You will go back again, believe me.

Charnee

I am a DIY also. My parents are not. They would not know where to go on there own. They need a tour. Rome would be a must. They would enjoy the Amalfi coast. They do not travel. This would be afirst. That is why I would like any advice regarding any tours or tour operators. Thanks again

Cosmos tours offers a great very affordable 9 day tour Rome, Sorrento Capri. They include an excursion on the Amalfi Drive and a visit to Pompei. Hope they like volcanoes because the bus goes to the top.