Guided Tour for a week in Italy

Anyone done of those guided tours in Italy? I'd like to book a week long trip for my 60-something parents. They have zero physical ailments but detest travelling. Would a Rome-Florence-Venice itinerary be too much time on a coach? I like the guided aspect because they've no Italian but other than that is it just a gimmick? I don't want them to feel like they're on a school trip or something. Any recommendations would be great. Is the joy of going to someplace like Italy finding the nice little restaurant and hotel rather than being stuck with 50 others? If you had to choose just 2 cities would it be Rome and Venice? Rome is the one that they definitely want to see but since they're not big art buffs they wouldn't want to be there for a whole week.

I'm also considering doing an escorted tour in Italy.

I would like to know other peoples experiences of such tours.

For example -

- Average size of tour groups (25 ? 50 ?) ?
- Age ranges of people ?
- Many single people ?


I'm half the age of farmers folks and am wondering would I be the only thirthysomething single person in such a group??

I'm considering an escorted tour because it's an easy way to travel, no organising to do, people to meet straight away (i.e. tour group) and, by my calculations, it is almost as cheap as organising the trip yourself by the time you include accomodation, meals, booking any guided tours, etc.
(The tour I'm considering includes breakfast and dinner each day).

Cheers,
Silevra.

My parents (in their 50's) did one last year with these people:

www.thetraveldepartment.ie

They did Rome, Capri & Naples and thoroughly enjoyed it. They also said that there was a good age range of people on the trip. Not sure about singles/couples. Hope this helps.

Good recommendation mobileme. I recommended that company too though they seem to have the Lake Garda trip, which is the one I did & well worth doing, mostly on their books at the mo.

In general the mainstream companies tend to attract middle aged & older people with one or two people in their twenties. Contiki which offers extremely good value only takes people under 35 so you can be sure of a young crowd on them.

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Specificially, to make it easier for you

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On the mainstream tours the're are mostly couples but you will always gets a few, usually very few, singles travelling too. The companies I've travelled with usually do their best to get the singles to know each other by sitting them together in the coach or at meals & most people are very welcoming so personally I find it matters nought. Group size normally about 40-50, the standard coach size full.

For cut price tours, land only if you're not travelling from America I'll repeat these URL's

http://www.vacationstogo.com

http://www.affordabletours.com

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They all offer, I think, a 10% discount & cover all the main tour operators. The latter claim they will undercut the rest.

Thanks for the replies. Thetraveldepartment's Rome/Venice 7 nighter sounds ideal except that you stay 60km south east of Rome and then bus it in each day for the guided tours!! I'll look further into them and see if they've an option of staying in the city.

Mate

I travelled with this company on the Lake Garda trip this spring & there's were quite a few people on it who had done the Rome trip you mention. I mentioned something about it on the other thread about Italy. The Travel Department are an excellent company, which specialise alot in Italy & motor racing trips. They offer great value for money but you are not as well located on this trip re: the Rome section anyway as you are on the Lake Garda one nor is the hotel as good, 4* versus 3*.

I think people told me there was no swimming pool in the Fiuggi hotel but they had use of a swimming pool next door and Fiuggi is not located by the sea, the hotel at Lake Garda has an outdoor & indoor pool. I was also told the hotel at Fiuggi is a family run hotel, the choice of meals courses is quite limited, may even be a set menu, can't fully remember though I do recall that may have been said to me. Also the company in question who use them barely pay them enough to cover their costs hence they the hotel hopes to make most their money from the bar & tipping.

I'm afraid mate that is the package, take it or leave it. That's why you get so much included for so cheap, you just can't pick & choose like that unless otherwise specified. Sorry.

Thanks for all the info folks ! Brilliant !

I'm not too fussed about the lack of a swiming pool, or indeed the 60km distance to Rome, so it would seem to be a good trip/company to go for!

I'm more concerned with being the only single person in the group, or being dictated-to about when to have you meals (somebody previously mentioned that the evening meal may be at a set time for all on the tour ?! )

Did the Rome trip with the traveldepartment this year. My trip was 3 days in Tuscany and 4 days in Fiuggi. Tuscany was great although the hotel in Montecatinni was only O.K. See www.hotelmanzoni.info We visited Pisa....great. Sienna.....great. Florence....great and Lucca...... great. For the second half of the trip we headed to Fiuggi and stayed at
www.hoteltiffany.it a basic but pleasant hotel. Included in the trip were visits to Rome and St.Peter's Basilica, Vatican museum, Sistine Chapel.....very long queues. We also did Ancient Rome.....Colosseum, Roman Forum, Capitol Hill, Trevi Fountain etc. For those who had any energy left there was an optional tour to Pompei/Island of Capri.

For me Rome was the most disappointing. Crowds, Queues, very hot. The town of Fiuggi where you stay is a one street town with very pleasant park where you can "take the waters" but not much else to do. It is a long drive in and out of Rome. It is even a longer drive towards Naples/Pompei/Isle of Capri with dire warnings that the traffic could be terrible. However on this occassion it worked well.

I also did the Lake Garda trip last year. I would definitely recommend this one. More free time and less travelling. May was a great month to do it. If you need more first hand info I can let you know.

Boxie

Mate

These type of trips are for a certain type of person. Given that trips often set off early in the morning, arrangements with the hotel have sometimes to be made for early morning breakfasts set within a tight time frame to make sure nobody holds up the bus!!! The time for breakfast is not set in stone if you're not on a trip that day or even if you're on a trip but with the latter you haven't much time to play around with. However the evening meal times are set in stone, again why the trip is so cheap but it's really not that inconveniencing. As someone else stated when staying in Fuiggi the trips are back to back & you're on a hectic pace so most if not all mornings I'd imagine you'll have an early start. This is the price you pay for getting to see so much of the country & the cheapness of the package. Everyone has to pull together on these trips to make it work, it is a group trip. However as someone stated on the Garda trip you've two free days, three if you don't want to do the half day optional trip of the Dolomites which is well worth doing. Indeed none of the trips are mandatory but you will miss out on alot if you haven't seen them before & you've paid for them. Perhaps the Garda trip might suit you better, there's plenty to do in Riva if you don't want to do trips.

Again unless you're the wallflower type the lack of singles on these trips shouldn't bother you. Everyone is on holidays out to enjoy themselves & are very welcoming. As I've said every effort is made for the singles on the trip to get to know each other.

Hi guys, unearthed this thread to see if anyone has any views on Slattery's or Joe Walsh Tours????

We are interested in doing Rome, Florence, Venice with Slattery's or Rome and Tuscany with Joe Walsh Tours. For some reason (and not just money!) I seem to be falling for the Rome and Tuscany one.

HAs anyone been with either of these groups on such a trip? Any info would be great, hope to book it by end of this week?

Thanks in advance!

thinking of going on the rome tour or maybe the lake garda tour with the travel department; just wondering if the tours/meals are madatory i.e. can you skip the odd day and just do your own thing?

As long as you tell the tour guide you're not travelling, they won't mind, they won't have to count you in.

I did the Lake Garda tour with the traveldept last year, Garda was lovely, but there was a lot of travelling involved (esp. the Venice tour - long coach trip). We did have a free day during the week, and spent it around the lake itself - beautiful!

Breakfast was a buffet, so it didn't matter if we didn't turn up. At dinner, the waiters tended to ask if someone was missing from the table (we had to sit at the same table all week). Maybe they just didn't want latecomers to ruin their schedule! (dinner did feel a bit regimented by times!!)

You might want to search this site for other comments on traveldept holidays - and definitely check out tripadvisor for hotel reviews!

I would recommend that you do the Lake Garda trip yourself, using local transport rather than the regimental regime of The Travel Department. You can certainly opt out of the tours and meals, it's not compulsory!. As a previous poster said you must sit at the same table with the same people for the week. The food is pretty basic stuff. Having to fight off the greedy people who hog the front seats on the coach became an unwanted chore every day as did having to stick with the time schedule of the tour guide. You also had to wait around for the same people late for the coach each morning or late returning to the coach each trip. The next time I go back to Lake Garda I will be able to do it much cheaper. You can fly in to a local airport and use local transport. In hotels you pay per room and not per person so the savings are to be made here.

www.thetraveldepartment.ie come highly recommended and are very well priced. My parents went with them to italy last year, and were very happy with them! Enjoy!