Rome 8-Day Tours and Trips

The trip was great overall but few things to check: The hotels were 5 star type but do we need that for just 1 night? We could have got 4 star ones for 1 night stays too and trip cost would have reduced. There was no time to enjoy those high end hotels with pools sauna etc. Roman forum was eliminated, Trevino fountain ( most important attraction) was given only 20 mins to check, optionals in Venice was given longer time and made in such a way that you can’t skip because it was confusing where to meetup with group at end of optionals. So it was kind of push to buy those optionals. We could have stopped at any picturesque point of Tuscany. The itinerary could’ve been better. However the tour director and driver were excellent which made me give this trip a perfect score.

Coverage of the Vatican was light without entrance to St. Peter’s or the Sistine Chapel, due to the recent election of a new Pope. But, touring the Pantheon, the Colloseum, Borghese Gardens, Piazza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps, and the Trevi Fountain made up for it. Alberobello, with its Truli houses, was fascinating. Matera was amazing, and our visit to Polignano a Mare was a dream. The highlight of the tour for me was the boat tour around the Island of Capri. There are no words to describe the beauty. And Positano was the icing on the cake.

This was an amazing experience largely as a result of our Tour Leader, Antonio. He joined us late on the first day in Rome having stepped in (and up) for the designated Tour Leader as they had to drop out last minute. He'd just finished another tour earlier that day and had flown to join us in Rome. Despite this he set about introducing himself to everyone and straight away we felt a connection and knew we were in safe hands. Over the next nine days he took great care of us from making sure I had no cheese on my pizza to looking out for our kids (who were also on the tour with us) when they tagged along on one of the excursions, from making sure we all made it to the train station on time and together to making extra arrangements for some of our group who had some mobility issues. At every turn Antonio was there, corralling, caring and communicating every day of the trip. Don't get me wrong, Italy and the sights are amazing but having a great Tour Leader like Antonio can make something special into something amazing and he certainly did that every day. The tour itself has some long days and early starts but because of that you get rewarded with amazing sights and sounds every day from Vatican and Colosseum in Rome, Pisa and Cinque Terra from Florence, Capri and Pompeii from Naples, Lake Como from Milan and beautiful Venice. A good balance (in our opinion) of busy days and free days. This tour is a great way to see most of what Italy has to offer with the comfort of rail travel (shorter journeys between locations, roomy seats and great views of the Italian countryside) and if you're lucky enough a great Tour Leader like Antonio to bring the whole thing together. All in all an amazing experience.

Opportunity to visit smaller towns, see the beautiful countryside, especially Tuscany. Loved the 3 days at Villasanpaolo and enjoy the spa and beautiful hilltop views. Yet we hit top tourist sites as Pisa and the Colleseum, Assisi and Florence. The pasta making and weaving demonstrations were culturally relevant. Our tour director was Italian and provided an insight into growing up, living and working in Italy. Priceless knowledge.

The whole tour experience Italy-Switzerland last May 7-14, 2023 was very extensive though hectic covering the basic sights in Italy, with a few perks like cruising through Liechtenstein and Austria before Switzerland, enjoyed the Alps then going back through Milan and experienced Pisa before our final stop in Rome for our exit flight to Brussels. And at a very reasonable price for a first-time Europamundo traveller. The only let-down was not being able to go inside the Colosseum arena and St. Marks Basilica when it was specified free admission tickets included. Those were big selling points why we took this tour. However, your team of tour guides such as Gabriela and Filippo with driver, Manuel made up for the lack. Very professional, lively and entertaining, informative and resourceful, particularly Gabby and Filippo who both deserve a thumbs-up.

PRO: 1. Knowledgeable guides 2. well planned itinerary that covered a lot of places 3. Quick responses in Tourradar.com and adjustments 2 instances which could be improved On day one - we were given a welcome paper in the front desk which stated a time 7:30 Trastevere but the bus left at 7pm in the other itinerary and not found in the welcome paper. A lot of passengers were then left behind and some had to take cabs to go to trastevere on their own. On day two, we had pouring rain - people were drenched to the core but still we continued with the Vatican tour. After the tour at 4pm, we were told by Filippo and Giovanni to go on our own with an 8:30pm meet up time in the Grand Hotel. the tour guide should be flexible to adjust given weather - leaving the drenched passengers by themselves wet is not the best 2nd day. He should have offered an option to bring back passengers to the hotel given everyone was drenched. Since we did not want to get sick, we all had to take cabs and all the groups had to pay 70 euros just to get back to the hotel.