Everybody that we interacted with during the trip was excellent. Our tour director was very knowledgeable on a huge variety of information, approachable, and great at leading a group of people who had previously never met and had a wide range of needs and desires from the trip. Our driver did a great job of getting us around safely, including an unexpectedly long day due to road closures and heavy traffic. The local guides did a fantastic job of giving additional detail and texture to the places we visited, and touched on unique themes that were relevant to each city so there was little overlap between them. That said, I had a difficult time before the trip getting more detailed information to help determine what we would actually do in each city, which optional experiences to do, and when we might have time to sightsee on our own.
In general, the trip did a great job of meeting a lot of different needs at the same time. Given the various types of needs (dietary, mobility, interest, etc.) among the group, Trafalgar did a great job of setting up a trip that managed to include everybody as much as possible, with the acknowledgement that there were some things that were simply beyond their control due to the realities of the locations. The logistics were structured in a way to keep everybody safe, comfortable, and included, from first-time solo travelers to well-traveled groups. At the start of the trip our guide said that we will start as strangers and end as family, and that really felt true after all of our shared experiences.
I found that the itinerary tried to see too many places in too little time, which resulted in a lot of time moving from one place to the next with minimal time to actually enjoy and explore the places we visited. The smaller cities often amounted to little more than a lunch stop, with about 75-90 minutes to eat and do any sightseeing before getting back on the coach to continue onward. I would have preferred to visit half as many places and spend more time in each and really get to appreciate what they had to offer, rather than the whirlwind approach that we took. By the end of the trip I felt like I ‘saw’ a lot of things, but got to truly experience relatively few of them in a meaningful way.
Additionally, the daily schedules typically required waking up early (6-7am) to accommodate the long travel days, but were finished by around 5pm. If the midday stops had been an hour or two longer, we could have seen a lot more of each city (allowing time for both eating and sightseeing), while still making it to the destination at a reasonable time. This was especially frustrating in Lucca, which was a lovely city where we spent 2 nights, but only had about an hour for lunch and an hour walking tour in the city itself, but no additional time to sightsee or shop on our own due to the schedule timing and hotel location.
The hotels were all pretty nice and comfortable, with no major complaints about the quality of them. The locations, however, were just far enough from the city center that it made it very difficult to branch out on our own during any free time. While this was a result of the size of the group and needing motorcoach access, it often limited our sightseeing time and overall flexibility; there were several times with a couple hours of scheduled downtime at the hotel that could have been used for additional sightseeing, had the hotels been more conveniently located.
The included and add-on meals were fine, but we generally had better meals when we ate on our own. The hotels breakfasts were standard Italian-style breakfasts, and were nearly identical from one hotel to the next; several people complained about the scrambled eggs at various hotels, but the local items (sliced meats and cheeses, bread, pastries, fresh fruit, yogurt & cereal, etc.) were all good. The “be our guest” lunch at the farm was fantastic, with lovely hosts, delicious food and wine, and a spectacular setting that ended up being one of the highlights of the trip as a whole.
If you want to see a lot of places in limited time without having to worry about any of the logistics, this is a great trip. If you want to have time to actually explore and experience the places you’re visiting (particularly if that means branching off from the group to do it on your own), perhaps another approach would be more to your liking. The trip that Trafalgar created successfully makes travel approachable, easy, and fun, with a lot of great moments along the way.
