Multi-city Multi-day tours in Italy

Hi all,

We've been on many cruises. This time we'd like to spend 10-14 days just in Italy. I wonder if anyone can give us advice.

We want to tour several days (maybe 3-4 days in each) in Milan, Florence, and Venice. We've been to Rome twice on cruises and would prefer to not see Rome again. Most of the packages I've seen include Rome.

I have looked at the large tour operators such as Perillo, Trafalger and others. They all have 40 person motor coaches and make you go on the coach for 5-7 hours drive from city to city.

Do you know of other tour companies have multi-day tours of each of those cities, arrange nice hotels and arrange train/rail transportation between the cities?

Can you recommend something? We will be 4 people but would also enjoy other people as well. We just want to avoid the large buses with long bus rides.

One idea that I had was to find company (or companies) that arrange multi-day tours of a city and would help you get to the next city where we would start the next multi-day tour.

Thanks in advance.

I've always had great luck with this forum. Surely someone here has ideas.

Check out Gate1 tours. They offer very flexible tour options of 3-4 cities in Italy with train travel between each one. You can choose your own hotel from many so you can upgrade or "go basic". I think in each city they may offer a tour or two but you are basically on your own other than transportation, transfers and hotel.

Of course, a good travel agent (or yourself, using the internet) could also arrange all this on your own.

Check out Gate1 tours. They offer very flexible tour options of 3-4 cities in Italy with train travel between each one. You can choose your own hotel from many so you can upgrade or "go basic". I think in each city they may offer a tour or two but you are basically on your own other than transportation, transfers and hotel.

 

Of course, a good travel agent (or yourself, using the internet) could also arrange all this on your own.

Thanks.

Do you mean this?:

http://www.gate1travel.com/italy-travel/

Thanks.

Do you mean this?:

http://www.gate1travel.com/italy-travel/

The ones that are listed under "Independent Vacations" (not escorted).

Although I see now that they mostly include Rome. (Which I love, so it wouldn't be a hardship for me to visit again.... and again.) I think, though, if you call them to ask, there may be other packages similar to these that they can put together for you.

You might try Monograms. They seem to be able to sell city tours by components. I'm not sure if they will be able to get you from city to another - but you could call. If not, a travel agent could probably do the rail transport part, in conjunction with Monograms, if you don't want to do it yourself.

I just thought of another site to check out....Europeandestinations. I've only played with the Latin American version of the site. But, it allows you to select cities, get the transport between, pick hotels and excursions. I would look for reviews before booking, to make sure they deliver as promised. Monograms, on the other hand, is a big well known tour seller.

Sorry to keep adding messages....but my messages keep getting timed out for edit.

Stay away from Europeandestinations. I did a cursory check and there are many complaints.

How about you make your travel and hotel reservations, and hire a guide in each city? We did a simple version of this a couple of years ago. Train travel in Italy is pretty easy, particularly between the major cities.

I agree with Bruce...once you get over the fear of dealing with the Italian rail system, the Italian world is your oyster! But, if you want a package you might work through the Perillo website a bit more. In the independent section, they say call us to put together a customized itinerary..and they have options to buy excursions in each city. They might be able to put together something you envision.

These are all great suggestions. Today I came across this site:

http://www.vacationsbyrail.com/europe/italy

It would seem that I could use them to handle the rail/transportation part and the hotels. I need to compare their hotel prices with individual booking on my own.

We've been to Italy twice before on cruises and arranged private tours most of the time with other couples so we can avoid the huge cruise ship coach buses and inflexibility.

Still more research to do.

Personally, I agree with the other posters. Do some research and use the trains. That is what my daughter and I did after every one of our cruises. Also, I bet if you emailed some of the tour companies that are mentioned on here like joe bananas limos, they would be happy to do an itenerary for you. I would think it may be pricey though but maybe a lot less stress for you.

Do it on your own. Easy enough and the train system is awesome.

I agree with those who say you can do this on your own.

If you can check for hotels then you can also look for guides where you think they may be advisable. Trip Advisor is the place to go for planning a trip on your own.

Also borrow or buy some guidebooks. Which ones depend upon your travel style. Check over some in the library and then buy the one you like. Just remember prices and some information is out of date by the time these guides go to print. For that kind of information you are best to go online. But for general planning, maps and deciding where to go and what to do guide books are helpful.

maryann's post reminds me to recommend the Rick Steves guidebook on Italy. Not only does he give excellent and detailed information for people looking to do things on their own, he also has some good guide recommendations for the various destinations.

Hotel reservations aren't that different from anywhere else. I'd advise booking direct with the hotel for the best rate. I like Tripadvisor hotel reviews/ratings, although you have to take some with a grain of salt. (Toss the over-the-top positive and negative reviews and concentrate on the others.)

Trains are also easy -- really, they are. Especially when you are not dealing with the time constraints of a day in port on a cruise ship. The high-speed Frecci trains that travel between major cities are fast, new, and clean. Very pleasant to use. (First-class really isn't necessary but sometimes good rates are available if you purchase tickets in advance.)

If you decide to go independent here is a good primer to the Italian Rail system:

http://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

Rick Steve's guides are also my favourite for Europe. They are geared for independent travellers.

I am going to politely and respectfully disagree regrading 1st and 2nd class trains in Italy. 1st class can be much quieter and depending on the route and train you get coffee and snacks at your seat. Also more room in your seat. If you can book 3-4 months in advance the price can be extremely cheap also. Sometimes the same price as 2nd. Some routes in the middle of nowhere in 2nd class you night share the car with animals!

Yes I have seen this personally.

I am going to politely and respectfully disagree regrading 1st and 2nd class trains in Italy. 1st class can be much quieter and depending on the route and train you get coffee and snacks at your seat. Also more room in your seat. If you can book 3-4 months in advance the price can be extremely cheap also. Sometimes the same price as 2nd. Some routes in the middle of nowhere in 2nd class you night share the car with animals!

Yes I have seen this personally.

You've seen animals on the Frecci fast trains? If so, do tell....

My experiences on these trains is that all classes are quite nice. There is nowhere near the difference between first class and second class that you'd find on airlines, for instance....

Not saying they aren't a little nicer but in my book not worth it unless the price is about the same.

On the older trains (especially regionale) you may see anything! Personally I kind of enjoy that "slice of life" experience. YMMV.

Ha ha no animals on high speed, just on the middle of nowhere. I agree that if there is a big difference in price 2nd class is fine. I have found when booking early 1st class can be a huge bargain.

I did a tour with my dad years ago and after 3 days we both said "never again." It all seemed so overwhelming and the tour would make it so easy. We immediately realized we could have done it on our own and with the extra money we spent we could have probably spent two more weeks in Europe and done a lot more!

This time we're going to do a 7 day cruise round trip from Venice and then tour Italy on our own using trains

Hi all,

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I've decided to book this on my own after all. I'll select three 4-star hotels; one in each city of Milan, Venice, and Florence. Probably 3-4 days each city. I see that its easy enough to book rail service from city to city.

While we are in those cities, we may decide for one of those days to do a guided tour. I've done this before in various ports when cruising. Now that we are staying on land, the time requirements are less restrictive.

I found several highly rated guided tours from Trip Advisor for these cities.

thanks again