Trafalger Tours - Italy

[lil_geek]

Anyone here have experience with Trafalger Tours (more specifically Italy ones)?

My sis and cousin did one a few years ago and liked it (considering they were the youngest by nearly 20 years!). DH and I are thinking of the Trafalger 'Bellisimo' tour for our anniversary.

What did you like about the tours? What didn't you? We travelled to Scotland/England/paris before on our own and liked the flexibility, but given the time we have (2 weeks) and the language barrier we ould like to do a tour this time.

[meatpie]

I know someone who did Italy with Trafalgar and liked it overall. I believe they did the big 3 - Rome, Florence and Venice in 10 days or so.

I also just want to chime in and say we also did Italy (10 days) for our honeymoon and hardly ever had a problem with a language barrier (we did learn basic phrases and words - especially words for food before our trip)

Anyway...if you have two weeks, maybe do a 7-8 day tour and then the rest on your own. I know I would have loved a tour in some cities (Siena, Rome) because there is so much history and so much to see - but one of the joys of Italy is sitting in a cafe for an afternoon, walking around Rome at night, or lingering at Trevi fountain for hours people watching. One of the most memorable things we did was hire a driver through our hotel in Florence and visit 3 wineries. It was a beautiful drive, the wineries incredible and something we will never forget.

Just a thought.

Edited to add: I looked at the tour you are considering. I think for your anniversary it might be great to visit Capri or the Amalfi Coast on your own. Maybe even before your tour begins. Have several days to just relax and enjoy each other (can you tell I have a baby?) and then dive into the tour. Just another idea.

[justHB]

FWIW, we thought we would end up taking a tour for our trip to Italy this past November, but in the end we decided to go it alone. I really, really, really loved the option of being able to do what we wanted when we wanted. I heard so many people complaining about their tours while in Rome.

[bookworm]

No experience with a tour, but I had no trouble (that I recall) with a language barrier in Italy. Grazie, prego, a lot of smiling and pointing, and a decent guidebook seemed to cover it. Either way, have fun!