Why we chose Rick Steves' tour (and why we will go on another):
- Small tour groups - we had 26 people on our tour and it was perfect.
- Local tour guided to orient you to each city - telling you the history and the important sites
- Expert tour guides in the museums -helping you navigate the large museums and giving you background and history to make it an amazing experience.
- All the planning has been done for you - all you have to do is show up and ENJOY!!
- Hotel accommodations were fabulous (the picture above was taken from our hotel room in San Gimignano). The people were always friendly and very helpful.
- All your breakfasts are included in your tour price and they were FABULOUS!
- Half of your dinners are included in the tour price and they were full course meals with wine included!
- Safe and friendly travel between the cities in an air conditioned coach (thanks Michele -pronounced mi-Kay-lee) with free WIFI
- No waiting in long lines for entrance into museums; tickets for trains/vaporetto/subway etc. - It is all done for you!
- We attended many free Rick Steves travel classes in preparation for our trip to Italy (Packing Light/Italian for the Traveler)
- We took advantage of the travel consultant service at the Rick Steves' Travel Center to help plan our pre and post tour excursions - their advice and suggestions were invaluable.
- Rick Steves' packing list was right on - we found we did not need to bring a hair dryer and I loved my reversible dress I purchased through Travel Smith and the anti-theft handbag I bought from Fresh Finds.
- The people who sign up for Rick Steves' tours want to learn, enjoy and have fun. We met the most wonderful people on this tour and we have become very good friends with many of the couples. It is like traveling with family (only better!)
- The BEST part of the tour is the knowledgeable tour leader - Ann taught us so much and it made this trip THE BEST.
- She taught us how to count in Italian, basic Italian words (buon giorno (good day); arrivederci (goodbye)
- She told us about Italian etiquette - always greet the sale person when entering a shop and say goodbye when leaving
- We discussed education, economics and politics of Italy
- We received our Italian names - Renee and Ricardo
- She shared with us information about each region (folklore, rivalries, specialty foods and products, wines etc.)
- She answered ALL our questions with such expertise, she would point out things we were seeing when driving (castles, marble quarries)
- She helped us navigate different transportation systems and made us feel comfortable using the systems in our free time
- She gave us ideas for places to eat and to go and see in our free time
- Best of ALL - she became our FRIEND!!