oct 15 italy villages tour...COFFEE in am

I've never found coffee available that early in Italy (or France or UK). I've got an early stomach and yes, I want coffee that early too! It's been since 2014 that I did VI so some of the hotels may have changed. I don't remember if any of the Italian hotels had an electric kettle for hot water but I'd probably bring a few Via packets to hold you til 7A. Also, breakfast is generally later on the weekends.

Yes, I've been that crazy woman in Paris...trying to worship at the Shrine of the Blessed Mermaid and darn it they didn't open until 7!

I don't know if I could make it till 7am...:) seriously

Also be prepared for smaaalll quantities of coffee. Having a teeny cup of mud at a stand up bar is fun and very Italian but it just doesn't do it for me.

Hotel dining rooms often have a big coffee machine that dispenses one cup at a time with various choices available. You'll figure out your system of what taste you want. I think I wound up getting an Americano and getting an espresso to dump in it.

It's all part of "broadening your horizons", "cultural enlightenment", blah, blah... hahaha!!

I would try searching on google maps. Get the map of say Padua up then search for coffee shops. Click on the appropriate cafes and see what their hours are.

I don’t know about the tour, but in my experience most villages have a bar that opens early for the working people where you can get an espresso, cappuccino, or an Americano. Maybe not at 5:00am but likely at 6:00. Best to scope out the possibilities the afternoon before.

Why is this under Ireland?

I don’t know if you like sugar in your coffee or not, but fyi, fake sugar a.k.a. splenda is almost non-existent. Next time, I will be bringing some with me.

OP hasn't had enough coffee, that's why the post is in the Ireland forum.

And to the OP.... Italy has some of the best coffee on the planet! THANKFULLY the evil empire of Starbucks cannot be found there. So don't expect to order a Grande Mocha Frappe with non fat coconut milk and whip cream.

Embrace the culture and the differences....that's the reason for travel....

Take note of whats been said. Italian coffee is a shot of espresso. If you want a cup of cafe Americano, you are more likely to get an espresso in a cup with extra hot water. And dont expect free refills. Hotels we stayed at didn't have a Mr Coffee, they made coffee to order, and only when the staff was ready for you. Exceptions were places that had served lots of foreign guests.

In Budapest my husband (who likes to start his morning with 5 a.m. coffee) was introduced to single-serving instant coffee with cream and sugar (I believe it was Nestlé) which we also found at Monoprix in Paris. Not Starbucks or Peets, but EASY to make one cup at a time if you can get hot water. Good enough to hold you to breakfast.
@Pam, the Shrine of the Blessed Mermaid near the K&T in Vienna(!) opened early -- probably for the same bunch of tourists.

So maybe just try not to get up so early :) (Sorry, as a night owl, the thought of willingly getting up at 5am on vacation is a foreign concept)

You could bring a mug, instant coffee, and a dual voltage immersion heater like this
https://www.amazon.com/Lewis-N-Clark-Portable-Immersion/dp/B001U0PA7M/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1536078486&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=immersion+heater+dual+voltage&psc=1

awesome replies...thank you.
Ireland?...I have no idea...same holds true though.... :)

Yes, just get dressed and go find a local bar that opens at 5 am. I specifically remember staying at a hotel in Padua that was also housing members of the RS VI tour. Having just arrived in Italy, I always wake up early. There was an open bar 2 blocks away where I could get an Americano and a pastry and listen to the 6 am bells at the St Anthony shrine across the street.

I went on the Village Italy tour in June 2017. I don't recall any of the hotels having any "real" Italian-style coffee. Most had drip coffee.

I'm an addict, too. I prefer coffee I can't see through, so sometimes I was disappointed at the weakness of the coffee on the tour. Prior to the start of the tour, I rented apartments in Rome and Venice where I had stovetop Moka pots to make my own coffee. I was very spoiled.

As to the time of the morning, you may not think so, but that's something you will adjust to. You will be so tired from the previous day's activities that you'll likely sleep later than you think.

When you get the hotel list, you can Google them to find when they normally start breakfast. But keep in mind that those hotels may adjust the times to suit the tour group.

Also, the locations of the tour are not large cities, so the likelihood that there will be anything except local coffee shops (bars) is very low. If you do visit one, this article on how to order will be helpful.

Be sure to wear appropriate shoes for all the walking up and down stairs and steep slopes. This description from Jane from Sapulpa's tour report is no exaggeration,

"The catalogue describes this tour as "moderately active." Uh, no. We've been on 11 RS tours, and this one is the most active, or perhaps I should say most strenuous of any except the 21 Day Best of Europe. So many of the activities take place in hill towns, adding to the activity level. In fact, several of the folk in our group were disgruntled, feeling they had been misled about the degree of difficulty. I would up the level to "more active." And I do think the tour description should make it clear that most of the villages we visit are actually hill towns, where everywhere you want to go is uphill from where you are!"

This is the link to the full report.

P.S. You posted this in Ireland. You might want to move it to Italy to get more answers.

Maybe your hotel room will have a coffee pot and you can make some. It may not be espresso or cappuccino, but it may tide you over. Or, maybe the breakfast area will have one of those self serve dispensers where you press a button by the kind you want. They’re fairly common.

Most rooms should have an electric kettle. I have one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/AeroPress-80R11-Coffee-Maker/dp/B000GXZ2GS

They make excellent coffee and you can buy them with a travel bag.

I, too, like to have a cup of coffee right when I wake up, just my normal habit that I like to continue on my vacations. So I bring an immersion coil, like this, https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Immersion-Water-Heater-Voltage/dp/B000AXS0UE. I bring a tiny little metal cup with handle (from REI) and I purchase the Starbucks VIA packets. Voila! A cup of coffee in my room.

Okay, here are a few tips though. You must unplug the coil (after the water is hot obviously!) before you take it out of the mug. Otherwise it will instantly short out. Did this on my first use in Venice long ago. Oops! But, tip #2, you can purchase an immersion coil in Europe with the European plug and therefore don't need to put the plug adapter on.

So I have a US plug immersion coil and a European plug immersion coil. I know a lot of you think this is crazy, but it is so nice to have a cup of coffee in my room before the breakfast service starts and I'm still in my pajamas!

The Village Italy is an awesome tour-you'll have a great time!
Happy Travels!

Our privately hooked hotel rooms in Florence and Venice did NOT have coffee making facilities, but dining room opened early enuf for vacationing me (7am). Varenna was the only place that we went out to find a coffee bar. Coffee, croissant, lots of smokers, and world cup highlights on a very loud tv, a little too much local culture and not enuf protein for me

LauraB - thank you! Duly noted! (Altho I have to admit ignorance of what K&T is?)

I don't know if you will be in the same hotels, but In Levanto and at the villa near Florence there were self-serve machines (these are fun, but slow because most of us didn't know how to operate them). In Padua and at Lake Orta the staff took coffee orders, and in Montefalco, Lucca, and Orvieto we had to seek out the location in another room where a staff member was busy making one little cup of coffee at a time. They also had a pot of coffee on the buffet table at Montefalco but one sip of that, and I was off to find the coffee station:)

Don't leave it to chance! Buy a small French press coffee maker and put it in your backpack or carry-on. That way you can brew in your hotel as soon as you wake up and not rely on someone else. Bring your own coffee if you are really picky and/or need a high caffeine blend or see what is available locally.