17 day Best of Italy

Hi, Deborah. RFID is not a real issue. Do you use it at home? You could use the search function on this site to find lengthy threads about it, or you could take my word for it.

Multi-city flight tickets usually are not much more expensive, if you search for them using that term. It's what most of our travelers do on this tour, so I'd keep looking. Most trans-Atlantic carriers charge much more for two one-way tickets. Budget-focused Norwegian Air may be an exception, and much cheaper, but they also don't have the protection offered by code-shared connections. If you fly to London Gatwick and miss a connection to Easy Jet, you'll have to buy a new ticket at whatever price and time is available. That's a bigger price risk when home-ward bound, so you'd want to at least spend the night at an "unprotected" connection city. Some days of the week are also more expensive.

If you cannot get a reasonably priced routing of AUS-MXP, FCO-AUS ( the 'multi city' Laura mentioned, aka 'open jaw') then a r/t to Rome and taking train to Milan would be a better choice than flying to MXP from FCO.

When searching for airfare select the airline's "multi-city" option; do not do 'one ways'

When comparing your options, be sure to factor in ALL the costs of each, and remember your time has value

Deborah,
You will LOVE this tour! I did it in October 2016. I flew Atlanta > JFK > MXP, arriving 2 days early and stayed in Milan to see the sights. Then took the train from Milan to Varenna where the tour starts. Maybe a 2 hour train ride, very easy.
When the tour ended in Rome, I flew direct to Atlanta from FCO. I used the Multi-City flight option on the Delta website. I don't worry about RFID, but that's just me.

If you use the search function (gray box at the top of the page) there are quite a number of threads regarding RFID and it being a pretty unneeded bit of technology.

Here's one from a while ago that has some links to news articles on the "need" for RFID blocking stuff being undocumented.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tech-tips/rifd-blockers-great-info

I'm guessing this is your first RS tour so I'll concur about getting to Italy a few days early. Give yourself some flex time in case of travel hiccups and to recover from jet lag/travel tiredness. I like to be in the location at least 1 night ahead of the tour start and often will go in 2 nights ahead. I've not done this tour but I've got it on my list and will go to Milan for 3 nights ahead, then up to Varenna the day before the tour starts. I'm retired so I've got lots of time, but add what you can on the front end. Time in Rome at the end is always helpful too! There is never enough time to cover all the spectacular sights of Rome!

Deborah, we loved that tour! It’s been the springboard for returning to Italy several times, and I had a wonderful three weeks in September in Italy celebrating my retirement, traveling solo.

Prior to beginning your tour, be sure to arrive a couple of days ahead. You will be tired from jetlag the day you arrive and a little tired the next day. It’s nice to begin your tour ready to go. We flew to Milan and took the train to Verona for three days before the tour. Verona is a very tourist-friendly town with lots to see in a pedestrian-friendly historical center. We purchased the Verona Card to see sites, or you could walk around and enjoy being there. To head to Varenna, just take the train back to Milan and switch trains at the station.

You could also just stay in Milan, but it will be a big city environment vs. Verona. If you want to stay in Milan, Hotel Berna near the Milano Centrale train station has the best customer service of any hotel I’ve stayed, and they have a huge assortment of wonderful food for breakfast. From there you could take the metro (easy to use) to see the amazing Duomo, etc.

Since it sounds like this might be your first trip, feel free to ask questions; lots of good resources in the Forum.

Have you checked flying out of DFW? Could save you $1000. Otherwise wait and check for sales in December & January. Defiantly sign up for fare alerts for your dates. One for R/T and one into MXP out of FCO.

Deborah,

I recommend that you fly into Milan. If you can’t get a direct flight to Milan, make sure you make your connection in Europe. If you make a connection in New York and if your plane is delayed or has mechanical problems you will have limited flights to get to Milan. If you make your connection in Europe and your flight is delayed, you will have many more options to get to Milan. Also, I would recommend you get to Italy a day before your tour starts in case you do have a delay.

I posted two, ten minute videos of our tour on YouTube. You will love the Best of Italy tour. If you have any specific questions, you can send me a oersonnel message. I highly recommend “The Golden
View” Restaurant in Florence.

https://youtu.be/c5mdy0OzRC4
https://youtu.be/MZia6oOs8iA

Thanks to everyone for the tips! We are planning a pre-tour 2 day stay in Milan. I also think the suggestion about RT to a Europe location rather than stateside makes sense, (if we decide to go that route). However, I would of course like to do the multi city option. I'll set some alerts. Thanks again!

Deborah z, what kind of numbers are you seeing, fro R/T vs multi-city? What originating city? Don't dismiss the extra amount of time it would take for the extra flight/train trip. Your vacation time is worth something too.