A few questions about our Best of Italy Tour in September

Hi, Emily, How fantastic that you are soon to experience the magic and beauty of Italy! In answer to a couple of your questions: you can see many photos of what people wear on RS Tours right here on this website. From the home page, choose "Tours" then on that page choose "Tour Alum Scrapbooks." From there you can scroll down each year and select scrapbooks (created by tour members) of various countries. Also: If you haven't been to Italy before, I SURE wouldn't spend five days in Milan! The tour only spends two nights in Venice; you could go to Venice for four nights (less than 3 hours by train) and explore that incredible city more leisurely than you will be able to do with the tour; from Venice you could do day trips to Verona and/or Padua (each under an hour from Venice by train). Or, base yourself in Padua (many hotels within walking distance of the train station) and do day trips from there. Another of my favorite small cities is Ravenna, which is not on your tour. Take a train from Milan to Ravenna to experience fabulous, amazing mosaics and history in that beautiful city! Or, take a fast train (3 hours more or less) to Rome, and enjoy much more of Rome than you will see in your two nights in Rome! In any case, please explore beyond Milan in those 5 precious days! The trains are very easy to use and navigate. Everything on the trenitalia website, like times and prices, can be accessed in English. In the train stations, you can buy your tickets at machines that have an English option. Good luck! Ciao!

Thank you for the great suggestions! Just to clarify, we weren’t going to spend more than a day or so in Milan, I had thought about going to a different place on Lake Como, but I can see the value of going to Ravenna, Padua, or Venice.

Thank you again!

Best of Italy September Day Trip Ideas

The suggestions for day trip from Milan (we are there 2 1/2 days before meetup in Varenna were helpful.
We were thinking of a day trip to Verona but Ravenna is sounding like it could be a better choice.

I have struggled with the "weather & clothing choices" as well. Good idea to look at Alum pics.
I think I should spend more time looking at all "knowledge" posted by experienced travelers.

I am still considering Holafly eSim as best choice. However, I am still stumped about how I can receive & reply to
"two factor authentication" from bank and/or credit card, should they need to send me one. I called the banks & credit card companies that we use & the lack of knowledge was less than helpful.
You no longer notify them that you will be traveling and the dates so, they don't know until you use a card or go to
the ATM & then they need to verify.

I would so greatly appreciate answers to these baffling, for me, questions.

...do we need hiking boots, or will a good pair of sneakers suffice?

Hiking boots are not needed. Sneakers will be ok, but good, sturdy walking shoes will be better.

When we took the BOI trip, our visit to the Dolomites had us staying in a small village. On our own we took a shuttle but up to the Alpe di Siusi and spent about an hour walking out and then back on a hard surface, fairly level trail or pathway. It was much more like a good walk than a hike.

Be aware of and prepare for the weather. It can change quickly. We started in overcast, had some sun, then mist / sleet / hail, and sunshine at the end.