Anyone been on the Heart of Italy tour?

If u cannot take anymore time than 9 days then u do not have any choice. It is pricey imo for just a quick skip thru Italy. Italy warrants much more time to see its spirit, culture and incredible antiquities.
There are other tour companies to ck for comparisons.
Perhps that will help you decide.

I did this as my first RS tour in 2013. It was my brother, SIL, their 2 adult sons and me. One of the boys had an absolute limit of 2 weeks off work, no more, so this tour worked well. We flew in to Rome 2days ahead and stayed 1 extra day in Florence. The time worked out fine as we added extra nights, particularly in Rome. The 2 nights were great in Volterra and Monterosso. More would have been great but this was fine for a sampler.

You may decide after your visit that this will not be your only trip!!

I did the Best of Italy tour which hit 3 of the Heart of Italy stops and 2 nights is a "get your feet wet , not a full immersion" experience, but the Tours are well planned to see each destinations "must do" and give you time to explore other things on your own.

Did not have a sense of being 'rushed'

Have taken many RS tours and most had many two night stops. The tours always get you to the "biggies" plus many interesting small back door places and things. But there is enough free time that we have never felt rushed to the point of things just becoming a blur.

We did it as our first RS tour and loved it. In those days in started in Florence and ended in Rome. We added extra days on either end, which gave us 3 nights in those places. We didn't feel rushed and the guide did an excellent job giving us suggestions for our free time. We are looking forward to going back some day.

We would arrive in Rome one day early. Also since I want to see Siena, Assisi and some other Tuscan towns, would one or two more nights at the end be enough? Whe would then travel by train to Belluno to spend 3 or 4 nights with family and they will take us to Venice and the Dolomites.

The part of this tour that seems lacking to me is time in Tuscany so do you think adding one or two more nights at the end would accomplish this? I should add that we are not big on museums so was thinking that the last day with the group we could skip Uffuzi and instead take a day trip somewhere else.

Thanks!

If you've got extra time, then I would definitely add 2 or 3 nights in Florence at the end. On the way from Volterra to CT you will probably stop in Lucca. We had a group walking tour thru the city center, grabbed a quick lunch (on our own) and had time to do a quick bike ride around the walls there before time to meet back up for the onward journey.

I've done both Siena and Assisi but did them on Village Italy and they were a full day each.

You can certainly go off on your own any day that isn't a transit day. I do encourage you to be back for the farewell dinner. That's usually a lot of fun, and the restaurant used on our trip was excellent with special care from the staff. Desserts like you have never seen! There is plenty to do in Florence if you don't want to join the group at the Uffizi. Even if you are not particularly in to art, I do encourage you to go with the group to the Accademia. The statue of David is jaw-dropping. Even the non art-loving kids thought this was amazing.

Arrive in Rome a couple of days early, linger in Florence if you like, then take the train to Venice. I did this when I took Heart of Italy last year. I took this tour mainly because I wanted to see Volterra. Five nights in Venice, where I've been before, topped off a very nice Italian vacation.

Thank you Swan and Pam!

Can we take bus or train from Florence to Siena or Assisi for day trips? Or would it be better to add 2 nights in Siena then head to Venice from there?