First Italy trip.

Rick Steves' book, Europe Through the Back Door, explains how to travel in Europe. You may want to browse through the book, at a bookstore, library, or online at Google Books. The book is mainly about doing it yourself, but also covers going with a tour. After spending some time with the book, you may get a feeling for whether you want to plan it yourself or do a tour.

Take a look at Rick Steves' Italy Tours on this Web site, then plan your own trip. We did this a few years ago and it went just fine. Planning is half the fun and much easier with the Internet these days compaired with when we did it. (Lots of Faxes). You WILL live out of your CARRY ON suitcase - yes it can and is done all the time (also part of the fun) you can travel by train (much better than busses). Have a good time. JimP

patty, One question to begin with - is this your first trip to Europe, or your first trip to Italy? If you haven't travelled in Europe before, I'd "second" Kent's suggestion to begin your planning by reading Europe Through The Back Door. It provides information on how to travel well in Europe, and also topics like solo travel, women travelling alone, etc. If you're comfortable and confident travelling on your own, then you could certainly plan your own trip. The Italy Guidebook would be a valuable resource, as it has listings for Hotels and restaurants, and has lots of information on sightseeing, transportation, etc. If you feel you'd be more comfortable with some company and most of the travel details arranged, then a tour would be a good choice. I would highly recommend RS tours, as they have a good range of tours in Italy and the Guides are fantastic!. I'm signed up for my fifth tour this year, and really looking forward to it. You might order the free Tour DVD to get some idea on whether that type of tour is "right" for you. You're going to be living out of a suitcase regardless of which option you choose. I find that it's not that much of an inconvenience. The Buses used on RS tours are very comfortable and as the tours always have small groups in a full sized Bus, everyone gets their own seat. The Buses make frequent stops, and travel each day is not really that long. Happy travels!

An alternative to "living out of suitcase" would be to stay in one place for your entire vacation, unpack, and take daytrips from that central location. For a first-time traveler to Europe, I think London would be a good home-base. There are many interesting places to visit in the city and within a couple of hours travel outside London. I found a railpass that works very well for London stays and makes train travel simpler. It is called the LondonPlus pass and is available on this website (ETBD). Go to the Railpasses section, then look in the Britain area. The LondonPlus pass is shown at the bottom of that section. I've used this pass a couple of times. For short-range trains, reservations are usually not necessary. You can just get on the train, after entering the date on the pass, and go anywhere within the service area of the pass.

Hi Patty, Italy is very easy to visit on one's own, traveling by train. It does require hours and hours of planning, but that's part of the fun. You get to build your own itinerary and go at your own pace. You can leave a museum that bores you or linger at an amazing church. You can eat when you feel like it and stop to buy souvenirs whenever you like. There is so much information available in travel guides and on the internet. You will spend less than you would on a really good guided tour, and see more than you would on a run-of-the-mill large group tour. My best advice - don't book flights until you have your basic itinerary mapped out. Try to plan a route that allows you to fly open-jaw to make the most of your time. Once you have done some homework, come back and ask lots of questions.

I have planned two trip to Italy on my own and enjoyed them immensely. Don't like tours (have done those too) because I like to be able to see what I want to see and spend however much time I want to at the places I go. You are picking a great time. Cool weather and not tourist season yet....I was there from 29 march -14 April this year. I traveling solely by train once arriving.
I am very knowledgeable about Northern Italy. If you have any specific questions, please send me a private email and I will be glad to help.

I spent four weeks traveling from Sorrento to Nice with my wife. (April- May). It was the first time that we are on our own. Have a good time. If you have any questions or any info I know, send me PM.
Have a good day!

My sister and I booked all the hotels in Italy by ourselves. Start off with Rick Steves -Italy 2011. We also got some discounts because we mention the book to the hotel. Take it as having a adventure once in a life time.

Rick put a lot (all?) of his shows on Hulu. You can watch his Italy episodes and narrow your "must do" list. He also explains many practical things