ItalyTrip/Tour In March9-23 2021

Hi and welcome to the forums!

According to the FAQ page, dates for any 2021 tours they decide to go forward with will be announced sometime this fall.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/coronavirus-faq

The forum gang is sort of split on their gut feelings, with quite a number of folks thinking tours won't be possible until 2022 or at least until later versus earlier in 2021. IMHO, March is pretty iffy BUT it's up to the Grand Poobah (that would be Rick) to make the decision. He doesn't participate in the forums but you could email HQ to see if there is more they might be able to tell you? :O)

https://www.ricksteves.com/forms/contact-us

Did you buy a ticket you can cancel? The way things are going, I'm not sure Italy will allow US citizens in the country. If you are from Canada, there might be a different story.

We have been told at work that we will not be able to return to our workplace until next January at the earliest. Business travel has been suspended for all but emergencies.

I think it will take a significant reduction in new cases and an effective vaccine. The way things are going, I don't see either happening soon, possibly until at least the second half of 2021.

waru110, everyone would like to know the future of travel. Unfortunately, no one has a reliable crystal ball**, or inside information on the pandemic, especially Rick Steves who would be gambling his entire business on a prediction. Here is a good link to previous thread on this subject which also has links to what he has said publicly regarding future toursricks interview. Bottom line is he wont start tours until its safe, and he wont be the first out of the box. He thinks independent travelers will be going first. Keep an eye on what you see on the news regarding the economy, virus waves, vaccines, travel restrictions, and politics, and consider leisure travel being not the highest priority on most peoples minds.

** I did consult my Magic Eight Ball (an American decision-making tool) , which gave a decisive "Don't count on it".

Look for hotels with refundable deposits; but make a list of the cut off dates on those deposits. Then for those things with cost involved, you might look at "Cancel for any reason trip insurance". Again keep an eye on the cut off dates (and enrollment limitations). I just bought a policy for my up coming trip and it was silly cheap.

We (are / have thought about / maybe not) making plans for an Italy trip for April 2021. It will have been our first in 4 years, after I swore to myself that we'd travel to Italy every other year, (almost) finances be damned. Life, death & viruses have a way of getting in the way, however. It was to start in Switzerland or Austria, then down to where we've never visited before, the Lakes region--Maggiore, Garda--then on down to Florence & Rome, two of my favorite places on Earth.

Now? Obviously, plans are on hold. Past trips, I'd research starting 9 months out from departure date, and then start firing in on reservations at the 6 months point, starting with air, and working my way in to lodging, attractions, then restaurants if need be. It's the way it's worked in the past...but unfortunately, the present and the potential future bear little resemblance to the past.

Where before we made plans freely with locals we had never met on a digital handshake or a couple cryptic EMails and a PayPal deposit--and it always worked--will there be new rules in place? Being a cautious person, we always secured trip insurance for each of our previous 3 trips, around $150 for piece of mind, and never used it. No doubt the premiums would be higher, despite James E's post above.

I cannot wait to do this again, however, once my ancestral homeland is open to American citizens again. I would prefer that this virus be totally out of the picture, that we would walk the narrow streets of Rome and see nary a mask. But to make our way over there in calendar year 2021, it would not be the same, I'm afraid. I would love to be proven wrong on this. Cross your fingers...

Well looky here; dates were just posted!

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/heart-italy

Looks like there are a few Italy tours on the list for LATE March but I'd be very cautiously optimistic about those at this point, OK?
I don't see any tours starting on March 9th or thereabouts.

Editing to add: That doesn't mean you couldn't book independent, pre-tour exploration days in Italy. Depending on the tour you book, you can get all sorts of help here on the forum for how to settle in and spend your time! :O)

Do you think it is feasible to plan a tour for March 2021? I bought a ticket for March 9-23 to Italy

Not really.

RS just posted a 2021 tour schedule. I would consider it a hopeful wish, not a set in stone commitment.

I saw no tour for/in Italy that started before MAR 19th