Organized group tour or DIY: first trip to Italy

(Waving at Michelle)
I remember you from a Southwest parks thread awhile back!

So I'm smiling 'cause, well, you know whose website you're using, right? Pretty sure you're going to hear from a plethora of people who've done one of these:

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

And there's this one, which is sort of a compromise between an organized and indy tour:
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/my-way-italy

Browse the reviews for short captures of participants' experiences. We've not done one - our Italian adventures have been of the indy sort so far as tours move at a faster pace than we prefer - but who know what the future might bring! Italy is not a particularly difficult country to travel, however, and with just 10 days, I'd recommend less versus more moving around. Still, you're going to find some loyal devotees of RS tours.

Oh, and this recent discussion might be useful as well. Don't let the headline throw you; there are posters from both sides of the fence plus some mentions of other companies some have used:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/touring-is-not-for-me

If it is exhausting (and often it is) to plan your own way, why not take the tour? Relax and go. Plenty of people do it. Think of it as an alternative tour style that you have never done. You might like it. In fact, if you have never done, you will not only see Italy, but in a new way and thus get 2/1 in experiences.
If you can afford the difference in price and accept it between on your own and a tour, then cost should not be an issue. The real issue is the plan, or not.

Personally, tour groups are NOT for me. The idea of traveling as part of a giant, slow-moving pack and being told where and when to go is not appealing. I want to linger in places rather than just hit the highlights and then move on. I want freedom and flexibility and time alone.

But I love the travel planning aspect. I love the research. I love reading reviews and spending hours on Google maps looking at destinations. I read guidebooks before I fall asleep at night and plan fake trips that I may never even take. Also, I'm young and agile and capable of hauling my own bags, climbing up and down stairs for public transit, and walking miles and miles across uneven cobblestones. My point is - everyone is different, and everyone looks for different things out of their travels.

I think the most important thing, no matter how you do it, is to GO. Travel, however that looks for you. It will undoubtedly look different for you than it does for me, and that's ok! So if the trip planning is what's holding you back, by all means, go on a group tour, book a charter, or use a travel agent. I'm also guessing that there are enough of us planning nerds on here to help you with a good portion of your itinerary, if you want to give DIY one more shot :)

There are no wrong answers, except not traveling.

Hey Michele!

We prefer to travel independently, and it has never been easier to plan a trip. Like you I'm detail oriented, but for my wife and I, planning a trip is half the fun!

What is on your list of places to visit? What do you want most to see? To me, there are two Italy's. First is the big three, Rome-Florence-Venice, plus possibly Milan and other big cities. The other is the countryside and small towns. Each have a distinct charm and you need to see both to get a good feel for the country. A mixture of the two would be ideal, but you'll need at least 10 days and a realistic itinerary.

For a first time visit, you could use this as a reconnaissance mission. We've never taken a Rick Steves tour, but if we ever decide to take a tour, the RS philosophy fits best with our mindset. We took a European tour while in high school, way back in 1966 and it did help us in our later independent travels. However, some friends invited us to join them for a Rhine Viking River Tour and we quickly found out tours aren't our cup of tea, though for many reasons I think an RS tour would be far better for us than the VRC.

Why not stick your toes in planning an independent trip? Include practice making reservations, looking at transportation, etc. If you find yourself stressing, then maybe a good RS tour would be just the ticket.

We tried one group biking trip in Italy and swore off ever doing that again. We like independent travel, we make our own schedule, eat where and when we want. Not stuck following an umbrella down a narrow street . Doing some homework, reading guide books, and deciding what is most interesting and important to see gives us joy and sense of accomplishment. We have been able to change plans when we felt like it, not herded on and off a bus.

That all said, that’s us, 68 year old active humans that enjoy adventure. Lots and lots of people would rather leave all the planning up to a professional.

You should “let it go” and not try to plan every single day, but allow a day to just let the day unfold.

We like to combine an organized group tour with independent travel; for us, it's the best of both worlds.

This year we did two RSE tours: Loire to the South of France, and Best of South Italy. We arrived a week before the first tour, splitting our time between Paris and Chartres, where the tour began.

After that tour ended, we spent the next 10 days on our own, splitting the time between Venice and Rome, where the second tour began.

And after the second tour, we stayed in Naples an extra couple of days, then spent 10 more days split between Siena and Bologna, on our own.

That made for a long trip, but it was wonderful. We always take on about 10 days after a tour, and always arrive at least 3 or 4 days early. We still get to plan our free time, but have the luxury of letting somebody else do the basics of housing, meals, and transportation for at least part of the time.

I will also say that one of the things we like about Rick Steves tours is the generous amount of free time on most of them. We have taken a couple that we thought were overscheduled, but most of them have plenty of free afternoons and evenings. Go look at the tours he offers, pick any one, and carefully read the itinerary for that tour. Then check out a couple of others. You may find something that fits your needs. Follow the links that Kathy posted upthread.

mlt3, when you say "tour group / charter", are you talking about taking a large group of people with you, or do you just mean signing up for a tour company. I think the assumption is the latter, but want to make sure.

Many of us are fans of the the tours offered right here on the Rick Steves website, by his company. But there are many others. You have to carefully look at the itineraries and expectations of the tour. Some companies offer more luxurious hand-holding tours (at a price, mind you) whereas RS tours are less about luxury and more about exposing you to a different cculture.

I was an independent traveler for years, and am skilled enough at research and planning to be comfortable doing that. But I dont enjoy it. Getting older, we chose to give up that stressful planning and decision-making process, and put ourselves in the hands of a tour. Our first was the RS Venice-Florence-Rome, and we were hooked. No stress other than getting there. It made our time in Italy much more efficient and pleasant, and I know we saw more than we would have on our own. I'm by no means a people person, but found being with a group was not a cramp on our experience. Plus there was plenty of free time.

But you can do both. Take a tour, and add on independent days one your own before or after. We spent three nights in Varenna before taking the train to Venice for the start of our tour.

There is no doubt that tours have some advantages; but, to my mind, unless there are pressing reasons for choosing a tour, I prefer independent travel. The advantages of independence are many. First of all, you set your own schedule. We have taken a few tours, and the need to be up early and ready to go got wearing. No sleeping in. On a tour you also can’t linger at a sight you find particularly interesting.
Italy has an astonishing wealth of attractions. If you diy, you can choose the ones that most appeal to you. Tours hit what are deemed to have the widest appeal.
A good compromise is to do a couple of day tours. We have done two kinds. One type has been a kind of introduction to the city. Some HOHO serve this function well, as do walking tours in some places.
The second type is focused on one sight or theme. For example, we hired a guide for Knossos. We wouldn’t have understood a fraction of what we were seeing without her expertise. It needn’t be expensive. In many places there are licensed guides at the entrance, ready for hire.

Michelle, you will see a wide variety of responses, most of them with opposite opinions. That you ask this question at all, tells me you would like to do some things differently than your last travel/planning experience.

I wish you well.

We have used tours when we want to do a cycling trip and we just booked a tour with Adventures with Sarah to try a group tour but usually we travel independently with day tours planned along the way. We would use our cycling trip providers again for sure.

It always cracks me up when people respond to the tour/no tour question with pre-conceived notions about how "all" tours run. Yes, there are some tours that provide the experience of a "giant, slow-moving pack" but my experiences on Rick's tours were not along those lines. There is a max of around 24-28 folks but some tours run with less. I'd call covering 10 miles in a day in both Amsterdam and Rome a fairly brisk pace as opposed to slow-moving.

I did Heart of Italy for my first Rick Steves tour in 2013, then followed with Village Italy the next year. Since then I've done 12 RS tours and plan to do the Best of Italy in September. I enjoy them because I love the experience with the extremely knowledgeable guides plus top-notch local guides. I like not having to hop trains myself (which I've done a lot) and can be taken hotel door to hotel door (more or less..) and I enjoy the group interaction. Most RS travelers are well-read, inquisitive and eager to learn about the country they are visiting. I enjoy researching the sites to visit so like that there is free time to see things on your own as well as group tour time.

And yes, I'd make the choice again. I wish the group I was traveling with had had time to do Best of Italy first but there were 2 adult children along who had limited time off so we went for Heart of Italy because it was shorter. We had a fabulous time!

I also do as Jane and her DH do and usually combine some independent time before and after. I like to arrive to the tour city 2 days ahead and often will do a longer stay somewhere else on my own. Sometimes I add time after, it just depends on what I'm wanting to see.

I'll also add that I've taken 13 Road Scholar tours. I got burned on my last tour and will wait a while before I book with them again. Unlike Rick's tours, Road Scholar does not actually run the tours, they contract out each program. On my last one the main office had apparently done no oversight on the new contractor and things unraveled quickly. I am comfortable with Rick's tours because the tours are planned and booked by the home office.

There are also several smaller tour companies I'm interested in. There are a number of former Rick Steves guides who have started small companies. I'm doing a tour of Northern England with Mark Seymour (Seymour Travels) next spring. I've also eyed a number of tours with Sarah Murdoch who has a tour company and does some travel in Italy as well. https://adventureswithsarah.net/tours-overview

Tours are not for everyone but if they sound interesting to you and will make for a more relaxing vacation, I'd consider Rick's tours. They ARE active so are also not for everyone in that way.

...stuck following an umbrella down a narrow street . ...herded on and off a bus.

I agree with Pam, (as usual:)

It always cracks me up when people respond to the tour/no tour question with pre-conceived notions about how "all" tours run.

You might want to read some of the trip reports from folks who have taken various kinds of tours, Rick's, Sarah's, and others.

We've seen some of those tour groups, with 50 or more people following an umbrella, and they seldom seem like they're having a good time, although that's probably an unfair observation.

I will say that a constant refrain on the tours we've taken is "But we didn't have enough time in.......[fill in the blank]" That's often true. But for us, that place goes on our list of places to come back to, on our own or another tour. On the tours we took this year, we felt that way about Arles in France and Vieste in Italy.

And the reason we made a point of spending 5 days in Siena this year? Because we spent a few enticing hours there on a tour a number of years ago, and knew we had to come back.

I don't know about other tour companies - Pam can chime in here - but on RSE tours, unless it's a travel day, you're welcome to skip any activity as long as you let the guide know.

There’s just a few seats left on most of the remaining RS 17-day Best of Italy tours, and I would definitely recommend that tour! We did it back in 2006, and we have returned to the locations listed below as pieces of subsequent trips. That is a sign that each of these locations is a “wow”, and the ease of seeing them the first time with a RS tour let us fully enjoy each moment. I travel a lot independently now in Italy, but I look back at that tour and am so glad my first time to Italy was with that RS group and that itinerary.

Varenna, Lake Como - returned back several times to Lake Maggiore, instead, nearby.
Dolomites
Venice
Florence
(Haven’t returned to Cinque Terre but loved it)
Siena
Assisi (returned to nearby villages)
Rome

I love all of your comments and suggestions, THANK YOU SO MUCH! As someone said, you’re right, if I’m leaning toward trying this, then why not! And as I think about it, I planned my first trips to Paris and London and it’s not until I headed home that I realized where I wish we had spent more time. I don’t think one can know that until after they have been. I would love to reply to each of you individually but I don’t see a way to do that within the thread.

A shout out to the first commenter ( I can’t see your name from my post) who remembered me from my Southwest trip planning. That was a Covid backup plan, and while the trip was perfectly planned and we hit 4 states, and I saw places some won’t see in their lifetime, I learned that I am not a desert girl. Haha dessert yes, desert no. Too hot for me!

Now I’m off to research all of your tips. Thanks again!

Michele

That was me, and you wrote a really nice trip report after that adventure! LOL, you still traveling with that wee coffeemaker?

Looking forward to future discussions around whatever you decide about Italy this fall! Oh, and that may include a word or two about that coffeemaker? It won't be able to tag along unless it's dual voltage.

Michele, I look forward to taking a Rick Steves tour one day. I think Rick and his philosophy are a 5-Star choice for European tours. In the meantime, my husband decided in February 2022 that we would take our two teenagers to Europe for 3 weeks in May-June 2022, including 11 days in Italy, because it might be our last chance to travel together as a family before they scattered away to college, AND that he and I would be organizing the trip ourselves. I thought he had lost his mind! Neither of us had ever been to Italy before, and, with Covid protocols still lingering and varying by region, I was not anxious to charge ahead into the fray. In hindsight, it was one of the best decisions we have ever made, and I have to confess that I poached a million great ideas from the Rick Steves website (the money belt and limiting packing to 5 days of clothing were my two favorite) . We covered all the great sites in Rome, did a Naples/Pompeii day trip via train and enjoyed the fun of realizing we booked the wrong time for our return train to Rome (the train ticket officer in Naples got a laugh out of that one, too, but helped us recover nicely), traveled and spent two nights each in Florence and Venice (where we left our credit card in a Venice museum and sprinted back there the next morning to find it safe and sound in the Lost and Found), took a private car to Tirano so we could stop at the Museo Nicolis (a fabulous car museum), and then traveled over the Swiss Alps by train from Tirano, to land in the beautiful city of Zurich. Our delightful trip went on from there but since you specifically asked about Italy, I will keep my comments focused on that destination. We used an agency called Perillo Tours (at the suggestion of a friend) to help us with transfers from the airport to our VRBO, and then from our VRBO to some train stations because of luggage, but beyond that we booked all trains and two private cars ourselves. We booked some guided tours of museums and basilicas ourselves, but our teenagers said over and again how much they preferred when we did the tours on our own. We booked all VRBOs and restaurants on our own, in advance of arriving to our destinations (just by poking around on the web and educating ourselves, i.e., that is how we stumbled upon the fun of Trevi Fountain and the delicious Pizza in Trevi restaurant nearby). We did cancel some restaurant reservations once we arrived because we found neighborhood restaurants in Rome that were charming and accessible (but I like having a reservation because when you're tired and weary from touring with teenagers, quick accessibility to a table and menu is worth it). In Rome, the Free Now (My Taxi) app was an excellent resource, especially for morning and mid-day rides (late afternoons took longer to book). In summary, if we did this, anyone can do it, and you will experience the fun of seeing your choices come to delightful fruition as well as learning from them. Have a great trip!

Hahaha Kathy, yes we sure took that mini pot with us everywhere and it proved to be very smart planning on our part! We retired it by last fall when we did our New England tour and will likely fully lay it to rest for future trips. Here’s to hoping good coffee is right around the corner no matter where any of us stay! :)

We did 12 nights ( 4 Rome, 2 Assisi, 3 each Florence and Venice ), staying in nun-run accomdations. We had a great time. We booked rooms thru monasterystays.com and purchased train tickets either the day of or the day before. We booked tours thru Walks of Italy in Rome (2) and Venice (1).. My wife speaks Italian so we had no language problems, but with the places we went I am sure English only is fine.