Tour or travel on own

You should be fine speaking English. Learn a few courtesy phrases in Italian, it is appreciated. In the Tyrol, German is widely spoken.

If you look at Lonely Planet or Michelin guides you will find more information on other destinations, but the RS guides are good for depth in the places covered.

Many people would say Rome-Venice-Florence is the best first-trip itinerary. If you prefer more outdoor activity, spend some time in the Dolomites or at Lago di Garda, Lago di Como or Lago Maggiore.

Smaller towns are less expensive, Venice is the most expensive of the places you listed.

I think you can do it on your own. I'm 55, never been and am planning our trip. you can choose exactly where you want to go, how long, the hotels, the restaurants. I have had several friends that have done the tour groups. They say they are fine, but would absolutely have done it themselves if they'd known.

I know it is overwhelming. You need to do it in steps, but at this point you need to hurry along a little as June is high season. To help you better....how many days/nights in Italy? You might want to consider flying into one place and leaving from another.

1. Decide your dates of travel
2. Start researching hotels in those cities for your dates. You can normally book several and then cancel as soon as you figure out exactly where you want to stay.
3. Book your flights after you have hotel reservations...at least that is what I fid.
4. Start researching how to get from one city to the other.
5. Research the things you want to do in each city.
6. Start booking things online that you can...train reservations, tours, etc.

All of the above you can ask for opinions, ask very detailed questions. We all have done that at each step of the way. Once you have items 1 thru 3 done, you can take a deep breath, relax a little and enjoy asking the questions and combing the forums.

Many first timers do Rome, Venice and Florence. How long is your stay?

For your destinations, I see no reason to take a tour. There is no problem getting by in Rome or Venice with just English. Learning a few polite and a few useful phrases (Dove il bagno?) will help I'd make the third city Florence, not Milan.
To me, the problem with a tour is that you are not in charge of your own time. I know that many people will chime in with the advantages of a tour and say that you can opt out of activities. However, when that bus leaves town, you have to be on it. Tours are also more expensive than independent travel. My estimate is that we spend about half of what tours would cost; and, we stay in nice places and eat well.
People on this forum will help you with your planning. Don't be shy about coming back again and again. One caveat: it's a bit late for planning a June trip. Get moving. I find booking.com very convenient for making reservations, because you can see which places have vacancies and you get instant confirmation.

We have always traveled on our own. It is adventurous at times! Just show up at the bus or train station and get a a ticket to your next destination. When you get there find accomodations by asking at a tourist information office, someone working at the station, or anyone you find standing around with nothing to do but help someone out.

I think this is the least expensive way to travel but it isn't everybody's cup of tea. If you do well out of your confort zone you will do well traveling by yourselves. We have been in quite a few European countries and we don't speak the language. That is usually not a problem although sometimes it does make for vivid memories. Bulgaria and Ukraine come to mind. There is always a way fo figure out how to communicate. My wife's answer is is to find a young person. They usually know enough English and their language to help you out.

Just be confident that everything will work out. You will find transportation. You will find food and drink. You will find a place to lay your heads. You will meet people with whom you will have excellent conversations. You will find that looking after yourselves will be rewarding.

I'll add one more thought. Using a convertible carry-on bag and/or a purse or shoulder bag makes getting around a whole lot easier.

Another vote here for going solo! Like the others who've responded, we enjoy doing exactly what we wish to do at the time we wish to do it and not be bound to a schedule.

I will also agree with substituting Florence for Milan: a lovely city with gorgeous art and architecture. Venice is admittedly very expensive but it's also small so you can hit the high points in a shorter amount of time than Rome and Florence. As mentioned, you are looking to do this trip during high season when everything is more expensive, and the clock is ticking if your goal is this June.

How many destinations you want to include also depends on the amount of time you have to expend. You don't want to try and cram 3 cities plus your time in the far north into, say, 8 days.

You won't have any problems with English in the bigger cities or even some smaller ones which host a lot of tourists - although I can't speak for the Trento/Tyrol area. Italian trains are also easy to use and have direct routes between most larger cities. Getting to/around remote locations far north is something we haven't yet done so I'm unsure of transport options in that region; hopefully, someone else can offer some great insights there.

First, be aware that since this board is populated by do-it-yourselfers when it comes to travel, we have a strong bias in that direction. But, in my "old age" (I'm 52), I've come to realize that this approach is not for everyone. I have a coworker who tried going on her own to London and Paris and hated it - even with Rick Steves books to help her. She didn't like having to figure out and book her own trains and transit, felt pressure in having to decide what to do every day, and said she didn't like "playing tour guide" all the time. For me, that's what I love about independent travel - deciding what's important for me to see or not see. But she needs more guidance or she feels rudderless - and therefore stressed.

In your situation, I'd start by getting Rick Steves Italy. When you read it, see if you still feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the steps necessary to go on your own (book hotels, find restaurants, transportation, etc). If you do, there's nothing wrong with taking a tour, particularly for your first trip.

Your French will be of more help than you realize. Not because the spoken languages are mutually intelliigible (they're not), and not because there's lots of French spoken in Italy (although there definitely is some, particularly at some hotels). It's because French and Italian have a lot of similarities "under the hood," in vocabulary and grammar. Once you start trying to learn basic Italian (with Pimsleur, Berlitz for Travelers, etc.) you'll find these, and you will pick up Italian faster than someone with no knowledge of French.

We did our first Italian trip 30 years ago when we spoke virtually no Italian and there was no internet and we booked an apartment using a catalogue. It was such a success that we have traveled in Europe every year since for 3 weeks when we were working and now 3 mos at a time that we are retired.

We would never use a tour so long as we are able to physically manage travel independently. But it is a matter of personal taste here. We like traveling close to the ground and not mediated or herded together with timid people who are afraid of foreign climes. On the other hand, some people like the company and someone to manage logistics.

I would say that as independent travelers it is imperative to master a little basic Italian so you can be polite and ask fundamental questions like where is the X and I'd like y and of course excuse me, please, thank you, and polite greetings. We did this with cassettes in our car using 'Getting by in Italian' from Barrons 30 years ago and it served us well. If you travel off the beaten track it is not true that 'everyone speaks English' (unless you are in the Netherlands). On our first trip no one spoke English in the tiny town where we rented an apartment. If you are traveling in well touristed cities using tourist services, you will find a few people who do. Part of the fun is communicating and people are pretty good sports if you start with politeness phrases e.g. greetings and make it clear you understand the defect is yours not theirs.

It is great fun to be able to do what you want to do when you want to do it as long as you want to do it. We would never enjoy tours because we really like to do things at our own pace; my husband and I don't even stick together in museums as we have different speeds and different tastes.

We did our first Italian trip 30 years ago when we spoke virtually no Italian and there was no internet and we booked an apartment using a catalogue. It was such a success that we have traveled in Europe every year since for 3 weeks when we were working and now 3 mos at a time that we are retired.

We would never use a tour so long as we are able to physically manage travel independently. But it is a matter of personal taste here. We like traveling close to the ground and not mediated or herded together with timid people who are afraid of foreign climes. On the other hand, some people like the company and someone to manage logistics.

I would say that as independent travelers it is imperative to master a little basic Italian so you can be polite and ask fundamental questions like where is the X and I'd like y and of course excuse me, please, thank you, and polite greetings. We did this with cassettes in our car using 'Getting by in Italian' from Barrons 30 years ago and it served us well. If you travel off the beaten track it is not true that 'everyone speaks English' (unless you are in the Netherlands). On our first trip no one spoke English in the tiny town where we rented an apartment. If you are traveling in well touristed cities using tourist services, you will find a few people who do. Part of the fun is communicating and people are pretty good sports if you start with politeness phrases e.g. greetings and make it clear you understand the defect is yours not theirs.

It is great fun to be able to do what you want to do when you want to do it as long as you want to do it. We would never enjoy tours because we really like to do things at our own pace; my husband and I don't even stick together in museums as we have different speeds and different tastes.

I have done both, tours and independent, and for a first trip to Europe a tour would be easier. Don't let the anti-tour folks embarrass you. They have no doubt forgotten how nervous-making the first independent trip was. After a guided tour you will be ready and eager and brave enough to do the next trip on your own. I think Globus has a semi-independent tour programme, wherein you tell them where you want to go, etc., and they plan transportation, hotels and such and you are on your own in each location.

OK, I will add in that I love the Rick Steves tours! I have done 5 including 2 exclusively in Italy and one (Best of Europe) with 8 days in Italy. I very much enjoy the added benefit of a knowledgeable guide to put history, geography, politics and culture in to context. It makes the experience richer and more memorable for me. Yes, I can read a history book, but when you are standing in the Colosseum, or in the Carrara marble quarry, or in a small street in Venice I remember it better with a guide!

One wonderful thing about the RS guides is that they are there to teach you travel skills as well. You could do Heart of Italy or Venice, Florence and Rome, then add on your days in the Trento/Tyrol area.

I also enjoy the group dynamic with a RS tour. In the tours I have been on, it seems that RS group members self-select for interesting, dynamic, educated people. I think Rick's No Grumps policy also weeds out some. I have also traveled internationally with Road Scholar tours and find I prefer the Rick Steves groups more. The 2 Road Scholar tours had a lot of grumps and that can just throw cold water on the whole group! As long as I can keep up with Rick's groups I will travel with them. There is also plenty of free time to see what you want to see, eat what and where you want and generally explore on your own.

Of course you can do it on your own, but you might enjoy having the basis of your first Italy experience be with a Rick tour with the addition of your family home territory! My brother, SIL and I did Village Italy in the Fall. We spent the last night after the tour in Milan to see the Duomo where our Italian great-grandfather used to go to worship. The family story was that he walked from his village about 25 miles out of Milan to the big church. It was really a thrill to walk down the aisle where he might have walked before he emigrated!

Anhall,

As others have mentioned, there are advantages & disadvantages depending on what option you choose ( tour vs. travel on your own).

I agree with Rosalyn's comment:

To me, the problem with a tour is that you are not in charge of your own time. I know that many people will chime in with the advantages of a tour and say that you can opt out of activities. However, when that bus leaves town, you have to be on it. Tours are also more expensive than independent travel. My estimate is that we spend about half of what tours would cost; and, we stay in nice places and eat well.

I also agree with Zoe in terms of traveling to Venice, Florence & Rome.

I've not taken a tour but prefer to plan my own trip for several reasons:

• Tours are too expensive & I know I can do the same trip for much less.
• I enjoy reading & learning about the places I plan to travel to.
• I don't want to feel rushed by having a tight schedule.
• I like the flexibility of going & doing what I want to do.
• Once I'm in a new location, I may choose to stay an extra day or so-- you can't do this on a tour.
• If I'm tired & feel like sleeping in on a particular morning, I can do that...
• I enjoy planning my own trip.
• I find that traveling by train/bus is very easy in Italy (& Europe).
• I feel more confident traveling abroad with each trip that I take.
• I enjoy learning at least a few helpful phrases in the foreign language that I will be needing on my travels.

I'm sure you will get many responses regarding cons & pros for taking a tour but ultimately it's your trip, your time & your money, so you will have to make the best decision for you... enjoy your trip!

One more thing-- I'd reconsider your travel dates. June may be hot. Best weather in Europe is Spring or Fall.

All my travels to Europe have been in late Sept/ Early October and the weather has been great & the large crowds have
dissipated by then too!

We are planning to use Rick Stevens 21 day itinerary for Italy this September. Anyone follow that itinerary, is it to aggressive. My husband and I are very active 60-62 year olds. We are avid walkers and are excited to travel all over Italy. Also, we are doing the research now how to travel from city to city. So, if anyone has followed that itinerary and has travel suggestions, please share. We are looking into using Airbnb for rooms. Any advice on that also would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for any or all suggestions.
Diane

Diane,
You may want to start your own topic-- because all the responses to your questions will actually be sent to Anhall (original poster above).

You wouldn't want to hijack Anhall's post ;-)

I didn't see the 21 day Italy tour only the 17 day, & there are many 2 night stays which means you will only have one full day to explore whatever city you will be in.

I don't recommend 2 night stays especially in the major cities.
Post your itinerary questions & you will get many helpful suggestions.

Diane,
My wife and I used Rick's 21 day tour as the base for a 30 day trip to Italy last May. We modified it to add time in Florence, Rome and Venice. We also added some stops that were of interest to us and deleted a few from Rick's itinerary. Not because the schedule was too hectic, but just that there were more/different sights that we wanted to see. Oh, we are in our 70's. Out of the 30 days we rented a car to see mostly Tuscany.

Sorry didn't want to hijack. Oops!

I am 66 and my husband is 74. We (mostly I) am doing all the research for our first trip to Italy in October 2015 for 21 days. I am having so much fun and enjoying the challenge of planning this trip and hoping most decisions are good ones. But if you don't like planning details or don't have the time to devote to it then go for a tour (at least the first time). I will say that the info I am getting from Rick Steve's and the community forum are ABSOLUTELY invaluable to my planning. Pam

anhall,

If your budget will allow, you could consider something like the Venice, Florence & Rome tour, along with some time on your own in the Tyrol. The guides are exceptional and the tour would cover the places you mentioned (except for Milan - IMO, Florence would be a more interesting stop).

While you certainly could travel completely on your own, I find the "combination approach" is a good method to use. I've used both methods and self-guided travel is an enormous amount of work to plan and arrange. Having someone else take care of all the transportation, hotel and day tour details provides a very enjoyable holiday experience. It's nice to travel with the RS groups, as they're typically well travelled and interesting people.

As someone else mentioned, the tour would also give you some travel skills, which would help for the latter part of the journey. Tours typically provide a fair amount of free time, as well as one completely free day so you'd have time to do some exploring on your own.

Don't be too concerned about not speaking Italian. You'll probably find that most of the people you'll be dealing with can function in English to some extent. If you take a tour, you'll be provided with an Italian phrasebook, so that will help. If you learn the basic polite words (please, thank you, good morning, etc.), you should be able to manage quite well.

Thank you to everyone who posted. I asked the same questions on the Tripadvisor forum and got no responses so now I know to come here!

I ordered Rick's book which should be here Monday. I realize I'm starting late but because of multiple reasons, I just couldn't do more before now. I'd love to travel in the fall rather than June but we are teachers so June is really our only option. And having been to the Caribbean and Central America several times, I do think my French background should help a little with communication.

I'm still torn on the tour. I think we would like the independence but the planning just seems a little overwhelming right now. I'm going to do a little more research before making any decisions.

We have also done both the RS tour And on our own. I really appreciate not having to think about all of these details that you are stressing about ( and that I usually do too). We are doing a tour of France this year and it is one that I tookbefore I met my husband, so we are doing it again. It's that good. Two years ago there was a university professor from Canada who is a tour organizer himself on our best of the Adriatic tour. My point is just that these are very well designed tours.

There are lots of opportunities for alone time on the tours where you can get more exercise if you feel the need. Unless you are training for a marathon, you should feel that you have an adequate amount of free time for more activity.

We are doing what you contemplate, which is what we do on most tours; we have two nights pre-tour in Paris and five nights post tour on the Côte d'Azur to chill.

As for Tyrol, yes they speak German first, then Italian and everyone speaks English, so don't worry! ;-)

Anhall,

I'm still torn on the tour. I think we would like the independence but the planning just seems a little overwhelming right now. I'm going to do a little more research before making any decisions.

What tour are you thinking of doing?

I hope you come back & post more questions after you look through your guidebook :-)

A note on finding accommodations at the last minute if you do this on your own: you can reserve a room on booking.com or other site the night before or even the day of your arrival in a city. You can preserve flexibility and not waste time in TI lines looking for a room, or trying to find one on your own with luggage in tow. Make sure you check the map so you are near the places you want, and read the reviews by previous guests.

Trip advisors is wonderful for more specific questions...they will give you detailed answers.. However, they don't do so well with the broader General type questions. Please don't dismiss that forum board...I have received many many wonderful responses from it.

The more I think about it, since you are only 3 months out from your, trip you might be better off doing a tour, then spending a little time on your own independently. I've had a year to plan....not 3 months. And in all honesty, I've had lots of time ding the day to research and plan also...not just after work when I'm tired.

Book a tour, take a breath. After you go once, you will most likely feel comfortable enough the 2nd time around to DIY.

I flew through the answers so far and didn't see how much time you have for this trip, except for the 2-3 days in the north. It would be helpful to know how many nights you have on the ground to spend. Typically, considering transportation and the mechanics of checking into and out of lodging, 2 nights = 1 full day in a place.

According to Rome2rio (http://www.rome2rio.com/) there is a train from Venice to Trento that takes about 2 1/2 hours -- http://www.rome2rio.com/s/Venice/Trento. And there's a train and bus combination that can get you from Trento to Fondo in about the same amount of time. In the case of the former, you can drive it in about 2 hours, but with the latter, you can drive or take a taxi in about 50 minutes.

That seems to be the only slightly complicated part of your trip. With the towns so close, I would stay in Trento and take a day trip to Fondo. You would need to learn how to get around in each town. We use our feet, local public transportation and taxis. Both towns still might have a little snow around in June.

As for the rest of your trip, the basics are how you will get there (trains are probably the answer to that) and where you will stay (many options depending on how much you want to spend). I absolutely agree that Florence is a better choice than Milan, if you have the time. It deserves time to see and absorb, as does Rome.

According to Rome2rio, it takes about the same amount of time to get to Trento from Milan as from Venice. You could put Trento and Fondo at the beginning of your trip, fly into Milan and fly home from Rome. Because you accent the importance of this area to you, and being an immediate gratification person, I would put it at the beginning of your trip.

Where am I going with this? I recommend not taking a tour and planning this on your own.

If you can work out the northern part, which you have to do yourself anyway, you will be well prepared to do the rest of the logistics. It will be work, but not as much as you might expect. Play around with Rome2rio, use the RS book and Booking.com (http://www.booking.com/) to find places to stay and it will all start making sense to you.

You also haven't said if you already have your plane tickets. If you do, that will affect your logistics, whether they are RT or multi-city. If you don't, it may affect your pocketbook. But if you don't, you also have a chance to fly multi-city (aka open jaw) and avoid possible backtracking.

My only concern at this point is that June is only a little less than 3 months away. For the best prices, especially on train tickets, you need to get busy.

As for the tour guides, there are many kinds of English options for that, mostly for specific walking tours of cities or the Vatican or museums. Even with lots of preparation on our own, we have found that local guides make the experience better. With your logistics, you will need to make sure some of the things you want to see will be open when you are there. It is an iterative process. We decide what we want to see most and make sure that is open when we are there. The rest is much more free-form. As is so often the advice here, we plan to go back.

I am amused at responses by people who have never been on a tour but tell you about the people who do take tours... how do they know? I have done one RS tour and several Grand Circle river cruises [with my 80+yo mom], and have also planned my own trips. You are right that planning can feel overwhelming; there are so many choices! I agree with the posters who say it's more relaxing to let someone else do the planning and manage the logistics [and this is from someone who definitely enjoys planning]. Tours are more expensive than doing that number of days on your own, but we feel we have gotten great value. And on the RS tour in particular, there were NO sights we didn't want to see and NO boring people who dragged the group down. RS tours also provide a great education in how to travel on your own and generally give you a fair amount of free time. And of course you don't need to participate in any of the activities that don't interest you, as long as you're on the bus when it heads to the next location.

I suggest looking at combining an RS tour with travel on your own either before or after. There is a 10-day Venice-Florence-Rome trip or a 7-day Rome trip. Or maybe the My Way tour, which covers transportation and lodging but lets you choose your own activities in each location - with, I'm sure, ample advice from your tour leader. When we did our Germany-Austria-Switzerland tour, we started with a week on our own in the Rhineland area of Germany, where my husband's ancestors lived before emigrating to the US; it was a very low-key week of driving around small towns in Germany looking at churches, and it had the advantage of letting us get over our jetlag before the rather strenuous first day of our RS tour!

Of course you can do it all on your own if you want. It just depends how much time you want to spend working out the details and arranging all the logistics. Whatever you decide, happy planning and have a great trip!

We are in our mid40s & we have done it both ways . . . we prefer a tour. It's nice not to worry about transportation, lodging, & some meals. Plus, we really like that the RS tours get our tickets & get us into all the sites, churches, museums ... we like the NO line. We also love all we learn from the tour guides, they are amazing. There is so much art & history, that we could never learn on our own what they teach us.

We do always stay another week or so on our own after the tour ends.

I recommend you read Rick Steves EUROPE THROUGH THE BACK DOOR 2015, we are reading it now & wished we had read it before we went to Europe for the 1st time. You will skip some parts & highlight other parts. It truly covers everything. I am giving it as a gift to anyone we know traveling to Europe,

In Oct. we are doing the 10 day Venice, Florence, Rome RS tour & spending another 10 days on our own.

Next year we are looking into a MY WAY RS Tour . . . maybe the one in the Alps.

All I can say is that I am thrilled that there are some people who do not want to go on Rick Steves' tours. I am also thrilled that there are some folks who do want to travel on his tours! In 5 tours only one grump slipped in under the radar and the rest of the folks were very enjoyable to travel with. Self selection does work.

Good conversation. :O)
I don't know as those of us who are enthusiastic about self-organized trips are really "anti-tour" nor trying to embarrass anyone. I think it's also important to recognize that all tours are not equal? Speaking strictly for myself, if I booked one it would be with a smaller versus larger group, and one which did a deeper dive into history, architecture and art than flyby stops for the snapshot - which is all some other travelers wish to do. And I'm not being critical about that AT ALL but simply recognizing that we all have different things we want to get out of our trips. There's no right or wrong except for that which does or doesn't work with your own style and interests.

I'll also be the first to admit that there are places we don't feel confident enough to go it alone yet. China, for instance, looks a little daunting so we'd probably book a tour for that one. On the other hand, much of Europe handles millions of tourists yearly from all over the world, provide excellent informational websites in English, and online booking sites (we use booking.com) has made reserving hotels as easy there as in the U.S. Throw in online forums available on RS and any number of other travel sites, and it has become so much less painful to organize a solo trip abroad than it was 20-30 years ago!

But it does take some time, and that can be in short supply for busy people on a tight deadline - as you are. A tour may be the right thing for your particular situation. Then again, is June a must for your trip? Would it be possible to move your trip to the fall - a great time for travel in Italy - and give yourself some breathing room for
asking more questions and working out arrangements?

Well, after reading James' post above likening being on a tour to hanging around homeless people who wear the same clothes all the time, I can now say I have heard every anti-tour argument possible. That really is the limit. The post stopped just short of saying tour people smell. If the purpose of that is to embarrass anyone contemplating a tour it will probably work. Well done, James.

Ahem. I probably should have said that MOST of us aren't wanting to belittle anyone. No reason at all to do that. After all, whomever is setting up and paying for the trip gets the call on what's best for THEM, right?

I think a way to combine both of the options is to do day tours.......you can plan your time how you like, but then when you want to go in depth (and skip the lines) you can take a guided tour of sites......don't want to have to deal with multiple buses and trains to get out into Tuscany? Take a day tour! This way, you can make sure you hit everything you want and not miss out on learning about them......

In my upcoming trip, we have 1 tour in Venice, 1 tour in Florence and 3 tours in Rome (yeah, its a lot, but Rome has a lot!!!)......but we also have a LOT of free time in those places, making sure we get the most out of the sites we want to visit and then leaving time to explore.....

If you were to take a tour, I would definitely look at them with a magnifying glass, because as said, they are set, so you will be on their schedule, where a do it yourself trip would be your schedule and what you want to do ALL the time....

Right, Kathy, about the "most" part. I personally enjoy both being on Rick's tours and going it solo. For me, each has pluses and minuses. And to Norma and Pam, well said-different strokes for different folks. Katherine, I love day tours and have done many. Great suggestion!

"it has become so much less painful to organize a solo trip abroad than it was 20-30 years ago!"

I disagree, it was so much easier 20 years ago. You just got your airline tickets and arrived with a general itinerary. Hotels rooms were easy to find, no one made advance reservations as it cost too much (overseas phone calls cost an arm and a leg). Now, because of the internet, hotel rooms are fully booked months in advance. You have to have hotel reservations which locks in your itinerary. The days of winging it are gone.

But looking on the bright side, being able to organize more easily ourselves has also made it possible for more people to step out of their safety zones, and more affordable in some ways as well.

It has also made that chance of landing into terrible hotel rooms - booked without the benefit of candid pictures and reviews - a lot smaller than it used to be. :O)