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Two Week Unguided Italy Adventure

My wife and I recently returned from spending 2 weeks in Italy. Not being seasoned travellers we wrestled with whether to go on an organized tour, ask an agent to book flights, hotels, trains etc. or to just wing it on our own. After some research and chats with travellers we decided to opt for the latter choice.

We started off our journey in Rome where we spent 3 nights. We then hopped on a high speed train and arrived in Venice where we stayed for three nights. Our next train ride took us to Florence where we lodged for another 3 and then it was off to Sorrento for you guessed it, 3 nights. While in Sorrento we did day trips to Capri and Positano. Back to Rome for our final night before heading home.

Along the way we booked a few organized tours with companies like Get Your Guide and Walks of Italy which filled our needs when we needed some structure. I must say that CHAT GPT and Gemini definitely helped us out both in trip preparation and while travelling.

My point in writing this article is that you shouldn’t be afraid to custom plan and design your own trip. All the resources you need are at your fingertips on forums such as this one and many more. Any questions? Just let me know. Good luck!!

Posted by
313 posts

Glad to see you were able to have a wonderful trip and do it yourself. I agree you should not be afraid to custom plan and design your own trip.

We do our own travel planning as well. The first European trip (2022-just re-opening from COVID) was a true leap of faith, but we had a wonderful time and love planning our own trips. There may come a point in the future where we hand the reins (and our luggage) to a professional, but right now we will do it ourselves.

Our daughter and I had a girls trip to Paris last spring, and booked a wine tour through Get Your Guide and it was wonderful.

Posted by
1000 posts

Glad to hear you had a good trip and yes, I agree that self-guiding is not nearly as difficult or stressful as a lot of folks think. Self-guiding is the whole reason Rick Steves became popular in the first place. But his fans are much more affluent these days, so dropping an extra $4-500/day to push the easy button is super popular. Cheers!

Posted by
4193 posts

Sounds like a great trip, well done for doing all your own planning!
I love the planning part of my trips and have always done it myself for decades.
I’ve never taken a guided tour, but might when I’m a bit older.