Village Italy RS tour

I would not add days to Lake Orta, small. . Go to nearby Lake Maggiore instead for a few days. Ranco on SÉ coast is a wonderful less touristed by Americans place to stay and not far from MXP for your departing flight. Or train to Rome, visit and then fly out of FCO.
FYI, Lucca is in Tuscany.

I agree Lake Orta was small and the hotel manager incredibly rude. We did Bologna before Padua for 2 days, it was a very nice city and I have heard the food tour fabulous, unfortunately we couldn’t do it because of our full day a Sunday.

We did 2 full days in Padua before the tour last year and we’re very glad we did. Would go back.

Yes, thinking 2-3 days in Padua before tour could work.

What was the best stop of the tour?

Unfortunately for us I can’t comment on the best stop because our group got hit with Covid and we were off the tour early. Very glad we did 4 days in Venice and the 2 days in Padua before to balance out the 9 days spent in the Covid hotel in Rome!

So dedellac, you feel the extra nights in Tuscany countryside instead of the normally scheduled 2 nights in Lucca to be an advantage? Can I ask why? I was confused about what the itinerary would actually be instead when I asked the office about this last year.

I am thinking 4 nights gives time to slow the pace instead of checking out/ bus/checking in. I have not called the office yet to find out possibilities.

I took this tour last year in June. We stayed two nights in an agriturismo in Tuscany (very relaxing) and two nights in Lucca.

I flew into Venice and took the bus from the airport directly to Padova. I stayed 2 nights in Padova before the tour began. It was well worth it for me.

At the end of the tour, I (and most others on the tour) left either to go the Milan airport to fly home or to stay in Milan for a few days. Lake Orta is small and there is not much to do. Our hotel had a pool but it was small and tended to be occupied with families with young kids.

I was one of many that went to Milan for an extra day. I wish I had the time to stay two or three extra days in Milan but needed to get back to work. Our guide arranged for transportation for everyone based on where they were going and what time they wanted/needed to leave.

I took the Village Italy tour in late April. It was a wonderful tour! I spent a couple extra nights in Venice, a couple nights in Padua and a couple in Milan. I enjoyed all those extra days and would encourage you to build in as much extra as you can!

While it’s true that the two nights in the Tuscan countryside were relaxing, Lucca was perhaps my favorite stop of the tour. Although maybe it was tied with Orvieto and Levanto…. Hard to pick. I would love to re-visit all of them

We did that tour about five years ago. LOVE IT!

We arrived early and spent three days in Venice. Then, at the end of the of the tour we went to Milan and took the train to Lake Como for three nights, then back to Milan before flying home.

BTW, your tour guide will organize vans to take everyone to Milan at the end of the tour. Some went to the airport and some to the train station.

I did this tour in 2017. I was 71 at the time and traveling solo. Your comment about transportation being an issue because you'll be traveling solo was a little confusing to me.

I put Rome at the beginning of my trip and flew into there where I spent 6 nights in an apartment and caught up with a few of the many things I hadn't seen or done on previous trips.

From Rome I took the train to Ravenna. I stayed there 2 nights in a B&B to have the day between to visit the mosaics that aren't seen on the very short bus stop on the tour.

Then I took the train from Ravenna to Venice where I stayed 5 nights in an apartment to do my Venice catching up.

From there it was a very short train ride to Padua to arrive for the start of the tour. A few people started with extra days there which they thoroughly enjoyed.

At the end I spent 3 nights in a hotel close to the train station, took the direct train to the airport and flew back home from Milan.

Obviously, this itinerary required that I have multi-city (aka open-jaw) flight reservations. You could do the same, then take a fast train (Frecciarossa) from Rome to Padua. There are ones that take about 3.5 hours and have no train changes. They depart Roma Termini and go through Florence and Bologna. Their ultimate destination is Venice but Padua comes before Venice. Of course if you had time you could split the trip into 2 (or more) pieces/tickets with 2 nights in Florence and/or Bologna. But if Rome is calling you like it did me, I'd spend all the extra time you have before the tour in Rome.

I agree with those who weren't all that impressed with Orta and that the person in charge was rude. Breakfast was served to the RS group in 2 shifts. I was in the 2nd group. I made the mistake of going to the breakfast room too early in search of coffee and got a scolding and shooing out of the sparsely populated room. If you typically need to go back to your room after breakfast, do your best to be in the first group of RS people for breakfast!

Wow Lo thanks so much for sharing you have given me a lot of possibilities to think about - especially visiting Rome again.

My sister and I just booked this exact same tour! We’re not adding days on at either end but don’t really anticipate problems. Taking a red-eye to Venice and we will sleep. We’ve done this twice before and jet lag wasn’t really an issue. In fact the first time in UK, we disembarked and took a taxi to the rental car place where we hopped in a drive several hours. Sleep on the plane and you’ll be fine. We arrive 10/23

Given the current state of air travel I would strongly suggest that travelers build in a buffer to their transportation plans. For higher stakes trips involving tours, weddings or cruises a delay could mean missing out on one or more days of the tour or literally missing the boat.

Edit. I took the tour several years ago. So many fun things along the way. Truffle hunting, olive oil coop, marble quarry. At that time we stayed in a very nice place in the Tuscan countryside. Nicest lodging on that tour and possible all RS tours for me.

Enjoy it’s a great tour.

We stayed in Verona for 2 days before the tour, and it was delightful! At the end of the tour we added a day in Lake Orta, and that was a great decision - to unwind and explore this cute lakeside town.

I was considering Heart of Italy tour but this afternoon changed my mind to Villages Italy. Rough, quick plan is to fly into VCE; stay in Venice (my happy spot) 4 nights; move to Padua the morning the tour starts; when tour ends train to Florence 4 nights; train to Rome 4 nights; fly home from FCO.

I’m traveling solo, too. It will be my 4th RS tour, 3rd solo one, all with independent days pre- and post-tour. Trains in Italy are easy. Use the Trenitalia app.

I think this is the tour I was hoping for. I just couldn’t get excited about the others I considered. I’ll probably sign up tomorrow.

I agree with Rocket about getting there one or more days before the tour starts. If your flight is cancelled,, as is common now, your tour could be in a different city before you get there.

I love reading comments on the Forum....
We are going on the Village Italy tour that begins October 14th. Our plan is to have an extra 2 days in Padua. Any suggestions for those two days that won't overlap on the day in Padua with the tour? I love doing food tours and wine tastings.