Villages of Italy tour vs. Best of Italy tour

Looking at the "activity level' meters for the tours , The Best of Italy and Spain look equal. The Village Italy and Scotland look about equal.( and decidedly less strenuous)

I have done the Best of Italy and found none of the walking to be arduous.

The Village Italy tour ends at Orta San Giulio. The Switzerland tour begins in Luzern (which, strangely, Rome2Rio is auto-correcting to "Luthern"; what's up with that?). You can do this by train--probably in about 5 to 6 hours, though with several changes. It appears your origin station will be Orta Miasino; I have no idea how far that will be from the tour hotel. You'll probably start on a regional train to Domodossola; it doesn't look as if backtracking to Milan will save much time, if any, and that route is likely to cost more. I don't know what day of the week you'd be making the trip, and that is likely to matter for the train schedule (at least weekday vs. weekend). You can explore the schedule on the Trenitalia website: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

If you have more than 36 hours for the transfer, you might want to to look for the most scenic routo Luzern even if it's a bit longer. I love the Centovalli route between Domodossola (Italy) and Locarno (Switzerland), but the route through Brig probably has more dramatic, high-mountain scenery. You might need to choose your trains carefully to avoid the ones that spend a lot of time in tunnels. There are some folks on this forum who can assist with that; I cannot.

I've done Village Italy although it's been a few years. I've not done Best of Italy although I covered a number of the stops on Heart of Italy and on the 21 Day Best of Europe tour which spends 8 nights in Italy.

I'd say Village Italy is moderately demanding. I was very fit that year having first done the Best of Europe then tacked this on afterward. I didn't have any issues but my SIL was not as ready for the activity level. On the activity meter on the tour page, Best of Italy is shown as more strenuous and that might also be because it is longer which can take a toll as well.

As to which to do....if you've not been to Italy I'd do Best of Italy as it gets you to the classic cities plus some cool extras. Village Italy was very enjoyable but I'd been to Italy before and had done Venice, Florence and Rome so the smaller towns and experiences were what I was looking for.

As to the ending of the trip in Orta San Giulio...this is kind of a mess. The guide starts working on exit strategies a few days into the trip. If you are taking the train they will help you buy your onward ticket when you are in Levanto in the Cinque Terre as there is no ticket kiosk in Orta. TBH, I'd just take a shuttle van (which the guide will arrange) to the Milano Centrale train station and start your journey to your Switzerland tour from there. I'll also add the guide will arrange a taxi to to take you to the Orta train station if you choose to do that routing...it's too far to walk from the hotel and if I remember correctly there is not a sidewalk on part of the route so you are right on the road - yikes!! Also, no real need to spend an extra night in Orta. We did and were done by early afternoon, although it was also pouring rain which put a damper on things.

Are you interested in a night or two in Milan for the Duomo and Last Supper? That would be easy to arrange after Village Italy OR before Best of Italy.

I'd also suggest you arrive in Padua at least the night before if not 2 nights before if you select Village Italy. This tour was early in my RS tour "career", lolol, and I did not do enough research to see that there was so much to see in Padua.

IF you do the Best of Italy I would recommend a few extra nights in Rome. Really, 4 total nights would be good if the timing works out for your back to back tour.

BTW, I love doing Back to backs but I do need a day or two in between do give myself some down time.

If you have never been to Italy, previously, I would definitely take the RS Best of Italy. It covers the major locations, yet it has a wonderful itinerary of variety - lake, Dolomite mountains, coast, tuscany countryside & the major “must sees” for most visitors - Venice, Rome Forum, Colosseum, Vatican, major art galleries, etc.

The RS Best of Italy was our first trip to Italy. We liked each place so much that we have returned to each of those towns spanning subsequent trips to Italy. We have also been to almost all of the towns on our own that are in the RS Village tour. They are really nice locations (no wrong answer either way!), but I would choose them for a 2nd or 3rd trip to Italy.

If you are worried about the amount of walking on the Best of Italy, I think most of the strenuous walking we did was by our own choice. In other words, when we had free time, we were out in the mountains, hiking at Cinque Terre - although you can just take the boat between towns, etc.

If you do decide on the Best of Italy, take the train (select the fast one) from Rome to Milan. Stay overnight and see the gorgeous Duomo and the Lord’s Supper painting if it’s not a Monday. I like to stay at Hotel Berna - very handy to the Milano Centrale Train station. Then next day’s train route will be about four hours to arrive at your location. As someone else mentioned, please stay a couple of extra nights in Rome. There is SO much to do in Rome that it’s just too fast to be gone after your day & a half.

We haven't done the Best of Italy, but we did do Village Italy a few years ago and loved it. The accommodations were mixed; two of the hotels were among the nicest we've ever stayed in; others were more "typical" RS hotels.

There are a few places on the VI tour that might be considered strenuous. The walk up to Civitá di Bagnoregio is a doozy indeed. I trained for that one, and still had to stop to "admire the scenery" partway up. And some folks thought Assisi was too difficult, because of the steps and the hills. And a non-tour jaunt that some of us took in Orta, the Sacra Monte, is, ummm... challenging. I think Civitá and Montefalco/Assisi were more strenuous than Toledo, but it's been about 8 years since we did the tour that included Toledo, so my memory may well be faulty.

But Village Italy was a wonderful tour, one of my favorites (we've taken 14.) It's one I'd do again.

thanks for the replies. We have been to Venice, Rome and briefly, on a cruise, to Taormino in Sicily. We have never really spent any time though in the villages or smaller cities in Italy other than a trip to Lake Como years ago. All of the hotels at which we have stayed on two RS tours have been great although the hotel, I think it was in Toledo, only had enough hot water to take a 10 second shower in a shower stall the size of a shoe box.....was just wondering if all the hotels in rural Italy were of the same mold as that one in Toledo and all had private bathrooms? Overall, the RS tours were fantastic and we are looking forward to getting back to RS in Europe once the world is normalized once again..thanks again.

Hotels on Best of Italy tour are all just fine to great. All have private bathrooms. It is a somewhat strenuous tour but you can make it less so at the various locations by making less active choices for yourself. It remains the favorite of our 6 tours as the “hits” just kept on coming.

"was just wondering if all the hotels in rural Italy were of the same mold as that one in Toledo and all had private bathrooms?"

There are only maybe 2 tours that have the possibility of sharing bathrooms. Best of Italy is not one. The place to check that is to go to the tour description page and click on "Physical Demands".

As an example, here is a link to the 21 Day Best of Europe description page. Click on the Physical Demands link and you'll see it says to "Be content with the possibility of sharing bathroom facilities at one hotel during this tour." The hotel in question is the hotel in Stechelberg, Switzerland. Maybe one of the Scandinavian tours had shared baths as well? I think that's all.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/europe/europe-21-days

I also would not really call the overnight locations on Village Italy "rural". The closest to that was the small town we stayed in between Padua and Orvieto. The location we stayed in was a different smaller village than the one that is now used but I had a huge apartment in that one. I'd love to have stayed a few days there, lol!! The overnights at the agritoursmo will be rural but this is more of a luxury stop in a resort than a rural backwater.

You'll have a wonderful time on either!

Pam, the one you reference, was it in Montefalco? Our hotel there was very nice indeed, and so was the one outside Siena. That one (outside Siena) had huge rooms; our room was bigger than the first apartment Stan and I had, and the food was incredible.

The hotel in Orta was also very nice, but we were only there one night.

Probably the "least nice" hotel we had on that tour was in Lucca, but there was nothing wrong with it. And no, no shared bathrooms on this tour.

Okay, since you have been to Venice & Rome, I would steer you towards the RS Village tour. And, since that tour is three days less than the Best of Italy, I’m adding three days extra to your Village tour. This is in addition to the two days we arrive ahead of time to get over jet lag.

Fly into Venice, and take the faster train to Verona. This is a tourist-friendly town with a Roman arena (operas in the summer). I recommend the city bike tour from Veronality. Also, purchase the Verona Card, one of the city passes that’s actually a good deal.

After a few days in Verona, take the train up to Ortisei. The Dolomites are amazing, and since you’re going to Switzerland after your tour, I think you would really like this area, too.

After you have stayed in Ortisei a few nights, take the train back to Padua the night before your tour begins.

I’ve been to Italy several times, and Venice is always special to us and Rome has so much to see. But, we’re enjoying the smaller towns much more on subsequent trips, especially if we can time it to attend one of their festivals.

I'll second Jean's suggestion to add several days, but I'm going to recommend spending them in Padova (Padua.) We arrived on the Friday before the tour started on Monday, and had a wonderful time. We got the "Padova Pass" that paid for almost every museum in town, as well as public transportation. We never ran out of things to do.

Jane, YES! Montefalco! My brother, SIL and I were lodged in a separate building around the corner from the hotel where the "chef" was located. We both had separate apartments. Like full apartments - full kitchen, living room, bedroom, bath. Yes, the agritourismo was awesome! We'd been discussing aperetiv's with the group and treated another tour member to her first Aperol Spritz out on the garden area. Every year she posts a picture on FB as a memory! Such fun! I don't even remember the Lucca room/hotel so yes, non-descript but an excellent location.

Another vote for time in Padua. I agree that it has a lot of sights (including the Scrovegni Chapel, which needs to be prebooked); I also loved just walking around the expansive historic district. In addition, Padua's also a good base for day-tripping to Vicenza (for Palladian architecture) or to Ferrara, which is popular on this forum though I haven't yet seen it.

I have made two, 10 minute videos of our 17 Day Best of Italy tour. When watching it, turn up the volume and notice all of the varied scenery that you will see on the tour. I think that will help make your decision easier. It was the best vacation I have ever taken.

https://youtu.be/c5mdy0OzRC4

https://youtu.be/MZia6oOs8iA

I’ve taken the Best of Italy and considered the other Italy tours such as Village Italy, however, chose Best of Italy for the variety (lake, mountains, cities, riviera, rural, hill towns) and agree with upthread that the hits just kept coming. And also agree there are options throughout the tour to be less strenuous/more strenuous depending on one’s preference.

Village Italy was the first RS tour that we took. We now have taken 7. It is one of our all time favorites.

I remember that a couple of the hotels did not have elevators so we were happy that we had paid attention and only took carry on luggage. but the accommodations were all fine and the villages and experiences were fun and some were things that we would not have found on our own. We have a great picture of me after just digging up a truffle! (which I love)

whatever you decide I hope you have a Great time!

Mimi

jamev13
I just noticed that you are in Louisiana. My husband and I both were born and raised there. We head back about every year and a half to visit relatives and bring back sausage from hubby hometown. My 2 grown sons cooked chicken and sausage gumbo for thanksgiving and I did too. we don't live close to each other but we had a FaceTime cooking session. Made me feel like I was at home!

Nice to talk to you
Mimi