Best of Europe 14 Days-April 29, 2018-Adivice for Add On Trips

It sounds as if you've traveled to Europe before, and I suppose you know how your own body reacts to an overnight flight. I would never book an evening activity (or even a prepaid afternoon activity) for my arrival day. I would be too brain-dead to enjoy it; I might even sleep through it.

Lynn, you will have such a great time! I've done 6 of Rick's tours, 5 of them as a solo, and have never had an issue with making friends and feeling a part of the group.
I was in Venice last Spring for a few days before the Best of the Adriatic and did the cicchetti crawl. I signed up a few months before and it was confirmed a couple of days before my date when Alessandro had gathered together enough people. (I think we were 5.) It was great fun, especially since I was on my own for 4 days before the tour.
Be sure to have a phone or pad with email access, because that was how I was notified. I think I was in England at the time, not home.
You could, however, put together a "crawl" on your own with some other like-minded tour participants. I think the Venice book gives a list of good places and your guide will know about some also.
The evening Seine cruise is lovely if you can stay awake that late!
For Rome, I highly recommend the Borghese Gallery if you aren't "museumed out" after Florence. Order tickets on line as soon as they are available, which might even be now. I enjoyed time at Ostia Antica since I love ancient Roman and Greek monuments, but there's plenty to do in Rome proper as well.
There is a Bay Area Rick Steves travel group which meets at Larkspur Landing at noon on the second Saturday of each month. I would encourage you to come and meet with us. We are a lot of fun, if I may say so myself, and have a lot of good information to share based on our wide and diverse travel experiences. Several of us will miss the February meeting (traveling!) but everyone is helpful and loves to share information.
And we would love to meet you!
Happy trails!
SharYn

Thank you so much for your responses.

Acraven...I know it sounds as bit adventurous to go out the evening I arrive and it may or may not happen but I am originally from England, have lived in the USA 38 years and lost count of how many times I go back and forward to England...my experience is if I can take a little rest on arrival I get another boost and if I can get through it and stay awake it helps get the jet lag under control faster. I probably won't pre-book and will take my chances to see how tired I am.

SharYn....Thank you for reaching out and providing the info, I definitely want to do the Cicchetti crawl and will contact Alessandro. I will have both phone and IPad with me.

I have put the 2nd Saturday in March on my calendar (March 10) and come to Larkspur and meet with the group. What a great idea and you'll all have so many resources to share! I have signed up for another tour to Sicily in November so will also be looking for ideas on that when I meet you all. I'm not 100% sure about it and may change it for another but the groups thoughts and experiences will help on that. I'm in Walnut Creek so not far from you. We can always Private Message (if that's possible) if necessary.

I just ordered the tour book today as they have been out of stock, it will be helpful when I have that to help plan.

Thanks again to both of you for responding,

Lynn

Hi Lynn --
Yes, do try to come to our meeting on March 10th.
One of our members and his wife did the Sicily tour a few years ago and would be happy to talk with you. Another occasion member did as well, and hopefully she will come again in March.
I'll be back for that meeting as will another friend and will look forward to meeting and sharing information with you.

Hi Sharyn....I will come March 10, what is the name of the restaurant? I think there are several in Larkspur Landing?

Thank you!

Lynn

My husband and I went on this tour last summer and loved it. It was our 2nd Rick Steves Tour. We arrived in Paris a day early. We did the Sight Seeker's Delight Orsay Only the Best tour which was very nice, did lots of walking including the Rue Cler neighborhood were I've stayed before, climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe which was well worth it, and did a walking tour of Montmartre. At the end of the tour we stayed an extra night in Rome - and while I initially planned to do a day trip from Rome we weren't so motivated by the end of the tour - and we ended up doing the Rick Steves' walking tours of the Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere since they both started at the same place - and we had a fabulous day. Our tour guide recommended a local place in Trastevere for lunch. We're doing the South of Italy tour this May to continue the journey thru Italy we started last year. On both tours, we've had solos - I would not worry about it - if you want the company you'll have it. Last year during free time we went to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica, this year we hope to go to Villa Borghese. And if I had the time I would love to do one of the numerous food tours in Rome. Rick recommends http://www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com/.

Thanks Carol for the food tour link!

Hi Lynn --
We meet at Marin Brewing Company at noon, and are frequently still there at 3 or 4pm, so no need to be on time.
We also post our meetings under Travel Group Meetings which is cleverly hidden at the bottom of the Tips and Trip Reports categories ...
We'll look forward to seeing you there. (We might be inside or on the patio depending on the weather. We'll have the blue books on the table and the happy far-away looks on our faces!)

Thanks SharYn!
Looking forward to it.

Lynn