Picking a tour of Italy

You probably mean Heart of Italy which is a 9-day tour. I have done that one but have not done the V/F/R one. I have been to Venice, Florence and Rome on other Rick Steves tours.

I think one of the main differences is that on the Heart of Italy you get out in to smaller cities like Volterra and a few hours stop in Lucca plus the smaller villages in the Cinque Terre. With the V/F/R tour you are concentrating on the big cities.

As Pam mentioned, the Best of Italy is a 17 day tour, beginning in Varenna. That would be the "best" one (IMO) as it covers a nice blend of smaller towns as well as the larger cities (including "the big three").

Which tour to choose will depend whether you'd prefer to see just larger cities, or whether you'd like more of a mix. One way you could cover all the bases would be to take the Heart of Italy tour and then plan a few days on your own in Venice either before or after the tour. The HOI tour already covers Rome and Florence, so this way you get to cover all the areas from both tours. By the end of the tour, you'll be comfortable with getting about in Italy on your own.

Good luck with your decision!

Yes, Heart of Italy tour was what I meant. Was there any opportunities to take any cooking classes in that tour? Thanks for your input.

Gosh, I just thought of something! In Cinque Terre, Mama, the owner of Hotel Pasquale where 1/2 the group stayed (the rest stayed in the Villa Steno, owned by their son) did do a Pesto making lesson! It was a lot of fun listening to her give the recipe (use 80 basil leaves, lol!!) and watching her grind up the basil leaves in a ~huge~ mortar and pestle. Then, of course, we ate the pesto! There was no hands' on but very, very enjoyable.

My husband and I debated about the same thing. Time wouldn't allow us to take the 17 day tour. We are leaving for the Best of VFR tour in 2 weeks! We ultimately decided on this trip because it was our first trip (of many to come) and we wanted to do the "big city/touristy - history thing". I'm already dreaming of my next visit to the smaller villages to learn more about the area where my family is from.

Kristen,
Will you please let me know how your trip is??
Enjoy your time in Italy!

As to flights, post here again when you know your dates and cities. Depending on your nearest airport, there might be some budget options on Norwegian Air, stopping over in Oslo or Stockholm. If you're close to LA you'll have lots of legacy airlines flying over there so it's hard to guess on good flights without more information.

Looks like we'll likely do July 10-18 Heart of Italy starting in Rome (although we'll likely fligh into Bologna a July 6) flying out of Florence to/ from Seattle . Thanks for any tips!

I think you will really enjoy this tour! But...really you can't go wrong with ~any~ RS tour!