Hi Everyone. It looks like the South of Italy tour won't open up for booking until July 19. For those of you who have taken this tour, do you have any idea how quickly it will book. I'm thinking late May dates. Reason for asking is I want to talk face-to-face to my sister-in-law about going but won't see her until mid-August. She's in Washington state, I'm in Arizona. A phone call in this instance won't do. She's as bad as her brother about not wanting to travel (must have the travel gene missing from their family), but if I can show her pictures of the area her grandparents lived, I think she'd enjoy the trip since she's very family oriented. (Wish me luck or I'll be traveling solo.)
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7049 posts
There are 19 of those tour dates in 2018. There's no way all the 2019 dates (assuming they have a similar number of tours) will fill up within a month (between July and mid-August). I don't think you need to worry about taking your time to make this decision. If you need more reassurance, get in touch with the RS Member Department about how much leeway you comfortably have (I'm guessing several months unless you are really tied to a specific timeframe that's oversubscribed).
Definitely go solo if you can't persuade a skeptical travel partner.
Posted by
OP
Phoenix🌵
2728 posts
Thanks Agnes. After last year’s fiasco, i’m more of a worrier than ever.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
We plan to offer a few departure dates that fit your late-May description, similar to 2017 and 2018. But rate of sales is hard to predict - just too many variables, including a larger family could sign up, destinations wax and wane in customer demand, etc. My mom and I did sign up quite late last year for this route and got the last two spots on the date we wanted, but that was for travel in late September, not May. Start planning your seduction strategy!
Posted by
Pacific Grove, CA
5 posts
This is a great tour that you will enjoy. Alfio was our guide and he was so interesting, so helpful, and such a thoroughly good guide that he really made the tour terrific. (All the guides we had on our different RS Tours have been outstanding so worry if you don’t get Alfio)
I suggest you give yourselves a few extra days in Rome at the start of the tour to get acclimated to the time and visit the Vatican Museum which is not on the tour.
Make reservations at the same hotel from which the tour starts so you don’t have to change hotels as well as get a good rate because you are a RS customer
I think all the comments above are on point so you should have plenty of good dates left even if you don’t decide until August. However, summer in Italy is HOT. I think April/May or Oct/Sept are the best times for travel in Southern Italy. Have fun!
Posted by
OP
Phoenix🌵
2728 posts
Thanks Daniel for the Vatican hint. I plan to go to Rome 3 or 4 days before the tour. I don’t deal well with jet lag and need a couple days to adjust my body clock.