Just got back from our 10 day 3 City tour of Italy and wanted to share a few experiences relating to Rick Steves (RS) products and info.
First off all, we purchased several RS products and are beyond ecstatic with their performance: The Civita Shoulder Day Pack, Civita Neck Wallet, and the small lambskin pocket wallet. I planned on using the day pack, but the wife absconded with it soon after arriving in Italy and she made great use of it. I was disappointed by its small size until we started packing it with everything as the day and days wore on. Incredible!!! I carried the bulk of our cash, cards and passport in the neck wallet. It was very comfortable and handy. However, even in November, I sweated a lot and the holder did not protect the passport from getting a bit wet, even though I wore a t-shirt between the wallet and my body. Still, it was great. In Rome, a group of four ladies packed onto the metro and as turns out, they were there to steal. Sure enough, at the next stop they jumped off, and immediately I realized that somehow they manged to grab my RS wallet from my front pocket. I jumped off the metro, grabbed one of the girls, and a second handed me the wallet, unzipped, but the contents were still there. So, RS' comments about Rome pick pockets is spot on. This group consisted of two women with babies (probably dolls) and two other girls. They pressed into us and I could feel their hands "feeling me out". And bang, in a second the train stopped and off they went...
We visited Rome, Florence, and Venice. There is no way you can see even the major attractions in 2-1/2 days at each city. We took notes watching the RS videos and wanted to hit at least those sites, and was unable to hit 1/2 of them. Also, I urge anyone to check with their hotels in advance regarding the best way to go from the airport or train station to the hotel. We screwed up in Venice! Also, in Venice we lost a lot of time taking the trip to Murano to see the glass making. We ended up on a taxi sponsored by one of the $$$$$ Murano galleries. The demonstration was okay but the sales pitch and ride back stole valuable time, plus the ride back dumped us on the other side of the island from where we were staying. If you want to do Murano, take the water bus for 7 euros.
We greatly appreciated the off-season timing. Lines were short or non-existent, streets were not crowded, etc. I cannot even imagine visiting Florence and Venice in high-season. Never, Never, Never.
Thanks to RS, we packed light, and we are super glad we did. You walk a lot between train, plane, bus, boat, etc. Small wheeled carry-ons and a backpack are the way to go. Also pack light. I packed one too many slacks. Other than that, perfection. At 6'2" I was able to pack everything into one Travel Pro carry-on. I carried a small camera bag during the day, the wife carried the RS day pack. Going home, we added a mid sized back pack to carry our coats and a few items we purchased.
All in all, it was a great trip. Just wish we could have stayed longer in each city!!!!! You cannot go wrong travelling to Italy. Great people, great food, the art, the architecture, everything was just incredible!!!!