Not to derail the current thread about river cruises; my wife and I both have a visit to Rome and Florence as our first priority for future travels. She says go in the winter to avoid the crowds; I'm thinking fall or early spring. I've been to Venice in early spring; it was beautiful, but weather was still cold.
We've traveled a lot on our own, but in our old age and with my wife less able to walk distances and climb stairs, we're looking at some kind of organized tour. We're not really looking for out of the way places; the usual museums and walking tours of Florence and Rome would be fine.

Any advice from folks who have been on such a tour would be much appreciated.

We spent 2+ weeks in Italy with Tauck in April of 2023, had a blast. Saw Rome, Florence, and much more with local guides Tauck hired. It was a minor pain to pack the suitcase every few days, but we saw lots of places. This may be more than you need:

https://www.tauck.com/tours/it...rted-tour?tcd=it2026

Here's their 8-day tour:

https://www.tauck.com/tours/ve...rted-tour?tcd=wf2026

I recommend arriving AT LEAST one day early, add-ons at the end are also fun.

If you do not have passports apply now. Or ensure your current passport will have six months left when you travel.

We're planning on going in late June/early July.
Following this thread with interest

I’ve been to Rome but it was when I was a sailor and we just did our own thing.

But last year we went to London and Edinburgh and in both places we sought out “tours by locals”. Initially as a quick tour of the city and what we felt was interesting and what to avoid. After the 1st tour, we asked the guides in both places if they could give us a longer visit the next day to the places we found interesting.

Both guides did it and our Edinburgh guide made a day trip for us to visit all around the countryside. Bc once you’ve seen one castle-well..

Both guides took note of my moms walking difficulties and both were allowed to park in handicapped areas bc they were both taxi drivers and used their handsomecab in the tours by locals.

I don't have a specific recommendation, but I've been to Rome three times and Florence twice and I think a tour or a guide would be well worth it. There is so much to see, especially in Rome. The first two times going to Rome, it was just me and the wife and it was confusing and fatiguing.

The last time we went to Rome to visit my son, who was a student there; he spoke the language and knew the city. He knew where to go, what to avoid, and (most importantly), how much to pack into each day without exhausting his parents. We had a much better trip with my son as our guide.

I just went to Rome for 10 days in October. We used both "The tour guy", and "Livtours". We did a trip to Pompeii, and one to Florence. Get the high speed rail if you base out of Rome and go to Florence. Our tour ended up being very short because of the drive time to Florence. October seemed to be a perfect time for Rome. It was warm enough to not need a coat, but cool enough to not be burning up.

We were on a short walking tour that ended near the Vatican. The tour guide pressed us to buy get on/get off bus tickets to see the rest of Rome. We waited about 30 minutes to get on, got off near the Colosseum. Waited another 20-30 min and they parked as soon as we got back on, said they were taking a break. We got off and walked to see everything else

So, don't bother with those bus tickets, they're shit

My favorite thing besides the ruins was a cafe on the banks of the Tiber, amazing food

From my table




We enjoyed all of our stops, Rome being the least favorite. Very crowded in June and I sweated buckets

Absolute favorite was Pompeii

Just got back from visiting Florence, Rome and Sicily. We did our own thing except for
a 3 hour guided tour of the Colosseum and surrounding area. Weather was perfect, low 50’s.
Crowds were manageable, the guide told us that the summer has 10x the people and it’s hot.

I spent 5 weeks studying Italian in Florence. I was great living in one place, then taking side trips to other areas by train. Was there Nov. and December, there were no tourist crowds. Weather was moderate, some rain, cool but not cold.

I've been to Rome a few time, my last trip, my wife flew over and met the tail endnof a business trip and we spent a week there.

We bought a multi-day pass for the red get-on, get-off tour bus and it was well worth the cost. The buses drive a continuous loop that takes them near all the major attractions. There was a stop a block from our hotel and we used the bus to get around when we wanted to go more than walking distance. They also have a recorded audio guide that plays over a headphone.

A word of caution, we did some guided tours at individual sites like the Colosseum and the Vatican. The Vatican tour included the Vatican museum as well as St Peters basilica. The tour had about 20 people in it and they gave everyone a headset to hear the tour guide. We started in St Peter's square and then walked around the Vatican to get to the museum’s entrance. There was an older couple that just couldn’t keep us with the pace the tour guide set and had to drop out before we finished the museum. I felt terrible for them. Make sure any tour you set up will be something that you and your wife can do or, will accommodate you.

I can't help with the tours as the two times I went to Rome and Venice were back in High School and we just did our own thing. It was a LOT of walking, and a LOT of stairs. We used public transit to get around, and it gets plenty hot in the summer. I'd recommend Spring or Fall.

Italy is amazing, and you should absolutely make the trip. I'm sure if you do your research there are tour options that will accommodate your needs.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

...I'm sure if you do your research there are tour options that will accommodate your needs.

For us older (mid-70s) folks, something like the Tauck tour I posted is ideal. You write one check and everything is taken care of: Flight from your home airport, airport pickup, hotel, busses, most meals, etc. Sure, there may be a day or two when you have an afternoon free, but the days are usually filled up. It's both tiring and fun.

The pace of walking tours isn't real strenuous, but someone who needs a cane or walker might have trouble.

quote:

For us older (mid-70s) folks, something like the Tauck tour I posted is ideal. You write one check and everything is taken care of:

We did that for our Israel tour; very small group and the tour leaders were good friends (pastor and his wife from a church in Maui); the actual guide was excellent. We had a very small bus, meals and lodging all arranged so we could concentrate on seeing the Holy Land without distractions. Sounds good to me for Italy. We are early 80's; probably only have a couple of big trips left in us, but we'll see.

I've been to Italy a lot over the last 10-years, its a very easy place to navigate and there's endless resources (books, videos, blogs, apps, etc...) that can be used.
While I do enjoy the planning aspect of trip making, I will hire a guide for certain things, Vatican Museum/Sistine chapel is one of them; basically locations where its so heavy in information that a guide helps break it down into bite-sized portions. Other times, I'll utilize self-guided tours via books and downloaded audio recordings, you're not at the mercy of the tour guide and you can enjoy the location at your own pace.

Going with a tour operator certainly has its advantages, depending on the type of operator they can curate your trip to what you're interested in, expenses can be condensed to a single invoice and the frustration of route-finding/transportation is avoided. I've had several friends take Rick Steves Tours and every one of them has walked away highly satisfied and found their trip to be a fantastic & rewarding experience.

quote:

We've traveled a lot on our own, but in our old age and with my wife less able to walk distances and climb stairs

Unless you're staying in a modern building, stairs are a fact of life in Italy and really throughout Europe, it's an old place. I took my parents on a trip and they were both 77, part of their 'pre-trip training' was long-walks that had some stair/hill climbing to get their muscles conditioned. Most of the places we stayed we got them rooms that was one-flight up.

quote:

I'm thinking fall or early spring. I've been to Venice in early spring; it was beautiful, but weather was still cold.

There's really no 'low season' anymore for Italy. While Winter time presents a different time to visit, it's also the time that most Italians are able to travel and explore their own country as the other three seasons, the country is overrun with tourists. That said, April-May and late-Sept & October I've found are the best times, balancing the surge in 'tourism season' and getting favorable weather. I've visited post-Christmas, Rome had mild days and cold/wet nights, spent NYE in Florence which was freezing (thank god I had a wool sweater) and the next day visited Cinque Terre on Jan 1 where the weather was sunny, low-60's and zero rain.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: corsair,

We recently completed our second trip to Italy. We absolutely love it so much. Have been to Florence twice, Rome, Venice, and Lake Como. Highly recommend all of them.

We also do our own thing and just take a couple of tours, mostly to get access to areas in the attractions that are only accessible with tours. Our Colosseum/Forum guide was fantastic, Vatican not so much. I am an architect and art nerd so I study up on things that I want to see before I go. My wife is a planning machine and does a ton of research before we go somewhere so we have a daily itinerary planned out, with plenty of flexible time for whatever we want built in.

As far as weather, we’ve been in March and October. March was much cooler (snow in Paris on that trip) and October was almost perfect. You needed layers because it was cool in the morning but warm when walking in the sun in the afternoon. I would much rather deal with cool weather than hordes of people.

My in-laws have been doing more guided tours of Europe or at least had a planner plan everything for them with different tours set up in each city. They are past doing the amount of research that we do.

In September 2015, I did a tour of Venice, Cinque Terra, Pisa (4 hours only which is right length), Florence, Umbria, and Rome. The tour ended and I went to Sorrento and Isle of Capri on my own.

I was living in Can-eh-duh at the time and frankly wish I would've went in October instead of September. I was walking as much as 20 miles a day (e.g. the day I toured the Vatican). It was too hot and I ended up getting a heat rash on my shins in Florence which despite a pharmacist prescription ended up giving me problems rest of trip (i.e. Rome and Sorrento).

I did like my tour company, Intrepid. It's very different and not for everyone as you travel like Europeans city to city (e.g. train), tour is only 12 to 14 people, guide gives a 3 hour walking tour of each city when you arrive, you have 1 group meal in each city, and then you're on your own the remaining 2 or 3 days in city. They'll help make reservations which is highly recommended for museums in Florence and the Vatican. It's an Australian company so the tour had quite a few Aussies and Kiwis, and they're fun to hang out with. It fits my personality perfectly unlike other tour formats where 50+ people sit in same seat on tour bus every day, 100% of their day is planned, everybody tours the same thing as a mob, on and off tour bus all day, etc.

Venice was my favorite location. I like being on the water and sipping cappucino at outdoor cafes. Amazing historical buildings and art as well.

Florence was my 2nd favorite location. The amount of famous art and statues was overwhelming, and I wish I would've spaced out Uffizi Gallery (i.e. museum with hundreds of painting from Renaissance) and Accademia Gallery (i.e. museum with Statue of David). A few of us did go see a professional football/soccer match which was fun. Florence is also known for the 2 kilogram (not a typo) t-bone steaks and a few of us teamed up to put away a few.

Rome was not my favorite location. I didn't find it relaxing as it's a bustling major city, people drive like running over tourists gets them points in a video game, and it's really big and spread out (i.e. the reason for 20 miles walking despite taking trains and taxis). I was also appalled at how the Vatican oversells tickets (i.e. you have about 2 sq ft of space and rude ass Chinese tourists literally put their hands on your back) and of course the hyprocrisy of the commie Pope living surrounded by trillions in art in his fortified castle. Don't get me wrong, there was amazing historical building and art, but it wasn't the relaxing vibe I like on vacation.

I did a Road Scholar tour to Rome, Florence and Venice last late April / early May.

Couldn't believe the amounts of people. But with the group (18 of us) we avoided most of the lines. Most meals were included, so that made eating smoother.

But lots of Walking with uneven surfaces. One day in Rome I did over 12 miles, that was a long side trip to the Vatican that wasn't part of the group tour.

My only issue was the small hotel rooms we had. Most weren't "chains", just one off old, quaint places. But within the group we always seemed to get the short straw.

Had a great time.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I did like my tour company, Intrepid. It's very different and not for everyone as you travel like Europeans city to city (e.g. train), tour is only 12 to 14 people, guide gives a 3 hour walking tour of each city when you arrive, you have 1 group meal in each city, and then you're on your own the remaining 2 or 3 days in city. They'll help make reservations which is highly recommended for museums in Florence and the Vatican. It's an Australian company so the tour had quite a few Aussies and Kiwis, and they're fun to hang out with. It fits my personality perfectly unlike other tour formats where 50+ people sit in same seat on tour bus every day, 100% of their day is planned, everybody tours the same thing as a mob, on and off tour bus all day, etc.

Your better tour operators are like this; transportation in smaller buses or vans and groups no larger than 20-people. Schedule flexibility just depends upon which tour plan one purchases. It's those budget travel packages, particularly Viator and other aggregators, that pack people in and have amoeba-like groups getting herded along.

quote:

Florence is also known for the 2 kilogram (not a typo) t-bone steaks and a few of us teamed up to put away a few.

Ahhh yes, Bistecca alla fiorentina I have a few favorite places I like for getting a slab of protein.

quote:

Rome was not my favorite location.

I have no problems with Rome since I'm a history buff but, it can be a grind. One of my closest friends who's traveled Italy much more than me doesn't have fond memories of Rome. I always hunt-out Roman history sites and enjoy the Borghese Gallery.