“Hello Matteo,
Here are our thoughts on our trip to Italy:
Everything that was planned for us was on schedule and exactly as we expected and hoped for. It made the experience.
Not having to worry about transportation, finding hotels and planning tours enabled us to have a worry free time and just enjoy the places we visited. The hotel accommodations were perfect, the transportation (drivers and trains) were dependable, nice, knowledgeable and dependable, and the tour guides were all very good and informative.
Notes:
-Venice: Venice is beautiful and such a weird place. I am so happy we were able to see it and experience it. Our favorite part of the Venice portion was walking around Burano and eating lunch on the island of Torcello.
-Florence: This history in Florence is amazing we loved walking around the city and learning/relearning all the history and influence Florence provided the rest of the world. Cornelia…and I, loved the leather and shopping opportunities. We wish we had an extra day in Florence to tour the Uffizi Museum.
-Gaiole in Chianti: The most beautiful place we have ever seen and the hotel was top notch. All the hotels we stayed in were extremely nice but the place in Gaiole was hands down the best. I wish we had one, or ten more day there. This was our favorite part of the trip, and we will return.
-Rome: The whole city is amazing. I think Rome overall had the best food. Ancient Rome was very impressive and our tour guide was excellent. You could spend years in Rome and never see everything. We were a little disappointed in the Vatican tour. It was very beautiful, but we felt rushed and never got the time to stop and appreciate what we were looking at. The cooking class was wonderful. We went into it a little unsure but had the best time and I have already recommended it to a friend who is going in October. Rome is really cool and we will definitely come back
-Pompeii: Along with Ancient Rome, this was our favorite tour. Again, the tour guide was excellent and I will never forget the feeling I got walking around Pompeii. I could have spent 10 more hours there.
–Sorrento: We had mixed feelings about Sorrento. I think our budget and the short time frame we planned the trip contributed to this. We were kind of hoping to spend our last four nights in a resort type hotel and relax doing nothing before we returned home. HOWEVER, we ended up being very happy with Sorrento. It was close to everything and gave us the opportunity to see more than just the inside of a resort hotel, so we were happy it worked out this way. My favorite restaurant on the whole trip was in Sorrento, Porta A Marina, and the boat tour of the Amalfi Coast was a lot of fun.
Suuggestions:
I would spend one less day in Venice. We really liked Venice and it is certainly an interesting place but, I feel like it was a bit too touristy and once you had the feeling of the city, there was not a lot else to do or see.
I wish we had another day in Florence, to tour the Uffizi Museum, or an additional night in Gaiole to just relax and enjoy everything the hotel had to offer.
Overall:
This was a trip of a lifetime. We saw the most beautiful places and the tours were unforgettable. You made it so easy for us to get from place to place, the accommodations were perfect, and we never felt like we were on our own because you were just a phone call away.
We really appreciate how easy you made everything for us and next time we go to Italy we will definitely reach out.
Thank you,
Scott and Cornelia”
Scott & Cornelia Turyn (Alexandria, VA) – SEPTEMBER 2016
Vineyard landscape with wooden barrels, Chianti
Old street in Rome
View of Pompeii streets
