Travel Review Italy Travel Agency: Private Italy Tour: Florence, Tuscany, Lucca, Chianti, Siena, Val d’Orcia, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Capri
“Ciao Matteo! We just returned home and wanted to thank you for organizing a wonderful trip for us, we had such a fantastic time and could not be happier that we chose Discover Your Italy! We loved all the sights, history and hospitality that Italia showed us – it is such a special place and we are happy that we got to experience so many different areas.
While the trip is still fresh, I wanted to provide some detailed feedback that I hope will help you with future clients. This is not intended as criticism or dissatisfaction, just our thoughts in case you find them helpful:
– Your communication before & during our trip was terrific and much appreciated; thank you for checking on us several times and making sure everything was good. We felt very well taken care of! The detailed itinerary and instructions were very helpful.
– All our guides and drivers were prompt, professional, courteous and knowledgeable. They were flexible when circumstances out of their control required it, and very gracious and patient. For example, Carlo was our driver/guide for our day in Val D’Orcia; our cheese tasting group tour started late and went long so his day ended up being 2+ hours longer than planned, but he was very kind about it. Our train from Rome to Naples was delayed by an hour, but both our driver (Franco) and Pompeii guide (Mouissa) accommodated the delay very kindly. Those 3, along with Cristiano (our driver from Florence to Siena), were especially excellent.
– All our hotels were conveniently located and we were able to get around on foot very easily. They all offered nice hearty breakfasts (as you know we Americans are used to eating more than just a pastry in the morning, unlike Italians 🙂 Our room at the Palazzo Ravizza in Siena was beautiful and spacious with a stunning view; it was our favorite of the hotels we stayed at. Grand Hotel Riviera was probably our least favorite; it was not bad but rooms were old/dated, and 2 of the 3 nights we were there they had big party/wedding events onsite that were noisy.
– We really appreciated the use of the Discover Your Italy phone; it came in very handy for communicating with our drivers, Google maps for walking directions, etc. We left it packaged for DHL per your instructions with the Grand Riviera front desk.
– All of the hotels accepted payment for city tax by credit card, so cash was not necessary for that.
– A few times there was a misunderstanding about the size of our party, where the booking was for 4 pax instead of 2. This was not a problem for us but we felt bad for our guides – Cristiano was expecting 4 so he came with a minibus (a car would have been easier for him on the narrow Siena streets); same with Vittoria our Rome food tour guide, they had prepared more food than necessary.
– For Amalfi and Capri tours, I recommend earlier start times to avoid cruise ship crowds. With Franco, we were not able to stop in Amalfi Town (only Positano and Ravello) because there were so many buses that it took us too long to do the drive. For our Capri tour, they picked us up at 10 am (which seemed late to us) and when we got on the boat they told us it was too crowded to go to Blue Grotto. The Capitano Ago tour was not private so perhaps there is not time flexibility, and I know sea conditions and tides are out of their control, but it seems like any disappointment could have been avoided by starting earlier.
– Vespa tour in Rome was very fun and we enjoyed seeing so much! However, riding on the back of a scooter in heavy traffic is definitely not for everyone – for example, people who are very overweight or have nervous personalities might not enjoy it so much.
I hope this feedback is helpful; please let me know if you have any questions. Overall we were very, very happy with our trip and with the guides, drivers and hotels. We would gladly recommend Discover Your Italy to anyone looking to visit Italy, and hope to be able to return to your amazing country in the future (and perhaps even meet you!)
Grazie mille!”
Nozomi Bullock (Redondo Beach, CA) – SEPTEMBER 2018
Ponte Vecchio, Florence
View of Pompeii streets, Italy
Colosseum, Rome
