I'm confused about what excursions to take. I've read postings that state to take them all to take all your free time. This is for Best of Italy! Please respond ASAP!! Alot of mixed reviews on the Venetian Night-What to do!!!

First do research of all the cities/towns you are visiting.
If you do not join the Optional Excurions, do you know where you plan to go and what to do? Otherewise, you'll end up sleeping in your hotel room with nothing to do.

To each his/her own. Some prefer "a romantic diner for two". .
It wasn't too bothersome waiting for the watertaxi and the train and then a 5-minute walk back to the hotel for the motivated.
I enjoyed the 'Optional' Venetian dinner + watertaxi-ride + lingering at San Marco under starlight and free music from 4 different bands, and the company of our group; and without having to bother how to get there and how to get back to the hotel. TD was doing all the 'thinking'. .

I also enjoyed the Venetian night out. It was that evening that I totally fell in love with Venice.What a wonderful,magical place!. . The hotel was in Mestre so it was easier to go with the group and we ended up having a wonderful time.Everything is very expensive in Venice so the cost of the night out was not out of line at all. The next day we had lots of free time to explore Venice on our own.

That's so true, letsgo.
The next day after our guided tour, lunch was on our own.
We had one lousy pizza shared among 2 persons plus bottled water and the bill came up to Euro 38 not including tips.
We made the wrong choice of a wrong restaurant, even though we knew we should go to one patronised only by locals. We couldn't tell the locals from the tourists.
The waiter left a plate of unsolicited bread on our table, which we did not touch, and charged us extra Euro 4 each for it. He pretended not to understand us and not wanting to make a scene we just paid up and left.

Hubby and I are going on the Best of Italy tour this summer. At this point, we are not too interested in the optionals. We like the group aspects of the tour and not having to worry about how to get from one city to another, but are also looking forward to exploring on our own. I speak Italian so I'm not concerned about getting around and asking questions, etc. in Italy.

The key to making the most of this vacation is research. For instance, I visited the Globus Australia website to look at the optionals offered. In Florence, there is an Uffizi Gallery optional that costs 33 euros per person. The Uffizi isn't that hard to find. Even if I made reservations with an agency, it would probably cost me no more than 12 euros per person. In my opinion, this optional is probably not worth the money. Ultimately, it's your vacation and you have to do what you are comfortable with.

Hi Italian Girl, I am also from Canada.
Florence downtown - Duomo - Santa Croce - Signoria Sq (Uffizi/Vecchio Palace/Logia Lansi) - Academy of Art - San Lorenzo - Ponte Vecchio - Pitti Palace/Boboli Garden are all within walking distance (at least for me) and easy to find with a city map.

When our TD distributed Venice maps to us, he commented: "never mind you are going to get lost anyhow." That night a small group on their own got lost and one was badly injured and had to fly home the next day.
2nd day lunch on our own, I had a well researched list of restaurants, addresses etc. But we kept missing the right turn, by 2pm we were so hungry and decided to lunch at any restaurant we saw.
Hopefully, you all have better sense of direction than me.

When we were in Venice 2 sisters from our group got lost and missed the transport back to the hotel. They showed up at dinner time. They were fine but had to take a water taxi back to Mestre and it was very expensive.They had a good time though and got to enjoy Venice longer then the rest of us
You know what a tight schedule those TD keep! They will wait max about 15 minutes and then they have to leave.
On another tour I was on in Edinburgh a couple missed the bus at the Castle. THey went down the wrong side of the Castle and totally missed the parking lot.They got left too but the hotel was so close they just walked there and were waiting for us when we got back from the city tour.
Only 11 more days and DH and I are off to London for the first time on our own,sans tour! This will be my 4th stop in London but DH has never been there before.I'm the guide this time and I have had a great time planning everything. I am so excited to show him the city I just love.!!
If he enjoys himself I hope to get him to go with me on a Italy tour next year. Venice is calling me back!!!

Hello fellow Canadian magnolia! Hello also to letsgo. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Hubby and I are still leaning towards taking a chance and doing things on our own. We'll see once we are there. The Best of Italy tour is only one part of our Italian vacation. We'll be on our own for about a week and a half after the tour. I've already booked accomodation, transportation etc. and so far everything has gone very well.

I've got another question. I don't know if this is the right thread, but I'll put it here anyway. There are days on the tour when you have time on your own. Where does the TD usually ask people to meet after this time? Would it be the bus or another location? Thanks again.

Hello IG

It depends on if the bus has dropped you off or not.Sometimes after an included group activity eg.city tour, the bus will drop you off in the city centre and you will be told where and what time the bus wll pick you up to take you back to the hotel.It's usually right about where they dropped you off.Many times you will have 2 or 3 hours to explore on your own.At other times you have the whole day free after your breakfast and you can do anything you want. This is where research comes in so you know what you want to see. You will make your way totally on your own all day using any means you want of public transportation.You can make your own way back to the hotel whenever you wish.Other times there are optional excursions planned for the evening so if you are going on that particular one you will meet the others in the evening for the bus and the bus will then take you as a group,to the optional excursion.
In Paris last year my friend and I did the city tour in the AM with the group and then the bus dropped many of us off in city central who were not going to take the optional tour to Versaille.
Everybody took off in different directions. Probably about 10 or so decided to go to the Louvre together.Others to the other museums and churches. etc. Others just hung out and went shopping and whatever.
My friend and I went all over Paris shopping and to the Hard Rock Cafe and then way the other side of town to the Harley Davidson shop for gifts for people back home..We took the bus and after walking around the parks and eating at a French Bakery we went to the musem d'orsay, modern art museum where we saw Monets,Van Goghs and much more.. .
We then took the subway back to our hotel.Long,long day but absolutely wonderful time!!!!. .