We just got back from Italy on Wednesday and had a wonderful time! Thanks to those who answered my questions on this site. In return, I am available to answer any questions anyone has regarding Globus or Italy in general.

1) Tell us how Globus solved the pb of the visit to Vatican when it was supposed to close to the public due to religious programs.
2) What are the activities that interest the kids most on this trip?

How was your tour director? We were on the Best of Italy in October 2005 and had a horrible tour director. So much so that our Travel Agent contacted the Globus Denver office.

Cheers

You've given very good advice indeed, "Itinerary and Planning". .
I plan to revisit the French Riviera and then continue to the Italian Riviera after a tour to Spain & Portugal. Unfortunately Globus do not have such a package that starts from Barcelona and ends in Rome.

There are private albums of travellers on flickr.com with lots of pictures on Italy. I hope the moderator will allow this link. Thank you Mod.
www . flickr. com/search/?q=italy&w=all&s=int

My mom and I just returned from The Best of Italy tour on August 16th. We had a wonderful time and did a lot. The optionals are all worth it, especially the Tuscan Dinner. We laughed a lot about the bathrooms, and the very tiny hotel rooms.

I loved Tuscany, but did not really care for Southern Italy, I thought it was very dirty, and being a pet lover it was breaking my heart seeing all the stray pets roaming the streets. We also drove through Naples which to me looked like a dump. Maybe they just didn't show us the nice part, but I really wouldn't want to spend any time there.

Capri was very beautifl but very over-priced, I'm not sure why we were there for more than a 1/2 day. We couldn't really shop because it was all the high end designer stores where celebs go and food was very expensive. But one day we bought lunch at a little deli and ate it on our balcony overlooking the ocean, so that was nice, but all in all I thought Capri was a waste of time.

Another little excursion we could have skipped was Pisa. Very crowded and it looked like a flea market. The cathedral was beautiful, but we spent half a day trying to get there (not worth it). . Also hang on to your wallets there some very seedy people walking around. And if you don't want to buy anything, don't make eye contact with the venders because they won't leave you alone. It would have been much better if we spent more time in Seinna (well worth it) instead of going to Pisa.

The hotels were very nice for the most part. My favorite was the Mediterraneo in Rome near Termini they have a wonderful rooftop bar overlooking Rome. The Novotel in Venice (Mestre) was also very nice, and don't be fooled by the location, if you do a little exploring you will find the town square and shopping. Also there is a grocery store equlivent to our Aldi, here I was able to buy diet coke which didn't cost 3 euros a bottle.

The hotel near Florence: the Astoria, was very pretty. However we were on the top floor with one other room, and our bathroom smelled like a sewer. On the last night the shower flooded, and when I flushed the toliet it flooded more. Again I don't understand Italian plumbing.

Watch the restaurants near the Vatican, they are over-priced and the food is not all that good. We had a pizza, 2 diet cokes (6 euros each) and one pastery and our bill was almost 30 euros.

There was a nice little eatery across from Termini (outside) and the food was good and reasonable.

The one disapointment about Globus was that I got little misinformation from them. After three e-mails about whether we would be able to tour the Vatican (it was supposed to be closed due the a Italian holiday), they e-mailed me back and told me the Vatican Museum would not be on the tour, and instead we would be visintg St. Paul's and the Catacombs. Well we were coming in two days early, so we went to the Vatrican Museum on our own (because of their e-mail to us). . Only to meet our group at the welcome dinner and find out that we were actually coming back early from Tuscany to see the Vatican Museum and the Sistine.

The frustrating thing was that we could have did something else on one of the days we came in early instead of seeing something we were going to see anyway.

Another thing was that because of the Italian holiday, most stores were closed, we had free time but couldn't shop for anything other than souvenirs. In a way that was good because we were getting killed on the euro exchange anyway.

Also the Grnad Hotel in Assisi is nice, but it is not near anything, once you get to the hotel for the evening, you stay there becuase the town is too far away.

The tour director was wonderful, the people were great, and I would recommend using Globus again, but was a little frustrated with them for telling me that the Vatican Museum was off the trour when it really wasn't.

I am planning to go on this tour the 1st 2 weeks of aug. help, i need to know. what to pack? tours?? restaurants??/ do they really limit you to 1 suitcase. i am traveling with my husband and chidren ages 18 girl , 21 boy?? will they enjoy it? is there much down time? transportation??/ should we skip Pisa???