Yes Insight Tours are more expensive than Trafalgar and others but the tours include sightseeing that with other companies would be classed as optionals. Examples being we did CR of Italy last year and included in the tour was a day on Capri, visits to Positano, San Gimignano and Siena.

There were still optionals offered but they were more evening orientated rather than sightseeing.

Good luck with your decision making.

Happy travelling.

I feel very fortunate that I have been able to do Trafalgar's Best of Italy, Insight's Italian Escapade, AND G****s' Italian Mosaic. Obviously the itinerary appeals to me as they are VERY similar.I'd choose Insight again in a heartbeat. A bit more money but a lot more upscale. G****s uses some of the same hotels but Insight includes more. And the smaller group size makes a big difference.
I'd suggest picking where you want to go, do some research on the hotel locations (although they may be changed) and make a choice. You won't be disappointed...hey, It's Italy
Sue

I did my Trafalgar Italy tour in winter, so there was only 30 of us on the tour and the smaller number makes a huge difference. The Trafalgar Best of Italy is also a first class tour and I found the hotels excellent, except in Venice you stay in Mestre. Also, because I went in winter the tour was VERY much cheaper.

Yes, insight does give you a few more optionals which are included in the cost. But in my opinion, the one night spent in Venice on Insight's BOI is not enough, I would choose a tour that spends two nights here as I loved Venice

This is such a terrific and helpful board! Thanks to everyone who has chimed in with their advice. Although I would love to do Italian Escapade, in a practical sense I will likely stick with Insight's Best of Italy. The boys (will be 9 and 13 at tour start) have done wonderfully on bus tours - our most recent one was to Guatemala (can you say all day bus rides and lengthy detailed lectures?) and while they did marvellously, I think 14 days might start to get long. Actually, it's my husband that will have the hardest time with that length of tour. I will save Northern Italy for a separate trip. It's been 22 years since I last visited Italy but hopefully subsequent visits won't be spread so far apart!

Singermom4, for the reasons you have given I think you have made the right choice with Insights BOI. You have made a good choice of Capri and Sorento over Northern Italy (this time ) Positano and Capri were almost the favourites of my trip.

What a wonderful experience for your boys and I know you will all have a great time

I am about to leave on Italian Escapade in now less than 3 weeks . In my case I really wanted the lengthier tour but its been kind of hard. It took almost all of my vacation and I am fond of 3 day weekends, so had to give those up all year. So saving up for this length of a trip was tough.

My deciding factors were that I wanted to see Pompeii and Vesuvius, so that meant going south. But my husband has never been to Europe so it was very tempting to see this itinerary stopped in Switzerland, so I'm hoping he'll get a glimpse of the gorgeous mountains. But otherwise I probably would have cut that part out too. It sounds like BOI is a good choice for your family though. For us, this is our pre-family vacation :P . I'm trying to get my husband interested in traveling before kids enter the picture.

Natalie
Start savin' those days again as this will be your first of many trips! I usually start picking my next on the plane going back home!
I agree...Pompeii is a must-see. But each stop on the trip will have some pleasant surprises for you.
And gelato...you will have one a day for me, won't you?
Sue

Sue

You are probably right! Hehe except I've already started thinking about where I want to go next! Greece is really high on my list. I think our next big trip will be local though since its cheaper, I let me husband pick where we are going for our anniversary next year and he picked Las Vegas & Grand Canyon. We've never been so it will be another place to check off the list. That will be at least a week long trip. If we do another trip next year it might be to NY (family), Niagara Falls, & Toronto. It all depends on how much money we have . But you are right that is another 2 weeks worth of vacations and good-bye to my 3 day weekends but so worth it right?

But I do hope this will get my husband interested in international travel. Up until now he has not been interested. "Vacations are supposed to be relaxing" is his mantra. I know he will adore Italy though for so many reasons. And oh yes, gelato every day, and we found out the ABC store here has limoncello but I won't touch it till I've had it straight from the source!! Actually the last two days my doctor and dentist both found out I was going to Italy and mentioned what an awesome chef there is nearby that used to live in Capri and does amazing cooking classes and makes her own limoncello. I think we know where to go when we come back home!

Well....last night I talked to my husband about going to Italy next summer. I told him I had done all the research and had narrowed it down to two Insight tours - BOI and Escapade. I had the pages of the tours paperclipped for easy access but he didn't even glance at them. His first complaint was 14 days was too long - and so that immediately took Italian Escapade off the table. He is still moaning about BOI being too long as well. But I am putting my foot down about including the Amalfi coast. Also, my boys have been fascinated by Pompeii every since viewing a museum exhibit on Pompeii and purchasing a DVD about it so Pompeii must be on the itinerary. Plan B is to ditch dh and take my mother and brother instead!

Oh dear. I think I would go for Plan B and the longer tour. There are wives who do this and have an enjoyable time seeing the places they want to. Are there husbands who travel alone?