I checked out the websites for each of these hotels. They all look great. Thanks again
Sandy

I did this in 2005. The only hotel that I stayed at that was similiar was the Chrisophe. Kinda like a Best Western, adequate. I think our hotels were nicer than what is described. We did not stay in Venice. We stayed at something like a villa with wonderful amenities like plush robes and nice toiletries. Naples was the Holiday Inn. Our last hotel in Rome was within walking distance to the subway. The Chrisophe is not. Guess it is all the changes with the fuel prices.

Well I'm back. The trip was okay. People were great. Wonderful TD and driver. Okay clean hotels but very remote and basic-most were not happy with the meals. Will do a tour tale in the next little while. Was an okay trip but expected more from Insight. Weather was extremely hot -over 37*+ so hard to enjoy as it exhausts you. Very rushed a lot of the time trying to fit in too many optionals. 15 were offered. Too much time and discussion spent on these- 3 days of it on bus- rather than hearing about countryside. Many optionals did not go such as gondola ride and Capri due to limited numbers. Very disappointing. Will fill in more later.
Sandy

My tour tale is progressing. I have finished Day 5. It takes awhile because I am putting in so much detail as I am making these on Word first and adding pictures to make a jounal. If you are planning on taking tis trip, this tour tale is the only one on the site for Highlights of Italy. Hope you enjoy it.
sandy

Hi Sandry, Thanks so much for your dedication and efforts to report on your trip. (a triple header at that) My wife Julia and I, and our daughter Vickie and her husband Peter will be doing the Highlights of Italy Sep. 13-25,2008. I expect that since school just started, you won't find too much time to finish your story for our departure, but I will look forward to it on return and maybe draw some comparisons. Your work gets a smiley from me. Norm Anderson, Port Elgin

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Norman R Anderson,

As an additional thought Sandy (or Sandry), I agree with you about the confusion of "basic" tour inclusions versus "optional" tour excursions. How can you fit into the schedule even the most selective of the additions? I can't get a handle on what I have and haven't paid for, and whether the "optionals" are a good investment or not. It appears to me that food and excursions are very costly, maybe over priced, in Italy! Would you from your recent experience please shed more light on these issues for us? We are just looking for "the best bang for our buck".
Thank you again.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Norman R Anderson,

Hi Norm
Looks like we are neighbors. I live in Collingwood. I think you will probably have Barbara as a TD- she is very delightful, funny and full of energy. She said her next tour was not until mid September. The down side is she tries to do too many optionals hoping to please everyone.


The trip's itinerary is wonderful and you will have an amazing time. I wish I was going with you as I would be more rested now and the temperature hopefully would not be as hot. 13 days sounds like a breeze compared to my 35. LOL

My name is Sandy SANDRY comes from a combination of Sandra and Ryan, my son's name

The optionals are great but they take away from free time. Being a single traveller, I like to stay with the group as much as possible and was reticent to go off on my own. Some people just used the services of Insight to get to a place such as Pompeii and paid their own way in, and explored on their own. This was cheaper and they could see what they wanted but they didn't have the services of a guide, which made everything much more meaningful in my opinion.

I am trying to post a day of my tour tale each day so I may be done before you leave. I will try as it will be helpful for you. I am retired and only teach part time. There isn't too much supply work at this time of year.
Sandy

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sandry,

[QUOTE]Originally posted by sandry:
"The down side is she tries to do too many optionals hoping to please everyone."

The optionals are great but they take away from free time." "Some people just used the services of Insight to get to a place and explored on their own. This was cheaper and they could see what they wanted but they didn't have the services of a guide, which made everything much more meaningful in my opinion."

New friend Sandy,
First of all, thanks so very much for your personalized response. I was quite excited to receive it and to find out how close we are. Go figure!

I agree with you that a tour with a guide, complete with their wealth of local knowledge, can really add to the total enjoyment and quality of a trip to a foreign country. "Kodak moment" views are pretty,sometimes breathtaking, but to understand what you looking at is so much better. This travel feature however, depends on the quality of the guide and their presentation. For example,consider the following:
1 Can you hear the dialogue and can you understand what's being said and about what?
2 Is the pace of the presentation comfortable and enjoyable, ie. is it too slow, too rushed or clipped to catch transportation?
3 Is the presentation time misused for advertizing or promotion of other tour products, or too humorous or too detailed for the average interest?
I fully appreciate that the job of a tour guide requires a really good set of "platform skills" and interpersonal skills and that their audience is always changing. The guide and presentation however, can make or break the day.

Travelling on our own in the past, we have used a city or harbour, guided tour to quickly get the "lay of the land" and then return,focused on what perked our further interest.

Keep up the good work Sandy. Looking forward to more shared travel experiences, and the learning that comes from them. I'll leave you with this thought, equally applicable I think to travel tours, "I't is better to do a little well than a lot poorly."
"Tripper" Norm.

Hi Norm
Any questions you have, please feel free to ask.
Re food being expensive. Yes it is all over Europe but much cheaper in Italy than the other countries I visited.

You will mainly have to buy lunches. These are about 6-10 E each. Many couples found that the portions were so large that they bought 1 salad and 1 pasta or pizza and shared it. In the autogrills or road stops at lunch, there are usually 2 sections. One is the convenience store side the other the eating side.
Drinks are at least a euro more in the eating side. So a coke on one side is 2E and the other 3 E. The convenience store side also has sandwiches, yogurts etc that are great for lunch.

I found after filling up at breakfast(even though it was basic with limited choice) I didn't need much lunch. I usually bought something light and I had snacks in my bag as well if I got hungry.

The water was fine all over Italy. No one had any problem with it. It tasted fine as well. I only bought bottled water if I was really hot and needed something COLD.

Dinner is included for 7 of the 11 days you are there for dinner. So you only have 4 dinners to buy. On each of these evenings, there are optionals that include dinner.

Many were upset that the farewell dinner was not an included one. Only 12 of 41 went on this. We feel that a farewell dinner should be available for everyone not just those who can afford it.

With this being a costsaver trip, a lot of people were careful with their money and did not elect to do all the optional. ESpecially those in the families of 5. It got quite pricy for them. With so many optionals and only so much money to spend, they chose a few. So many that would normally be a go like gondola ride didn't happen.



I have 9 days posted now on my tour tale. Hope you are enjoying it.

Sandy

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Hi Sandy,
Wow! What a travel tale you are creating! I read up to date, late last night and couldn't put it down. Your writing style is pleasingly candid and personal to the point that it may leave you vunerable. I also feel that you have a nicely balanced and fair disposition towards the pros and cons of everything, even when you are personally stressed. Your positive outlook is a very worthy attribute to have and must make your life in general and travelling in particular very pleasant for you. My compliments Sandy.

It was my plan to email you and subsequently phone in the next couple of days before we leave. As you might imagine we are in the final count down stage which is mostly deciding which clothes still fit or should be given to the Sally Ann; which are appropriate to take and which ones should be put back in the closet.

For the moment I have continued to respond to you through this media with the thought that it would support and reward your efforts, and also may be be of value to other travel readers. I do however, have some questions which might better be first addressed in private; then either you or I could share the info in public, if we felt it was helpful and appropriate.

Would you please describe the under-seat and over-head carry on luggage facilities on the Italian tour buses? We don't know whether to take a wheeled bag, a back pack or a duffle bag. If there is a foot rest this could seriously restrict access and size. We have also experienced rather shallow overheads on older buse. Our carry-ons will of course contain more valuable and important items such as cameras, toiletry kits, medications, travel documents, etc. Our normal "carry-on" bag measures 22.5" (incl. wheels & handle) x13.5"x8" and fits under the airplane seat or in the overhead. We each have a suitcase which meets the Insight-Essentials tours under-coach/porterage baggage dimension rule of 50lbs and 30.5"x22"x12.5"

Thanks again, Tripper Norm