Anyone going on the Italian Escapade tour on September 3rd? I am very excited! I contacted Insight and found out our tour director is Anne Kennedy (has anyone had her before?). Also Insight listed the hotels as:

Grand Hotel Beverly Hills Rome
Hotel Londra Florence
Hotel Simplon - Zacchera Hotels Baveno
Continental Hotel Venice
Grand Hotel Assisi
Hotel Parco Del Sole Santagnello Di Sorrento
Grand Hotel Tiberio Rome

I can't wait to go, its been 10 years since I've last been to Europe and my husband has never been before. I've never been to Italy so its really an all new experience for us!

I just realized that our full day in Florence is a Monday and the main museums are not open on Monday. If we are scheduled to see the Statue of David then how does that usually work if they are closed?

Does anyone have any recommendations or information on optionals? It seems like the list has changed since I last booked this..or maybe I've been reading too many tour tales from long time ago when there seemed to be many other things offered. The Blue Grotto is no longer listed and neither is Lake Como, nor the Uffizi.

Also has anyone stayed at these hotels, what did you think of them?

Also, are any of the included meals worth skipping? I don't mind going off on our own if a meal is usually not as good.

We're staying one extra night in Rome at the end. I'm thrilled we were able to book an after hours tour of the vatican . So we'll be visiting here twice on this trip which will hopefully give us a couple different perspectives.

Hi Natalie,
We did the Italian Escapade in Sept 2006. You will have a great time. I had no complaints with any of the hotels, we stayed at both the Continental and the Grand Hotel Assisi, remember you are only in the hotel to sleep

Many of the optionals we were offered were not on the list posted on Insight. Your tour director will make up a list based on what she feels are the best offerings at the time. And remember if not enough people on your tour sign up, the optional will not take place. Two optionals stick out in my memory, one dinner down at the marina in Sorrento, and a dinner in the courtryside of Florence. Both times the food was very good.

As far as the food goes on the included dinners at your hotels, it is typical hotel food.
And we didn't try to go cheap on lunches, we would pick something that looked interesting, and had many good meals. Some on our tour would try to scimp, and then would complain about what they got. To us much of the Italian experience was the food, and I always ask the waiter for his recommendation.

Again, you will have a wonderful time! We will also be there this September!

Kathie

Hi Flowers

Italian Escapade is a great tour -- I loved every minute of it.

Keep in mind that the tour itinerary is subject to change. Your TD will arrange (and rearrange) the schedule to ensure that you see the things that you are supposed to see, and to accommodate optional excursions if it is convenient to all tour participants. For example, in 2005, pretty much everyone on the tour did all the optional excursions. Our TD arranged for the Lake Como excursion en route to Lugano. We did not stop in Milan on our way to the lakes (due to traffic) but stopped there on our way to Venice. [And this turned out to be a bonus, as there was a service in the cathedral in Milan when we stopped, and the music was wonderful!]

The list of excursions provided with your tour documents is a list of possible excursions. The definitive list will be provided by your TD when your tour begins.

Relax and enjoy! If you don't see everything on this trip, you'll just have to go back again.

T

Thanks for the responses . I'm bubbling over with anticipation of this trip. Its not coming soon enough :P .

I guess the next big thing I need to do is find a suitable camera backpack. I tried on a bunch but they seem so big and really was hoping for something smaller but I like the all-weather proofing on larger bags since that adds an extra layer when in congested areas where pick-pockets might be around. Hmm. I'm not going to carry a ton of lenses, just one extra and some filters and a few odds and ends.

One more week to go! Let the packing commence .

Remember...pack half the clothes, twice the money. No one really notices what anyone's wearing.

I was thinking 1 pair jeans, 1 pair kahki capris, 5 shirts, a couple night clothes, underthings, bathing suit, sneakers, plus what I'm wearing on the plane (jeans, t-shirt, walking sandals, and zip-sweater). I can't imagine that would hardly take any room and my husband will probably do something similar. But nothing I'm taking is remotely dressy, I'm not sure if I should and if its worth it. The only other thing is my husband will be wearing white sneakers through most of the trip, I heard this is not a great thing to do in Italy. I wonder if he should bring some black boots for dinners, they are pretty casual still but not really meant for all day walking.

I'm actually working at a location closer to my house hoping I won't need any more gas between now and the trip :P . The less I spend on gas, the more is leftover in our budget for the trip heh. It may not be much more but every little bit helps. I think our budget is shaping up quite nicely though.

The last piece of business I'm worried about is the checking account at the credit union... I didn't realize they had to order an atm card for me (unlike the savings account which they just handed over). So it may not be here on time. Which means I have to use my regular megabank for withdrawals and they charge $5-6 per transaction for overseas atm's. Yuck! I hope we have no trouble finding an atm upon arrival.

Oh and I'm going to try not to bring a purse. I'm going to have my camera on most of the time which is heavy enough, my husband will have a day backpack and will wear a neck pouch if necessary. As often as I leave my purse places locally, I think me carrying one is a bad idea.

we are going on italian escapades in 10 days would any of you please post your thoughts, opinions, suggestions etc now that you are hoem. thank you.