I know it would be no consolation as to losing a camera to theft or loosing it, but when I get a new SD card I take a photo of an envelope with name, address and a note: keep the camera, please mail the SD card back to me. Thank goodness, never had to rely on this method to get my SD card back, but you never know ....

Aussie Annie.....(and others)

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quote:

Originally posted by KathieR:
Sorry your experience was not to your expectations. We are going on Best of Italy in Sept 09. We did Italian Escapade with Insight in 2006 and it was truly wonderful. Now reading your comments I'm nervous again because our friends are joining us this year based solely on our past experiences with Insight which were great.

To keep the costs down we decided to do Best of Italy this time with 5 extra days on our own in Rome before the tour. (We rented an apartment, much cheaper)

Can you tell me if the actual touring part was up to your expectations? On our past tour we thought the bus was truly 1st class. And did you do any of the optionals, and if so, would you reccommend any as "must do's".

What were your favorite/least favorite hotels on the trip? How was your tour guide?

Thanks for any info you can share and I hope in time that the good memories of Italy outshine the bad hotel experience.

Thanks,
Kathie

Kathie,

How was your experience with Best of Italy in September of 09? We are going on October 14th and are very interested in your feedback.

Angela,

We had a great trip, and our friends were very happy. It is a fast paced tour but you will see so much. Even though for us it was returning to many of the same places as our last tour we still saw so many things we had not seen before that it never felt like a repeat.

Our tour mates consisted of fellow American's, Canadians and Aussie's. It was a good group.

Hotel's were fine (remember you are only there to sleep), bathrooms ranged from perfectly acceptable to exceptional. I do love marble. We ended up at the Hotel Des Bains on the Lido in Venice and it was a hugh room with sitting area, the largest hotel bath I have ever seen, complete with slippers. On the other end of the spectrum you have the Subasio in Assisi, adequate but a fantastic location.

I encourage you to take the optionals, as some of these were the best part of the tour. Especially the one at at the 17th Century Villa of Pasquini. Dinner, dancing and incredible views made this a night to remember. We were all on the dance floor and had a blast. We even bought a CD from the DeeJay and have played it several time already, brings the good feeling home with us. I think this was the best night of our entire trip.

We also enjoyed the optional to Spello, a lovely small town in Umbria.

Breakfast's were good with plenty of choices, lunches were often at one of the Autogrills, but the food there is very good quality. Personally my husband and I do not try to scrimp on lunches, touring is hard work and you need your energy. Besides lunch is a great time to try something new of your choice. I couldn't believe when I saw someone on our tour buying Pringles (potato chips). If you are going to go all the way to Italy, then for goodness sakes try new things, especially when there food is soooooooo good. I tried a different pasta every day at lunch when I could. Or we would split a sandwich (sometimes they are very large). My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Can you tell that we are foodies.

And it is a rule that you must try a different flavor gelato every day! Pineapple is my new favorite. With the lemon gelato on Capri a close second.

My number one bit of advice for everyone traveling with you is GOOD COMFORTABLE SHOES. This is a must, I don't care what they look like, they just must be the most comfortable shoes you own. If you feet hurt you will not have a good time.

I hope you are lucky enough to get Mojca Zdesar as your tour guide. She was EXCELLANT! We want to do the Country Roads of Southern Italy in the future and I plan to try to find out when Mojca would be doing this tour as we want her again.

So I hope you have a great trip, and if you have any other questions please ask.

Kathie