Italy Local Travel Experts

Wonderful Time in Italy We were covered from the moment we landed in Rome. The drivers were great, the connections were flawless, and it was well-planned and thought out. The only hiccup was a problem with the trains in Naples, but it was not Rough Guides' fault. They were available on the emergency line to help as best they could on a Saturday. The trains had an electrical problem and no trains were running from Naples to Rome for 8 hours. The agent was able to contact our drivers, hotels, and guides to advise them of the situation. We asked for extra excursions on days of rest and they responded with great ideas. I would use them again 100 times out of 100. Very professional and helpful. Their planning made out trip a trip of a lifetime.

Rough Guides arranged a 5 city Italy tour for 6 of us including Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Rome, and Amalfi Coast. We stayed several days in each city so had time to learn the city before moving on. RG's hotels were nice in our 4* guidance. Locations were good although wish our Rome hotel had been inside the city wall so it was closer to exploring the hot spots at nite. Our guides for museums and historic sites were terrific. Our drivers were top notch. RG's communications were good. The only other comment I would make was to try and get more in the shoulder season if there is one as Uffizi Gallery, Sistine Chapel, and other sites like Positano were too crowded to appreciate like they deserve. Would recommend RG to others.

We have a very good time all the way. The Capri boat ride is excellent and so much fun with the crew! They are awesome. The only one that needs some improvement is the Naples street food walking tour. Other than that. Everything including the hotels are great choices. You’ve done an excellent job! Will definitely consider you again!

Great experience! Five incredible days!

You have raised the bar and made it difficult for the person who will arrange our next trip.

Mostly great. Loved hotels in Riva and Stresa. Better 3 nights in Riva 2 in Sirmione.

My husband and I; both seniors, made arrangements for a personalized tour of Rome, Naples and surrounding area. We had an absolutely wonderful time. Our guides were the 'Best'. They were over-flowing with info, personalities were A-1. We were sorry to leave them. Our drivers; though many, were all courteous, professional, and safety conscience. We would not hesitate to take another tour with all of our guides and drivers. The service is truly exceptional. And this is saying a lot for us because we have been traveling this world since 1988.

This is the second trip we’ve booked with Rough Guides, Spain last Fall (2021) and Italy this summer (Jul 2022). Both times our trips were perfect. Just the right amount of planned activities and free time. Would definitely use them again for future vacations!

We had a great time! The arrangements were great and the tour guides were fantastic. The one for Venice (Sara if I'm remembering right) was fantastic. Thanks again!

Fantastic 12 day trip in Italy Fantastic 12 day trip in Italy! We are over the top thrilled with Rough Guides and Martina who organized our trip. They put together an incredible itinerary that was very reasonably priced. Hotels were very well located and comfortable to very nice, all the trains were arranged and well planned. Drivers met us at each train stop to and from the hotels- so very easy with logistics and luggage. I had no stress! We had several private guides to do food tours in many of the cities we visited that were wonderful. And we even had a private boat and personal captain for a day along the Amalfi coast. It was truly an incredible trip- seamless and stress free. There is literally not one complaint I can think of! We will use Rough Guides for sure for our next adventure!

Thanks Martina for arranging our totally enjoyable grand tour of northern Italy. Everything went off like clockwork…the drivers were prompt and professional, tours and activities were wonderful, and accommodations comfortable and well located. Also thanks for your help in dealing with the few glitches we did have (stolen passport)…it was reassuring to know you were only a phone call away when we needed assistance. Highly recommended!

Excellent vacation plan Responsive local agent (Martina) and very helpful. She communicates well. All arrangements from private/public transportation to hotels to excursions are well-organized and service were excellent. Hotels are premier and located conveniently so that everything is walkable. Time between moving to places and activities are well spaced allowing sufficient resting time. We didn't feel rushed. However, the street food tasting tour could be better. Pizza, pastry and coffee are nothing special that I can't purchase myself. I was expecting tasting local enjoyable comfort foods.

Our trip to Northern Italy was very good. Our local Rough Guides expert provided us with an itinerary and patiently worked with us to make the changes we requested. In hindsight, some of her original ideas were better than our requested changes. For example, our visit to Milan completely surprised us, and we wished he could have had another day there. Of course, our local expert had recommended 2 days there, and we were the ones who asked to cut it short to 1 days, and put that extra day into the Dolomites part of our trip. The trip was full of surprises. In Venice, our local expert surprised us with champaign and chocolates. At Lake Como, we had a full 2 room suite with a beautiful view of the lake. Our private boat tour on Lake Como followed by dinner were absolutely wonderful. Great choices were make by our Rough Guides expert. There were also some issues, which almost caused me to give 4 stars instead of 5. The location of our Lake Como Villa required a car which had not been pre-planned. However, our local expert placed us at a Villa with a knowledgeable owner who lived on premises and could drive us into town to rent our car for 3 days. Indeed, the Villa owner was a great resource. A preplanned rental car from Lake Como would have made it better. Another issue was that when we disembarked from our train in Milan, we could not find our private car driver. We looked around for 30 minutes before calling the travel agency. It turns out that the driver was told to wait in front of the Burger King, but we were not told about the meeting location. It took an hour to get this resolved and our driver, who had left after waiting an hour for us, had to come back to the train station to find us and bring us to the hotel. Those were the 2 main issues with the trip. There were some other small hiccups which were easily resolved with a phone call to our local Rough Guides expert. Many, many other details were meticulously attended to. Drivers scheduled for all the other pickup points were on-time and very polite. The train tickets worked perfectly, and we were pleasantly surprised to have business class train tickets with the extra leg room and free snacks. Each hotel that we stayed in was unique and perfect. Our final hotel in Milan gave us a huge room upgrade. Excursions were lots of fun. And, the free time which was scheduled at our request was thoroughly enjoyed. The pre-paid breakfasts at the Chalet Hotel Hartmann in Ortisei and the Galleria Vik in Milan were just exquisite! The positives so far outweighed the negatives that even with the problems, I still feel like this Rough Guides planned trip deserves the full 5 stars.

Awesome Italy trip - Rough Guide's nailed it! We had an awesome trip to Italy thanks to Rough Guides and Martina, our local travel planner/expert in Italy who planned the entire trip for us. She was very responsive to all our questions and worked diligently to put our trip together. We were 3 couples on a 16-night journey staying in 5 different cities and we had prepared ourselves that we would probably hit a bump in the road somewhere along the line with such an extensive itinerary. Much to our delight, everything went perfectly. All of the drivers and tour guides were excellent, arriving on time and going out of their way to be accommodating to our group's desires. The tours were all top notch and the guides so professional and knowledgeable, but still fun! Included in our trip was a farm stay with a cooking class in Tuscany which was a highlight for sure. All of the hotels on our journey were perfect, beautiful with great staff, and great locations. Choosing a travel company to plan your trip can be a leap in faith, but we couldn't be more pleased with the job Martina and Rough Guides did for us.

Everything was great with the pickup and flight home. We were sad to leave Rome, but the experience was great. I would like to give you some feedback on the tour directly. Overall, the Unexpected Rome experience was fantastic. I have already commented on our first two days. The cooking experience was probably our most exciting day. I would encourage anyone wanting to get a taste of Rome to do so with this tour. We made several pastas in a beautiful villa in a Medieval town, and then of course we ate what we made, it was truly great. The next day, we went to Ostia. What a great experience! We knew nothing about these ruins, and the tour guide was again great. On our last day, probably our second favorite, we had just a wonderful time visiting outside of Rome and tasting local foods. Also went to a great winery (we brought some of the wines home). Overall, Marcia and I would rate the experience a 10 out of 10. It was truly fabulous. We love your country, the people, the food, the history. Thank you for bringing it so much to life for us.