Greece & Italy Travel Review: Athens, Santorini, Rome, Tuscany, San Gimignano, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Florence, Parthenon Tour

Review by traveler

Nathan H.

10.12.2022

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Italy

Greece

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

Our trip was great and went nearly flawlessly. Both Jennifer and Panos were quick to respond to questions before we left and while we were on vacation. Every activity that was planned was worthwhile and interesting. I feel like we did a ton of cool tours and saw most of the sights in the time frame that we had. A couple of things that would have made this a five-star review:
1) There was a communication mishap at the train station in Rome that led to us running around the station looking for our driver before he left without us. Our driver was given a different pickup location than we were given and it took us a while to find him.
2) Since the places we visited were very popular tourist destinations, almost every restaurant expected us to have a reservation. I requested restaurant recommendations before we left but never received them. Finding a good place to eat every night that would take us without a reservation was challenging.
3) There was one day where we did both a coliseum tour and a Vatican tour. Transportation was not arranged this day and led to us having to get a cab because by the time the coliseum tour ended, there was not enough time to walk to the Vatican and get lunch before the next tour. The next day we had a driver take us to a location that was easily walkable from our hotel. I would have rather had a driver on the first day than the second.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

The food in Italy was incredible and that is one of the things we will miss the most. Seeing all of the sights was amazing and every day seemed to be better than the last. A few of our highlights:
Seeing the Parthenon in Athens and having dinner on the roof of our hotel overlooking the Acropolis.
The breathtaking views of Santorini on our all day island tour.
The view of the Tuscany countryside from San Gimignano.
Touring the coliseum and Vatican.
Walking through the incredibly well-preserved ruins of Pompei.
The drive along the Amalfi coast stopping in all of the cities.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

We would have liked to spend one less day in Santorini and one more day in Florence. Both days in Florence consisted of bus rides out of the city for tours and other than eating dinners, we hardly saw the city of Florence at all.
With no restaurant recommendations, upon arriving in a new city, it would have been smart for us to have the hotel receptionist book us reservations at popular restaurants so that we could get a table.

Travel Company Comments:

Dear Nathan,
I would like to thank you for your kind words and positive review.

It was my pleasure to work with you and I am glad you enjoyed your 16 days trip to Greece and Italy!

I appreciate your feedback regarding both the highlights and some negative experiences.

We always take the negative comments under serious consideration as we try to provide the best quality services.

Please allow me to comment on your feedback:

1. Kindly note that the driver was waiting for you at the exit of the arrival terminal as clearly mentioned on the voucher. I apologize that you missed him on your way out but after contacting me about this matter, I informed you where he was waiting and the service took place as arranged. It only took a few minutes as I am always available to assist you at any time.

2. I would be happy to suggest restaurants and make reservations for you as I informed you 2 months prior to your trip. You never reached back concerning this. Nevertheless, all hotel reception desks would be happy to help you in making reservations.

3. Kindly note that you were informed about the the tours and where you were supposed to meet for the second part of the tour as well as the distance in between. On my first offer, I sugested a private tour in order to avoid this kind of problems, but because of your limited budget, you requested for shared group tours.

Once again, I thank you for your kind feedback and I am glad you enjoyed your trip in both countries! We thank you for your trust in our company!

Respectfully,
Panos