Italy Family Vacation Review: Rome, Florence, Venice, Lucca Bike Tour, Vatican, Uffizi Gallery, Segway Tour, Gelato & Pizza Making

Our tour of Italy was everything we wanted it to be and more.  Having never visited Italy, along with only 10 days at the end of August before dropping my daughter off in London for study abroad, I challenged our travel agent to craft an active agenda to maximize our experience.  The agent inquired about our preferences (i.e. city center vs. countryside, accommodation preferences, individual or group activities, etc.) and then came back to us with a bespoke agenda along with several options for hotels and tours for us to select from.  

Having older children, ages 21, 19, and 17, who are very active and enjoy exploring city centers we requested our accommodations be centrally located.  Our agent chose memorable hotels, which provided us impeccable service, for us in Rome, Florence, and Venice.  Our agent also recommended 3-hour city walking tours (which included fast past to major museums) at each location, specifically with private guides, so that we could learn/experience the most of each city at a pace that we could manage.  The city guides he selected for us were incredibly friendly and knowledgeable across a wide range of topics (i.e. history, art, local cuisine, etc.). They were a joy to talk to, and were incredibly accommodating in terms of pace. They also were able to offer excellent recommendations in terms of restaurants and other sights to see and things to do.

Usually traveling that much in such a condensed period of time is exhausting. However, the travel accommodations were all first rate.  We experienced prompt pick up at all airport, train, hotel lobbies and water taxi docks.  The vehicles we traveled in were all new and the drivers were all dressed professionally and very helpful with both luggage and noting to us points of interest along our routes.

One of the main reasons I selected Zicasso was their site offered a variety of agendas for us to explore.  Recognizing Italy has so much to offer, our introductory Italy agenda was as follows:  

Rome

• Day 1: Pick up at airport to hotel.
• Day 2: 3-hour walking tour of Rome (AM) plus 3-hour nighttime Segway tour.
• Day 3: Food tour of Rome (AM) plus tour of Vatican City (PM).
• Day 4: Private car to Florence (AM)

Florence

• Day 4: Pizza/gelato making class (PM).
• Day 5: 4-hour walking tour of Florence (AM) including Uffizi Gallery.
• Day 6: Private car to Pisa to see the leaning tower followed by transport to Lucca for lunch.  Also arranged bikes for ride around the wall.
• Day 7: Transport to Chianti for a wine tasting and lunch.
• Day 8: Transport to Florence train station for travel to Venice.  Greeted by water taxi for transport to hotel.

Venice

• Day 9: 3-hour walking tour of Venice (AM).
• Day 10: Water taxi and car transport to airport.