Italy Tour Review: Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Vatican City, Cooking Class, Eight-Day Trip

Review by traveler

Alyson L.

4.7.2024

General Info

Traveler Review

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

Italy

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

The trip was generally well executed. The private transportation was prompt and dependable. The hotels were fine (Rome was better than Florence, which lacked AC in the rooms) and well located. We appreciated the daily itinerary reminders on WhatsApp.

We were disappointed that there was no customized treasure hunt for the kids at the Vatican as advertised. It was just a regular private tour with no special, child-focused content/activity. This was one of the main reasons we picked this travel company over the other travel agency, so a bummer it didn’t happen.

There was also a miss with our cooking class. While we had an exceptional time with the chef, we didn’t get to do the “pick out the food at the local market” part since it was a national holiday and the market was closed. That is something the travel company should have caught upfront and adjusted the itinerary around, in my opinion.

My final qualm is around Cinque Terre. We were told (even after pushing back) that it wouldn’t be a good idea to stay a night or two there because restaurants and other venues would not yet be open. However, the villages were bustling and active; we definitely should have spent more time there.

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

The cooking class (the chef was so kind and instructive) and the day trip to Cinque Terre.

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

We would double-check the travel agency’s recommendations, choose shorter tours for kids' attention spans, stay in hotels with more amenities in Florence, and spend more time in Cinque Terre.

Travel Company Comments:

Dear Alyson,

I thank you so very much for your notes and I wanted to follow up on your comments.

First of all, I would like to thank you for your review, I appreciate your feedback regarding both the highlights and some experiences that were considered less positive. Going through your comments, however, I was a little surprised as our Helpdesk with whom you were connected daily via Whatsapp was in constant communication with you and was not informed of any of the points noted. We would have surely assisted you and provided you with support, necessary explanations, and even upgrades to the tours/services should you not have been satisfied.

I strive to provide the best experience for my clients and take negative comments seriously. I wanted to let you know that I did follow up on your notes and wish to include a little more information:

In Italy, not all hotels have the option for heating and air conditioning at the same time. As March is still winter, most hotels are still in heating mode. This was of course one of the warmest winters in the last 10 years.

During the call with your husband and brother-in-law, I informed you that Cinque Terre is not worth staying for 1 night (you were only travelling for 6 total with travel time in between) as it takes more to get there and get accommodated than actually spending being me there. Given the little time at your disposal to travel, I had recommended a day trip would have been the best solution.

I also do confirm that usually, March is quite slow, and given the beautiful and unexpected warm weather, the location was busier this year even in the winter so at the time, when you had booked, we could not have foreseen the quick change in temperature. I am from Cinque Terre, so I usually know the tourism patterns but as you can imagine this could not have been anticipated.

I can confirm that the Vatican tour delivered was a scavenger hunt for children (the theme was animals), we are sorry if it was not what you were expecting but it matched the description.

In regards to the cooking class and market tour, at times markets are closed on weekends and we too had not been informed by the supplier. For this, we will investigate further but would have loved to have been informed to recommend any other adjustment or complimentary upgrade. I apologize for the inconvenience and I am addressing the issue with my local supplier.

We thank you for traveling with us and all the best.