Review: Family Christmas Vacation in Italy, Rome, Tuscany, Florence, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Uffizi Gallery, Truffle Hunting

Christmas Family Trip 2016.  Family of 4 (boys 15 & 17). Our travel company customized a wonderful 12 day trip for us. Our travel specialist helped us design a trip that was exactly what we were looking for.  We essentially had TWO different trips in one.

The first 7 days we stayed in a private villa tucked away into the Tuscany mountains.  (Borgo di Vagli).  Our travel company arranged for a private van to do 5 separate day trips from here to the surrounding areas where we were met with personal guides who knew the towns, history and museums well.  All of our interactions were so warm and friendly with these folks.  We felt like we were truly out off the beaten path.

We then headed to Rome where we stayed at a hotel right at the Spanish Steps.  Rome is the most amazing city in the world.  For this "urban" portion of our trip we again had a private driver and an amazing guide who was passionate about history and art and was an encyclopedia of knowledge!  With our guide we skipped the lines into the Coliseum and the Vatican.

Looking back we can't believe everything we saw and did over these 12 days.