Review: Italy Vacation, Rome, Positano, Florence, Lucca, Tuscany, Wine Tours, Cooking Class

Our overall trip to Italy: Rome, Lucca and Florence was amazing.  We really wanted personalization and we feel we received this in every location. I would have preferred to have my transportation to/from airport covered, and also transportation to/from trains. We were very impressed in all three cities with our tour guides, they made the experience fun and enlightening.  The hotels in Rome and Florence were 4 star. The hotel in Lucca was a little less impressive but very close to the train station which is helpful.  The hotel in Lucca needs some serious upgrades. The trip to Tuscany Chianti region was a little disappointing until we got the cooking class.  We were expecting to visit wineries and make stops for at least a few hours but we had to request the guide to stop. He did not have any clue what do with us for 4 hours before our cooking class. The cooking class was fun (could have been a little shorter - 4 hours was a bit much) and we didn't get to the see the winery or any scenery. We were in the kitchen the entire time. We didn't do any wine tasting until we asked. We loved the people at the cooking class though and they were very welcoming and warm.  There are improvements to be made with this long day trip.