Travel Review: Italy Tour, Rome, Venice, Florence, Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Vatican City, History & Wine Tours

The entire trip was amazing but my personal favorite location was our time spent in Sorrento, Italy.  When I fly 8+ hours to another country, I like to see and do as much as possible.  But when you take a long vacation, its important to bake some relaxation into your trip.  3 days in Sorrento was perfect and I wish we could have stayed longer.  Our hotel was on the side of a cliff overlooking the bay and waking up to the sea breeze with breakfast on the balcony is my idea of a perfect vacation.  

My favorite activity in Venice, Florence and Rome was the 2-hour introduction walking tour.  I'm not a complete history buff but definitely appreciate learning the history and culture of each city.  I found that a 2 hour walking tour in a small group is the perfect amount of time to get a taste for the city, learn some history, get recommendations for local restaurants/bars, and determine where to spend the rest of your time while in that location.  Anything less than 2 hours isn't enough, and any longer becomes a lot of walking and my attention span goes out the window.  I highly suggest scheduling a walking tour on the day of arrival and wait to book other tours until after you've spent a couple hours getting a feel for the city. Obviously, its a smart idea to book the Vatican City tour in Rome in advance, but for a city such as Venice, we opted to skip the Basilica di San Marco and enjoy other aspects of the island suggested by our walking tour guide.