A magical trip is a well planned trip

Italy | Jul 15 - Jul 26, 2022

Fattoria la Loggia was everything we hoped it would be! Most of the guests were families with children, and the atmosphere was warm and family friendly. The pool was fabulous and definitely our boys favorite. The three-bedroom apartment with a kitchen was great for our family. On our Parma and Modena days, we bought cheese, prosciutto and balsamic vinegar on our tours; we supplemented those with some fruit and bread, and that was our dinner for two of our nights at la Loggia. As we expected, there was no air conditioning. Keeping the shutters closed during the day kept the apartment from getting too hot, and with fans we were able to sleep well. The managers also gave us a wonderfully fun and delicious cooking lesson outside with views of the vineyards. We would highly recommend staying there!

This small hotel is owner operated with a part-time front desk. The owner is available by phone, and was very helpful.

The staff at Gran Duca di York in Milan was very attentive and having a happy hour in the hotel was great for our larger group.

This hotel was interesting, with fully staffed lobby bar and roof top bar, but no patrons. The one night we went to the roof top it had a night club feel, but we were the only ones there. The breakfast was excellent.

The tour in Milan was the right tour for us because it focused on exactly what we wanted, the Duomo and La Scala. Nina (our guide) was very informative and extremely thorough and wearing the headphones allowed us to wander but still hear everything she had to say. But at 4 and a half hours it was a little too long. A little less detail and an hour shorter would have been better (especially with our teenage boys).

Our guide, Elisa, was a local teacher who gave tours in the summer. She was a very fun guide who gave us a wonderful tour! We enjoyed the mix of history and trivia she gave us.

A car waiting outside our hotel when we needed it, fantastic!

Our tour guide, Antonella, gave us the very best tour we have ever been on! She was so engaging (even to our two teenage sons). It was certainly a “Renaissance” tour. Antonella was so proud of her home city; she gave us such a complete understanding of the city and how it changed the world. She shared such a wonderful mix of historical facts mixed in with human interest, that we were captivated every moment. When we mentioned that we were reading a book about Michelangelo, she began to cater to stories and artwork that were specific to Michelangelo, complimenting what we were already learning about from the book. She was wonderful!

The couple who manages Fattoria la Loggia were engaging teachers, the setting was spectacular and the meal we made was delicious! Fresh pasta with roasted vegitables for dinner and tiramisu for desert.

This sunset walking tour was wonderful and a great way to get to know the city. Our guide, Giuseppe, helped us to get our bearings, giving us a great overview of the city and where we wanted to spend more time. He also taught us how to drink from one of the many Big Noses of Rome and gave us a great recommendation for a restaurant to eat at that evening.

This tour with Sarah Napolitani was also one of the very best tours we have ever been on! We were a few minutes early, and Sarah took us straight out, so we were one of the first into the Forum when it opened at 8 AM. She timed our route so that we avoided the massive crowds of tourists for as long as possible. But once we got to the Coliseum avoiding crowds was no longer possible…the crowds were insane! But we just followed Sarah and let the chaos go on around us. She provided a very interesting mix of history, funny stories and thoughtful moments that had all of us mesmerized. We had so much fun with her!

This was really an interesting tour. The Capuchin Crypt was very unexpected, a bit bizarre and beyond interesting - the bones of monks made into art. In one of the crypts shoulder blades were arranged as butterflies. Even though we were only there for about 30 minutes it was absolutely a must see! For the Catacombs portion of the tour our guide was a geologist who had helped map these Catacombs, admitting to having been lost in the Catacombs as a student more than once. We did not get lost!

Biking the Appian Way with Fabrizzio. What a fun way to see this important part of Roman history! The tour started with a ride across Rome through the Jewish Quarter and past the Circus Maximus before heading out the Appian Way. This was a real bike ride (no e-bikes for us!) with some strenuous sections. We rode past Italian villas on the way to the Catacombs. On our way back we continued clockwise around the Forum, biking by the Arch of Constantine, down dei Fori Imperiali and past Curia of Pompey, where Cesar was assassinated. Fabrizzio was interesting and gave us many new tidbits of information on places we had seen. He also trusted that we knew what we were doing on bikes - this was not a tour for rookies! Back at the shop, Fabrizzio and the owner shared with us some of their favorite spots.

What a way to start the day - a black car waiting for us at the hotel curb at 7:30 for our 8 AM early entrance Vatican tour. All of the pre-arranged transfers really made a huge difference! At the Vatican Sarah was another wonderful guide. She gave us a wonderful tour of both the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica, and while there is no way of covering all of the art and history of these two places in three hours, she chose well which pieces to focus on and gave us both historical and religious perspective.