Seamless, smart planning produced a splendid ...

Italy | Jul 18 - Jul 27, 2024

Hotel Capo d'Africa - Colosseo was in the perfect location for us. The AC was reliable, the rooms clean, and the breakfast delicious. At our price point, this was a five-star hotel; I'm only giving it four stars because there are certainly more luxurious places to stay in Rome!

Souvenir Hotel was located in the old town part of Monterosso, far enough from the train to be quiet but just steps from everything we wanted to be close to (beach, shopping, restaurants, trails, etc.). It was just splendid. The AC in one room was broken the first night, but the staff improvised a solution for the next two nights. The breakfast was lovely. The black-out shades were great. We had heard that accommodations in Cinque Terre tend to be spartan and were pleasantly surprised by this clean, comfortable lodging. That said, it's not a five-star hotel! Go in expecting it to be just fine for what you need, not to knock your socks off, and you'll be more than satisfied, especially since location is such a key piece of the puzzle for Cinque Terre.

Hotel Santa Maria Novella could not have been better. We will stay here every time we visit Florence from here on out. The accommodations were luxurious, the rooms as comfortable as any five-star hotel, the location ideal, the staff available, the AC reliable, and the gym servicable!

This part of our trip was a bit disappointing. Our tour guide had a thick accent which meant that two of our kids couldn't understand what she was saying. The tour covered the Colloseum, which we were scheduled to see later in our trip, and we weren't able to have any special access to anything else. No "stand here" secrets to deal with the crowds at Trevi Fountain, no restaurant recommendations in the neighborhood we wanted to eat in, no going inside the Palazzos listed as places we'd see, etc. It felt a bit like a neighbor or family friend walking us around town rather than an expert. We would have preferred a tour more tailored to the rest of our itinerary with a guide who spoke English in a way our children could understand.

The driver was a little late, but got the job done!

Tania did a lovely job helping us navigate the lines and see what we wanted to see!

Marco was really great at what he does! He kept things interesting for the kids, pivoted to switch things around to beat the heat, gave us advice on other stuff in Rome, and more.

Marta did an incredible job of pivoting to give our family an experience customized to what we needed, even shepherding one of our kids back to the hotel so that the rest of us could hike an additional leg of the trail and returning to escort another child after that leg. The lunch that Tasos and the Travel 12 agency coordinated was absolutely perfect. The food was delicious, and the timing was expertly orchestrated. We can't recommend this activity highly enough!

We had a great time kayaking to a secret cove, and our guide did a great job switching folks around in the kayaks to make things work smoothly, but it would have been nice to know ahead of time how choppy the water is! We would have taken medication for motion sickness. Still, it was a great suggestion by Tasos and a great addition to our trip.

Sara did a fantastic job explaining things to the kids in engaging ways and getting us oriented in the city. She really helped them contextualize David and wrap their minds around the Medici family's power and the historical context of the Renaissance. And her restaurant recommendation was our very favorite from the trip! We went there twice and had one of the best meals we've ever eaten. Just fantastic.

This tour was good and Jessica did a good job. I'm just giving it four stars rather than five because it wasn't as action-packd as our other activities, and we didn't learn as much as we did on the other tours.

We can't recommend this experience highly enough! We just wish we had a little more time in the first two stops, since those felt rushed. Also, my husband would have liked a more intense biking experience, and we pushed for that, but what our guides offered turned out to be perfect for our family. My only suggestion would be to change the description to make it clear that the biking is really a cruise, not a work out, even without e-bikes. Having the van to block traffic for us at roundabouts and give one of our kids a little break was a great luxury. And the whole experience was quite seamless and enjoyable.