Overall, the experience was excellent. Elena ...
Italy
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Mar 26 - Apr 8, 2023
Overall, the experience was excellent. Elena and Kim Kim did a great job planning out travels, every thing worked out smoothly in regards to transportation, all the drivers and tour guides were on time.
Venice
We arrived into Venice in the morning from an overnight flight, we were really tired from travels. We went to our hotel and the front desk notified us that rooms would not be ready till afternoon. Admit that the hotel in Venice was not the original hotel Elena had suggested, it was a hotel we found on our own. Overall the hotel and location was great, but wish the front desk would have just told us to go and tour the city and come back as we waited for several hours for the room. When we got our keys to the room, the house service was still cleaning the tub. This was probably the only hiccup, otherwise, our tour guide Natasha was great, we enjoyed the city, Gondola Ride, and the tour of St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge Palace, a great site to see!
Tuscany
We stayed in agritourism at San Leonino in Siena. The hotel and views were great!! This was a our headquarters as we went and toured the area of Tuscany, went to cheese farm and Wine tasting in Montepulciano. Tuscany is a beautiful place. On our free day, we loved our driver from the day before (Silvia) and hired her to take us on a day trip to Florence, which was great she showed us pretty much all the highlights of Florence!
Amalfi Coast
We stayed in Positano, due to weather, we had to reschedule our itinerary. Initially were scheduled for a day trip to Capri Island with a private boat tour around the island. However, the boat group had to cancel it and we were also scheduled for a sunset cruise which was also cancelled. It was surprisingly sunny and weather was overall okay, but due to wind currents for the first few days we were there did not go on the cruise. Elena and her team notified us while we were on the Train in advance and kept us updated throughout the trip. Since the private boat tour to Capri was cancelled, they made arrangements for transportation and a ferry to Capri Island from Sorrento, gave us a refund for the sunset cruise. This worked out well as we were also able to see Sorrento and enjoy the city, Capri Island was beautiful!
Rome
We were able to see the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and a private tour of the city with our tour guide. Before our trip, we had expressed that we wanted to see and spend time at the Vatican. We were there on the 6th before Good Friday, as the impression we were told that everything was booked on Good Friday. We were under the impression we would see the Basilica as well, however, our tour only included the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. This was initially disappointing as we thought the Basilica was included in the Vatican Tour. Rome is very hectic this time of the year, so everything did feel rushed. We expressed to our tour guide we did want to see the Basilica. She expressed to us that it was likely going to be closed the next day and our best chance to see it would be now, it was 530pm, she told us it would be open till 7pm, when we got into the line for the basilica, they did not let anyone in after 6pm. However, they said they would be open again tomorrow. Prior to booking our trip, we inquired about the possibility of attending mass on Good Friday. The Swiss Guard has the mass tickets so our best chance was to talk to them when were there. As expected, there was of course no mass tickets available. Luckily, the next day we had scheduled a Free Day for Good Friday for the chance to attend mass and maybe catch the pope. We came back the next day early morning to stand in line, entering the Basilica is free for everyone which we were not aware. We had a very pleasant experience in the Basilica as it was early morning and only few people were there, as my wife is Catholic, this was an amazing experience for her. We took our time around the Basilica, were able to do some prayers as well. Also, the top of the Basilica, the Cupola has tickets available to purchase. They did close the basilica at Noon in preparation for evening mass, we thought we could at least stand outside and watch from the monitors, as we were satisfied from the morning. We spent the day hanging out, and we saw people entering the basilica before mass time, we thought these were only people with mass tickets, but after asking around , I found out anyone can go inside the Basilica for mass!! The mass tickets were to just sit in the front, but we were able to get in, stand in the back and attend mass, and we saw the pope!
Overall, experience with Kim Kim and Elena was great. If there were any hiccups, Elena and Andre were reachable and kept us updated. The only feedback I would give is about Rome, there appeared to be a lot of misinformation that maybe unknown, our tour guide frankly gave us wrong information. But fortunately, it worked out perfectly the next day, as we had a very pleasant experience in the basilica, attending mass, and seeing the pope from a distance! I will use Kim Kim again in the future and I do recommend Elena and Andre.
Hotel Reviews
Overall, the hotel is great and prime location. The front desk made us wait for several hours to get into our room, wish they would have told us that room would not be ready till 2pm, exact check in time, instead of telling us to keep waiting all day for the rooms to be cleaned, and the house service was still cleaning the jacuzzi on the patio when we got our keys and checked in.
Views from the romantic suite are amazing! Staff was very friendly as well.
Activity Reviews
Went to Florence instead, Silvia was great.
Rushed
Rushed