Memorable Family Trip to Italy
Italy | Apr 1 - Apr 9, 2025

J
Jennifer K.
Newark, NJ | Reviewed on Apr 15, 2025

We've settled in after our return home and wanted to thank our specialist Melanie and the team for all the work you did to make our family trip a memorable experience!

In case it's helpful to you for future trip planning, here are some notes:

We thought the Condominio Monti was in a good location and it was pretty cool to see the Colosseo right down the street. The breakfasts were a good value and the breakfast location on the rooftop terrace was especially nice with good staff.

Our golf cart tour and guide Lorenzo was terrific, thank you for searching for a golf cart tour that would allow a 6 year old. We felt safe and Lorenzo was very knowledgeable and even recommended restaurants nearby that we visited and enjoyed.

The walking street food tour was also a good experience and we're glad you recommended transportation back to the hotel-- between our son and his grandma, it would have been too much walking, We liked the places we went to and went back to one on our own.

The Vatican tour guide was informative and friendly. It was definitely crowded and louder in the Sistine Chapel than we remembered. Also, the prices to the Dome have changed, it's now 10 Euros for stairs only and 15 for elevator.

The pizza and gelato class was a favorite of everyone in our group. They were already prepared for our son's egg allergy and even though our group was messy the staff handled it with no problem.

Our transportation to/around Sorrento and back was ok, the driver was great but we would have appreciated a van where we could have all faced forward.

We liked our small hotel, La Casa dell'Orologio and would recommend it. It only has 6 rooms but they were well appointed and in a great location. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if breakfast was included but there were several options along Piazza Tasso.

The mozzarella experience was lovely and it was fun for all ages in our group. We were glad it was part of our itinerary. It was amazing that it had been in the same family for 6 generations.

We enjoyed the Ercolano tour and our guide Sasha was knowledgeable and personable. The scale of the site was better suited to our son and his grandma, too. There were portions open that my husband and I don't recall being available when we were there in 2017 so that was a nice experience for us as well.

Everyone enjoyed the Amalfi Coast, our group liked Positano the most. We found Amalfi crowded though beautiful. Ravello felt different than the other two and we toured Villa Rufolo. On the way back our driver stopped at Ceramiche Casola and I bought 2 platters personalized with our names, which felt like a special way to remember our trip, plus I spent enough that they will ship it to us.

On the way from Sorrento back to Rome we had to walk maybe 3 blocks with our luggage to bus parking since the driver was not allowed to load in Piazza Tasso, maybe because it was Monday morning. That was a bit of a haul on cobblestone sidewalks that we weren't anticipating.

We think the guides for our Colosseo tour might have been the best guides of our trip. They did a phenomenal job of incorporating history, archeology, and architecture in an interesting way. Plus King Charles and Queen Camilla were there that day and they did a great job of being flexible with the various security closures. There was a slight hiccup when we got to the meeting point outside the Colosseo, we didn't see anyone from City Walkers until about 9am and were getting nervous, but that was the only snag.

Overall we had a wonderful time. Thank you again for putting our itinerary together with your expertise and also as a mom, your perspective was quite helpful.

Local specialist: Melanie Rapuano
Melanie
Melanie Rapuano
Local specialist in Italy | Replied on Apr 16, 2025

Hi Jen,
Thank you so so much for such a lovely and detailed itinerary. I'm so pleased you had a lovely time and I helped make this a special trip for all ages!

I honestly do think that since becoming a mum, and from my experience with travelling with babies, toddlers, I am able to help with those little aspects I wasn't aware of before.

The children will be able to tell everyone they visited the Colosseum with the king and Queen, and that alone is special!

I look forward to your next trip to Italy and thanks again for trusting me with your holiday!

A presto,
Melanie