Welcome To Our 17 Day Best Of Italy Trip With Rick Steves!

Come Discover Italy Through My Eyes

With its rich history, stunning architecture, breathtaking scenery, and delicious cuisine, Italy is a destination that will capture your heart and leave you longing to return again and again. 

 

This trip took us to new places, new friends and new cultural experiences. This trip was more than we ever expected!

We planned our trip to Italy this past October, 2023, with two of our closest friends almost a year in advance.  I retired from teaching in 2020 and now help care for three of our grandkids.  My husband, John, is a semi-retired IT manager who works four days a week out of the house.  Because of our commitments we needed plenty of lead time for our daughter and her family to find coverage for our trip. Our friends, also recently retired, had done a previous trip to England and Wales with Rick Steves and wanted us to join them on another trip. Italy was on both our bucket lists so this was a win, win situation. 

Our tour consisted of two nights in each of the eight destinations. Rick Steves is well-known for his travel expertise and every one of our stops was tailored to make sure we received a well-rounded experience of history, art, and culture through Daniella, our lead tour guide, and the local guides in some of our destinations.  In addition, Rick Steves' guidebook and audio playlist provided invaluable insights and tips for getting the most out of your Italian adventure. 

John and I love to travel, stay active and love eating local cuisine wherever we go. We have traveled frequently to Mexico and around the US but have also been to Costa Rica, Canada and living in South Carolina love vacations at the ocean and beach time. We usually do our own itinerary including flights, transportation and lodging. Planning a European vacation was a bit more daunting, especially transportation and lodging. So, a tour seemed like a great way to see many places without having to plan every piece.  Three of our adult children and their spouses had been to Italy prior to our trip so we picked their brain on activities and prices they paid on travel, lodging and activities.  When we pieced together this itinerary, with Rick Steves, we realized we were getting a lot for the money. Our children actually spent more and got less in many similar activities, like the cooking class, transportation, boat tickets and tours.   We absolutely loved our trip with Rick Steves and his company!!!!