Perfect 9-Day Puglia Exploration

Trip was very good.  Everything was well coordinated and only a couple of hiccups.  

Overall comments:Rome: 4 days in room was perfect, wouldn't want to do more.  Can't trust taxis so happy we had drivers and guides.  The private guides are the only way to go.  We saved hours in lines, had personal feedback and was very cordial and polite.  Rome itself is great but it is disappointing to see how much better it could be if the city invested in a few things (toilets!).  Again - I'll mention that taxis were there to steal your money.  No issues at all with the travel plans and the plans made by zicasso were very good. The boutique hotel was a great choice.  Location was excellent, rooms very clean and new.  Breakfast was excellent there.  In general, all of the hotels we stayed at had a very good breakfast, this is the only way to go as it just takes that meal out of your schedule and starts the day out right.  Our biggest snafu was the car rental, we were supposed to have an Audi A3 or equivalent and all the car rental could offer was a ford fiesta... it really took away from our experience in Tuscany to have such a poor automobile on those roads.  Again - not zicasso's fault - car rentals are terrible everywhere and in Rome it was very poor service.  Our drive and trip to Tuscany was great, we stopped in Orvieto as zicasso recommended and had lunch there - one of the best restaurants during our whole trip.  We stayed at the hotel and it was excellent, the food and wine there was excellent - worth staying just for that.  It was a little difficult to get to - and a bit of a drive to anywhere from there - but no real complaints and it was worth it to stay there.  In all of Tuscany we enjoyed San Gimignano and Pienza the best.  We found Siena great but overcrowded, Pienza and San Gimagnano were just as (more) scenic and less hectic.  The day trip and guide in Florence was very good but we were glad we only spent 1 day in Florence.  This is a personal thing as I understand most people prefer more time in Florence.  We really enjoyed Bologna - the food tour was probably the highlight of our trip (the downside is we can no longer eat Parmigiano, Balsamic Vinegar or Prosciutto from any other place, it was THAT much better than anywhere else).   We took a day to go to Modena, see the Duomo there (best in all of Italy in our opinion), and we enjoyed the Ferrari museum.  I would highly recommend adding Bologna, the food tour and Modena to everyone's trip suggestions.. It is less crowded than the main touristy cities - and just as enjoyable... Loved this  part of the trip.  The hotel in Bologna was perfectly placed and very very nice, excellent choice.The train to Venice was perfect.  The pickup and ride to the hotel was good also.  The hotel was ok - but probably the least nice of all the places we stayed.  It was very good, just not as nice, more cramped and the breakfast was by far the worst.  I equate this to Venice as everything was more expensive and more cramped in Venice.    We loved Venice - more than I thought we would.  I could see 1 more day in Venice and 1 day less in Rome.  Just walking the streets - wonderful!Getting from hotel to airport was good - though it was much further than we'd thought. The airline we used sucks... no way around that - not Zicasso's problem - but flight was 1.5 hours delayed and well - as an airline it isn't very good.  I'm still not so sure that taking a full day train ride to get to Puglia wouldn't have been better?  (Venice to Naples to Puglia?) Pick up at airport in Puglia was good.  The driving service was good - same driver for all our trips in Puglia - but he didn't speak a word of English so that was a challenge.  Thank goodness for Google Translate!  We had a mix up where we interpreted the itinerary as us having a guide in Alberobello (see itinerary - says private tour - so we were confused).  The driver had a friend who gave us a personal private tour of the Trullo homes and some history - that was very nice he arranged that.  But it was a little embarrassing and confusing. It could have all been avoided if the driver spoke English as well as the itinerary being more clear.Ostuni and the guide were great.  We loved Ostuni as well as Alberobello and the caves.  We probably enjoyed those areas more than the renaissance areas of Florence, but that is just us.  Note: once we got to Ostuni we told our guide no more going inside churches... at some point - its just another beautiful church - but there is one on every corner in Italy!   The Hotel in Puglia is awesome.  Seriously this place is amazing.  The food was amazing the spa was amazing the service was over the top.  What a beautiful part of Italy...   We changed our schedule to spend the morning in Bari before catching the train to Rome - we could have easily spent more time there.  I probably liked the food in Puglia the best.  The focaccia is amazing (just like Grandma made!).  In general we loved Puglia though we'd probably have been better served to have a rental car as we were a long way from anything and it would likely have been less expensive than a dedicated driver.  We would have had much more flexibility in our schedule and planning if we had our own car.   Train back to the Rome train station and pickup was very good - though the Rome train station and driving out of Rome - is never a good experience.  The hotel we stayed at our last night was very nice but probably overkill since all we needed was a bed before we caught a flight out.  All in all - highly recommend zicasso, they did a great job for this trip.  Having guides and drivers on our first trip to Italy - priceless!

We had a fantastic trip that exceeded our expectations. We had an excellent trip planned with Marilisa and she was open to our ideas and to our requested changes and implemented them quickly and got back to us with the confirmation that it was done. The travel arrangements at the airports and daily for tours and excursions were always on time and with great drivers who were helpful and had fun conversations about where we were going and in-depth history. Their skills in driving the vans along the Amalfi coast was amazing and we were all so glad that we were in the hands of expert drivers on these extremely tight and curvy congested roads. Each tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about the area we went to. More commentary on the tour guides below.The hotels that were provided were great for the two groups. Each one had a good reason why they chose them. In Naples it was right in the center of the old town beaming with life and restaurants. The hotel had a fantastic breakfast room and a great bar service in the afternoon. The rooms were ok, nothing special.The hotel in Vietri sul Mare was a gem. Great location, great views of the ocean, friendly and helpful staff and had some great restaurants nearby. The hotel in Palermo was also right in the middle of the city center with great restaurants in walking distance, but the rooms were just ok, and the breakfast area was very tight to move around. The Resort in Taormina was fantastic also. Same owner as the hotel in Vietri sul Mare. Great location on the beach, easy to get to downtown Taormina. A great bar cafe on the beach and the breakfast area was overlooking the beach. A great place to spend our two free days at the end of the trip. The hotel in Naples was also beautiful for our last night, but we didn't get to use it much as it was the last night before flying home. Our only real disappointment was the first transportation of the trip from Naples airport to the hotel. The driver seemed to be in a hurry when getting us to the hotel. He didn't know the area very well and said he couldn't get any closer to the hotel due to the small roads. He pointed up the road and said it should be up there. We all had two bags to drag around while searching for the hotel. Luckily, we had our phones to use. He wasn't even on the right street, and we had to walk around to find it. The next morning our driver was right outside the hotel, so there was no problem with the road. 

What a wonderful experience!  Our agent in the US and our Italian representative really helped make this a fantastic family vacation.  I always know that sometimes things can go wrong when traveling and trying to organize 2 families and 8 people, that is where travel agents such as ours can really make a difference.  We started our trip with a delayed flight which caused us to miss a connection.  We contacted our representative to let him know we wouldn't arrive in time to make our first scheduled event in Venice, he reassured us that he would help rearrange everything and still have someone there to transfer us from the airport to the boat to the hotel....and it worked!  We had so many fantastic experiences from a vespa tour outside of Florence (not recommended if you aren't comfortable with motor bikes, it does take some getting used to) to a truly unique experience organized by our travel agency where we met up with some more family members at a private home in Tuscany for a traditional Tuscan Lunch overlooking rows and rows of Olive trees, such a wonderful family and gracious hosts!  While there, we even had a last minute request for all 8 of us to participate in a cooking class at a restaurant and our representative was able to make it all work for the very next day. 

We visited Venice, Florence and Milan and the accommodations selected by our travel agent were perfect.  Their locations were central to everything, well appointed rooms with luxurious bedding and the staff were very attentive.  Overall a spectacular trip to remember.

The arrangements went perfectly!  Our tour guide was fabulous and very knowledgable about history and art.The driver that picked us up at the airport was equally as charming and friendly.  Our Chef for the Tuscanyn cooking class was a lot of fun and we learned to make pasta, tiramisou and two kinds of sauces, after shopping nforn the ingredients in the farmers market, as well as a tasting treat. Our guide picked us up for our drive to Sienna and we stopped at two other places.  It was a very full and exciting trip. 

Our driver picked us up in Florence and drove us to Santa Margharita.  We saw the Caraba marble mountains on the way, and our driver talked to us about the town we passed.

We did many day trips in Santa Margharita, hiking to Portofino through the woods, train ride to Montorosso and boat to Poto Vennera, train to Genova to see the aquarium and the old city, and a day tour to Cinqu Terre.

Both hotels were exceellent and the service was friendly and helpful.

Thanks for a well planned and fabulous trip!

Judie and Greg