While my husband and I try to get away for a weekend each year, we had never entertained the idea of a full week abroad without the kids – until last summer.  With two kids attending sleep away programs themselves, and ready, willing, and loving family members available to care for our other son, we began planning a long awaited trip to Italy!  It happened to be our 20th Anniversary, which made the trip extra special. We are so thankful we were able to go and hope these tips and ideas will help others in their planning.

Maintaining what we considered to be a reasonable budget was a big part of our planning.  We initially thought we would “do it all” and tried to work out an itinerary that hit all of the key cities and historic sites and would require us to fly into one city and depart from another.  It didn’t take long to figure out that was going to be ultra-expensive.  Instead, we found we could use credit card rewards points to a get a direct round trip flight from Boston to Rome.  (I had been saving up rewards points for a flight to Hawaii, but that trip is likely years away, so decided this was a better use of the points for now.)

After booking our flights, we worked with a travel agent to select key tours and hotels.  While we had wanted to “see everything,” we decided a huge part of the trip was to be able to enjoy quality time together and relax, so we narrowed down our itinerary to focus on key sights and experiences, without too much travel.  We found we could get the most out of our trip by staying in small, less fancy hotels that were a bit further from the hot spots.  They all included substantial breakfasts and clean, comfortable rooms.  We believe we benefitted more from the tours we chose and the pre-booked train and private car transfers between cities.

Here I focus on the hotels and tours we recommend and tips for avoiding the few things we did not enjoy.

Hotel Corrallo, Sorrento – absolutely loved this hotel!  The manager was incredible and gave us a private tour upon our arrival.  The view from the hotel is amazing.  We got a room with a balcony and were pleased with our decision.  Even so, there is plenty of balcony and patio space to be enjoyed by guests if your room does not have a balcony.  Located about 15 minutes out of town, there is a shuttle that will take you into Sorrento.  Spending a week at this hotel would’ve been vacation enough for me!  Didn’t want to leave!

Capri Boat Tour – Total tourist trap.  Sold as a small group tour, this technically was just 12 people per boat.  However, they herded approximately 100 of us together in the most ineffective way possible.  First, we had to wait for multiple vans to show up with small groups of people.  Then, we all had to walk a few blocks to wait yet again to take an elevator down to the marina.  Once we all got down to the marina, we had to take turns on line to be assigned to our various boats.  There was just 1 young, inexperienced staff person leading all of us, which meant the entire first hour and a half of our “tour” experience involved waiting at the three different locations.  Once we boarded our assigned boats, we enjoyed a very nice, relaxing experience for the beginning of the boat ride.  Lovely boat, beautiful scenery, fun swim…Once we got to Capri, it was just masses of people.  We enjoyed the chairlift to the summit of Monte Solaro.  The solo ride up allows you to absorb the incredible views without the crowds.  Once we were to the top, we didn’t want to leave.  The rest of the time on Capri was rushed and a waste of our time.  Overpriced, low-quality food in a crowded café.  A rushed trip back to port.  Most of the day was regrettable.  Only silver lining:  since we had booked our activities through a travel agent, we were able to issue an immediate complaint.  She advocated for us and worked behind the scenes to assure the rest of our activities were far better than expected.  We ended up with private tours for many of our remaining activities, even though we had not paid the private tour pricing. 

Our Travel Agent: Sari Gartner, Pro Travel International, sari.gartner@protravelinc.com We highly recommend Sari for her attention to detail, pleasant demeanor, and commitment to working ceaselessly to provide us with the best travel experience.

Train transfers – trains in Italy are superb.  We had first class, reserved seats.  Easy to navigate, comfortable and relaxing.

Recommended tours:

Private tour of Pompeii (Target Travel)

Full day Tuscany – so nice to be dropped off at the gates of these cities, while the guide parked the car; toured a small vineyard and enjoyed a freshly prepared multi-course meal along with wine pairings (Art Viva)

Best of Florence – featured many of the highlights of the city, which is great when you are short on time (City Wonders – Angela)

Classic Rome tour (Walks Inside Rome)

Vatican – had to do it, but talk about crowds

Small Group Trastevere Food Walking Tour  – probably our favorite; we visited 7 different locations and tried everything from fresh prosciutto and cheese to pizza to homemade pasta to gelato.  Our guide was so much fun and informative!  Highly recommend this tour.  Schedule the tour for early in your trip and ask your guide for restaurant recommendations to try during your visit (Walks Inside Rome – Valeria)

Given the stress and ongoing disappointment of 2020, more thankful each day we were able to make this very memorable, enjoyable trip.