Let's address a very practical question in this Rome blog post: how to get to the Rome city center and your hotel from the Rome airport. We are going to assume that on your tour to Rome you will be arriving at Rome Fiumicino airport. On The Traveling Professor small group tours to Italy, we provide private limo pickup. However, if you are on a tour to Rome by yourself, we will talk about public transportation options and private ways to get into the city.
When the euro was first introduced about 15 years ago, it cost about 95 cents to buy one. It was a true bargain to go to Europe. I remember staying in 5-star hotels in Paris for under $200 per night. The same hotel is four times the price now. I can remember purchasing a R/T flight to Paris for $351 on American Airlines. In the last few years, the euro has gone as high as about $1.50. Now that the dollar is strong and oil is under $60 a barrel, what can we expect in prices on your next tour to Paris or Italy?
The Traveling Professor has been taking people to Europe since 2009. About 2 years ago we introduced "Ladies Only" tours to Paris and they became a big hit. In 2015 we will be running our first Traveling Professor tour to Italy for women only. Why are tours for women so popular? We'll talk about in today's Traveling Professor blog post. I will also mention two websites that cover women's travel.
On most of The Traveling Professor tours to Italy, we try to make a stop in at least one Tuscan hill town. My choice for the best spot to visit would be Siena. It is close to Florence and makes for an easy day trip. There is plenty to see and do in Siena. The food is good and one of the best piazzas in Italy, Il Campo, is a terrific way to enjoy your meal. Read the blog post to find out more about a visit to Siena.
Train travel in Italy is easy, relatively cheap, and fast. On The Traveling Professor tours to Italy we often use train travel to go from one city to another. It beats those big motorcoach tours and makes a tour to Italy more authentic. In today's blog post I will give a couple of tips on how to make your train travel experience in Italy easier and less expensive.
When on tour in Rome, one of the top attractions is the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. Therefore, one of the most crowded attractions in Rome (and just about anywhere else The Traveling Professor tours), is the Vatican. It is not unusual to see lines stretching for hundreds of yards that will take visitors hours to wait on. Take a look at my blog post to see how to visit the Vatican while minimizing the crowds and maximizing your enjoyment while on tour in Rome.
The Traveling Professor just returned from a tour to Italy with about a dozen travelers. We visited Rome, Florence, the Amalfi Coast, Florence, Tuscan hill towns and Venice. When on a tour to Italy, food is a very important element of the tour. We ate in several kinds of places, some of them called a fattoria, trattoria, enoteca, or osteria. What's the difference between these eating establishments. Let's talk about it in my Italy blog post.
I'm back from my tour to Italy that included visits to Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Florence, the Tuscan hill towns of Monterrigioni an Castellina, and Venice. We had a small group tour of about 12 travelers, from all over the United States and Canada join us. The weather was unpredictably cool, but delightful. In our two weeks in Italy, we only experienced one day of inclement weather and even that day was not so bad. Read the blog post to find out more about our tour to Italy.
The Traveling Professor is off to Italy with a small group of 12 adult travelers. It will be The Professor's last small group Italy tour of the year. On the itinerary is Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Florence, and Venice. Our tour to Italy will be about 2 weeks in length. What I enjoy most about our tours to Italy are the great people on our groups. No slow big bus tours for us! We always have energetic travelers who like to see and do a lot. Our small group size lets us move around quickly and efficiently. The hotels are all in central locations. For more on our small group tour to Italy itinerary, see my blog post.
The Traveling Professor flies to Italy 4-6 times per year. Airfare makes up a considerable portion of my tour expense and if I can save anywhere from $200-$400 per flight, that amounts to significant savings. As you probably know, I use the website matrix.itasoftware.com to search for flights whether it be for my personal trips or helping those going on my small group tours to Italy. But there are some other tips for getting the best airfares to Italy. Read my blog post to find out how to save money on flights to Italy.