On our small group tours we love to eat.   Over the years I have found the best authentic dining spots in Italy, Paris, Spain and Peru.   In this blog post I will tell you about my favorite eating spots, places we always go on my Traveling Professor tours.   Two of the best dining spots are in Italy, and I have listed one each in Paris, Peru, and Spain.   Come join me on a Traveling Professor tour and see what I am talking about.

I got back late last night from leading another small group tour to Italy.  We visited Florence, Padua, Verona, Venice, Vicenza then headed down to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast for a few days.   We traveled with as many as 12 adults and as few as six.  The weather was terrific, the food was out of this world, the places we visited were glorious and the friendships we made will last for a long time.   Read my blog post and find out the highlights of our tour of Italy.

Whenever I am on a tour to Italy, especially Florence, I like to go into the countryside.  The hills are filled with olive trees and grape vines.   Bicyclists go up and down the hills.   It seems like on every distant hilltop sits a small fortified town.   Read my blog post to find out more about my tour of the Chianti region.

I travel to Italy several times a year.   On my trip to Italy last April I paid $630 for a R/T ticket between JFK and Milan (MXP).   I went again in May and paid under $1,000.   I just booked a ticket on American Airlines/British Airways departing on October 19 from JFK and returning a week or so later for $679.    What's my secret?  Read my blog post for getting cheap airline tickets for your next tour to Italy.

The Traveling Professor goes to Italy about 4 times a year with his small groups of about 12 travelers and The Professor travels there an additional one or two times a year, strictly for research of course, LOL!   The Professor is constantly searching for the best places to eat.   In this blog post, take a look at his picks for the best places to eat in Florence Italy.

Let's face it, traveling to places like Rome, Florence and Venice, one can expect big crowds.   On our small group tours to Italy we have seen lines hours long into places like the Colosseum and the Basilica in Venice.   The tourist push to see sites like David in the Accademia in Florence or the Uffizi Gallery can be unbelievable.  Even on The Traveling Professor's Tours to Italy much of our itinerary planning is done with crowd avoidance in mind.  In today's blog post I will give advice on how to beat the crowds in places like Rome, Florence, and Venice.   Hopefully, with these tips in mind a tour to Italy will be more enjoyable for you.

Train travel in Italy can be great.  Fast and comfortable trains get you where you want to go quickly.  On The Traveling Professor's tours to Italy we often take trains from one city to another.   However, train tickets can be very expensive and there can be issues when purchasing Italian train tickets that the first-timer might not know about.   On your next tour to Italy, follow my tips on purchasing train tickets.http://www.travelingprofessor.com/

The Traveling Professor started running small group tours to the Amalfi Coast and Italy in 2015.  In 2015 we will expand our program to run more tours to the Amalfi Coast along with our regular Italy offerings in Rome, Florence and Venice.  Whether traveling solo to Italy or with The Traveling Professor, read the blog post for a 5-day Amalfi Coast itinerary.

We recently returned from a small group tour of Italy.  In Rome, there were masses of people at the Colosseum and the Vatican.  The lines to see "David" at the Accademia snaked over a hundred yards around the block.  The Uffizi, with it's rich Italian art, had a wait of hours and hours to get in.   In Venice, the lines looked liked those in DisneyWorld, only on steroids.   On my small group tours to Italy, we just don't wait in lines.  Look at my tips for getting into those popular attractions like a VIP, with no waiting in line.

Our small group tour to Italy arrived in Florence on Tuesday night and it has been a great success.  We are preparing to leave this morning to travel to Venice by high-speed train.  I am sure on our adventure to Venice we will be talking about all we saw in Florence including our countryside wine tour, all the great sites of Florence including the Duomo, the frescoes, the artisan's workshops, the great Italian art, and the wonderful scenery and history of Renaissance Florence, Italy.   Please see the blog post to view our photos and comments on this wonderful small group tour to Italy.