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.

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.

Our small group tour to Italy consisting of 12 adult travelers starts when we meet in Rome on Tuesday.   We have a full and active itinerary planned for the whole time we are there.   What I like about this trip (and all of my trips) is that I enjoy the hotels, we tour on our schedule and not the schedule of some big tour company, we have some great guides lined up, the itinerary is paced so that not only is it active, we have some really lazy but fun days like when we drive into the Tuscan countryside to visit some old hill towns and wineries.   It will be a fun time in Italy and I invite you to look at our itinerary in this blog post.

Venice is one of those beautiful and unusual places on this earth.   I traveled there last week and on my next small group tour to Italy we will be traveling there again.  Usually I will stay at least 2 nights when traveling to Venice but it is do-able as a day trip from either Florence or Padua.   Take a look at my blog post for some pointers on how to enjoy a tour to Venice.

I have been to Italy many times in April, but never with great weather like this.  No rain, temps in the 70's.   I could use less crowds but for the most part, they have been A-OK.    Since my first report we have continued to roam about Rome, headed up to Florence, traversed over to Padua and Venice.   I have seen most of the sights while leading my small group tours to Italy, so I am doing my best to enjoy the weather, relax, and eat some good food.

I was browsing through my favorite search engine for airfares on www.itasoftware.com and I came upon a $634.70 R/T airfare to Milan, Italy from JFK New York.  At those prices, how could I go wrong?  I will be departing New York City on April 2 and returning a week later on April 9.  Although I travel to Europe many times each year on The Traveling Professor's small group tours to Italy, Spain, Paris, Peru & Machu Picchu, I could not pass up this bargain air fare for a personal trip to Italy.  For my plans once I get there, see my blog post.

Venice is a fascinating city and we often visit on The Traveling Professor's small group tours to Italy.   Some people only do a day trip to Venice but I like to stay a night or two because Venice is most beautiful in the evening as the cruise people disappear from the streets and St. Mark's lights up.  In this blog post I will give my Venice 3 star hotel recommendations so that your next tour to Venice is an enjoyable one. 

I usually don't run deals on my small group tours to Italy but we need just a few people to fill up two of our tours.  On of our Italy tours is in April and the other one is in March.  It is a terrific time to visit Italy - airfares are low, the crowds are sparse, and the weather is extremely pleasant.  So, jump on this great deal to Italy and enjoy a Traveling Professor small group tour to Italy.  Read the blog post to get the details on this tour of Italy, including pricing, itineraries, and what's included.

Can you do a day trip from Florence to Venice?  Sure you can.   It might be a better alternative than staying overnight, since Venice hotels can be pricey.  Venice is one of the most unusual places in the world.  I always enjoy traveling to Venice and we go there on my small group tours to Italy too.  I have done it as a day trip many times and you can go there too.   In this blog post I will show you the best way to get to Venice and what to do on a day trip to Venice.