Good tour

Well done. Great locations.

Venice, Como, and the Italian Riviera

Although the hotel on Lido Beach was fine and more than acceptable, the location was disappointing because of the travel required, and the limited time that we had in Venice.

wonderful experience

This trip was a fabulous experience. The highlights for me were Como, Cinque Terre, Portovenere and the excursion to Lake Lugano in Switzerland. This excursion is well worth taking. The snow capped alps surround the lake which is breathtaking. The village of Lugano was enchanting. We went up in one of funiculares to the top of the mountain, and the view was unbelievably gorgeous.

Everything was great except for one slight detail

I loved the trip. David, our tour director, was excellent. He was so knowledgeable about history and the places we were traveling to. The only glitch in the tour was the fact that we had to make a reservation to see "The Last Supper" well in advance of the trip and I didn't know that. Perhaps it was in the trip information we got beforehand, but I didn't see it. I definitely think that information should be emphasized ahead of the trip.

Fun Trip

I got to ee everything on the agenda plus more. What made the trip fun was the group and the tour director.

Great tour, return air not so great

I loved the tour. The sites, food, pace and gude were just perfect. The guide was especially great. David had the perfcet balance of professionalism and fun. He was so very thoughtful, flexible and accommodating. The airline acommondations home were another matter, not good. We left to make our plane in Venice at 3AM only to have a 5 hour layover in Frankfurt. There had to be a better way to do this.

northern italy

This was our first tour ever . We have traveled on our own prior.. We did not know quite what to expect. We were disappointed in our tour director. She seemed to have trouble with the language and was not particularly knowledgeable about the places we visited. I know that on a tour, there are people with different expectations. We felt that the menus selected by the tour director were average at best with the exception of the excursion to Bellagio. That dinner was wonderful. We went to lake Como on a Monday and were told that there were no tours offered on Monday ! I think the itinerary could have been arranged so there was less bus time and we would have preferred another day in Venice rather than 3 in Liguria.

Fantastic Trip with breathtaking scenery

This is the third trip we have made with Go Ahead and we have thoroughly enjoyed each trip. Overall, I believe we have received an excellent value for our travel dollar. We always receive clean, safe accommodations, excellent transport, and a good balance between free time and organized activities. When I try to price things out on my own (as a comparison) – I cannot beat the dollar amount. On top of that, not having to navigate, park, or drive in Italy is a definite plus. During travel time, we could just sit back and watch the beautiful countryside roll by. On our most recent trip (Venice, Com0, and the Italian Riviera) – the Tour Guide, Ziggy, did an absolutely excellent job – I simply cannot express how helpful and fun she was on our trip. Ziggy took care of everyone and accurately judged who might need \ want more organized activities (i.e. extra tours, shopping, drinks, etc…) and who wanted and could just handle their own agendas. For us, this was perfect – in the bigger cities (i.e Milan and Venice) a little extra insight from her on getting around and even selecting a restaurant – a huge plus to have the ‘extra’ assistance. In Santa Margherita, Cinque Terre, Bellagio, and Venice – we wanted to walk \ trek and do some exploring on our own. We had the free time and the liberty to do exactly that. Our TG took the time to help our fellow travelers get oriented and even organized extra activities (well above and beyond what is outlined in the tour). Ziggy represented GAT extremely well . All of the included admissions and activities (boat ride at Cinque Terre, Villa Carlotta admission, Doge’s Palace, Milan City Tour) were great. Each activity was well balanced between seeing the site, learning a little history, and having time to explore on your own. For example, in Bellagio – after strolling through the town and visiting a few shops – we found a little-used trail that led far up into the hills. Eventually, we ended up in the middle of an abandoned olive grove – and the views of Lake Como were breathtaking. A couple of suggestions for GAT - it would have been nice to go into La Scala and if at all possible, adding \ incorporating admission to see the Last Supper. For most of the people on our tour – they were disappointed to miss that. Ziggy tried to get tickets…but even she couldn’t do it. The excursions to Bellagio and Lugano were wonderful and worth the extra cost. Personally, I could have stayed several hours longer in Lugano – the setting was breathtaking and there were lots of things to do. If we could have stayed until 4:30 or 5:00 – we would have definitely taken the 45 minute lake tour. Both excursions turned out to be trip highlights. Again, as a suggestion \ alternative – I would recommend adding a night at Lecco and doing the Lugano excursion from there – you’re already so close. Doing the excursion from Milan added a few extra hours (round trip) which weren’t necessary and felt a little like back-tracking. As another alternative, add another night in Lecco (4 in total) or some smaller, quieter town and eliminate the 2 days in Milan - just offer an excursion there as an option OR just do Milan as a one night. One other ‘improvement’ – add a day in Venice. The additional night is needed and the slight increase in cost should not be a deterrent for potential visitors. Fortunately, we added 2 nights to Venice on our own – which was perfect. A 2 night add-on excursion to Venice is really a nice option!! All of the meals provided (both within the standard package and the excursions) were very good – excellent quality and sufficient variety. In particular – two meals were noteworthy – Hotel Suisse in Bellagio and more so, the included evening supper at Bistrot Vernace in Milano. In Milano, the food was fantastic and the service polite, efficient, and most surprisingly for Italy – friendly! We’re already planning our next trip and will consider using GAT again.

Beautiful Italy

We had perfect weather the entire tour, Oct. 8-18 - 70 -82 degrees every day. Our tour guide was fabulous. One thing I would change would be to skip Milan altogether and spend another day and a half in Venice. Ciao!

Very nice trip perfect balance

The tour director was excellent. The trip could of been better thought out. There was too much travel on bus. We landed in Milian we should of visisted that first or right after Lake Como instead of going back and forth. The tour group was large at 43 if it was smaler i think it would of been easier to handle