A Lot to Do

Because I am an experienced traveller I should have realized that doing 3 cities in less than 9 days would be strenuous. We were taking 8 people who had never been abroad before, and at least 3 of them had never flown on a plane! The first problem was that the airline changed our seat assignments up to 4 times, even when I had talked to a representative and had an email roster confirming our seats. This separated parent and child, some of whom had never flown at all, and all of whom had never been abroad. They routed my group from Atlanta through Amsterdam to Venice, virtually using up what should have been Day 2 of our trip. We arrived in Venice after dark and so missed the half-day the rest of the group had. The teenagers with us, who were the main focus of this trip, were enchanted with Venice, its canals, its winding streets, and its beautiful buildings. Two of them decided they would come back and live there when they finished college! They, and the rest of us, were disappointed to have so little time there. As we continued our trip the interest in museums, famous buildings, and art began to wane. Our local guide in Rome, Giancarlo, recognized the problem when he commented that one cannot try to fill a teacup too full! Some of the problem was in the participants themselves, several of whom (adult and teen) weren't as interested in the cultural aspects of the trip as they were in shopping. Much of the problem, though, was in the fast pace of the touring which was necessary because of the limited time. Our tour director, Stefania Arena, was fantastic in every way, dealing with many different personalities and needs deftly and with grace. All of the participants are determined to return, though not on such a short trip.

Will for sure use this company again!

I cannot say enough about our trip to Italy. From start to finish, the service was top notch. We were met at the airport by a rep & taken directly to our boat for an awesome ride to Venice. Everything was seemless. We didn't worry about anything. All of the information we needed was given to us by our fantastic tour guide, Stefania Arena. All of the hotels were clean and comfortable with all of the amenities needed. Breakfast daily in each hotel was more than enough to satisfy our tastes. Gotta love mozzarella and tomatoes with EVERY breakfast! Ground transportation was always on top of the line motorcoaches. Stefania was wonderful! She gave us so much extra information daily on Italian culture, ways to get around the cities and typical do's & dont's of etiquette for Italy. She definitely went above and beyond to make sure we all had a great experience. I can't wait to book my next trip with Go Ahead Tours!

WOW.

What an amazing trip this was! My best friend & I decided to give GoAhead Tours a try & we were not disappointed! Everyone that we dealt with at GoAhead was extremely helpful & courteous. My friend & I are younger than the average GoAhead tour participant [25 & 30 years old], but it made no difference on the tour! We decided to go on this tour because the airfare was included [which was very reassuring that GoAhead would help us if we had an issue with everything going on with American Airlines], we wanted to see a lot in a short amount of time [very little vacation time!] and we knew that traveling as two single girls, we'd be staying in safe places--and we did! Our group was fantastic & very fun. I also can't say enough great things about our tour guide, Stuart. He went above & beyond and genuinely wanted to know about us & teach us about Italy. I was also worried that we woudn't feel like we had enough free time, but we truly did. We only were with the group when we were traveling to the next city or touring an important landmark. Everything was SO organized [which was totally appreciated!] and I felt like we didn't really have to worry about anything. And our bags were taken to the bus & put in our hotel rooms--that alone was worth the tour because I don't pack light! I would recommend two of the "add ons" for this trip which are touring the Vatican & San Gimignano. We originally had not signed up for San Gimignano, but it was one of the highlights of our trip. Touring the amazing city & being in Tuscany was even better in person than in the pictures! The wine tasting was also SO fun and Luigi, the wine guy was hilarious. Well worth the add on! I have already recommended this tour to a lot of people. We did a lot of research and I'm so happy that we went with GoAhead. It was an amazing experience & for the amount that we did it was well worth the money. I know we wouldn't have learned as much as we did if we had tried to do it all ourselves. Can't wait to do another tour with GoAhead!

Venice, Florence, & Rome

Everything on the the tour was well-planned and gave us enough free time to enjoy the sights on our own. For us this was enough time. Paolo, the tour director, was excellent! He was very knowledgeable about the different cities and regions that we visited and was very accommodating. The size of the group was especially nice. It was small enough so that we were able to get to know each other and create new friendships. While every part of the tour was amazing and difficult to compare, I have to say that the wine-tasting in the Tuscan region was a definite highlight. The light-hearted humor, knowledge, and hospitality of the winemaster were pure gold. I would be remiss if I did not mention the marvelous art and architecture that we witnessed.

Italy

An enjoyable and very educational experience.

Venice,Florence,Rome

We really appreciated the effort for on-time scheduling... it paid off since we now realize we could not have done so well on our own.

Venice-Florence-Rome Oct 2012 Tour

I took the 9-day tour of Venice, Florence, and Rome in late October and it was a wonderful experience. The tour was very well organized, and the Tour Director (Paolo) was incredibly knowledgable and helpful. Italy was beautiful, and the food was wonderful. It truly was the trip of a lifetime.

Venice, Florence & Rome

Perfectly choreographed by Isabella. Very hard working, energetic, and (most of all) a real passion for her country. She even arranged for spectacular weather. Hotels---Venice, good-Florence, not so good-Rome, very good. Love Italy, the food, the history, and the culture.

Human Resources Manager

Wonderful trip. Exciting, challenging, historical, and a bunch of Good people to share the laughter with! Our Director, Leonardo was wonderful. Very calm, stress-free, easy going and very insightful when we asked him questions. He was very knowledgeable. 1.) I wished we had more time in Venice...I got lost in the crowd...but that was my fault. 2 days is not enough time. Very exciting. Hotel was nice...nothing Fancy...but adequate. 2.) Florence...so much to see, and not enough time. The bus ride there was nice...although I wished we had a bigger bus, with more room to move about. (No restroom on the bus) Pleasant ride. Hotel was adequate. Going to the wine tasting was a Big highlight of this visit. Wonderful time. 3.) Rome - the crown jewel...here I wished we had an extra day...we opted out on this day, to go to Pompeii...which was a 3 hour bus ride there and 3 hours back. The bus was very small for a small group, (About 15 of us), lunch at a small family hotel was a big treat! . The A/C on the bus was OK...and I did tell the driver to Turn it up!! (We survived) This trip took one of the 3 days we had scheduled for Rome. We should have skipped this and toured Rome instead. The hotel was nice. 4.) We came three days prior to meeting the group in Venice...and visited Milan. This was a big highlight of the trip. Viewing and seeing the Last Supper was a wonderful experience. Visiting the Dumo, and having lunch on the street was a great experience. We also ventured out on train, (About 1 -1.5 hours) to Lake Como...this is a must see. Go on the train, enjoy the Alps, and Relax. We did this on our Own. 3 days in Milan was truly an Adventure. Getting on a train to go to Venice for a 2.5 train ride was very relaxing and exciting. 5.) I would highly recommend this trip...this was my second time to visit Italy...and I felt very comfortable. By the way...it does help to speak Spanish...as I was able to understand and communicate with the Italians. The Trip was very well organized...we just needed more time. Study your history...it will help you enjoy your visit.

Exceeded expectations

From the moment we stepped off the plane until we got back to the airport we were taken care of perfectly. Everything was taken care of. Stuart, our tour guide, even made sure our free time went flawlessly. He spent time with all of our group to make sure we wouldn't have any trouble. We have recommended go ahead tours to the people around us on the plane and everyone else that asked about our trip.