A week In Rome and the Amalfi Coast

MarleneGS

I just returned from this trip with my husband. We went the second week of June. I must say the trip met and exceed all of our expectations. We had a marvelous time and saw some amazing scenery and stunning views, learned a lot, reveled in the superb Tauck organization and smooth operation. Accomodations were extremely nice and we had the best tour guide ever - Giorgio Kandravy. Only problem - dont really like gettting up so early and eating dinner so early - but we understood the need to do so in order to keep us on track. We were blessed with sensational weather which did not hurt either. THis is my second Tauck tour. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

Sue

Marlenie,

We are taking this tour on Oct 20 and have a few questions.

Did you or any of your tour mates go to the Blue Grotto while on Capri? If so, did it seem to be worthwhile?

Did you get to see any of Naples before catching the train back to Rome? Was there free time that day after lunch?

Did the Rome city tour end at the Colosseum or St Peters? We are going a day early and we want to go to the forum. If the tour ends at the Colosseum we will go straight from there and do something else on our first day. Have been to Rome before.

Would appreciate any info you can give us.

Thanks.
Sue

MarleneGS

Hi Sue,
1) No we did not go to the Blue Grotto - even if we had wanted to - that particular day the level of the surf was too rough to allow visits - Tauck does not include this and doesn't think it is particularly worthwhile. We used the time to take the walk along the coastlines and into the gardens, etc. and to explore more of Capri and the town. If I had it to do over again - would do the same thing - If I we had more time in Capri, I might consider going to the Blue Grotto. From the tone of our tour guide, I had the feeling that he thought it was overly touristy and not worth the limited time investment.

2) You will not really have any free time in Naples - We did a short walk to the restaurant and a few landmarks were pointed out.

3) Rome tour ended at the Colosseum - yes. We went to see the Moses statue at the St. Peter in Chains church from there.

4) We actually came to Rome a day early - everyone should do this so you wont be so tired on the evening of the first dinner. We also spent two additional nights at the end of the tour.
A) If you have time you should probably not miss the Museum in the Villa Borghese (located inside the park and easy walk from the hotel - Regina Hotel Baglione) - we also visited the modern art museum in the same park. It was at the end of the trip and the temps shot up into the nineties - hot as blazes and not pleasant to walk around - should be great in October.
Also, try to get to the Capitolini museum if you have the time and never been there before. Right now they have on dispaly some incredible documents released by the Vatican that have never before been shown to the public or been outside the walls of the Vatican. We saw the actual court documents wherein Galileo was tried for saying that the earth rotated around the sun, we saw a letter from Henry the VIII asking permission from the Pope to divorce, We say original letters from Abraham Lincoln and documents granting land to Spain around the time of Columbus - simply astounding.
C) - Spend some time walking around Trastevere and enjoying the small side streets. Go see the Woody Allen movie - To Rome With Love - Saw it over the weekend - was fun and great scenes of Rome!
D) - Food in Rome - restaurants we had a chance to try were not great - we have FAR better Italian restaurants here in Philadelphia. One exception - near to our hotel was a very small place owned by husband and wife - Osteria Barberini I believe - when you leave the hotel - make a right - then a right at the very next street and then an immediate left at the next street - restaurant is on the right of this long narrow street and was quite good and very personalized, home-made.
Try eating in Trastevere. We were too hot to go over there after a day of museums, and made the mistake of eating across the street from hotel - OK for drinks - nothing else. The restaurants near the hotel are for the most part touristy and not good.

Sue

Marlenie,

Thanks for the info. One more question. Did anyone have the need to get their hair done and if so where was the best place and when was the best time?

Sue

MarleneGS

Hmmm - I usually do my own hair except for cut and other salon items. So, cannot really help with that - Most days we were done by about 4 30 PM and there was adequate time before dinner to take care of that. You could try to make arrangements in Capri because you will have quite a bit of time the second day there. Other option - bring a large sunhat - most of us wore these hats every day - they are practical, necessary and fashionable and you dont have to worry about hair so much. I also travel with a hair dryer that is international (they do have great hair dryers in the hotel in Rome however - the Regina Baglione).

MarleneGS

One more thing I just learned - there is so much to see and do on a Tauck tour that it is possible (and probable) to miss some things. I did not realize until looking at the hotel website for Le Agavi in Positano (what a gorgeous, spectacular and magnificent place that is - we thoroughly enjoyed it)...that there is supposedly a funicular there to take you down to the private beach. This may have been mentioned but we just missed it. We really did not have time to try this and I am sorry we did not plan for it. The first day we did not arrive until after about 4:30.... but perhaps on the second day, had I known, I would have come back from town immediately as this was offered and then tried to go down to that private beach rather than stay around in the town. I also would have preferred to skip the stop in Pompeii having already been there and have had more time at Le Agavi, but this is not something you can really do on a tour. It was all wonderful.

CaliforniaDreaming

Marlene,

Thanks for the endorsement of this tour. We are doing the same one leaving on September 29th. I was wondering if anyone else is going on this same tour and date, if so, I would love to email anyone prior to get better acquainted. We live is So Cal.

Regards,


Marty

NATALIEFROMPA

My cousin, her husband and I are taking the Rome, Amalfi Coast and Capri tour beginning September 29, 2012. I would love to communicate and share thoughts with anyone else taking this tour.

My name is Natalie and I live in Pennsylvania. This is my first trip to Italy and am so excted.

Dotts

We (Tom & Jan) are in So Calif and beginning on the Oct 11 tour ... also doing Tuscany & Cinque Terre Sept 29. Great and helpful information ... thanks.