May 14th through 23rd Italian Lakes Tour

joconnor

We will be taking the small group tour beginning 5/14 through 5/23. We are arriving one day early to Milan. BTW our first trip to Italy and first trip on Tauck. Can anyone suggest sites to see for day early arrival?

Also being the first Tauck tour any words of wisdom? When there is leisure time - can we book excursions? if so do we do this ahead of time? Want to be able to capture as much to see/do as possible to maximize.

Thanks so much for any input. Looking forward to meeting everyone

British

It's mostly likely that you will have a night flight over to Italy, so you will not have the opportunity for much sleep and may find you need to recover somewhat on your day of arrival. For excursions during the tour, in any free time, the Tour Director usually provides a long list of suggestions for things to see and do and places to eat. If this is your first Tauck tour, then brace yourselves, they keep you busy. If this is also your first time to Europe, then my advice would be to wait and see before you book additional touring.

lxyldyhb

Have taken Italian Lakes twice. If possible add a couple of days to stay in Milan. Great city! You will need to get from airport to your hotel on your own but Tauck will pick you up from your hotel in Milan and take you to Lugano to begin your tour. While in Milan be sure to see the "Last Supper", the Opera House, The Castle and of course shopping at the Galleria. In Lugano in any free time - possibly first day be sure to take the funicularie to San Lorenzo. Magnificent views of the lakes. You are in for a real treat with this tour. If you can, add a day or two at the end of the tour. Be certain to walk the Palatine Hills ( we actually paid for a private guide who was an archeologist) and she made the history come alive like never before. Rome is incredibly easy to navigate on your own after your experience with Tauck. I have taken 12 tours with Tauck and they never fail to exceed my expectations.

jdurkin

As long as you let Tauck know well in advance, early arrival does not necessarily rule out your included Tauck transfer. Same goes for departure. Tauck transfer you to their starting hotel. You can always ask Tauck to book you extra nights at the same hotel or you can make your own arrangements. You would just have to get yourself from the official hotel to your accommodation, if it was different, then back to the starting point. The cost of transfers are included in the cost of your trip. Over the years that Tauck has included transfers, I have regularly arrived up to a week early and sometimes I have transferred myself to and from the starting point because I've stayed somewhere else for that week. Speak to Tauck directly ... they are very accommodating.

Cheers,

Jan

GIna64

I am thinking of taking this tour in 2016, either May 12 or Sept 29.
Which date would be better in terms of the weather?