Extending our Tour in Italy

GTCarney

We are heading out on our own after our week in Rome, Amalfi and Capri. We will be traveling from Oct 4-12 in Assisi, Sienna, Florence and Venice. We are looking for private guided tours in each of these locations. Does anyone have an individual/tour companies to recommendation?

FarelldelOuest

I've just get back from a 2-week Italian course in Florence designed for seniors with Cactus Language and I would like to share with you guys how amazing this experience was.
As a French retired teacher I thought it would be interesting for me to set up new goals and enjoy my retirement life; learning Italian came up to me as an excellent option. I decided then to enroll in a 10-week evening course in Bristol for complete beginners with Cactus. A couple of months later I ended up planning a language travel to Italy. I was looking for a seniors courses since I didn't want to be mingled with teenagers. I finally found out a senior (40+) programme in Italy made up of 15 lessons per week + cultural programme.

My stay there was just amazing, I met people from different horizons, I put in practice the 10-week course that I've had, I enjoyed breath-taking landscapes and much more. I will probably to the same next year in Elba.

Italy is an amazing country, fulled of lovely places...

ndvb

I've been to several different places throughout Europe where I hired a private driver/guide to take me to places not on an itinerary. The person I used for most of these private tours is Roberto Melaragno in Italy. I have used him for this service in Monaco, France, Italy (Florence, Rome, Naples, Almalfi Coast) Sicily, Greece, Croatia... He does a great job providing a driver and a guide (where appropriate for a specific venue). I have given his name to several people in here (I'm not on his payroll or do not get any kickbacks) including AlanS. I know Alan has contacted him for his next trip in Italy and seems to be very satisfied with Roberto's responses. I also used a service in Scotland and Berlin, but I would have to look back into my emails to find who it was.

The cars used for his service are very comfortable. I don't know how many people you want to go on the trip. When there was just two of us we had a Mercedes S-Class and when we had five of us it was a variety of SUVs and Vans...usually Mercedes. Water was provided and the real benefit of this service was that you can set up your itineraries based on your needs. If something doesn't work (a venue is closed the day you arrive or there is a strike that forces closures) they will change the trip on the spot. The drivers are very aware of the history and points of interest of the areas they drive you through. They are not licensed guides, but I think they were just as good. The licensed guides for specific places (i.e. Pompeii, Vatican, etc.) are very good.

His email is info@driverinitaly.com. Just tell him a former client suggest you contact him (I don't put my name or email in here) and he'll probably know who it is. If you want to drop your email in here I will respond the next time I come in. I haven't been coming in much, so it might be a while.

Good luck.

AlanS

I haven't actually used DriverinItaly's services yet, but at ndvb's suggestion, I contacted them via email last week and have started arranging a few customized side trips for our Classic Italy, Small Groups next May. So far they have been very responsive (they responded to my email on the same day and even called me today from Italy!) and accommodating. They have a website that shows their standard tours, etc. They get good reviews in TripAdvisor.