Bellissima Northern Italy 9/11/23 trip report
We just returned from the 9-11-23 Bellissima Northern Italy small group tour, and here are my overall comments. This is our 4th Tauck tour and first time to Italy. First, it is a great itinerary, but fairly fast paced, we are on either side of the 70’s age. Lots of walking on uneven cobblestones. It gave a good “first taste” of northern Italy, with two nights in each town – Milan, Stresa, Verona, Bologna and Venice. Bags out at 7 am on the travel days. Our tour director Vincenzo was very intelligent, a big fan of history and architecture, a very experienced tour guide with a very long resume. The WhatsApp group he started a few days ahead of the tour provided a lot of information on a lot of subjects, and he included the details of the schedule as we went along, as well as photos of each stop. We are able to download the total file to save as a pdf.
Our group of 24 were well-traveled, punctual, and bonded very well. All couples except for 2 women traveling together. No one got sick. Some masked in crowded spaces. Everyone was pleasant to talk to, and by the end of the tour, several friendships were made. The food was great, and plentiful. Bus seats were rotated daily, and there was lots of room in the back to spread out. Weather was good.
Instead of photos, I have scanned the daily schedule for you detail-hungry travelers like me. Note that this is for THIS particular tour and tour guide, so your experience will most certainly vary.
The hotels are mostly fabulous and historic in nature. The rooms were mostly on the small side, most without tea kettles or coffee makers. Room upgrades are apparently given if available, starting with the people who had booked their tour the earliest. That was new to me.
While we realize Italy was the center of the universe for thousands of years, personally we would have preferred several fewer church/cathedral tours and more food/wine excursions, and learning more about Italy’s current affairs. We teased Vincenzo that Tauck needs to start a “Savoring Italy” tour, with cooking and shopping classes, as well as foodie tours.
All in all, it was truly a fabulous adventure, and we would recommend it to anyone who can walk a couple of miles and stand for an hour or so as needed.
Comments
I prefer the site seeing. It’s so hard to please people with the food choices on the tours as more people appear to have food restrictions these days, which I guess is why Tauck steers away from lots of authentic Italian food.
Thx Brenda.
Thanks so much for this report. We are booked for fall of ‘24. Was your visit to the Duomo comprehensive or did you spend more time on your own. Did you stay longer in Venice? Did you fly home from Venice? If so what time was your flight? (I recall waking at zero dark thirty for a flight home from there). Disappointing to see wine only wit a few meals. Spain and Italy are two countries where there is an abundance of decent inexpensive wine. On our Tauck tour to N. Spain wine was served with every meal.
We leave for this journey on October 9, with one free pre-tour day to enjoy Milan. So far have planned a trip to the Great Synagogue, the Cemetery and a tour of La Scala (on our free afternoon). Please private message me above if you have any special tips for this one
Thanks for the information. We have planned this trip for May 2024. I see several references to NB...can you clarify. Also I noticed several DaVinci references. My understanding is the Last Supper is not included. Did you book this excursion on your own? I've monitored the church site and have it bookmarked for our trip...we will be doing 2 days as part of the pretrial in Milan.
A couple of tips: As mentioned on other threads, the rooftop tour of the Duomo is worth it to do on your own if it is not included. Lectures can be boring, but the "Letters to Juliet" talk on day 6 is really interesting. Also, the balsamic vinegar from Boni is excellent. We each received a small bottle of the 7-year aged when we went 5 years ago. I wish I had bought more because it does not appear they ship. There are also opportunities to buy vacuum-sealed Parmesan but to me it is the same as what is widely available in the US.
I was curious if the white peacocks are still at Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella?
FolsomDoc, maybe my remarks were misunderstood. Wine, and plenty of it, was served at every meal. Our tour guide said he did not mind signing the check for extra wine lol. They generally were from the region we were traveling in. The interior visit to the Milan Duomo was OK, but if you are a fan or want to go to the top, you'll want to do it on your free afternoon. We did not stay extra in Venice, but flew from Venice to Philadelphia, then back to Phoenix. Our flight left a little after noon, so we had plenty of time for breakfast that last morning.
sherry_schare, your free day sounds full and fun. I couldn't add anything more to it. We just did the Last Supper and got acclimated (we went to the bar... lol)
romanskier, I must be jet lagged. Where are the NB references you mention? As for the Last Supper tickets, be sure to order early, and order the English language guided tour from the cenacolo vinciano website (link below). We thought we had bought the time slot for the English-speaking guide, but the Italian guide scheduled at that hour (I believe it was a time change after we ordered our tickets, but they didn't care). So, we didn't get much information from the audio headset. She explained there was a code to scan for an English explanation, but then didn't give time to actually scan the code and load the app (located in the hallway after security).
https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=f6902ed04d9daf8cJmltdHM9MTY5NTYwMDAwMCZpZ3VpZD0yOGYzMTYzMC1kZTAyLTY3MjktMTAxNi0wNTE1ZGYyNzY2NjQmaW5zaWQ9NTIxMg&ptn=3&hsh=3&fclid=28f31630-de02-6729-1016-0515df276664&psq=cenacolo+vinciano+tickets&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9jZW5hY29sb3ZpbmNpYW5vLnZpdmF0aWNrZXQuaXQvZW5n&ntb=1
Wan -- We went to Palazzo Borromeo on the Switzerland:Crown Jewels trip this past May. I didn't see any white peacocks -- and I spent my time in the gardens, not the palace -- but that doesn't mean that they weren't there.
Wan, the white peacocks are indeed still at Palazzo Borromeo. It was a very hot day, and they were mostly resting in the shade. We also received small bottles of Boni balsamic as a lagniappe, and I splurged on a bottle of 30-year to bring home for my ice cream! The Letters to Juliet talk was interesting as well. Good tip on the Milan Duomo.
I am curious about the notes to "dress smart" and "dress elegant" for 3 of the dinners. We have been on 7 Tauck tours, and on the land tours most people dressed comfortably even for the "special" dinners. what we in Texas would call country club casual.on these tours most men did not wear jackets or ties, and ladies wore slacks and tops, some were in dresses, but not cocktail attire.
My husband is not planning to take a sports coat, or a tie. and my wardrobe is black pants and assorted tops.We are more concerned out taking a limited wardrobe that will make it easy to repack every 2 nights
A few comments to all the posts above:
Our TD (victor, not vincenzo) texted a few weeks ago with some suggestions for our upcoming trip (October 11). He advised us to cancel our pre-booked tour of La Scala and the Duomo because Tauck was now including the inside of the Duomo on our tour. When he learned our ages (77 and 87) he suggested we skip the Duomo rooftop because although there is an elevator up, you need to walk down. Its a shame, because the pictures of the rooftop architecture and the views are spectacular. We are in the process of trying to rebook a tour of La Scala interior through the official La Scala website with the heLp of the concierge at the Grand Hotel. So far, the website is not taking reservations into October. We may have to keep our Viatour after all.
My husband always takes a sportcoat mainly for warmth on cool evenings. He can opt to wear with jeans for casual or dress with nicer pants for dressier evenings, his choice.. I take some skirts/dresses because I like to, but most of my "evening attire" is black slacks with dressy tops Regardless of what we are wearing, some of our travelmates and are more dressed up than we are, some not.
We have never had trouble with luggage requirements. We take one standard large suitcase for each and one or two carryons per person. Mostly the carryons are necessary for the items we cannot afford to be without(meds, testers, cosmetics etc) In addition to the wonderful packing cubes, we have been using an accordion folding "dresser" that collapses into a standard suitcase and can then be hung directly onto closet bars at each location. It eliminates rifling through your suitcase, unpacking and repacking at each destination and all of your clothes are visible. Its perfect for the multi-destinations of a Tauck tour. We bought ours through travelmith many years ago but Amazon has several versions available.
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When we got tickets for the La Scalia visit, it consisted of the museum of the La Scalia next door and included an area where you could peep into the theater. There was a ballet rehearsal going on and we watched it for quite a while.
We took the Duomo roof tour, there is definitely an option where you can miss a lot of the stairs and get an elevator up and I am pretty sure down, it’s an upgrade ticket that we purchased in advance.
sherry_schare,
Excellent comments. I didn't know TravelSmith was still around. Years ago my husband purchased several shirts with multiple, zippered pockets --some quite deep-- that he still wears exclusively for travel. They have held up for over thirty years. He also has a few slacks with hidden, zippered pockets. Like your husband, he always takes a jacket. It is his choice.
I dabble in sewing and always make my own dresses for travel--nothing fancy. They take up far less luggage room than my dress slacks and tops, which I take along as well.
I hope you are still planning on visiting the Monument Cemetery. I look forward to reading about your experiences. Enjoy.
kfnknfzk, I know exactly the type of men's travel shirt you are talking about, and have been searching all over the internet. I just checked TravelSmith and did not see any long sleeve shirts. I will start a new thread.
Wan - I saw that, too. I'm glad my husband stocked up on them years ago. We have never laundered them...always take them for dry cleaning after every trip. I think that is why they have lasted so long. Good luck with your search.
CindyL, my hubby did not take a sports jacket, either, there were maybe a half dozen. A few of the restaurants were pretty swanky, but it is YOUR vacation. I took a black skirt that I paired with blouses maybe 3 nights, but I'm proudly frumpy and dress for comfort.
An abbreviation for the Latin phrase nota bene, meaning “note well.” It is used to emphasize an important point. NB.
I found my husband short sleeved shirts with zippered pockets at Magellan. He also wears them just for travel.
Wow, I’ve enjoyed reading all these tips and hints. My husband and I are scheduled on the early September 2024 trip. Thanks everyone ,!
Hope you have Victor as your TD. He is very knowledgeable and extremely personable. All of his recommendations for eating and viewing on or own were right on ( with the exception of an highly rated but overpriced Il Ridotto restaurant in Venice)
Sherry, I hope Tillyseattle draws Victor as her tour guide also, and not Vincenzo. His arrogance and constant lecturing really turned us and several others off.
So glad to see your comment, Brenda Anderson. When I spoke to Tauck about him they said they never received any negative feedback about him other than mine. I doubt that is true. I was on 9/23/23 trip.
We really enjoyed Victor. Yes he talked alot in a very convivial manner, not a lecture and he always had opinions about sites to visit and/or restaurants. However, we found his opinions and suggestions were right on the mark, so we enjoyed him very much. In fact, we are hoping to join him next year on the trip from Paris to Normandy which is the other trip he leads.