Custom Tours of Italy blog

Some of my favorite trips are when I'm guiding the private small group tours to Tuscany and the countryside. If you're dreaming of being "Under the Tuscan Sun" just like the movie, then this is the trip for you. An Italy vacation in the countryside of Tuscany is one of the most beautiful and relaxing trips you can take. One thing you have to understand though is that the region of Tuscany is gigantic and goes from all way from north of Lucca and Pisa to an hour and a half so

When you start to search for your dream trip to Italy you may be thinking it's an easy choice to zero in on a packaged tour company that offers your dream itinerary and time to go. Internet searches for Italy Trip packages will give you so many choices with so many levels of travel you'll be sitting in front of a computer for days, so maybe a more defined internet search of "affordable Italy trip packages" or "Venice, Florence and Rome Italy trips" will get you closer to tha

Have you been bitten by the Ancestry bug to find out more about your Italian and Sicilian family Tree? I was many years ago when my kids had to explore their family tree in 4th grade and it became such a blast, I continued on to research my Italian and Sicilian roots to the point that I was able to fully get my Italian citizenship via my Great Grandfather from Sicily. If you've started some research on your Italian or Sicilian family tree and would like to visit your family t

Is it possible to go on a custom, privately guided tour of Italy and be on a budget? why YES, it is. I'm Chris, and I am the owner Custom Tours of Italy. I work alone, I don't have a staff or a team - I work with you and customize your Italy vacation to fit your budget needs. It's simple and easy,...we communicate throughout the whole process putting together your Italy vacation many months before..and....I go with you and guide in Italy. I have a daily guiding fee and you pa

Happy New Year 2026. If this is the year you're finally going to "get to Italy or Sicily" either for the first time or a return trip, are you going to go on a pre-packaged tour with 25 other people you haven't met or are you going to attempt to plan your dream vacation all by yourself? If you have the budget and desire to just have someone plan your trip and then escort you while you're there, read on! So you're thinking after looking on the web, that with all it's resources,

When you think about it - Italy is definitely the most complete destination for Tourist activities, Art, Food, Wine, Music, Architecture and History…..and more..... I mean, I'm biased being a travel guide only during Italy and being Italian American but when you think about it, where can you see all the history about the Roman Empire and also get the most incredible plate of Spaghetti Carbonara?....where else can you see the history of Pompeii near Naples and then stay in Sor

Part 2 on the number one question I get and and the hardest question to answer because I don't have pre-set, pre-packaged tours just sitting on my website so you can see the package and the price and decide for yourself. Here at Custom Tours of Italy I work with you through many conversations to determine how you'd like to travel and where you'd like to go an what you'd like to do before we can determine what a trip is going to cost. I work alone and pride myself on being abl

Well, I just got back from a 10 day trip to Sicily in October and I can tell you it's great, very affordable and a lot less tourists. So, what's it gonna cost you for a privately guided Sicilian vacation trip?,....that's a loaded question because it all depends on how you want to travel,.... Do you only want to stay in cities in 5 star hotels or are you willing to stay on Farm Agriturismo's to really get into the Sicilian culture?....these are the things I work with you on de

So, you're exploring a trip to Italy and it doesn't matter if you've been there before or this is the first time, all you do know is that...

Okay, so lets say you only have 9 days off - you'll have 2 days of travel (one there and one back) and you want to go to Italy so bad and...

Yes, if you're dreaming of Italy like I always am, then maybe you're thinking of going to the Vatican Church for the first time or you're...

So you're poking around the internet checking out packaged tour companies tours to Italy and they're fairly high priced per person...

If you have 3 weeks and you're ready to go to Italy, here's a possible Italy vacation package that covers a lot of the 6 popular places I...

It's still not too late to plan a Italy vacation trip for the Spring of 2026. When I say Spring, I'm saying April and May up until when all the schools and colleges let out for the Summer. The crowds go up quite a bit after this so, so the weather is generally good in April through the end of May. I do have a trip planned May 10th returning the 27th but nothing before this. This deals are incredible next year for last minute reservations and why not take advantage of them to

If you think you can book your airfare, your hotels and all your tourist activities and you've NEVER BEEN to Italy before think again....

If you've already been to Italy a few times to the most touristed major cities of Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Tuscany, Naples, and the...

As you start thinking about finally going to "bella Italia", beautiful Italy, the first thing you do is Google Italy vacation packages...

Here's the reasons why I think a personalized Custom tour of Italy is more rewarding for my travel clients then a pre-packaged tour. You...

If you're dreaming of Italy and watching the new Stanley Tucci series on Nat Geo "Tucci in Italy" and you're saying,...."honey, we've got...

There are many factors in choosing the best privately guided 15 day vacation tour of Italy to the 4 most popular cities, Venice,...