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There are many factors in choosing the best privately guided 15 day vacation tour of Italy to the 4 most popular cities, Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento when you're deciding with your travel partner, your spouse or your travel family and or friends. The first thing to decide is how many days you can allow for your Italy vacation. If you're still working and can only get 17 days you must factor in that there are two days of travel that ARE NOT part of your vacation in Italy, this leaves you with 15 days of actual time there. Once you've determined your vacation length, then you have to decide on how may locations you want to visit and how much you want to see while you're there. When you pick a pre-packaged tour with "another company" you don't get to pick the amount of days in each location, you get what they've picked out for you, and often times it's just NOT enough time in these locations to fully enjoy yourself in Italy. With Custom Tours of Italy, you get to customize your Italian vacation locations, the time spent in each place and all of your tourist attractions while there. In all my trips the general consensus is that a minimum of 3 or 4 nights in each place is the lowest number of nights to stay. So here's what a possible 15 day vacation in Italy might look like if your desire is to visit the 4 most commonly visited cities in Italy..... Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento, with day trips from each one of these locations. Nights 1 - 4, Fly into VENICE arriving at Marco Polo Airport and spend 4 nights in Venice city center. Your first night there is relaxation with no tourist activities planned on your arrival day. I never schedule tourist activities on these travel days in case of travel changes or delays....Venice is a perfectly preserved city and a must do if you want experience the iconic tourist activities you can only do there such as a Gondola ride..(I still search out and find my very first Gondolier Marco Mingardi when I'm there-we're friends since 1997)......a visit to Saint Mark's Cathedral, a day trip visit to a glass blowing factory on the island of Murano and a memorable Canal-side dinner. Piazza San Marco is one of the best squares in all of Italy with cafes, live Orchestras and shops. Nights 5 - 8, Train it to FLORENCE (as you don't need a car into any of the big cities) and stay for 4 nights in the city that was the heart of Renaissance. Florence has so much to offer so it warrants a 4 nights stay - with the Accademia where you'll see Michael-Angelo's original David Statue, the Galleria di Uffizi where you'll see the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere, the Bargelo where you'll see the most amazing statues, the Galileo Museum where you'll see all of his scientific achievements. The red-roofed Duomo is a must with a climb inside the dome with the best 360 degree view of Florence at the top. The Duomo museum is an easy visit with the original Baptistry doors designed by Ghiberti which kicked off the Renaissance across from the Duomo. Florence is an easy city to walk and the sights are all fairly close by in the city center. While you're staying in Florence there are many day trip train possibilities such as to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and also a visit to the town of Lucca, a true gem. The Cinque Terre is a little too far for a day trip from Florence although many will try this - too much travel time there and back! Nights 9 - 12, rent a car after Florence and spend 4 nights on a Farm Agriturismo in Tuscany! I’ve staying on a few farms but I have one I actually try to schedule my trips around when they have rooms available. It’s near Pienza in the Val D’orcia region and I discovered it in the Fall of 2013 and I’ve been going there with travelers ever since. It only has four rooms so it books well in advance but the family there has been my extended Italian family ever since. I also recently discovered a great farm east of Florence and this has become my favorite near there. When  you stay on a farm, you take day trips to the surrounding local towns and really get the salt of the earth local Italian living. You go to local wineries, you go to local foodie artisan farms where you can do a Cheese making farm, and Olive oil farm, a farm that specializes in harvesting wheat and making Pasta,……these days are always described as the best part of any of my travelers reviews! I think it’s important to balance your trip with some time in the countryside! 4 Nights 13-16, train it down to Naples where you then take the local train to the Amalfi coast and Sorrento, base yourself in Sorrento and do day trips from here. The must do's in this area is a day trip to Pompeii to see the city that was buried by the Vesuvius Volcano in 79 AD. Pompeii is a perfect snapshot of what a Rome dominated city was like back then - flat out amazing! I always try to include a boat trip to Capri where you'll spend most of the day on a small chartered boat exploring the Amalfi Coast and then eventually going into the famed Blue Grotto Cave, waves permitting. Also included in the boat trip is a stop at a small port for lunch and a trip up to Capri or Anacapri. Sorrento is all things lemon so we'll stop by the Cataldi Garden to see a lemon grove and taste limoncello at their factory. And then finally what many are dreaming of, a day trip touring on the stunning Amalfi cost to the small towns of Positano and Amalfi - tour buses or a small hired van is the way we do this if we don't have a car. 5 Nights 17-20, train it to ROME, the eternal city. Rome is gigantic but surprisingly walkable with many of the historic sights near the city center. Top visits are of course the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navonna, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and the Vatican Church and Museum. The Vatican is the farthest away attraction and can be accessed by Metro subway or Taxi cab unless you're staying close to it, it is not an easy walk to it from the other main sites in Rome. The Vatican Church and the Vatican Museum are separate visits next to each other, the church is free to enter with only a security line while the Museum requires a ticket in advance. An easy day trip from Rome is the beautiful hilltop city of Orvieto just an hour and a half north,....Since Rome is your last city on your private Italy vacation you don't have to rush around at all to take it all in. Rome can be exhausting and you'll be walking a lot on your whole trip so many times we'll stop and have a drink or meal in a peaceful, non touristy location in order to experience Italy like the locals do, as we say,..il dolce far niente,..the sweetness of doing nothing. When I schedule your tour activities for you, we can usually only do one activity after breakfast and one activity after lunch..night time is when the charm comes out in Italy, the day tourists have all gone away, walking before dinner, called the "passagiatta" is a must to see Italians strutting their stuff, dinner starts at 8pm and ends when you're done, there's no rush, and an after dinner walk to a lively bar for a night cap of Limoncello, Grappa or Amaro is typical. 6 Day 21 you'll fly out from Rome back to the USA,....Rome's airport is about 45 minutes to the West Coast of Rome and many times we stay in the small city of Fiumicino next to the airport the night before you leave in order to make an early morning departure,..there are some great restaurants along the river in the town there,.....these are the things I do at Custom Tours of Italy that you cannot do with any pre-packaged Italian tour companies out there. www.customtoursofitaly.com

There are many factors in choosing the best privately guided 12 day vacation tour of Italy to the 3 most popular cities, Venice, Florence and Rome when you're deciding with your travel partner, your spouse or your travel family and or friends. The first thing to decide is how many days you can allow for your Italy vacation. If you're still working and can only get 2 weeks off (14 days) you must factor in that there are two days of travel that ARE NOT part of your vacation in Italy, this leaves you with 12 days of actual time there. Once you've determined your vacation length, then you have to decide on how may locations you want to visit and how much you want to see while you're there. When you pick a pre-packaged tour with "another company" you don't get to pick the amount of days in each location, you get what they've picked out for you, and often times it's just NOT enough time in these locations to fully enjoy yourself in Italy. With Custom Tours of Italy, you get to customize your Italian vacation locations, the time spent in each place and all of your tourist attractions while there. In all my trips the general consensus is that a minimum of 3 or 4 nights in each place is the lowest number of nights to stay. So here's what a possible 12 day vacation in Italy might look like if your desire is to visit the 3 most commonly visited cities in Italy..... Venice, Florence and Rome, with day trips from each one of these locations. Nights 1 - 4, Fly into VENICE arriving at Marco Polo Airport and spend 4 nights in Venice city center. Your first night there is relaxation with no tourist activities planned on your arrival day. I never schedule tourist activities on these travel days in case of travel changes or delays....Venice is a perfectly preserved city and a must do if you want experience the iconic tourist activities you can only do there such as a Gondola ride..(I still search out and find my very first Gondolier Marco Mingardi when I'm there-we're friends since 1997)......a visit to Saint Mark's Cathedral, a day trip visit to a glass blowing factory on the island of Murano and a memorable Canal-side dinner. Piazza San Marco is one of the best squares in all of Italy with cafes, live Orchestras and shops. Nights 5 - 8, Train it to FLORENCE (as you don't need a car into any of the big cities) and stay for 4 nights in the city that was the heart of Renaissance. Florence has so much to offer with the Accademia where you'll see Michael-Angelo's original David Statue, the Galleria di Uffizi where you'll see the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere, the Bargelo where you'll see the most amazing statues, the Galileo Museum where you'll see all of his scientific achievements. The red-roofed Duomo is a must with a climb inside the dome with the best 360 degree view of Florence at the top. The Duomo museum is an easy visit with the original Baptistry doors designed by Ghiberti which kicked off the Renaissance across from the Duomo. Florence is an easy city to walk and the sights are all fairly closeby in the city center. While you're staying in Florence there are many day trip train possibilities such as to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and also a visit to the town of Lucca, a true gem. The Cinque Terre is a little too far for a day trip from Florence although many will try this - too much travel time there and back! Nights 9 - 12, train it to ROME, the eternal city. Rome is gigantic but surprisingly walkable with many of the historic sights near the city center. Top visits are of course the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navonna, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and the Vatican Church and Museum. The Vatican is the farthest away attraction and can be accessed by Metro subway or Taxi cab unless you're staying close to it, it is not an easy walk to it from the other main sites in Rome. The Vatican Church and the Vatican Museum are separate visits next to each other, the church is free to enter with only a security line while the Museum requires a ticket in advance. An easy day trip from Rome is the beautiful hilltop city of Orvieto just an hour and a half north,....Since Rome is your last city on your private Italy vacation you don't have to rush around at all to take it all in. Rome can be exhausting and you'll be walking a lot on your whole trip so many times we'll stop and have a drink or meal in a peaceful, non touristy location in order to experience Italy like the locals do, as we say,..il dolce far niente,..the sweetness of doing nothing. When I schedule your tour activities for you, we can usually only do one activity after breakfast and one activity after lunch..night time is when the charm comes out in Italy, the day tourists have all gone away, walking before dinner, called the "passagiatta" is a must to see Italians strutting their stuff, dinner starts at 8pm and ends when you're done, there's no rush, and an after dinner walk to a lively bar for a night cap of Limoncello, Grappa or Amaro is typical. Day 13 you'll fly out from Rome back to the USA,....Rome's airport is about 45 minutes to the West Coast of Rome and many times we stay in the small city of Fiumicino next to the airport the night before you leave in order to make an early morning departure,..there are some great restaurants along the river in the town there,.....these are the things I do at Custom Tours of Italy that you cannot do with any pre-packaged Italian tour companies out there. www.customtoursofitaly.com

There are many factors in choosing the best privately guided 15 day vacation tour of Italy to the 4 most popular cities, Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento when you're deciding with your travel partner, your spouse or your travel family and or friends. The first thing to decide is how many days you can allow for your Italy vacation. If you're still working and can only get 17 days you must factor in that there are two days of travel that ARE NOT part of your vacation in Italy, this leaves you with 15 days of actual time there. Once you've determined your vacation length, then you have to decide on how may locations you want to visit and how much you want to see while you're there. When you pick a pre-packaged tour with "another company" you don't get to pick the amount of days in each location, you get what they've picked out for you, and often times it's just NOT enough time in these locations to fully enjoy yourself in Italy. With Custom Tours of Italy, you get to customize your Italian vacation locations, the time spent in each place and all of your tourist attractions while there. In all my trips the general consensus is that a minimum of 3 or 4 nights in each place is the lowest number of nights to stay. So here's what a possible 15 day vacation in Italy might look like if your desire is to visit the 4 most commonly visited cities in Italy..... Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento, with day trips from each one of these locations. Nights 1 - 4, Fly into VENICE arriving at Marco Polo Airport and spend 4 nights in Venice city center. Your first night there is relaxation with no tourist activities planned on your arrival day. I never schedule tourist activities on these travel days in case of travel changes or delays....Venice is a perfectly preserved city and a must do if you want experience the iconic tourist activities you can only do there such as a Gondola ride..(I still search out and find my very first Gondolier Marco Mingardi when I'm there-we're friends since 1997)......a visit to Saint Mark's Cathedral, a day trip visit to a glass blowing factory on the island of Murano and a memorable Canal-side dinner. Piazza San Marco is one of the best squares in all of Italy with cafes, live Orchestras and shops. Nights 5 - 8, Train it to FLORENCE (as you don't need a car into any of the big cities) and stay for 4 nights in the city that was the heart of Renaissance. Florence has so much to offer so it warrants a 4 nights stay - with the Accademia where you'll see Michael-Angelo's original David Statue, the Galleria di Uffizi where you'll see the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere, the Bargelo where you'll see the most amazing statues, the Galileo Museum where you'll see all of his scientific achievements. The red-roofed Duomo is a must with a climb inside the dome with the best 360 degree view of Florence at the top. The Duomo museum is an easy visit with the original Baptistry doors designed by Ghiberti which kicked off the Renaissance across from the Duomo. Florence is an easy city to walk and the sights are all fairly closeby in the city center. While you're staying in Florence there are many day trip train possibilities such as to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and also a visit to the town of Lucca, a true gem. The Cinque Terre is a little too far for a day trip from Florence although many will try this - too much travel time there and back! Nights 9 - 12, train it down to Naples where you then take the local train to the Amalfi coast and Sorrento, base yourself in Sorrento and do day trips from here. The must do's in this area is a day trip to Pompeii to see the city that was buried by the Vesuvius Volcano in 79 AD. Pompeii is a perfect snapshot of what a Rome dominated city was like back then - flat out amazing! I always try to include a boat trip to Capri where you'll spend most of the day on a small chartered boat exploring the Amalfi Coast and then eventually going into the famed Blue Grotto Cave, waves permitting. Also included in the boat trip is a stop at a small port for lunch and a trip up to Capri or Anacapri. Sorrento is all things lemon so we'll stop by the Cataldi Garden to see a lemon grove and taste limoncello at their factory. And then finally what many are dreaming of, a day trip touring on the stunning Amalfi cost to the small towns of Positano and Amalfi - tour buses or a small hired van is the way we do this if we don't have a car. Nights 13 - 16, train it to ROME, the eternal city. Rome is gigantic but surprisingly walkable with many of the historic sights near the city center. Top visits are of course the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navonna, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and the Vatican Church and Museum. The Vatican is the farthest away attraction and can be accessed by Metro subway or Taxi cab unless you're staying close to it, it is not an easy walk to it from the other main sites in Rome. The Vatican Church and the Vatican Museum are separate visits next to each other, the church is free to enter with only a security line while the Museum requires a ticket in advance. An easy day trip from Rome is the beautiful hilltop city of Orvieto just an hour and a half north,....Since Rome is your last city on your private Italy vacation you don't have to rush around at all to take it all in. Rome can be exhausting and you'll be walking a lot on your whole trip so many times we'll stop and have a drink or meal in a peaceful, non touristy location in order to experience Italy like the locals do, as we say,..il dolce far niente,..the sweetness of doing nothing. When I schedule your tour activities for you, we can usually only do one activity after breakfast and one activity after lunch..night time is when the charm comes out in Italy, the day tourists have all gone away, walking before dinner, called the "passagiatta" is a must to see Italians strutting their stuff, dinner starts at 8pm and ends when you're done, there's no rush, and an after dinner walk to a lively bar for a night cap of Limoncello, Grappa or Amaro is typical. Day 17 you'll fly out from Rome back to the USA,....Rome's airport is about 45 minutes to the West Coast of Rome and many times we stay in the small city of Fiumicino next to the airport the night before you leave in order to make an early morning departure,..there are some great restaurants along the river in the town there,.....these are the things I do at Custom Tours of Italy that you cannot do with any pre-packaged Italian tour companies out there. www.customtoursofitaly.com

So, you're poking around the internet and you see a lot of options for trips that say they offer a "privately guided custom vacation trip to Italy" for you but then they have pre-made itineraries already made up for you to look at? How is that a custom trip? The reason you want your own custom private tour guide for your whole trip in Italy is that a professional private guide can just book the way you want to travel and book the things that interest you and your traveling party! What I do is communicate with you by text, email, Zoom, and cell phone often times Facetime on iPhones and actually ask you: when you'd like to go to Italy, where you'd like to go in Italy, what you'd like to do in those places and and how you'd like to do it! Right now I'm putting together a trip for May of 2026 for a couple to go to Abruzzo, Puglia and Sicily for 17 days in total, they've been to Italy before so now he wants to explore more Castles and she likes smaller more chill towns... you don't get this with any other Italian tour guide agency. I work alone and love to talk to perspective Italy travelers to try to craft them a custom tour of Italy for the best possible time there. Many other times my clients are first time travelers to Italy so sometimes it's obvious they want to hit the 4 most common places, Venice, Florence, Rome and the Amalfi Coast. BUT, within those 4 places, lets say Venice first, they tell me they don't really want to go on a Gondola ride while in Venice. Well, on one of those pre-packaged tours - they have you pre-paying this option within your trip already, so you have to go on it......maybe someone is afraid of the water? What I do is I find out EXACTLY what you want to do, for instance: you're really really really interested in paintings and wall art,..... well, if you are, then for sure you want to visit the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. If you're interested in Catholic churches and all that comes with that then we're for sure going into Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, (which is free by the way-just a security line outside). I have people that tell me they don't want to go into any Churches at all because they're Jewish but they want to visit the Jewish Quarter in Rome and Florence and visit the synagogues. There's a whole lot of Jewish history in both cities especailly in Rome and it's fascinating to visit these places. Do you want just a coastal culture Italy vacation on some of the most iconic beach resorts? well, that's the Cinque Terre 3 hours north of Florence - pronounced CHIN QWA TERRA.....the beaches aren't the best white sand beaches like the Caribbean but the 5 little Towns sure are great for Italian coastal culture. Seafood restaurants overlooking the water, boat trips and hiking in this area are the top hits. The Amalfi coast and Sorrento is another great location for coastal culture. You also visit the isle of Capri when in this area - pronounced COP PREE......These are the type of things I know as a long time experienced private Italian tour guide only working in Italy. I could go on and on but that's a conversation for us over the phone to get you started on your own very personal Custom privately guided vacation tour of Italy!

I talk with a lot of perspective travelers and lots of people want to know up front, "hey, what's it's going to cost us for a Custom tour vacation of Italy, the custom part sounds expensive"? Well, since your CUSTOM vacation tour of Italy will be different than any of my other guided trips I CANNOT give you a complete answer up front until we start putting your trip together. What I can tell you is that generally the trips per person/per day are in a range of $400ish a day which many times INCLUDES the airfare and all the costs including me as well. The only thign I cannot figure is the lunch and dinner costs. This is a general figure if we're not traveling staying in 5 Star hotels but 3 and 4 star hotels. This will include all your tourist activities and travel costs of trains and or rental cars. Now, when you look around at some of the pre-packaged tours, airfare is RARELY included and sometimes there's a few meals but not all lunches and dinners are included. All tour attractions are in there and the guides are included as well - usually there is ground transfers too. Well, I do all the same things as a pre-packaged tour company does as far as the planning and booking of things but I do it all myself because I'm the Italy expert, only tour guiding in Italy, by myself, WITH YOU! Whatever you do, I do! This one on one experience is very special because I'm just as invested in the trip as you are. I'm there with you all the time translating, escorting and guiding you so you'll have the time of your life on your own custom vacation trip in Italy. Often times you have a pre-set idea of how long you can go for and retired folks can generally travel longer often time up to 3 weeks. The biggest problem with the initial talks about where to go and what to see is that most people want to do too much in too short a time frame. I've found that 3 nights minimum stays are the best way to do a custom tour in Italy because usually your arrival to a location is in the afternoon and you really cannot plan a tour attraction that first afternoon or night. So, technically you're staying for 2.5 days there and the next 2 days are when you can get the tourist activiities in. Any moving less then 3 nights just feels like a travel race, a travel competition, a travel marathon.....too exhausting packing up every 3rd morning. For example, if you only have 7 days in Italy that's flat out too short unless we go to 2 locations and fan out day trips from those two locations. if you have 9 days, that's 3 locations, 12 days that's 4 locations, 15 days that's 3 locations, etc etc. If this sounds like it's for you, let's talk about crafting your custom tour of Italy anywhere from 3 to 6 months in advance......

Sure, the internet is a great source of information when you think you can try book your own custom tour of Italy but what you don't get when you're reading those "top ten things to do while in Italy" Tripadvisor reviews is you don't get the experience of someone who goes to Italy 3 times a year for many years now. Why trust anyone else when thinking of going on a private Italy vacation then someone who knows the country and prides themselves on all the details which can make or break the success of your trip? In my opinion, Italy is one of the hardest countries to travel to because of a few of these reasons below: Knowing how to travel in Italy,......do we go by Trains or Cars or Buses? Well, I can tell you, you definitely DO NOT need a car near any of the big cities like Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, the Cinque Terre or the Sorrento coast....I drove in Florence once when I first started out and it was a nightmare even finding the rental car return - never again. We go by Train when going from city to city and I book all the Train reservations in advance.. you also have to know that Italy has Train strikes from time to time......I know how to find when those are happening in advance,......when going to the countryside of Tuscany and Umbria to explore, we rent a car because you really cannot get there any other way. Knowing where to stay in Italy?,....booking the right Hotel or Farm stay in the right location takes years of experience. When people show me where they've booked their stays themselves and then I look where they actually are located, I cringe because most of the time they're not located remotely close enough to the things you want to see and do. For example: want to see the Vatican Church and Museum in Rome so you book a hotel close to there?,....well did you know that ALL, and I mean ALL of the other major sights like the Colosseum, Pantheon, Piazza Navonna, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps are WAY across the Tiber river not even walking distance from the Vatican area. These are the things that I know. Knowing about the tourist activities......there's huge crowds at all the main sites in the main cities Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome and the Sorrento coast and all those people want to go there all at the same time....want to have all your tourist attractions booked well in advance for the right times? it literally takes weeks to book all these if you've never done it before, I'm an expert at it and will save you time and money by doing it all for you. Knowing about the great restaurants and where to eat,.....one of the joys of being in Italy is the food and wine there!........often times when I'm in Italy I see the main Piazza's full of tourists sitting down eating lunch and dinner in the most crowded restaurants thinking they're getting a great meal just because the places are "busy and full" so it must be good right?...... if you see a sign in English saying "no frozen food" on the most expensive square in Florence or Rome,.....RUN, don't walk away from it. Those places are low quality tourist food and high prices......I have so many relationships with so many great restaurants after all these years the owners are like family now. One of best Michelin star restaurants in Sorrento is owned by a man I met in 1997 when he was just the head waiter at the bar Fauno in the Main Piazza Tazzo, I went back in 1999 and he had opened an incredible restaurant that I still go to everytime I'm in Sorrento.....these are a few of the small things that make a big difference when you trust someone to book all of your custom tour of Italy. Let me put together your private Italy vacation so you can have one of the best guided tours to Italy ever. www.customtoursofitaly.com

In all my travels to Italy and the countless trips guiding tourists there, whenever we've done a Farm Agriturismo stay, my tourists always say the time spent on the Farm was the absolute BEST days of the whole trip. So, let's explore why this is true, .....when I go on vacation with my family to Italy I go to the same farm I know in Southern Tuscany near Pienza in the Val D'Orcia and stay for a week,.....see below....... When I experienced my first Agriturismo Farm stay in the fall of 2013, I knew I was in for a special treat but had no idea how great it would be to experience Italy like a local, staying in a relaxing country farmhouse adjacent to a family who takes great pride in hundreds of years of their tradition in Farming, Wine making, Olive oil production etc. Here's the best part,......the Farm stay costs are WAY lower then staying in any big city! The Agriturismo Farm program is partially funded by the Italian government to get tourists to come to Italy so the owners are not allowed to make any more money as hoteliers then they're making as farmers, a typical double occupancy room with breakfast included is under 150 Euro a night, less then half or more than any large Italian city....you get double the culture for half the price,...... When I book you for a few days on an Agriturismo Farm stay in the country, most likely I've already vetted that location and have stayed there in the past, but I have booked Farms where it's my first time there but I know what to look for in a Agriturismo so you'll have a great relaxing time. Most importantly is the time away from the bigger tourist cities where a much needed break is needed from the hustle and bustle! These are stress free stays with day trips to smaller cities close by, or days of doing nothing but enjoying the farm and the people that run it. We definitely need a car to get to these Agriturismo Farms because the trains will get you to the nearest big city close by but not close enough to the farms. Tuscany seems to be where most tourists are dreaming of but these Agriturismo Farm stays are all over Italy from high up in the North to the Calabria in the South, to Sicily and Sardinia too. When we book an Agriturismo Farm stay in Italy you get a clean, rustic room with a bathroom, European Italian breakfast is always included and then the option to eat dinner on the farm for around 30 to 40 Euro each and everything included. I like the smaller farms that have 4 or 5 rooms compared to the larger farms that have many rooms and a restaurant that has a set menu every night of the week. Don't get me wrong, the larger farms are very charming but just not as intimate.....when you pull up to any of these Farms it's just like you see in the movies......the views are picture perfect postcards! Back in the fall of 2023 I had a couple who said they didn't want to stay in any cities, so I booked them on a Agriturismo Farm outside of Florence, then my favorite farm outside of Pienza, a Farm outside of Rome near Frascati, up the mountain on a Farm outside of Sorrento and a Farm outside of Matera on the East Coast,....... 22 days in all and not one city stay...... www.customtoursofitaly.com

When I started going to Italy with just my wife many years ago before I started Custom Tours of Italy, we would move around a lot by trains and try to see as many things as possible for the obvious reasons of being younger and the mindset we would miss things if we didn't "try to do it all" in 2 or 3 weeks there. Things change when you get experienced and you slow things down and try to soak in Italy the way they want you to experience it - slower and more appreciative. When I travel guide folks now I try to adhere to a minimum of 3 nights in one place, some places like Rome or Florence or a Farm Agriturismo can even warrant a longer stay for longer, on our travel days either by train or car I NEVER schedule a set tourist reservation later in the day just in case there are travel curve balls thrown at you by Italy (which is very common) and then you chance missing a reserved, paid for tourist activity. Italy simply is not as much fun if you're rushing through it - THEY CERTAINLY ARE NOT rushing through life, and you will see this! My philosophy is you're not going on a "sprint" on your vacation but a "marathon" at a slower pace. Most hotel or Farms will want you checking out by 11am or 12 noon latest and your next destination doesn't allow you to check in by 3 or 4:00pm - so the time in between should be your travel time to your next destination - this is traveling smartly. Sure, we may stop off in a town on the way in order to sight-see on the way to your next location, we'll have lunch there along the way and the aim to arrive in the later afternoon where we'll stay for 3 nights or more. There will be things to do in the new location that aren't scheduled that first night but are iconic to the town or city,.....free things that you don't need to be scheduled such as the stroll before dinner to get an Aperitivo drink during our walk called the "passegiatta" - this is where locals are all out walking and meeting each other, checking in with each other out for the latest news in town, the latest gossip,....then it's off to dinner. This is "slow Italy" at it's best, and also noted, when you go to eat dinner, that is not usually before 8pm at night and when you're there-there's no rushing through dinner, it can easily be 2 to 3 hours with all the courses followed by an after drink like Limoncello or Amaro....this is part of the beauty of why you picked to go Italy - their lifestyle and this is traveling smart to not rush through things while there!....often time we use the phrase "il dolce far niente",.... translated means "the sweetness of doing nothing"..... www.customtoursofitaly.com

I began my quest in 1997 to put together the best guided tour of Italy with my then girlfriend (who I was trying to impress) who became my fiance' after our first private tour of Italy - she later became my wife in 1998. She convinced me that I was a natural tour guide for Italy and to do this as a business! ....so I married her and we're still married and when I'm not guiding people in Italy, we go there and explore and our two grown children love it as well. Back then, I was determined to go to Italy and not do one of those bus tours with 25 other people I didn't know and I definintley didn't want to be another tacky American tourist. Being Italian American I decided to read and study every Italy guide book possible and also learn enough Italian to go to Italy on our own......it was the best decision ever and this was the inception of Custom Tours of Italy. I put together private Italy tours and love sharing this great country with people... www.customtoursofitaly.com

How to begin to plan for one of my best guided private vacation tours to Italy.... 2025 is a Jubilee year for Italy and things are going to get busy and booked up faster this year....January is almost over and you should now be thinking (about 4 months in advance) about a Spring or Summer custom tour of Italy. Prime tourist season in Italy is essentially May thru October but many will say "you're crazy if you go to Italy in July or August",....but I go,....sure it's hot in the summer in Italy but it usually cools down at night and thats when most of the daily influx of tourists get back on their tour bus or their Cruise ship. Evening is when the charm comes out and the night time fun begins. So, how to begin planning for your private tour to Italy? The best way to start is to start looking at guide books/ Youtube's or Italy travel by consulting the internet for some of the best things to do in italy. Then, you have to match up what you like to do and start making notes of this. If you're NOT into crowds and being inside Museums, then skip the lines and what you DON'T want to do,..and if I was guiding you, we surely wouldn't doing those things. This is the beauty of Custom Tours of Italy and what I do, by myself, when I guide you on your own private, guided vacation tour of Italy. The packaged bus tours don't give you a choice on these options. I do. Once you contact me, I begin with your airfare searches as I like to be able to fly with or at least meet my travelers on the way to Italy. Then we plan out what you want to see in Italy and I begin to book the hotels, the tourist activites, the train travel/car rental and also the restaurants in advance. I charge for all up front EXCEPT the lunches and dinners as we don't know what those costs will be. January and February are great months to get a jump on booking your Spring or Summer vacation to Italy. For Fall vacations, April and May are good months to begin booking things for your private vacation tour of Italy in September through the end of October. www.customtoursofitaly.com

When searching around on the internet for Italy vacation packages, a myriad of options come up, but how many are there where you can create your own, small group customized Italy tour with the owner/operator who escorts you on your whole trip? There's only one, Custom Tours of Italy. My passion to share this great country with people is the driving force behind what I do with my travelers. I love to see the smiles on my tourists faces when they finally get to see what they invisioned Italy to be. I only work alone and work with you to determine what you would like to do in Italy, then I create a day by day itinerary for you and your small group vacation to Italy. Most of the pre-packaged tours have you moving around too much and only staying 1 or 2 nights in various locations - I don't do that. We do a minimum of 3 nights everywhere and sometimes we stay in places more then that. For example, I often book your custom, private guided vacation to Italy around the availability of my favorite farm "Agriturismo" in Southern Tuscany near Montepulciano. I like to suggest you balance the big tourist cities with a stay in the country in Tuscany. Everyone one of my past travelers have said the farm stay was the best part of their trip. I've been going to this farm since the Fall of 2013 and now the owners are "family". When you book Custom Tours of Italy for your private guided vacation to Italy you get to "order" what you want to do. You're not a huge fan of museums with just paintings? Then we don't plan that for you,....you don't get that choice with a big tour company tour with 25 other people on a bus going to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence......You're a big Roman history buff? well, you're going to the right place then, but let's plan more than 3 nights in Rome....the other tour guide agencies do not have this flexibility....so, let's create your own customized, personalized Italy vacation soon. Grazie mille! www.customtoursofitaly.com

You get to experience Italy on the local level with someone who is a 3rd generation Italian American, who has dual citizenship with Italy who ONLY tour guides in Italy and is just as excited to be there as you are. You get to customize your tour of Italy with your tourist activity likes and dislikes, ....don't like to see too many Museums with paintings? we only visit the ones you really want to see. You love to visit Churches and Christian iconogrraphy? Italy has plenty of that, You want to do winery and food tours, Italy has plenty of that etc... You get to pick your Hotel preferences in advance instead of the pre-packaged tour company picking them for you. You get to meet and interface with your tour guide in advance when planning your vacation for one of the best guided tours of Italy. You get to pick your budget and the total amount of days you're actually in Italy as opposed to the pre-packaged tour company picking them for you. I really only like to do a minimum of 3 nights in each location...many lower budget tours have you staying 2 nights and even 1 night sometimes, they move you around too much, I don't make any commission money off of booking you into anything from 2nd party tour attractions, I only charge a per day fee and all my expenses! You get the possibility to stay on a farm called an Agriturismo in the countryside in Italy to experience the way real Italians live and work...I often book my tours around some of my favorite farm stays in Italy. You get to meet some of my long time friends that own restaurants and experience Italian food NOT in the "tourist" places in some of the iconic cities in Italy like Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento. You get to pick who you're traveling with instead of the pre-packaged tours putting you in a group of 20 other people you've NEVER met! You get an personal guide who speaks fluent Italian who can ease your apprehension of the language barrier. You get the security of a private tour guide who is with you insuring that you have a safe and incident free time while on your vacation in Italy. www.customtoursofitaly.com