Italy 2025
Venice, Italy - hotel was wonderful. Great location and centrally located to make walking easy. Tours were wonderful as well - both guides were excellent. Gondola rides are very overrated but you have to experience it at least once. We had an extra day so the gentleman that met us suggested we go to Murano to see the glass making - so glad we did. We also went to Burano and LOVED everything about it. Next was Florence. We were disappointed that we did not have transportation to hotel from train station. We ended up walking about an hour pulling heavy luggage otherwise we would have had to wait an hour or more for a taxi. Next time get people transportation. Our private wine tasting was not worth our time - our hostess was more interested in helping 3 gentlemen that came in for a large order of bottles of wine. Especially since we spent the entire next day at 3 wineries. The 3 wineries were very nice. Florence was not my favorite but was nice to visit. Hotel was nice but the people that worked there were not very friendly. Then Rome - which was wonderful. We started at the Vatican and Sistine Chapel - wonderful tour - guide was excellent. Then we had a golf cart tour which was fabulous - the guide was amazing!!! We visited Pisa which I enjoyed. Then we toured the Coliseum which was wonderful. That was the morning the Pope passed away. That tour guide was also wonderful. We then headed to Positano - my most favorite of the entire trip! EXCELLENT hotel and location!!!! Loved that we had an entire day to ourselves to walk around Positano. Our hotel was magnificent!!! Then headed to Sorrento with a stop at Pompeii. 2 hours was more than enough time there but glad we stopped. Onto Sorrento - can you say 5 STARS hotel!!! Our rooms were out of a dream! Actually both Positano and Sorrento hotels were marvelous!!! Right on the Mediterranean Sea - fabulous! I slept with my door overlooking the sea open every night!!! Sorrento was my second favorite place. We had a cooking class - which wasn’t as much cooking as I would have liked but the owner Charlie was wonderful. His winery was worth 6 bottles being shipped back to the states. Loved all the shopping and proximity to everything. Then onto Capri - enjoyed the day visiting The Blue Grotto and shopping all day. Overall, what I loved the most was that we were not jammed all day with multiple tours. We had about one a day and some days with none so we were able to see the sights but also have our own time to do what we wanted. The trip was a trip of a life time and I enjoyed everything about it. Thank you!!!!