Back in October, my husband and I did a week long tour with Tauck of the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Rome. We did a small group tour (24 people) and we were the youngest there. It was amazing. I would probably stick to the smaller groups so that it doesn't get much larger than 24 people. More than that would just feel like too much to handle.
The hotels were top of the line - staying at Le Agavi in Positano, Quisisana in Capri and Hotel Majestic in Rome. I have no problems with any of them and would gladly stay at them again if life ever takes me back to those areas of the world!
Highlights:
1) The after-hours tour of the Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel. It was only our group and another Tauck group there so we only have 50 people total in the Sistine Chapel with us. We also got to walk through the hall of Tapestries, Maps, Statues and some other ancient relics.
2) The in depth tour of Pompeii. Italy requires that a local licensed guide is used for tour groups which helps provide character to the tour in addition than your Tauck tour guide. The ones they used for the tour were excellent and you knew they had been doing this a while as they kept the group engaged and didn't need "flags" to keep a group together.
3) The mix of planned activities and down time. We felt there was enough going on each day that helped you really explore the area but you still got some on your own time in each city to do what mattered to you. This allowed us to visit on our own the Bone Church in Rome, Villa Jorvis in Capri and St Maria Domo in Positano. The major highlights were taken care of in manners where you didn't feel like you were being cattle herded and truly experience it. Their planned activities forced me to see things we may have missed otherwise like the demonstration of the wood layering for furniture, Villa San Michelle, Villa Ruffalo,
4) Getting to walk through the Gladiator's Entrance at the Colosseum. Not everyone gets to enter the colosseum that way and it gives you great perspective of it.
5) After the tour, they sent us a Vatican Museum book which had some amazing photos and articles about their collection.
6) Our tour guide. She had been with the company for many years and was such a great storyteller without being over bearing. She made sure she talked to everyone and found out interests about them.
Lowlights:
1) In Capri, we had a lecture in someone's private home about Italian Society. This could be personal taste but I found it really odd to be in someone's home for them to talk about Italians when she's an ex-pat of another country. The homemade wine she provided was good though!
2) The restaurant post Pompeii. The food was just bad! I would have rather us traveled somewhere else but I get they want to feed you immediately after that walking tour of Pompeii since it did take a bit.
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We've booked another Tauck Tour for 2019 - 13 Nights through Normandy, Brittany, Loire Valley and Paris. We'll also will add a day where we stay at a winery partner with my husband's work and then head to
Disneyland Paris as it should be the weekend of the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon. The "Gift of Time" offer will be saving us $1300 for the additional night at the super fancy Paris hotel at the end of the trip.