Italy. A country that is stereotyped by pizza, pasta and the Mario brothers. Yet, this boot-shaped piece of land in the Mediterranean has so much more to offer than these stereotypes would allow. Whether it is the alpine experiences of northern Italy, the rolling hills of Tuscany, the crowded city of Rome or the unique culture of Sicily, Italy has plenty to see and experience. Fortunately, we’ve done some looking around and found some of the best tours to Italy that will make you experience the country’s dolce vita lifestyle alongside its main landmarks.
Whether you are looking for holiday tours to Italy, Italy tours with kids or perhaps something more akin to culinary tours to Italy, we’ve got you covered. We’ve picked out tours that will allow you to experience many different regions that can all paint a different picture of what Italy is. By the end, you’re sure to come away with a more complete and accurate vision of what Italy the country represents. So with all of that out of the way, let’s hop into our list of the best Italy tours!
The Best Tour To Italy To Delve Deeper Into The Italian Dolce Vita
Ultimate Italy By G Adventures
Our first pick is the Ultimate Italy tour by G Adventures. This 14-day trip will take you from the heart of the country in Rome before moving you north through some of the most iconic towns and cities. Visit the Tuscan towns of Siena, Florence and Montepulciano before exploring the seaside villages of Cinque Terre. You’ll then go north to the picturesque Lake Como before finishing in the legendary floating city of Venice.
As for what all is included in this northern Italian tour, you get 13 nights of hotel accommodations and 13 breakfasts to go along with them. Any transport once the tour has started is also covered. It’s recommended that you allow for $510-665 USD for meals that aren’t included. There are additional extras that you can book at different locations, such as a Vespa tour of Rome and a Food Tour in Florence. If you want a private room, that is extremely expensive and probably not worth it. However, for what is offered, this is one of the best northern Italy tours available.
Iconic Italy By G Adventures
For those who are looking to get a little bit more Neapolitan than the previous tour, the Iconic Italy tour by G Adventures offers just that opportunity. This time the tour starts in Venice before heading to Cinque Terre. A 2 free days in Florence predate a train ride down to Naples, where you will then visit Sorrento, Pompei and Amalfi. All of this before the 14-day trip ends on the road to Rome. With a max group size of 12, you certainly won’t feel crowded on this trip.
What is included is similar to the previous tour. There are 13 nights of hotel accommodations with 13 breakfasts. You’ll want to save around $550-715 USD for non-breakfast meals that you get. Once again, there are extra additions to the tour in Rome and Florence, with food tours available in each. The Vespa tour is also available again in Rome itself. This trip is for those who want to get a taste of both northern and southern Italy before finishing with a look at the capital.
Local Living Italy – Tuscany’s San Gimignano By G Adventures
A slightly more focused tour from G Adventures rounds out our top three best tours in Italy. This is only a 7-day tour that sets its focus firmly on the region of Tuscany. You still start in Rome, but you don’t stay long before heading out to your base of the medieval city of San Gimignano. From there, you’ll explore the city, take day trips to Siena and Florence and walk to Montauto before heading back to Rome.
This trip includes a lot more localized activities than the previous 2, which were focused more on seeing as much as possible. You stay in locally-owned homes for 5 nights, with a hotel for the first in Rome. 6 breakfasts and 2 dinners are paid for, as is the food you’ll get at the half-day cooking class in San Gimignano. Still, you’ll want to keep around $215-280 USD for other meals. You also get a wine tasting at Montauto. This trip is for those who are focused on wanting to enjoy the Tuscany region of Italy, and is one of the best Italy tours in that regard.
Local Living Italy – Amalfi Coast By G Adventures
The last of the G Adventure tours on our list, we have a tour focused on the Amalfi Coast. You’ll start in Naples before exploring the ruins of Pompeii. After that, Furore will be your base of operations as you hike to the Valle delle Ferriere, the mountain slopes of Mt Tre Calli, the Path of the Gods” along the Amalfi Coast and to Ravello. You finish with a ferry ride along the Amalfi Coast before heading back to Naples.
Many of the aspects of this 8-day tour are included with the base price. There is 1 night in a hotel, while there are 6 nights in local agriturismo/guesthouses. You get 7 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 6 dinners, but you should still pack about $200 USD for any other meals you want. Otherwise, the ferry ride, tours and cooking demonstrations are all included in the base price. This tour is great for those who want to experience the Amalfi Coast all while walking around and making those legs work. It’s not so great for those who want to sit back and do nothing for a week.
Highlights Of Italy By Intrepid Travel
Another short 8-day tour, this one seeks to ambitiously cover a lot of ground in those days. The “Highlights of Italy” by Intrepid Travel has you explore Rome, La Spezia, Cinque Terre, Florence and Venice (not in that order) in 8 days. You are helped by using the train system to get between cities, but this still is a pressed schedule, which could be looked at as one of the downsides of this tour.
The meal includes 4 breakfast meals, all transport travels on the train, 3 nights in hotels and 4 nights in hostels. The trip to Cinque Terre also includes the Cinque Terre Pass, allowing you to travel from town to town. There are optional activities in each location which you’ll have to pay more for in order to access. These include a gondola ride in Venice, day trip to Siena in Florence, and a tour of the Colosseum in Rome. For those who want to get the major sights of Italy in a short time (or the “highlights” as it were), this is the tour for them.
Rome To Amalfi By Intrepid Travel
Entering the second half of our list of the best tours in Italy, we have the “Rome To Amalfi” tour by Intrepid Travel. Whereas the last trip was a highlight tour of the realms north of Rome, this one goes south. It is also 8 days long and travels to Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, Amalfi and Positano. You will most certainly have plenty to do at each.
You get 5 meals included with the base tour, all breakfast. Then there are 7 nights in hotels and free train, bus, walking (duh) and ferry transport. There are a fair amount of activities included in this tour, such as a walking tour at Pompeii, a gelato-making demonstration at Sorrento and a coastal ferry cruise at Amalfi/Positano. However, there are also many additional activities that you can pay extra for. These include options like getting guided tours around Rome and getting a hydrofoil from Sorrento to the island of Capri. Because it is so concentrated around the area of Amalfi and Naples with so many activities included, this is certainly one of the best southern Italy tours.
Italy Retreat: The Veneto By Intrepid Travel
A short, focused tour is up next on our list of the best Italy tours. This time it is entirely concentrated on the Veneto region of Italy. You’ll start in the canalled city of Treviso, to the north of the more famous Venice. You’ll use that as the central hub over your 4-day tour, visiting the aforementioned historical city as well as the Prosecco Hills and Sile River.
You get 3 nights in a “comfortable hotel” (although we hope that all the hotels noted by Intrepid Travel are comfortable and not just the ones noted as such). There are 4 meals included, with 3 breakfasts and 1 lunch. The rest you’ll have to pay for yourself. There are a fair amount of activities included, with some being wine tastings at wineries in the Prosecco Hills, a bike ride along the Sile River and a walking tour in Venice. There are other activities that you can pay extra for in Venice, such as a gondola ride or tours of museums. This is one of the best Italy tours if you really want to focus on the region around Venice.
Taste Of Italy – 8 Days By Expat Explore Travel
Back to the wider focused tour, this time from Expat Explore Travel. You’ll start in Rome before heading up to Venice, going west to Garda, down to Florence, west to Cinque Terre and La Spezia, back to Tuscany in Siena and San Gimignano before finally returning to Rome. As the name indicates, you’ll have 8 days to experience and enjoy it all.
There are 7 breakfasts included, with 1 antipasto and 3 dinners. The rest is not to “give you the maximum flexibility in deciding where, what and with whom to eat.” There are tours of Rome, Florence, Pisa, a pass to Cinque Terre and other experiences also included. Flights are not included in the cost, nor are additional activities that “will be provided to you with your finalized travel documents.” Despite the name, there is not a real emphasis on the food aspects of each region, which means it isn’t one of the best culinary tours in Italy. However, it does still give you a peek at each region, thus making it a quality tour regardless.
Best Of Italy By Trafalgar
Another general tour of Italy, this time from Trafalgar. Once again, you start at Rome before heading south to Pompeii, Capri and Sorrento. You then head north, stopping by Assisi before heading to the northern cities of Verona, Venice and Milan. With a stop by Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, you then go back down south to Pisa, San Gimignano and Florence before finishing back in Rome on your 13th day. Perhaps the biggest weakness is going to so many locations in not a ton of days, which leaves little time to discover each.
As for what the tour includes, you get 12 breakfasts and 7 dinners, with the rest of the meals up to you or skipped due to travel. There are a ton of additional activities at locations, such as VIP Admissions to Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, a cruise to Capri, viewing St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, and Juliet’s balcony in Verona. The air-conditioned coach that you travel in also has WiFi. However, any other activities, travel insurance or flights into the country are not included in the cost. It’s a good tour if you want to dip your toe in at many different locations.
Italy By High-Speed Train By Flag Travel Holidays
Rounding out our list of the best Italy tours, we have a tour that seeks to get you around Italy in 7 days via trains. You start in Rome before going to Florence, Siena, Pisa and San Gimignano in the Tuscany region. Once done there, you head north to finish out the tour experiencing all that Venice has to offer.
One of the most popular Italy train tours, you’ll spend 2 nights in Rome, Florence and Venice, each at a hotel. Daily breakfasts are included, but that is it in terms of meals. Transportation is obviously included. However, that’s about it in terms of what is included in the initial payment. There’s an optional winery tour in Tuscany, but that’s about it. Once again, this tour is more for those who want to see some specific highlights rather than get an in-depth picture of what Italy has to offer. Thus, it makes for one of the better family Italy tours.
Reasons Why You Should Book A Tour To Italy
And that wraps up our list of the best Italy tours! Now we’re just going to go over some of the reasons why you should be taking these tours instead of going off on your own. Or, if you want to explore more, why you should book even one of the best European tours available on the market.
- It Takes Less Time: Going through the process of trying to book the various hotels, finding the ways you get transported around and trying to compensate for weather or other circumstances can take a lot of time and energy. With some sites being entirely in Italian (and Google translate not always being precise), it can be hard to actually figure out what you are doing. Think about it: it takes far less time to simply discuss where and when you want to take a trip to and clicking the “Book” button on one of these tours rather than spending so much time trying to find out how you are going to go about travelling in these areas.
- It Relieves The Stress: The logistics of the trip (as we’ve just described) can take a lot of time and a lot of energy. That, in turn, can build a lot of stress within you and the group that you are travelling with. If you don’t particularly understand Italian or know what is going on, that can turn a trip that is supposed to be enjoyable into one that is the stuff of nightmares. These tours and guided trips relieve that stress. You no longer have to worry about meeting your own deadlines, and instead just have to hop on whatever travel vehicle has been prepared for you (often trains or buses in Italian tours). We’re not going to blame anyone for preferring the second option, as it is most certainly easier.
- You Are Shown The Culture: Tour guides are often familiar with the region that you are exploring. Even if the head guide of the tour is not necessarily an expert, part of the deal is often that they will find other guides who are experienced with the area. Considering the various fascinating periods of Italian history, from the Roman Empire to the Renaissance, these guides can show you how the cities and regions evolved as they did. Such guides can be crucial in enjoying the experience, as they can make the difference between being confused and disappointed the entire time and reaching a new enjoyment of the trip. After all, there’s something special about seeing a structure, painting or statue that is older than 10 or more generations of your family.
And that concludes our list of the best Italy tours. Hopefully, this has given you some ideas on where to take a trip to this wonderful country and how you might go about doing that. As always, we recommend doing your own research and figuring out which ones you could comfortably afford or would want to attend. Now get out there and get travelling!
