Italian Delights

Customer Reviews

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  Rena

  · June 12th, 2025
  This tour was pretty fast-paced but worth it for all the places you get to see. My parents are in their early 70's and kept up. There were a couple stops where we could have used a few more minutes for pictures (Pompei) or souvenir shopping. In my opinion they should really change the beginning and ending hotel in Rome, the BV Oly. Dirty, WiFi spotty, and poor service. But overall the rest of the hotels were pretty decent. There was a switch-up between booking the trip and attending it - it was supposed to originally be a stay in Sorrento with an optional boat trip to Capri - but especially with the explanation we were super happy with the resulting stay in Salerno and the boat trip up the Amalfi Coast. Positano was gorgeous, and the tour of the ornate Crypt of Saint Matthew in Salerno with the hot priest was awesome (shoutout to Nella!). I can't say enough good things about our tour leader, Violetta! She made everyone comfortable, had a great sense of humor, and really went the extra mile. Our family had booked a boat tour on Lake Garda prior to the trip, which I ended up cancelling when I found out we wouldn't have enough time in Sirmione to make it. She heard about it, mentioned she might have a contact, and adjusted that day's schedule to add the motor boat tour around the peninsula as an optional excursion for the whole group! (I hope they add that as an optional for trips in general, it was fun!) Our family got to experience that boat tour, which really meant a lot to us since we traced our ancestors back to the 1560's on the shores of Lake Garda. So very grateful to Violetta and ExPat. Grazie mille!!!
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  Trip date: May 2025
• MD

  Michael

  · May 29th, 2025
  Good overall but lacked some planning
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  Trip date: May 2025
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  Dawn

  · January 9th, 2025
  Awesome trip. A little rushed but still wonderful!
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  Trip date: July 2021
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  Michael

  · November 23rd, 2024
  Overall, an average tour with some amazing days and some downright boring days. Breakfast each day was terrible! No hot meals, and most days involved being rushed to eat bread and lunch meat for breakfast, before bringing your luggage to the bus, and getting everyone onto the bus by 5:30 or 6:30 AM! There were very few places to get lunch in most towns, and the entire group of 30 had to stand in line to order and didn't have time to eat before the tour guide would be yelling at us that we "HAVE TO GO! CAN'T MAKE THE BUS WAIT". The dinner restaurants were below standard, with dinner not being prepared on time, shortages in waitstaff, and lack of options as we were served the same meal on multiple occasions. The hotels after Venice were awful!!! The electricity completely went out in one. The elevator didn't work in another, and the hotel in Tuscany gave the impression that someone had recently been murdered there. Assisi, San Gimignano, and Siena, and the lengthy bus rides to get to each, are boring wastes of time, with few shops, photo ops, or points of interest. There is absolutely not enough time given for the fact that the entire group has to walk several miles from the bus parking to the train station in La Spezia before having to split the group onto different trains to get to Cinque Terre, and you don't have time to visit more than one of the 5 towns! We were lied to about this! Your stop in Pisa is only about 1 hour, and you don't have time to climb the tower! Your stop in Verona involves a ridiculous amount of walking and is so early in the morning that most places aren't even open. You'd be better off to save your legs and energy, and just take a taxi to Juliet's balcony. Your only in Florence for 4 hours. 4 HOURS!!! And you have to walk over 2 miles from where the bus parks to get to the city center, and you have to eat lunch. Forget trying to visit Pitti Palace, the Duomo, or the Accademia Museum, or to properly enjoy the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. You won't have time! FLORENCE SHOULD BE AT LEAST A FULL DAY, OR OVERNIGHT!!! That would be so much better than staying in a murder hotel before having to wake up before the sun to go to San Gimignano and snoozy Siena. The Vatican IS NOT part of the trip and you need to reserve that separately, MONTHS IN ADVANCE! With all of that said, the first seven days of the trip were amazing (excluding breakfast). Rome, Pompeii, Capri, Sorrento, Montecassini (decent necessary stop to break up the long day on the bus), San Marino, and Venice were fantastic and had a good itinerary.
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  Expat Explore Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for sharing your feedback. We’re sorry to hear that some aspects of the tour did not meet your expectations, particularly with breakfast and hotel accommodations. We value your input on these areas and will take it into consideration for... Show more
  Trip date: June 2023
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  Alexandra

  · October 13th, 2024
  Everything went very smoothly and the tour was amazing! The tour leader, Sam Taylor, was fantastic and went above and beyond. Even when I was sick, he was very caring and helpful. Nothing went wrong and it was the best tour group ever!
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  Trip date: October 2024
• LP

  Lorrie

  · October 6th, 2024
  Itinerary was well thought out. Our guide Mayra was fantastic, caring and knowledgeable. For group of 42 I think 2 guides or an aide would be especially helpful or the slower lot of us and unhinder the faster travellers. Some rooms were nice and a couple not so nice IE: sewer odor in room that was not eliminated with fan or airing. I found that when walking was required, the group was not organized as we got mixed into other people or groups. It was easy to get left behind and lost. Perhaps walking in row of two with 2 leaders would work nicely. While I was prepared to pay for the optional tours, Italy was very expensive and tips have become expected by all merchants and services. The food wasn't as good as I imagined, but that's a personal perception. Food was more expensive than suggested in the brochure. Also, Italians tend to eat in courses rather than a full plate. This made meals overly expensive. So often a salad or pizza was the better deal. Not alot of vegetables in the menus I noticed. But having said all this, the camaraderie of our group was superb. The sights were breathtaking and so worth the cost. Our bus was newer and comfortable. The pace was busy and necessary for the itinerary. There were some local tours that were not guided by educated leaders. This was disappointing. Italy has strange policies restricting who can guide, who can give information about the sites, etc. We did have a few local guides that provided amazing info such as the Pompeii tour guided by Hugo.
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  Trip date: September 2024
• MB

  Milton

  · September 30th, 2024
  The tour was too fast paced. I slower tour with more details would be better.
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  Trip date: September 2024
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  John

  · September 30th, 2024
  An excellent introduction to Italy. Quite fast paced which I enjoyed but it was difficult for some in our group. Highly recommend.
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  Trip date: September 2024
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  Lisa

  · September 24th, 2024
  Overall the trip was good. We got a little exposure to a lot of different things. As per many of the other reviews there is a lot of walking which was expected with a lot of inclines on cobblestone streets which can be a challenge. Mayra the leader is very pleasant. However communication on the trip was confusing at times. Time frames were changing immediately after being told one thing which made some people late, which made the entire tour late. The food that was included with this package was subpar. It is like the cheapest option was picked for us at every restaurant and hotel. Before the trip the itinerary changed leaving off one of the most desired locations for us. The excursions also changed which led to confusion. After being told the Vatican was not included as an excursion we bought our own tickets. The first day of the tour the leader offered tickets to the Vatican as an excursion at a cheaper rate than what we paid. Pompeii was one of the main reasons I chose this tour. However we were rushed through and only got to see a small portion. Our tour guide in Pompeii was great. During the trip we did the Murano/Burano excursion. Burano was adorable with many things to see/eat, etc. However Murano was a tourist trap. We were sent to see the glass demonstration and then immediately sent to the showroom to purchase items from this one company. The entire experience was about 30-45 minutes. We were not allowed to explore the island. There was definitely some type of kick back situation between expat and the Murano glass company. The Roman coliseum was the only excursion that was able to be prepaid. This was nice as we didn’t have to worry about it later. I prepaid about a month ahead of time. The first evening on the tour I let the leader know that we prepaid as well. The morning of the excursion (on the bus headed there) the leader was calling role for everyone who paid and she didn’t call our names. I told the leader again that we had paid so she called the emergency Expat number. They eventually found where I had paid but at this point it was too late and all the tickets were sold out. Unfortunately, they had to refund our money and we were unable to, go into the Colosseum. We missed out on this excursion because of the administrative staff at Expat. Tipping was a little awkward. An envelope is sent around for the driver and the leader. A suggested amount is asked for on the envelope which they cover by saying any amount will be suitable. If tipping in Europe is not the norm then why are we tipping? Shouldn’t it be just the cost of the trip?
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  Trip date: September 2024
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  Suzanne

  · September 23rd, 2024
  Mayra is a fabulous guide, very caring and patient. The Expat tour is fast paced, up early and taking in all the sight, and sometimes long days. We chose Sept to have less crowds, were told it was about half the summer crowds. The optional tours were great!
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  Trip date: September 2024