The Rick Steves' Europe Best of Italy in 17 Days tour is a whirlwind trip offering something for everyone - art aficionados, foodies, history buffs, nature lovers, and travel junkies. This tour is jam-packed with group activities, yet also offers enough flexibility and down time to enable everyone to go at a comfortable pace. Taking tour members from serene lakes to alpine meadows to romantic canals, villages perched on sea cliffs, hilltop villages, big cities, and finally to the center of the ancient Roman empire, this tour delivers on its promise to be the very best.

 

We started our tour in Varenna on July 8, 2016 and ended in Rome on July 24. As with all trips, there are things we'll forget, but so many more that will stay with us for our lifetimes. There were so many memorable moments and places!

 

Of course, much of the success of our trip was due to our guide, Sarah, and the local guides in each of the major stops. Sarah was wonderful - so knowledgeable and capable. The local guides were all very engaging and offered a wealth of information.

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Join us on our walk down memory lane as we revisit all the wonderful places we went, things we saw, and special moments we experienced.

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Navigate to each city using the itinerary below or "The Cities" tab on the menu at the top of the page. Go in sequence or choose the city you prefer. For families with teens, there's a special section written by our teenager under the Tips, Hints and Suggestions tab. To learn a little more about us, click here. At the bottom of each city page is a lesson learned – some serious, others not so much. Some are from personal experience, others are from group members’ experiences, and others are just from observation. At the bottom of this page, we include links to some additional thoughts and suggestions that we hope will help future Rick Steves' Europe travelers.

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Andiamo!