It Could Have Been Better
Italy
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Dec 20 - Jan 3, 2026
While the process was quite simple, and the local specialist appeared to be very knowledgeable having had time to sit and reflect there are many things that were in retrospect quite frustrating. First I am not sure how a tour of the Ufitzi in Florence was not recommended as part of our itinerary. We spent four days in Florence, and it for sure should have been one of them. Second we were talked out of staying in Positano for New Years Eve because nothing would be open, only to discover they host a huge New Years Eve beach party so that information was simply false, and Positano remains one of the best two hour segments we had in our two weeks in Italy. Three days there would have been the best possible end to our adventure. Instead we spent New Years Eve enclosed in a restaurant with no views, and a ridiculously expensive pre-fix menu half of which my older daughter did not eat-which I was told was not alterable while tables around us had altered options. In my past experiences with Kim Kim the local specialist has had so much insight and has connected us with local guides who were simply amazing. Our Florence City Guide was amazing, as was our Coliseum guide-both so knowledgeable and passionate about the places we were seeing. Our Rome sunset tour guide was a nightmare-we did not get to go into the Parthenon which was supposed to be included, and when asked for a recommendation for food for my children who needed a snack she said she was on a diet and did not really eat out. It was truly unbelievable. I hope one day to go back to Italy, but this was not the magical trip we had imagined.
Hotel Reviews
This was an amazing space in a fantastic location. Highly recommend for families who can use a little more living space. The stairs would not be great for young children, but school age and up would be a great fit!!
Location was AMAZING, and the room was decent sized with plenty of space for both of my daughters. It made all of Florence walkable but was in a quiet area.
This hotel is fine. The staff was friendly. The breakfast was okay, but nothing special. We ended up in two connecting rooms as opposed to the family suite we had booked. It was sort of close to everything which meant really it was close to nothing. Everything was a 20 plus minute walk away.
Super cute, just off the main square. Breakfast was nice, if not as fresh as we normally see in Europe and staff was so sweet.
Activity Reviews
This was very nice. Would have been better if it had included a tour of the palace as well as the church. It was a lot of you should come back here and do x-which given we were in Venice for two days was not great. However, the guide was very kind, and made great restaurant recommendations.
AMAZING. Our guide was the best we had in Italy-he was funny, engaging and picked up very quickly on what was of interest to my 16 and 21 year old. His love for the city and flexibility to what was of interest to use was an amazing combination. I wish Marco had been out guide for all of Italy!
This was a very good experience, because the day we went the market was closed sadly we did not get the central food market experience. I wish we had known that, as we might have been able to go a different day.
This tour, which included the entire area outside the coliseum was amazing. The guide knew all the stories, and to stand in the places where the history occurred while hearing the history was what I came to Rome for. The coliseum was one of the few things that really cannot be oversold. The size, the architecture it was surreal.
Our guide was very good, but this was a bit of a nightmare. It was SOOOO crowded, and the guide was in a bit of a hurry. My teens would have liked to spend more time looking at the animal sculptures and she kind of rushed them through to walk through endless rooms of tapestries they had no interest in. The Sistine chapel was shoulder to shoulder-and not quiet, despite the photography prohibition people were taking photos on their phones and in general it just ruined the awe. Nothing however could ruin the awe of the basilica and Michelangelo's pieta.
Positano was AMAZING. I wish our lunch restaurant had an ocean view, but the food was very good. The guide was funny, and knowledgeable and the windy roads were well navigated.
This was a bit of disaster. It became a tour of 1000 churches when we were really interested in the Jewish History of Rome. The synagogue was not included, and at one point in the Trastevere we walked in to tour a church while a funeral was occurring. We did see some amazing theater ruins, and some gorgeous, stained class as well as very old churches with wells in the front. Our afternoon ended with kosher pizza which was delightful.
This was TERRIBLE. The guide was awful and we did not get to enter the Parthenon as advertised because of some change of rule in guides being allowed in (I am still unclear on why a time change was not made to allow the tour to be what we were supposed to be having.) Additionally, when asked for a good place to grab a snack during the three hour walking tour the guide spent 10 minutes talking about her diet, and patting her stomach. When asked again she indicated she was not sure. We ended up a terrible tourist cafe which given we paid a guide was RIDICULOUS. The guide makes all the difference in these types of tours, and this was a failure of the travel agency.
This was not an activity-unclear why it is here.