The Best of Italy Reviews

4.8 Rating 36 Reviews

About smarTours:

smarTours is a leading provider of direct-to-consumer, affordable travel experiences to exotic global destinations. The Company offers travelers curated, pre-packaged itineraries to over 50 destinations across the globe. By offering tours directly to consumers, the Company provides premium-quality experiences at value prices, and as a result, has cultivated a highly passionate and loyal community of repeat travelers. More than 200,000 travelers have taken a smarTours trip since the founding of the Company in 1996. smarTours is… the smarter way to see the world.

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Phone:

800-337-7773

Email:

info@smartours.com

Location:

500 7TH AVE, 8TH FL,
NEW YORK
New York
10018

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“I had a wonderful time in Italy! Our tour director, Lynn Maloni, made this trip an exceptional one. She and all of our guides in Venice, Florence, Rome, Assisi, Sorrento, at Pompeii, and on Capri shared a wealth of fascinating historical information with us and offered access to local experiences I might have missed if travelling alone. All four hotels provided excellent services, although the bed at the Grand Hotel Vesuvio in Sorrento wasn't very comfortable. (It does have a beautiful swimming pool, which was a delight since the weather during the tour was unseasonably hot and humid.) I thoroughly enjoyed all of the meals, especially the family-style feast and wine tasting at a Tuscan countryside farm and the farewell dinner in Sorrento. The optional side tours, including a gondola ride in Venice, the piazzas and fountains in Rome, a day on Capri, and the Amalfi Coast ride were outstanding. I also enjoyed sharing the tour with a small group of travelers (22 of us), all of whom were friendly and interesting to meet. In terms of the flight plans for this trip, I was very disappointed in the fact that we flew from New York to Istanbul and then on to Venice. Going home, we again flew from Naples to Istanbul and then on to New York. The trips to Istanbul and the long hours in the airport there made for a stressful beginning and end to an otherwise fantastic trip. I hope that smarTours plans to use more direct flights to Italy in the future. My only other suggestion is that for those of us who are travelling as singles, it would be nice to have a double bed option. I had a twin bed at all four hotels, and as a large person, they weren't as comfortable as I would have liked. Again, a big thank-you to smarTours for a great first trip to Italy! :^)”

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Posted 9 years ago

“I initially had doubts about traveling on a bus tour. Visions of waiting around endlessly to move a large party from one place to another haunted me. I was more than pleasantly surprised at how organized and well run every aspect of the tour was. Our bus was always on time and our tour director was exceptional. We had reservations at all of the museums or attractions we visited and NEVER waited in the long lines for tickets. We would have only seen a fraction of the sights had we made this trip on our own and not with Smartours. Can't wait to go on another tour!”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago

“My trip to Italy the end of April 2015 was my second Smartours trip. I learned so much of this country's history, culture, food, wine and amazing people. It is wonderful to have someone else handle all the logistical details and just enjoy the experience. I credit our tour guide, Martin, with his expertise, organization, compassion, humor, and knowledge. There are so many memorable moments, from arriving in Venice and after a short walk to a water taxi, being whisked off to our hotel (ha, never took a boat to my hotel before), Gondola ride, Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Sq, wonderful lunch at Tuscan farm, Accademia and Michelangelo's 'David', Assisi, St Peter's Basilica, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pompeii, Pisa, Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi Coast -- all so breathtaking!!! All the lavish dinners and entertainment shared with our wonderful travel companions. There is one itinerary issue that I feel needs addressed. Prior to booking and several contacts after, I called to question the duration of the flights and the length of the layovers and was told there was no additional info available other than flight departure and return to JFK. Flight from JFK to Istanbul was 10 hrs; layover 5 hrs; then backtrack Istanbul to Venice 2 1/2 hrs. Repeat return Naples-Istanbul 2 hrs; 3 1/2 Hrs layover; another 10 hrs Istanbul to JFK. Surely a more direct flight could be made to avoid the extreme flight times and layovers. Overall, I truly enjoyed this amazing trip -- THANK YOU SmarTours for providing this amazing tour”

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Posted 9 years ago

“We had our trip at the end of July 2014. This was our first vacation with a tour group and it was outstanding. It was a wonderful vacation, we saw many places and Italy is so beautiful. Our accommodations were fabulous with good breakfast buffet. Our tour guide Gabriella was fantastic. Highly recommend this tour to everyone.”

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Posted 10 years ago