VIP Vacations Inc.

"Our trip was a great success!"

Hi Allison, Overall our trip was a great success!

Venice:

Hotel Bucintoro was super cute hotel.  Small  hotel overall but rooms were very nice.  Really cute boutique hotel.

It is about a 20-30 minute walk from the main square/activity in Venice. Fine for us but maybe a problem for others.

Our walking food tour in Venice was fun. Our guide Elena, was super nice and knowledgeable and she walked us all over Venice through the winding streets like a pro – we would have definitely been lost without her.  Had some interesting foods!

The Venice walking tour the next day met at the same meeting point as Walking Food tour (again about 20-30 minutes from hotel)

Our guide Moses was super knowledgeable, I like the head set they used so we can hear what he was saying.  Perfect size tour – not a ton of people.  I saw some bigger groups walking around and glad I wasn’t part of that.

It is a LOT of walking – I was exhausted by mid-day (probably from lack of sleep too). We toured Venice in the morning and then after lunch did the Basilica and Doges Palace in afternoon.  Honestly by the afternoon I was getting a little bored of the all the history and staring up at art on the ceilings.  The gondola ride probably wasn’t worth it but I’m glad we did it.

Also note the water taxi transportation was no joke – if someone is not able bodied they would have struggled getting on and off the boat.  We witnessed it first hand when we got on from the airport and dropped off other passengers that were older – the Italian driver was not very patient with them and one person almost fell into the water trying to get off the boat onto the dock.

Also left Venice in the middle of a storm so very choppy waters!  That was a private pick up so easier as just me and Eric but we got a little wet walking from hotel to boat with all our stuff.

Weather in Venice (except for last day) was mid 90’s so very hot and humid which takes it toll throughout the day.

Cortona:

I know you didn’t book this for us but it is a super cute town.  I saw tours going through it so I’d recommend people check it out.  If they could stay two nights it is worth it….not much longer than that as it is small.

Train to Cortona was an adventure but we figured it out and made it….maybe next time I’d upgrade to business class given the tickets were not super expensive.  The group right next to us on the train was oddly from Allentown, PA – small world…..

THEN leaving Cortona on Sunday – the train strike happened.  They cancelled all trains so we were stuck.  If we would have been on the train they would have stopped at the next stop and told us to get off.  Happened to one of the wedding guests.  Luckily for us the strike started before our scheduled departure so we knew it was cancelled before even leaving the hotel. The Hotel front desk struggled getting us a car service as they were all busy due to the strike.  The wedding planner for the wedding ended up finding us a car for 300 EUROS to take use to Florence.

Unfortunately we didn’t arrive in Florence until almost 7pm so we wasted a full day trying to work that out.

Florence:

Hotel Berchielli was beautiful and my favorite hotel. Close to everything.

Our walking food tour in Florence was fun – again – not as fun as Venice but interesting and again tried some different foods.

Amalfi

Hotel Marina Riveria was very nice too. This was Eric’s favorite hotel.  I thought it was pretty and nice but our room was quite small! Had amazing views though. The hotel is close to the main square in Amalfi except you had to walk on the side of the road for a short period of time to reach it.   Was a little scary with the cars flying by!

The beaches in Amalfi were literally all rocks and no sand – so if someone thinks (like we did) that they would see beautiful beaches – they will not!  But overall the area was very pretty.

We did really enjoy the hotel pool and sun deck the one day – relaxed with no running around!

The Island of Capri tour was a little disappointing and an adventure at the same time.

We got picked up in a little rubber dingy boat with another couple. Then driven to another small town (didn’t know the name) where we go off that boat and onto the bigger boat.  Then stopped in Positano to pick up more people.  It was a nice size group – not too big.

One girl got sea sick on that boat so warning to people who don’t do well on boats!

The tour around the island was ok. We saw the White Grotto.  The Blue Grotto was closed so super disappointing but we were warned.  Never saw the Emerald Grotto or the Lighthouse as described.

We had four hours in Capri which was not enough.  We spent all our time waiting in line to get on the Lift to the see the view at the top of Ana Capri, then waiting in line to get back down. The view was spectacular but lines were frustrating.

We did get lunch before getting on the Lift hoping the lines would die down but never did.

Then we had to wait in line for the Bus to take us to the main town of Capri and we had only 15 minutes there then had to get back on the bus to get back to Grand Marina so we didn’t miss our boat. Capri was VERY crowded.  So all we really did on the Island was eat lunch, take the lift to the top to see the view, and wait in lots of lines.

The boat back was fun.  We did stop for a swim which was nice.

I think the boat rides was the best part.