Simply Italy = Simply Amazing!

Simply Italy Aug 22nd – September 2nd
Tour Manager- Kiata Gritto
Driver- Massimo Fontanaroso

I just returned from the Aug 22nd 2008 departure of the Simply Italy trip and I must say it was simply AMAZING! I’d highly recommend this trip to anyone thinking of Italy. Besides what I consider a well organized and well managed tour by our Contiki Tour Manager Katia the group of people we had on the tour was fantastic. I’ve broken down the report day by day with what I’d recommend, what I liked and didn’t like. This is not a rest and relaxation trip though. You are on the go ALL the time, but it’s worth it.

Day 1 Arrival in Rome

First off make sure you arrive in Rome two or three days ahead of time to really soak up the wonders of Rome. I came in three days ahead of time and it was well worth it. Contiki doesn’t spend all that much time in Rome when you compare the time spent in other cities along the way, so go to Rome early and enjoy this wonderful city.

Some suggestions if you do Rome Early

-Get a Rome pass! This gives you free transport on the metros, free admission to your first two Rome museums or archeological sites. If you’re lucky like me I got into all of the museums and sites for free…it doesn’t seem they track the Rome pass very well and you might be able to really take advantage of free admission all over Rome.

-110 Open Bus. I bought a 48 hour pass for the 110 Open Bus. It’s a great way to easily see all of Rome’s most important sites. Its one of these double decker hop on hop off bus like what they have in every large city. It was 21 Euro’s, made 12 stops along central Rome and IMO was well worth it.

-Hotels, I stayed at the Regent which was used by Contiki for the first day of the trip. While the rooms were acceptable the hotel staff was very helpful and the hotel is located just yards away from a metro station that links to Rome’s main Metro system. I was able to get from the hotel to Coliseum in 10 mins. Now one thing you have to be aware of is the Metro line that runs to the Regent Hotel stops running at 11 PM. After that you have to use the tram at the Piazza Popolo to the bus station and jump on the 910 bus. Lastly if your Contiki tour is starting at the Regent you can book it far cheaper on Hotels.com then what Contiki charges. I paid 60 Euro’s a night on Hotels.com vs. what Contiki wanted (165 Euros a night).

Day 1 and 2 Pompeii and Sorrento

Day 2 you start VERY early! We had a 6:15 wake up call and we were on the road by 7:30. It’s about 6 hours from Rome to Sorrento with a stop in Pompeii to see the ruins. This was our first encounter with the Autogrill, Italy’s roadside rest stops…oh you will know the Autogrill well by the end of the trip lol

Pompeii was amazing; you really have to walk through it to truly appreciate it. When you are in Pompeii make sure you take water with you! It’s very dry there and VERY dusty, so don’t dress up. Oh speaking of dressing up during the day…shorts and T-shirts will due.

The drive in into Sorrento is wonderful! The views of the coast are truly breathtaking and you’ll stop for a photo overlooking the tall cliffs. The hotel in Sorrento was….well….eh so so. Some people had really nice rooms with balcony’s some had views of a rock wall. The nicest thing about the hotel was its right on the water and you have a beach. We all had time to go for a swim before the optional dinner.



Day 2 opinions and suggestions

-Do the optional dinner in Sorrento, the food is very good and the location is fantastic with a wonderful view of the bay of Naples. For 35 Euros you get a four course dinner with two bottles of wine for your table. The tables seat four people each so that’s plenty of wine for all! 

-The hotel Contiki uses are outside Sorrento so doesn’t expect to see too much of the city itself. A cab from the city to the hotel is about 40 Euro and can be difficult to get. While the hotel is acceptable the location can’t be beat. The views and being on the beach really was nice. However don’t leave anything on the beach if you go swimming as locals are around and things can wander off. The hotel bar will stay open to about 1 am so you can enjoy a nice beach party after you get back from the optional dinner.

Day 3 Sorrento and Capri

Day 3 is another early day, 6:30 wake up call and you’re on the bus by 7:30. Today you take the ferry to Capri and you can either do Capri on your own or take the optional Contiki boat ride around Capri. DO THE BOAT RIDE!!! If you don’t your missing out on the best part of Capri! The boat ride takes you around the entire island viewing the different grottos. The boat is only Contiki folks and you get the chance to swim in the Green Grotto which was amazing. Here you are swimming in this emerald green lagoon swimming through these arches along 1000 foot cliff walls. This truly is a chance of a lifetime and one that you must do.

After the boat ride you have about 4 to 5 hours of free time on Capri. There’s allot to do on Capri including hiking up this mountain to the ruins of Tiberius which myself and 8 others did. Our Tour Manager said it was 15 min walk…well it was about an hour and up this FREAKING HUGE Mountain! Half way up we basically were stripped down to our underwear dripping from sweat and laughing our asses off the entire way, man it was a great time! At the top of the mountain the view is second to none…leave it to a Roman Cesar to pick the best view on the entire Island.

That night dinner is included at the hotel and its pizza...oh by the time you leave Italy you’ll be sick of pizza. The included food this night was good and they served seconds if you wanted. That night we had a make shift beach party and were up until 3am...Oh I guess it depends on the group but this was def a party tour. We all hit bottles hard the entire trip.

Day 3 opinions and suggestions.

-Do the optional boat cruise around Capri.

-The Blue Grotto is not worth 10 euros to see. We got to swim in the Green grotto for free. I’d skip the Blue Grotto.

-Walk up to the ruins of Tiberius! It’s a long and hard walk but the view from the top is well worth it. Just bring water and comfortable walking shoes.

Day 4 Drive to Florence with Wine tasting in Tuscany

Another early day as we headed north to Florence and yes more stops at the Autogrill, lol. You’re on the bus pretty much all day until you arrive at this wonderful vineyard for wine and olive oil tasting. It was a quiet day on the bus as we all were pretty much drop dead tired from the night before. The wine tasting was fantastic; Contiki chose a very nice location for the wine tasting. The location was everything I’d imagine Tuscany was like and the wine tasting event was very well done and extremely enjoyable.

Dinner tonight was optional and again I’d recommend it. By the time you get to the hotel we all had our batteries recharged were ready to go. The optional dinner tonight was four course meal with pasta. After that was Karaoke night in Florence…this was fun! The place Contiki uses is a Contiki joint and there were two other Contiki tours there with us…we dominated the place! I felt bad for the other two groups…they looked miserable! Our group def was having a great time. I tell you the people you have on the tour make a HUGE difference!

Day 4 opinions and suggestions

-Do the optional dinner, four courses and a great location. You also get meat at this dinner. Trust me you’ll be craving meat on this trip.

-Let loose at the karaoke bar that night, get up sing, dance, just have fun!

Day 5 Florence

OH we got to sleep late today!!! WOOHOO!!! 7:15 wake up call, LOLOL Today we saw a leather demonstration which was rather boring…basically it was 15 min lecture on how to detect fake leather which ended on its hard to detect fake leather without ripping open the seems…yeah that’s exactly what I’m going to do the next time I’m in Macy’s…tear open the seem to see if its real leather. Basically they are inviting you into this leather goods factory to buy there very over priced leather.

After the leather factory tour you go on a city walk which was rather nice and then its free time to do what you want. Florence is a great city with some amazing places to eat and see.

At night you can do the optional club outing Contiki hosts, it was well worth it, great music and a good atmosphere.

Day 5 opinions and suggestions

-The leather goods demo was a waste of time and their products are WAY overpriced.

-Walk along the river.

-If you want to see David buys tickets ahead of time or you’ll be online for hours. I skipped it and explored the city.

-Eat at Francesco’s, the food is amazing and fairly priced and Francesco is great guy!

-Do the optional club outing that night.

Day 6 Pisa and Le Spezia.

After a very late night we got to sleep late….7:15 before heading to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. It’s a quick visit to the Leaning Tower and more then enough time to see this monument to early failures in design. The area around Pisa is nothing to speak of; in fact it’s rather suburban in nature. My only advice, watch out for the street vendors in the bus parking lot. I had to pretty forcefully push one away from me.

The remainder of the trip to Le Spezia isn’t all to long and you arrive after lunch and have some time to explore the dockside before boarding your boat to the Five Lands. The area around Le Spezia is lovely and even though you’re on the water it has a different feeling then the coast at Sorrento and Capri.

The boat ride to the Five lands is very relaxing and the views are amazing, make sure you sit up top, just bring a hat as the sun is strong.

You get off at the third stop in this wonderful town carved out of the cliff side. Contiki gives you an hour to walk around which is enough to see the highlights of the town and to grab probably the best Gelato you’ll have on the trip. There are tons of shops that are very fairly priced and you can pick up some local artesian goods vs. the expensive mass produced name brand items found in most cities.

After an hour you reboard the boat and head to the main port where the group grabs the train back to Le Spezia and then to the hotel which is within walking distance to the train station. The hotel this night is very nice and well located if you want to explore the local area. Dinner is included and yes…pasta.

Day 6 opinions and suggestions.

-Watch out for the street vendors in Pisa.

-Sit at the top of the boat on the 5 Lands cruise.

-Grab a Gelato at the stop on the 5 Lands cruise.

-Prices in the local shops are very good, so you can get some great items made locally.

Day 7 Le Spezia to Milan

The day begun around 7:15 and you were on the bus by 8:30 to Milan. The trip to Milan wasn’t all to long and you have the entire day to shop to you drop. Milan didn’t impress me at all and I would have rather skipped it all together. Contiki stops there for the shopping and some people go nuts shopping. Being from New York we have all same shops Milan does so buying Prada sun glasses in Milan doesn’t do that much for me.

The hotel this night is a Holiday Inn Express and it was like staying at a 5 star hotel! The beds were great, the bathrooms were even better, and the shower was awesome! Dinner was included and probably was very basic but it was meat. They served us these thin slices of steak which while small in portion hit the spot after more then a week of pasta.

That night our tour manager arranged a club outing and we all went to a great bar and then to a top notch Milan night club. It was def worth going to as the night life in Milan was really exciting to see and experience.

Day 7 opinions and suggestions

-Milan is great if you like to shop.

-Milan sucks if you don’t like to shop.

-If you don’t like to shop I’d suggest planning ahead of time what you want to do. I didn’t and was bored.

-Go out to a night club.

-Try the risotto at a good cafe as Milan is known for its risotto. Man it was GOOD!

Day 8 Milan to Venice

Another early day! This is a long day and you don’t get to Venice until about 7 in the evening. Enroute you stop for a few hours in Verona which is a wonderful city and everyone on the group said they would have much rather have spent more time in Verona then Milan. Verona is a fantastic old world city but with all the same shops as Milan so you have best of both worlds. We wandered around the city and visited the balcony of Romeo and Juliet, toured the markets and shops and sat in the park for a bit before heading back on the bus again to Venice.

You don’t stay within Venice proper, in-fact you are FAR away from Venice but if you stayed in Venice the tour would have been double the price. We stayed in another Holiday INN which was very comfortable. Dinner is on your own tonight and we ate in a café right behind the hotel and the food was out of this world and super cheap. However I don’t think the café expected 50 people that night so the service was slow but worth the wait.

Day 8 opinions and suggestions

-When you arrive at the hotel in Venice eat early so you don’t have to wait 3 hours for your food if you eat by the hotel.

-If you go into Venice at night make sure you clearly map out how to walk back to the hotel as the streets are dark and the train station is a distance from the hotel.

Day 9 Venice

This is a LONG day but an amazing day! You are in Venice proper by 9 am for the glass making demonstration which was VERY impressive. You also have time to shop for glassware. The place Contiki takes you to have great prices and the selection is awesome. I went nuts on the glassware as it was the one thing I really wanted to buy on the trip. The place will also hold the items for you until 4 PM so you don’t have to lug around shopping bags all day.

After the glassware demo you visit a lace making school which produces some top quality lace and I’d highly recommend making a purchase if you want any kind of lace product.

The rest of the day is yours to explore Venice and my only recommendation is to get lost in Venice, it’s the best way to see the city. I was just blown away by Venice and loved every minute of being there.

Day 9 opinions and suggestions

-The glassware at the Contiki recommended shop is the place to buy glassware.

-The lace at the Contiki recommended shop is top notch and the best money can buy.

-Check out the various Mask stores…there’s a mask for everyone and the prices aren’t too bad considering the work that goes into them.

-Get lost in Venice, you’ll easily find your way back but trust me you won’t want to.

-For a wonderful glass of wine try Café Florian in the afternoon. It’s not cheap but sitting there with your new friends enjoying a $100 bottle of red while a Venetian orchestra plays in the background and the Bell Tower soars skyward against blue sky is life at its best.

-Do the optional gondola ride.

-The optional dinner is very good this night and worth the money. Note you will not have time to go back to the hotel to change. At first we didn’t like this but at the end of the day you’re happy you didn’t go back and spent the time in Venice.



Day 10 Venice to Rome

If I could have spent a life time in Venice I would have but it was time to head back to Rome. This is a long drive, 7 hours of driving time with two stops at the now famous Autogrills of the Italian highways.

We arrived in Rome around 6 PM and had a walking tour of the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Novena, and the Pantheon. Being I saw these already I was just sort of kicking back at this point and just reflecting on the last 14 days I had in Italy. I mentioned early in this report that you should do Rome on your own…well the reason why I said that is Contiki gives you about 10 mins at each of these stops on the walking tour so you don’t have to much time to take it in.

That night dinner was included and it was some really good pizza, prob the best of the entire trip. The place Contiki takes you to have live performers who sing and dance in the best Italian tradition.

The hotel that night was another classic European “who knows what you’ll get” hotel. Some of us had really nice rooms and some of us had so so rooms. My roommate and I had a nice suite and a great bathroom so we were really happy. Everyone came to visit our room, lol

We didn’t go out that night, instead grabbed some drinks and had our own little party in the courtyard of the hotel. The hotel didn’t like it all too much but to bad for them, LOLOL.

Day 10 opinions and suggestions

-Don’t expect to take all too much in on the Rome walking tour, you just don’t have the time.

-If you go into Rome after checking into the hotel take a map how to get back to the hotel from the Metro station or you will get lost like we all did. The hotel is a good 10 min walk to the Metro getting back you’ll get lost.

Day 11 Rome

This morning you can go on the option tour but I’d recommend against it and do Rome on your own. You have all day to explore on your own and to do what you want. Being I did Rome for three days on my own I only toured around in the morning and then went back to the hotel to pack and nap before the Farewell Dinner.

The Farewell Dinner was wonderful, four courses with two wonderful opera singers entertaining us. After the dinner the tour manager took us all to a nice little bar/club in Rome where we all hit it hard since it was our last night. Cameras were clicking all around as we all were grabbing the last pictures of all of us. Then came the goodbyes as one by one people left the club to go back to the hotel. It was very sad and yes we all cried as we knew the next morning everyone would be off on their own to return home or to wherever else life was taking us.

Overall impression of the tour

This tour was simply fantastic and I’d recommend it to anyone. Some things that stand out are the following.

-Our Tour Manager was Outstanding.
-Our Driver was great and handled that bus like it was sports car.
-The friends I made on this tour truly are wonderful special people who I’m honored to have spent my vacation with.
-Don’t be scared to go on your own…read the above comment as to why you shouldn’t be afraid to travel on your own.
-Do all the optional tours and dinners!
-Contiki shows you the best of Italy; you’ll really go home with a great impression of the country.
-Do Rome ahead of time on your own to see the city properly.
-Be prepared to pay for things like bathrooms and other silly charges. Europe charges you for EVERYTHING.
-Water, drink lots and lots of water!
-Pack more day cloths vs. then nighttime cloths. In the summer shorts and T-shirts will do just fine.
-Pack an extra duffle for all the things you will buy along the way, its well worth it and makes life easier.
-If you like to party at night you will have the chance to. Our group was a party group and we hit it hard.
-Go with an open mind and be ready for things you’re not use to. If you go with an open mind the oddities will be stories you laugh at for years to come vs. something that annoy you at the time.
-Mingle with everyone vs. sticking to just a few people. You’ll make even more friends and have a better time.
-Sit with different people on the bus everyday for the same reason I mentioned above.
-You’ll fall in love with Sorrento and Capri and make sure you climb the mountain to Tiberius’s ruins.
-If the boat allows you to swim while touring around Capri do it! How many people do you know that can say they swam in the Green Grotto at Capri?
-Get lost in Venice!!!!
-Eat everything! Even if you don’t think it looks good…eat it! Trust me it tastes great and you’ll discover things you never thought you’d like but will. Again it’s an open mind thing!
-Smile, each morning you wake up on tour, just smile. Italy is just amazing and you’ll find 1000 reasons to smile. Even if you get the Contiki cough and you prob will, even if you have a bad hangover, are tired, or miss home…just smile because you are in a wonderful part of the world that offers a wealth of experiences you may never see again.

Thanks to everyone that was on my tour, you guys are just the best! Even if I never see you guys again we will always have Italy in our hearts!

Ciao!