Trafalgar Travel
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I just returned from Trafalgar's Italy…
I just returned from Trafalgar's Italy Belisimo. A word of warning for those of you thinking of booking this tour. This trip was a constant go, go, go. Many days we spent 10 hours touring, which includes traveling on the bus for long hours, walking, way too many water taxis in Venice, and city tours that were a waste of time and my money. All of the hotels are very old. This is not a trip for those who cannot walk at least 8-10 miles a day. Even the younger people on my tour were exhausted. So many stairs, with no elevators. Rome is dirty and crowded. Venice...what can I say. We had to depart our bus to take a water taxi to the gondolas (which was only a 10 minute ride through the canals with rude gondolas drivers), then a water taxi to the hotel, which is on an island in venice. this hotel has no elevators, so be aware and no ground floor rooms either. All in all I counted 9 water taxi rides in Venice to get where we were going. I slipped getting into one of them and sprained my ankle. Florence was busy and not worth the visit. Yes some sites were beautiful, but I felt this trip was rushed from day 1. Hardly any down time. 10 days of constant on the go is exhausting. I also did not like the fact that at many of our stops Trafalgar steered us to shops that they have a contract with. In other words, they offer you a discount, but their merchandize is out of my price range, especially the leather shop in Florence and the glass blowing shop in Venice. Many times the tour would run out of time to get to our hotels before we made our dinner stop. So instead of going to our hotel, we had to arrive at dinner hot, sweating, and smelling. Gross. I would not recommend this trip.UPDATE: read trafalgar’s response. I am tired of their platitudes and the company response. I have done 4 other tours with them and each time I contacted them about the various flaws and problems with their tours. they refuse to change. I’m not buying the line about hotels in Europe not up to my standards. There are plenty of hotels in Europe that are far better than what you provide on the tours. You state that I do not have to visit the shops you recommend. The only reason I went in there was because they offered free bathrooms if you listened to their presentations. Really? Trafalgar do you think I am stupid? I see what you are doing with these tours. Charge your guests outrageous prices but skimp on everything else. This is my last tour with you. By the way do you read the reviews? They are not kind . Don’t insult my intelligence by giving me this sort of response. I am done with you.