In early 2020 my husband and I attended an event at the Rick Steves headquarters in Edmonds, Washington, to check out the tours and meet the guides. We have traveled to a number of places over the years--Denmark, England, France on three occasions, Italy, and Spain, to name just a few. We even lived in Sierra Leone for almost a year. But we had never gone on a guided tour.
However, we live just a bit north of the Rick Steves Europe and had used his travel guides and watched his travel shows on PBS. I was so smitten with Rick's show on Lake Como that I told my husband, "I want to go there," and a few years later we did as part of a trip that included Lake Maggiore, Milan, and the Cinque Terra. We had also consulted with a few of their travel experts when we planned various trips and been pleased with the advice we received.
Highly recommended for non-tour travelers: booking 30 minutes with one of their experts is well worth the time and money.
But the question in our minds remained: were we people who would enjoy an organized tour? We decided to find out and booked The Best of Sicily in 11 Days. But the pandemic intervened for the next two years, and it wasn't until September 2022 that we finally embarked on our Sicilian adventure.
However, we live just a bit north of the Rick Steves Europe and had used his travel guides and watched his travel shows on PBS. I was so smitten with Rick's show on Lake Como that I told my husband, "I want to go there," and a few years later we did as part of a trip that included Lake Maggiore, Milan, and the Cinque Terra. We had also consulted with a few of their travel experts when we planned various trips and been pleased with the advice we received.
Highly recommended for non-tour travelers: booking 30 minutes with one of their experts is well worth the time and money.
But the question in our minds remained: were we people who would enjoy an organized tour? We decided to find out and booked The Best of Sicily in 11 Days. But the pandemic intervened for the next two years, and it wasn't until September 2022 that we finally embarked on our Sicilian adventure.
a few of the things we wondered about going on a group tour
Would we like our fellow travelers?As this photo of a rooftop happy hour in Taormina attests, yes, we did. Our fellow tour members came from all over the US and Canada and from a variety of backgrounds. One couple had been on seven Rick Steves' tours. |
Would We enjoy the itinerary?Definitely yes. Although used to planning our own itineraries, we enjoyed everything on the tour--even sites we would not have thought to include, like the Mozia salt flats pictured above. |
would we like our guide?Alfredo Cafasso Vitale was a wonderful guide. Personable, knowledgeable, and organized, Alfredo kept us on track, entertained, and educated us along the way. So, yes, we liked him very much. |
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