Italy is a country to suit all travelers, places to visit include, Historic City’s, Museums & Monuments, some fantastic beaches and Lakes with Breathtaking scenery.
I’ve traveled a lot in Italy, touring to many of its city’s and resorts, these include, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Naples, Pompeii, Bologna and Pisa, to name but a few.
When I’m in these city's, there are lots of things to see and do, each time I discover something new as each tour group take a different view on each city.

Another place that’s a “must see” whilst in Tuscany is Pisa. When I take people to Pisa the one thing that everybody talks about is how clean and bright the buildings are. The 4 buildings with a large grass lawn in front are the Duomo (Cathedral), its bell tower, better known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Battistero (Baptistery), which is the largest in Italy, and the Camposanto (Cemetery).The area that the buildings are in is known as the Campo Dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles). When I first visited to Pisa, the tower was closed, because it was deemed unsafe, now after being straightened slightly, lots of people go up it daily, Me, I’ve never been up the tower!.

Bologna, a thriving University City, is full of character, with its city centre well preserved. I find it’s a great city to explore.
The Piazza Maggiore, in the oldest part of Bologna, and the Piazza del Nettuno, with its fantastic fountain, are in the heart of the city and from here it’s only a short walk to the two leaning towers.
The Basilica di San Petronio is the city’s largest church and the 5th largest in the world. Its original plans had to be scaled down after the Vatican declared that it must not be larger than St Peter’s in Rome.
This town is well worth a visit, if only to see the leaning towers.

This is a great city and is best explored on foot, one area at a time. To get an overview of the city it is best to take a city tour, and then go back to the places you want to spend more time in. The Coliseum is a magnificent sight and is where everyone heads for. The Forum takes time to visit and again is best visited with a local guide; other must see areas are the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and The Vatican. When we go to visit the Vatican Museums, I get asked, why do we have to go so early, but when they see the ques, and that tourists have set out even earlier than our 08.00hrs departure, the group are glad that we will at least be ready for our tour when the Museums open. The tour is great; I always recommend that we use the headphones, so that as the guide talks about the rooms, we don’t have to huddle close together to hear what they are talking about. None of the group’s realise how big the Vatican Museums are, I normally allow half a day, but you could spend much, much longer. The highlight is always the “Sistine Chapel”, on your way to the chapel you are reminded that Silence must be maintained inside, once inside, its pretty dark, so as not to damage the painted walls and ceiling, it is a fantastic sight, no matter how many times I’ve viewed it, but silence, no way, all you hear is, Shhh, Shhh, Keep Quiet, Keep Quiet. Our tour ends inside “St Peters”, where you could easily spend an entire day.

The Capitol of Tuscany is Florence, and is one of the most important and historical city’s.
I’ve been to this city on numerous occasions, but I think the best view has to be from Michael Angelo Square, the views across the city are fantastic and a great place to get a panoramic photo. Florence is famous for the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), with most of the shop’s being jewelers or goldsmiths, you may also see in the middle of the bridge, padlocks with lovers names on, its because you are not allowed to write your name on the bridge itself, so is a way around it without breaking the law, every now and again the local council will remove them. This area is also where couples like to have their wedding photo’s taken. It’s also famous for it’s Duomo (Cathedral) with its striped roof and of course its artwork, the most famous artists being, Michelangelo, Donatello and Leonardo De Vinci, the statue of “David” is on show at the Galleria Del Academia. During the summer months, I go at all times of the year, the walk from the Cathedral to the Ponte Vecchio is packed with tourists of all nationalities, enjoying the sights or sitting by the River Arno and whiling away an hour or two watching the fishermen at the weir.

Six Quarters – San Marco, San Polo, Dorsoduro, Cannaregio, Castello and Santa Croce, 117 different islands, 400 bridges and 150 canals, THIS IS VENICE. Over the last 18 years I’ve taken holiday makers here so many times I’ve stopped counting. The first thing that you notice is the amount of visitors, no matter what time of the year, then the buildings, and finally the elegance. St Mark’s Square, is a great place to start your tour, from here you can view the Doges Palace, where you can take an interior tour and get the chance to cross to the prison, using the “Bridge of Sighs”, you can even come back, the prisoners never got that chance, still in St Mark’s Square, you can visit the “Bell Tower”, its lift will take you up for a great view of the square, on thing I always tell the group’s is if you are going to go up, don’t go around 12.00 noon, or you won’t hear anything for the rest of the afternoon, after the bells have rang. The Cathedral is another must visit, the floor is a little uneven, but once again it’s well worth the wait in the queue, if you want to, you can climb the stairs and go onto the balcony, for a small charge. Once we have had time to see St Mark’s Square, I walk the group through the shops to the “Rialto Bridge”, the only bridge in Venice with shops on, during our walk we pass many shops selling all types of goods, Venetian Lace, Masks, Souvenirs, Clothes and Jewellery, from the high end fashion shops, such as Gucci, Rolex and Prada to small shops selling Murano Glass. Depending on the amount of time we have, sometimes only a day trip, sometimes a 4 day stay, will depend on what we can see, on the longer tours, I like to visit Burano, it takes 1 hour by boat to get from St Marks Square, but the journey is well worth it, the houses are all painted different colours, its supposed to be from many years ago when the fishermen would come back from the bars, late at night, drunk, and would look for their house colour, even if it isn’t true, it’s a nice little story. It only takes around an hour to wander the length and breadth of Burano, and if you stop for lunch or dinner the seafood is fantastic. On the return journey a stop on the island of Murano, to see the glass being blown and worked is another option. In the evening, Venice takes on a different way of life, more genteel and relaxed, as the day trippers slowly depart and thoughts turn to dinner and music. Then we head off back to the hotel either in Lido de Jessolo or the Venice Lido for a good night’s sleep, before anther day beckons.

The Italian Riviera of Flowers is the ideal place to while away a few days in the sun. Virtually every tour I’ve taken to the Italian Riviera over the last 9 years, I and the tour groups, have stayed in Diano Marina. Typical of the hotels I’ve stayed in, is the Hotel Nettuno, a family run hotel, within walking distance of the beaches and the town centre. The hotel owners, Dave, yes he’s English, his wife, Silvana, Italian, and family, offer a full board, free bar, party atmosphere, extravaganza!. On quite a few occasions I have stayed for over 15 nights, with tour group’s arriving and departing every 3 days. The pace is a little hectic as on departure days I also have an arrival. Day 1 is the first night, so the hotel has a party and day 2 is the last night, so it’s a farewell party with live music. Both party’s go on until the early hours, so the transfer to the airport is usually very quiet, with most of the group choosing to catch up on their missed sleep.
On the longer tours, some last over 9 days with each tour group, we not only visit Monaco and Monte Carlo, but also, St Paul de Vence, Nice, Eze and Ventemillia.
However long you spend here I know you’ll have a great time, so pack your cases, slap on the sun cream and I’ll hopefully meet you on Italy’s Riviera of Flowers.