Benefits of an Italy Custom Tour

Audrey not only offers cultural vacations in Friuli, but also works with guests that are looking for a customized experience for their family or friends vacation to Italy. No two itineraries, for a custom guided Italy tour, are the same. Though we find our small group tours to be a great way to meet new people who share a common interest with you, there are many benefits of a customized private guided tour of Italy. They are a fun way to gather your friends or family for a memorable vacation.

An Italy Custom Group Tour is right for you if:

Custom guided tours can be great value, particularly if you want to relax and let a local expert take you around the country while you enjoy the scenery and experiences you’ve been dreaming of.

Taking a custom guided tour means you can set your own pace and visit the places that you and your travel companions most want to see. There’s no waiting for group members and you can take full advantage of our local knowledge to ensure the trip you are dreaming of is realized.

You’re just not a “tour” person.

I hear this all the time. There are lots of types of Italy tours: large bus tours, small bus tours, private tours, small group tours with no bus… the list goes on. At Travels with Audrey, we do not sell someone else’s tour. We create custom itineraries not only for our small group tours, but also for your Italy vacation, starting from scratch. There are no templates. You can decide what you’d like to do, and what you’d like to skip, and we’ll make it happen.

There are specific things you want to see.

Sometimes, that’s Rome, Florence, and Venice. Other times, it’s an off the beaten path itinerary. You may know where you want to go, but not how long to spend in each place, or the best way to get from A to B. There is no “one size fits all” for tours of Italy despite what you may have heard. Yes, many people choose to follow the well worn path from Rome to Florence and Venice but that doesn’t mean that you have to. You may want to visit those cities and explore your own interests. Or you might want to explore some of Italy’s gems not found on the main tourist trail. Tell us what you want to see, give us a budget if you have one, let us know how many days you have, and we’ll do the rest.

You just don’t have time to create this trip.

We have worked with a lot of clients who are well-traveled and have put together their own trips in the past. The amount of information online about Italy is overwhelming. You know how to research, plan, and book, but you don’t have the time to do it.

Your group or family has specific needs.

You have a group with diverse interests that you’re not sure how to incorporate into one trip. Aunt Sally wants to go to the beach, while Dad wants to hike but also not miss main sights. The kids want to go up the Leaning Tower of Pisa and eat gelato.

It’s your dream trip and you want it to be perfect.

Maybe you’ve been dreaming about an Italy trip for a long time. You’ve seen photos in magazines, and you want to have an amazing trip and fall in love with Italy. But you aren’t sure where to start, how much time you really need, or even how much it will cost. You don’t want to travel with strangers, and all the tours you read about sound great. Or, maybe you don’t want to be the one responsible for making sure everyone else’s dream trip is perfect.

Benefits of an Italy custom guided group tour

You choose who you hang out with.

Meeting new people on a tour can sometimes be half the fun of your vacation – but there is always a risk that there is someone on the tour that you don’t get along with which can sometimes put a damper on the trip.  By booking a private tour, you have the opportunity to gather the people you want to hang out with and feel that would enjoy the same kind of vacation as you.

Go when you want to go.

We all would love to be able to drop everything and go on vacation whenever we want, but the reality is that we have many responsibilities and obligations in our lives that need to come first.  Sometimes the public tour dates just won’t fit into a busy schedule the way you’d like. With a private tour, you can schedule your vacation for when it works best for you.

You gain access to exclusive experiences.

Yes, you can plan your own friends and family vacation without the help of a tour company.  But you may be missing out on some incredible experiences that are just not available to the general public. On many of our private tours, just like on our small group tours, we are able to set up exclusive experiences like private tastings with winemakers, a private luncheon at local chef’s residence and garden, or walking tours that dive deeper than the general public tours that just skim the surface.

Handpicked local guides in each destination.

Did you know that to be an official guide for the major tourist destinations in Italy you need to pass a rigorous exam for each city or region? This is challenging even for one city so most choose to focus on only one. An excellent guide in Rome will likely not have expertise in Venice or Florence so it’s important that you can access the right local knowledge.

You may not know what you don’t know.

You may not be aware of some of the wonderful experiences available to you in any given location. Though you can do extensive research online, there are still many amazing experiences, restaurants, and local activities that may be completely unknown to travel guide books, or haven’t been shared on social media yet. We have personal connections in each of the locations we run tours and are constantly seeking out new experiences for our guests. Let us help you create your itinerary by suggesting activities that may have not even been on your radar.

How much does a custom guided group tour tour cost compared to a small group tour?

Cost is a legitimate concern for any major purchase.  Guests are often pleasantly surprised that we can offer a private departure for less than you would pay for another company’s standard tours. Every private tour is priced differently because it’s completely unique. Think of the difference between a frozen TV dinner and one that has been prepared for you by a chef using the finest ingredients. The key variables are your itinerary, group size and choice of accommodation.  Prices start from $US 4,000 per person for a 9 night/10 day tour staying in 4/5 star hotels. Therefore, the cost is higher than the large bus tours. However, when you think about how much time those on bus tours spend just waiting for other people, plus all of the other cons associated with mass produced travel, I am the right choice for a select group of travelers who want more out of their travel experience.

When it comes to At Travels with Audrey, we work with fewer than 65 people per year, so those who choose to travel with Audrey are members of a very exclusive family.

Planning a trip to Italy with family or friends? Audrey helps you make your vacation truly memorable by offering custom tours that promise a personalized experience you will not find anywhere else.