Although I have been to Italy before in 2011, this holiday ticked a few more boxes. I took my sister Jen as this was her first time in Italy.

A representative met us at the airport, looking for luggage labels on suitcases. Pointed us to the book in desks as we were a group booking. I see that Gatwick have now opened new monitors to do this.

BA gave us a door step sandwich and a drink- most people had bought breakfast beforehand as we were flying through lunch.

Jonathan met us at Pisa, Slight delay with someones luggage, soon on the coach with Giovanini ( I think)

Il Settebello is on the seafront. Basic room, no fridge or tea making facilities, one English channel- BBC World news. Did watch Patriot Games in Italian which was fun- Sean Bean who plays an Irish man is not the same :D

Salvatore was there to greet us. Room was 226, first floor over the Reception and bar plus smoking terrace. So noisy 😠 We did complain after the first night as we could hear people coming and going till 3 am :dodgy: The only good thing was we could receive Wi fi which is in the reception only.

Breakfast is substantial with the evening meal being decided in the morning- where ever you sit at breakfast you sit in the same seat in the evening. Chips with everything- complaints were made.

Pasta making was great fun and how to make a good ragu sauce. Wine tasting was 5 bottles on the table with lunch. Not being a wine taster, I watched other peoples faces.

Lucca is beautiful and well worth seeing. Puccini has a big statue- one American girl was heard to say 'Who is he?' Jonathan had told us about the ruins under St Giovanni and the wooden mask at St Martins. The ampitheatre is well worth seeing.

Pisa was beautiful. Jonathan informed us of the half hourly acoustics in the Baptistry. A gentleman sang - the high point of the whole tour. Some paid 18 euros I think to climb the steps up the Leaning Tower. The cemetary has lots of old paintings on the walls- would have liked more time to look at them properly.

Florence was a big tick. A local guide took us around and gave a lot of history and the general layout which was useful. The statue of the Boar 'Il Porcellino' was mentioned in the Just You leaflet but not shown on the tour. We found it purely by accident. Florence is one of three cities in Italy that has a Hard Rock Cafe. Jonathan knew where it was and showed me :thumbup:

Greve in Chianti for more wine tasting- waste of time. One girls' face was a picture 😃 They took us up to the Castle to see the cellars- they had a castle? Not allowed near it !!!

San Gimignano is very pretty and full of shops all selling the same thing. Lots of leather handbags being bought 😛 You are unable to take photos in the church which is a shame as the walls are covered in paintings showing the story of the Old and New Testaments.

Siena and Il Campo for the famous horse race were mind boggling that they race horses around this small space :huh: The guide showed us Divisions that make up the Palio- the money that exchanges hands is huge.

Castello Sonnino was very clever. We were shown how to make simple sage and anchovy dipped in beer batter, Rolled chicken, proscuitto and smoked cheese securing with a cocktail stick to make saltim bocca. A lemon dish that took eggs and a litre of whipping cream was for pudding. While all this was cooking they took us up to the Castle and showed important war documents as Sonnino was both Prime Minister before the First World War and then Foreign Minister during the 1919 Peace Treaty. Dinner was beautiful with several different wines again.

As this over ran, the trip to Volterra was very short. The local guide was brilliant. He took us into the Duomo and showed us one of the paintings of Mary being visited by Gabriel. The details he told us made us all look at paintings in a new light. New ruins have been found which he showed us. We had 45 minutes to see what we could before the long trek back to the hotel. This is one place that I could spend a whole day in- so beautiful.

Our one day off was spent walking into Cecina- not far. A supposed craft market was not found and their lunch hour is between 13.00 to 16.00- beware!

This tour is not for the faint hearted. Lots of hills and walking. Several ladies had to have taxis and then missed some of the guided walks.

I had a great time and loved most of the trip

Jan

Thank you for this comprehensive review. I have passed this round to the relevant people here at JYHQ, in hope that maybe some tweaks could be made to the itinerary.

I am so glad to hear that you had a great time.

Kindest regards,

Monty

Shame you had a front facing room at the hotel. 😞 It was there that I had the joy of seeing TJ Hooker dubbed into Italian. :D

My walking was better then and I managed pretty well apart from Siena which I didn't see an awful lot of because of the pouring rain, and being on my own I was scared of getting lost. I saw very little of San Gimiganano again because of the rain but got a spoon there (I collect them) which sadly as been broken since by my little Madame!.

I loved Pisa. Again I was on my own for most of the time and spent quite a bit of time in the cemetary admiring the paintings.

I never got to Lucca as I had a day off but reports back said it was amazing.

Glad you generally had a good time. :thumbup:

Great review,saw you enthroned at the Hard Rock,in Florence.

Keith

I enjoyed reading your comprehensive review. I went to Florence years ago - we did Rome, Florence and Venice. I remember going on a trip to Sienna. Sienna is famous for its cake! I too could not imagine the horse race in such a small place, especially with cobblestones. I bet lots of horses would be slipping all over the place.

Jaya

Thanks Jan. :thumbup:

Shame you had a front facing room at the hotel.  😞  It was there that I had the joy of seeing TJ Hooker dubbed into Italian. :D

My walking was better then and I managed pretty well apart from Siena which I didn't see an awful lot of because of the pouring rain, and being on my own I was scared of getting lost.  I saw very little of San Gimiganano again because of the rain but got a spoon there (I collect them) which sadly as been broken since by my little Madame!.  

I loved Pisa.  Again I was on my own for most of the time and spent quite a bit of time in the cemetary admiring the paintings.  

I never got to Lucca as I had a day off but reports back said it was amazing.  

Glad you generally had a good time.  :thumbup:

Hello Bosuncat, 

I have booked this tour for next June (a way off yet I know!) but I'm a bit concerned to see that you mentioned spending most of the time in Siena and  Pisa on your own. May I ask if this was by choice? I ask because I booked this tour thinking I would not be left on my own, I was under the impression that the tour guide would accompany us, I don't like the idea of being alone in a strange place. 

Thanks

Rose

Hi Rose.  I did the Highlights of Tuscany tour, which varies from this, although you stay at the same hotel, and visit some of the same places.  Apart from Pisa, (where everything is in one place), after the guided tour we were given a map by Jonathan, and then left to our own devices.  In Florence I joined up with 2 ladies and we had lunch together and then wandered round.  Siena was the only place I stayed on my own really for any length of time.  In each place we were given a spot on the map and a time to get back.   I am sure you will be fine, people are usually very friendly and you will meet and make friends on the trip.

An interesting and thorough review that i enjoyed reading.

Thanks for sharing with us.

Although I was with my sister for this trip, other singletons would join us as there was safety in numbers. Pisa, we were told to wear our backpacks on our front, not good when you go flying over a kerb with your bifocals :blush: 

On all the other tours that I have done, I remember 7 of us eating out in Cairo one night.

Have a great trip next year 🙂 

Jan

I did the Highlights of Tuscany in 2014 and had room 316, which was on the side street side of the hotel and faced North.  It was not as noisy as the rooms on the main street and larger and cooler than the ones on the other side of the hotel.

You will only be alone if you want to be, most days there is a guided tour on foot for part of the day and then you are given a map and left to explore as you wish.  Some people do want to go around on their own (not me, I am like you!) so that is why there is the free time.  People are friendly and you will find like-minded individuals who wish to see the same things as yourself.

I echo the comments about Pisa; it was the only place that I felt slightly uncomfortable.  I wore a cross-body bag and kept it firmly held in front of me at all times. There are lots of hawkers in Pisa but did not really see any elsewhere.

Jonathon is a wonderful tour manager and Salvatore and his family are great hosts, you will have a wonderful time :-)

Kind regards

Sharon

Just been to find my double adaptor. Made by a company called Go Travel. This certainly worked in Italy.

Jan

Perhaps those who have been to Italy more than I have can answer your query better than me, but I do think that some countries in southern Europe use slightly different two pin plugs - if you can get a Boots travel adaptor, the type that comes in three parts and one slots into the other you'll find it has two for Europe and one of these will work in Italy.  Some universal adaptors may not.  The Boots one is a bit cumbersome but worth it, so you won't be stuck.

All the best,

Bob

I worked on 100 Euros a day bringing a lot back as we did not seem to buy much, except some ladies went mad for handbags 😉 I do not remember an ATM at the hotel, saw many in Florence and Pisa though. If you enjoy wine with your evening meal, people bought a bottle which was then put back for the next night with your name on it. I do not like wine so the most I spent was 2 euros for a coke.

There was a great supermarket about 200 yards to the right of the hotel where we bought bottles of water. A little shop where they sold clothes made my sister very happy, a scarf and a pair of shoes that she could find in England for a third of the price.

Jan

It's 3 years in September since I was there, but there was an ATM just down from the hotel, turn left coming out, and it is in a small cluster of shops etc.  I am pretty sure that they do not change money in the hotel. If you are nervous about this ask Jonathan and I am sure he will come with you and show you what to do.  I did!

When I was there all drinks in the hotel  were put on your room number, and then you paid by credit or debit card at the end of the holiday.  Personally I prefer not to carry a lot of cash around with me so this worked fine for me.