The hotel for the Rome trip, Villa Ferrata, was disappointing - the rooms are sorely in need of a facelift and most of us had items that did not work -I have saved the detail for the feedback form. The Manchester flight arrived ahead of the Gatwick one and waited at the airport for an hour when if the hotel had been nearer they could have been transferred.  The walking tour in Frascati seemed a filler although it enabled the Gatwick flight to grab some food but some found the walking surface difficult and this needs to be pointed out as we were all dressed for flying not walking.  The location was not ideal as it took two hours by coach both ways to reach Rome for our day out and by the time we got to the Colisseum we had taken 3 hours to arrive. Liquids are not allowed through security but you can keep the empty water bottle and there are fountains to fill up at inside, some information on this and the length of the visit would have been useful as some of us left our water on the coach and there was no chance to buy any as the queues in the shops were too long.  Our guide, Anna, was clearly very knowledgable but it was difficult to hear her even with the headsets and also to keep her in sight as it was very busy.  We then had a coach tour of Rome before walking to the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon followed by free time in Piazza Navolo. Some travellers opted to go into Rome again the following day this necessitated the hotel shuttle to Frascati station, train and then metro in Rome.  It would have been far better to choose a hotel nearer to Rome or even in Rome and perhaps make this B & B to keep the cost down. The staff at the hotel were clearly undermanned as service was slow and the pool was not a swimming pool more of a splash pool.  Breakfast was predominantly bread, cakes and pastries with tinned fruit salad for a healthy option!.  Vegetarians were not catered for with the main course on the second night being a plate of cheese! No safes in the rooms.

The excursion to Castello Romani was also a bit of a let down as contrary to what seemed to be suggested we did not actually go into any of the properties mentioned, although the two villages we visited were very pretty, Lake Albana was stunning and the garden sculptures at  Villa Albrandino were impressive.  The lunch and pasta making demonstration was the highlight of the day which can't be said for the meal arranged in Frascati that night.

The next day we left for Sorrento via Montecassino Abbey and the war cemetery.  The drive up to the Abbey rivalled the Amalfi drive and we all agreed that Luigi, our coach driver was a star.  The cemetery was an emotional moment for us all and it was a very quiet coach for a while afterwards.  Our hotel in Sorrento, the Tirrenia, was an improvement on the last one but is located on the main street and very noisy as the traffic never stopped. Rooms have safes which are free, you just have to ask for the key at reception.  Breakfast was a better selection with lots of fresh fruit available but the evening meals were disappointing and again vegetarians not catered for very well.  There is a skybar with happy hour from 6 to 8 but this doesn't mean cheap drinks just free nibbles.  It does however look out over the sea to Vesuvius so we could keep an eye on what the volcano was up to.

I missed the trip to Pompeii in favour of a day in Sorrento but I understand the day was very good with an excellent guide (Laura) which we later had for Capri and she was certainly good there.  Free night tonight and several of us ate at the Hotel Rivage just up from our hotel and the food was excellent and reasonable.  The final two days ticked two items off my bucket list as we visited Amalfi and Ravello followed by a day on Capri.  These were excellent days although time was tight to do the gardens mentioned in Ravello and there are entrance fees to pay.  Sunday may also not be the best day to do Amalfi as it was very busy on the road with lots of hold ups.  The boat trip along the Amalfi coast was great and time for some retail therapy appreciated. The trip to Capri was an early start but well worth it, the drive up to Anacapri far more tortuous than Amalfi - the guide said it is called 'Oh my God road'. Be aware that the Capri trip in particular has quite a few extras to pay for on the day if you want to take advantage e.g chair lift, lunch and a boat trip around the island. The boat trip was fabulous and we entered several of the grottos really close in.  I also visited the Axel Munthe museum and the Church of San Michele which has a stunning mosaic floor.

We were a group of 20 which seemed the right size especially when trying to keep together in Rome and enabled us to split up at times too.  Thanks to my fellow travellers for their company and laughter and we may meet again one day.

Thanks for leaving a detailed review of this first tour out I hope JY take note of what might need tweaking.

Cindy

Thanks for this great review which I think gives a real flavour of the holiday!  Pity the first part of the tour was a bit disappointing for various reasons but I hope you enjoyed it overall. Fingers crossed for Kerala!!

All the best,

Bob

It certainly sounds as though some tweaking needs doing with the Rome hotel.  Like you said somewhere a lot closer to Rome and perhaps B and B  would be more acceptable. 

I do envy you having seen Monte Cassino.  I have only seen it from the Auto Strada.  It's a pity it is not included in more tours. 

I last went to Amalfi and Ravello when I did Cilento Coast, and like you we had very little time in the gardens.  To be honest I was a little underwhelmed with them.

It must have been nice to have a day in Sorrento to yourself.  I know the hotel that JY used on this trip in Sorrento and it is certainly a busy road!  We used to stay off one of the side roads and even then there was traffic noise. 

I used to love going across to Capri.  It was always a highlight of our holiday, although we used to go under our own steam.  Going up to Anacapri was always fun on the little local bus.  😃   I've only been on the chairlift up to Monte Solaro once.  It kind of cured me of my fear of heights. 

I loved reading about it all again.  Thank you.

My pleasure Bosuncat.  Yes I did enjoy the day in Sorrento although it was a shame to have to sacrifice Pompeii but otherwise there was no free time available for the Manchester flight as we left at 10 am whilst the Gatwick flight had until 4pm.

That's  a shame.  You need a day in Sorrento, at least.