*** 5 Great reasons to book private tours in Italy *** (as opposed to bus or group tours)
Buongiorno and welcome to the travel blog of Stefano’s RomeCabs, Italy’s premier company for Tours in Italy, Italy Shore Excursions, and Transfers in Italy. We’ve been in business for more than 18 years providing safe and reliable private tours from Rome and Shore Excursions from Italy’s top cruise ports. All our tours are private, and for good reasons.
If you’ve never been on private tours in Italy, don’t know what they entail, or don’t know if private tours in Italy are the best choice for you and your family, then this travel blog will shed some light on this subject and hopefully will help you make informed decisions for your next trip to Italy.
What Are Private Tours in Italy?
For decades bus tours through Europe have been a staple for international travel. After all, when you booked a bus tour through a tour operator they took care of all the details on their organized trip itinerary. Before the internet, folks relied heavily on travel agencies and tour operators like Perillo for their trips to Italy.
Renting a car has also been an option for some brave international travelers, however, with Italy’s traffic restrictions in most city centers, traffic, confusing traffic signs, worries of getting lost, and notorious “Italian drivers” who share the same road, renting a car in Italy is not an option for most travelers.
However, the internet has opened a world of knowledge and possibilities, opening doors to new and innovative ways to experience vacationing in Italy.
Since most international travelers are not courageous enough to rent cars in Italy, nor stay in more remote regions where renting a car is more feasible, and trains only go to limited cities and towns in Italy, private tours offer the unique opportunity to enjoy Italy comfortably and effortlessly.
On private tours, you will journey in your private deluxe vehicle driven by your personal English-speaking driver who is an expert limousine driver and knowledgeable about the regions in Italy you are touring in. You will have nothing to worry about, no trains to catch, no fears of getting lost by car. Just sit back and relax.
What inspired us to create Private Tours in Italy?
While bus tours have been a staple in touring Italy for decades, they are also quite restrictive. For starters, bus tours are only available at certain times of the year, so your vacation time would have to coincide with the period certain bus tours are offered.
Bus tours are also limited to their own itinerary that’s largely created to accommodate large buses. Such tours also pre-select hotels and restaurants, leaving travelers without a say on their accommodation and meals.
While bus tours and group tours made traveling to Italy “easy”, they didn’t make it exciting, flexible, customizable, and accommodating.
As our clients often told us for years, they didn’t enjoy touring in large groups, walking extensively because buses had to park so far away, following a guide with an umbrella stick without an option to stop and take a photo, and not being able to stay longer to enjoy a particular site because they had to catch up with the group.
Stefano Costantini, the owner of Stefano’s RomeCabs and Stefano Rome Tours, listened to the gripes of many tourists when he first started working as a limo driver, and it inspired him to offer private tours to travelers staying in Rome who wish to see places in Italy that are not offered on bus tours. He pioneered private Italy tours when bus tours were the most common way to tour through Italy.
With just an email address and a primitive website (in the early 2000s), Stefano Costantini crafted customized tour itineraries for Rome Tours by car, as well as day tours from Rome and shore excursions from Civitavecchia. And so RomeCabs and Stefano Rome Tours were born, from the simple idea to offer travelers more touring options, and private options than bus tours were able to provide.
Where can you go on private tours of Italy from Rome?
If you are staying in Rome as your base in Italy, you can enjoy day tours from Rome to the Countryside, Rome tours to Tuscany, Umbria, and Amalfi Coast. If you are staying in Florence (or elsewhere in central Italy), we can also provide customized private tours in Italy for you.
If you are arriving at the port of Rome in Civitavecchia, you can also enjoy Shore Excursions to Rome, and to the Roman Countryside. If you are cruising to Livorno, La Spezia, or Naples cruise ports, we offer private shore excursions from those popular cruise ports as well. Simply visit our website for our collections of private shore excursions in Italy.
And here are our 7 great reasons to book private tours in Italy
(as opposed to bus or group tours)
1. Plan your tours around your vacation time, not the other way around
The days of planning your vacation time around organized bus tour itineraries are over!
Private tours are flexible, meaning that you can book your private tours in Italy when you want to travel, not when the tour operators scheduled the package tours. This means you can choose where to go and what to see (no unwanted cameo or leather factories).
2. Private Tours offer privacy for your family and travel companies
Touring Italy with your family or friends in the privacy of your own vehicle is much more enjoyable than sharing your space with 50 (or so) strangers. In fact, you don’t share your private space with anyone else. Private Tours offer a level of intimacy that large bus tours and group tours don’t.
3. Private Tours are customizable and flexible
You no longer have to settle for touring sites that you don’t want to simply because that’s what is included in a pre-packaged bus tour.
Private tours offer a wide variety of itineraries you can choose from to suit different tastes and interests. With our private tours by car, you can see MORE of Italy than on a bus tour.
You can even customize your private tours in Italy based on your interests. You are no longer limited by pre-set organized tours that limit choices. Our website offers a wealth of information and detailed descriptions of amazing places in Italy to help inspire and inform you.
READ: Rome Tours & Shore Excursions – Itineraries, Photos, Videos
4. You can see and do more in Italy on private tours than on bus tours.
Although more expensive, private tours in Italy save you money as you can see 2-3 times more in 1 day on a private tour than on bus tours or DIY saving you on extra hotel expenses for a longer trip. If you only have 1 week of vacation time but your “must-see” can take 2 weeks on bus tours, you are essentially wasting your valuable vacation time.
Buses are restricted from city centers and unable to access many towns and villages. For example, bus tours in Rome can only achieve about 3 sites as the rest (and most worthwhile) are inside the historic center that is inaccessible to bus tours. On average, on a private Rome tour can visit at least twice as many sites – doubling your sightseeing opportunities in just one day!
The few locations that buses can stop at requiring extensive walking (sometimes even 15-20 minutes or so on foot from the bus and back), which not only can be exhausting during hot summer months but also a waste of precious time.
As buses travel slower, and group tours take longer, a valuable part of the day that could be enjoyed sightseeing is also lost.
Private tours in smaller vehicles such as minivans can access all historic centers and can stop near most attractions to maximize sightseeing and minimize walking distances. Without a group to follow or to slow you down, you tour at your own pace and make the most of your day sightseeing.
READ: Top 10 Must-See Places in Rome – Travel Video
5. Private Tours are safer (healthwise) than crowded bus group tours
The Covid pandemic has taught us new ways to keep ourselves protected from catching contagious illnesses. By limiting your exposure to large numbers of strangers in close quarters, you help keep yourself and your family safe.
Not everyone can travel in the summer. Many travelers even avoid summer travel due to the strong summer heat, huge crowds, and peak airline and hotel rates. Off-season (winter) is enjoyable in Italy, and shoulder season (spring and fall) is even preferred to summer by many travelers. Unfortunately traveling during shoulder-season and off-season coincides with most cold and flu seasons. Even without pandemic travel, catching a nasty cold or flu can put a hamper your vacation.
READ: Why Book Pre Cruise, Post Cruise Tours to and from Rome Port
6. Private Tours are ideal for families with small children
Private tours are particularly beneficial to families with small children who may not take well to extended bus rides, long walks following a guide, and keeping up with the group.
Private tours also allow families to choose itineraries that would be most enjoyable for their children and also customize their tours to include places that their children would enjoy more. By not having to keep up with groups, families with children can tour at their own pace and at their leisure.
READ: 10 Common Mistakes that Ruin your Summer Trip to Italy
7. Private Tours are perfect for senior travelers and travelers with mobility issues
Many senior travelers and those with mobility concerns book private tours that make it much easier for them to enjoy touring Italy. It’s much easier to get in and out of a sedan or a small minivan than to climb in and out of a coach bus.
Private tours in Italy can also be customized to include sites that are more accessible to guests with mobility issues, avoid sites that may require extensive walking and standing (for example, Vatican or Pompeii), and tour at a slower pace more comfortable for them.
Private tours are also more wheelchair accessible for travelers who use a foldable wheelchair and can easily get in and out of the vehicle with assistance from their travel companions. Private tours can also be customized to include areas that are more wheelchair accessible, and avoid attractions that are not.
We these 7 Good reasons to book private tours in Italy (as opposed to bus or group tours) travel blog helped you determine if private tours through Italy are the right choice for you and your family or travel companions on your next trip to Italy.
We invite you to browse through our extensive collection of tours in Italy for ideas and inspiration for your next Italy vacation. If you find private tours in Italy that you wish to book, you may simply book online. If you don’t see what you are looking for, just contact us via email and our tour experts will be happy to assist you with planning your perfect Italy tours!
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