We loved the Doges Secret Itinerary Tour as well as the gondola ride and Venice Tour. We entered Doges Palace and then went through a secret door much to the amazement of other tourists not on the tour. This made a huge impression on our children. Venice was mobbed, had we not had the reservations for the tours we may not have had the opportunity to get in. One suggestion, the office where we picked up the tickets was not easy to find, we asked several people to no avail, I’d suggest you enclose a map of the square with both pick-up points. The gondola ride was very nice as was the Venice tour.
The line for the Uffizi was probably an hour to 2 hours not the 5 hours my friends had experienced in July. Nonetheless, we picked up our tickets and entered immediately. Since we only had the afternoon in Florence after an organized tour in the morning, the reservations were very efficient and appreciated. Unfortunately, once we entered the museum there were other long lines. My boys were on the young side for appreciating Raphael and Botticelli, I suspect they would have preferred the Science Museum with Galileo artifacts.
Overall, the trip was fabulous, we spent 7 days in Italy, 2 days each in Turkey & Greece, 5 days in Barcelona and one day in the south of France. The organized tours on the ship were not bad but I recommend using an outside touring service for Rome, Florence & Naples. We could have accomplished more had we booked a private tour.
My next trip abroad will be Italy again, Milan, Florence, Sienna, perhaps a cooking class. I will contact you when the time comes. Thank you again for your assistance, I will surely refer you to others traveling to Italy.
Best regards,
Melinda & Travis Schaben, USA
