What a first Italy tour looks like
Prices on this page are from-prices in US dollars per person sharing, before flights, from the operators’ own pages unless we label a reseller listing. This is the shape most first trips take.
- Rome2 nightsVatican City, then the Colosseum, on the first full day.
- Florence2 nightsSan Gimignano on the drive north, then Renaissance Florence and a Tuscan craft visit.
- Venice2 nightsPisa on the way, then a private boat tour and a gondola ride on the lagoon.
- Assisi1 nightAcross Umbria to the hill town of St. Francis.
- Sorrento2 nightsSouth via Cassino, with a day on Capri and the Bay of Naples.
- Rome1 nightPompeii, then lunch on the slopes of Vesuvius before the drive back.
From $4,075 (the deal price Trafalgar showed in October 2026); its April and May 2027 dates were listed at about $5,475 to $5,950. Stops and highlights from Trafalgar’s day titles.
The classic triangle or the south?
Most first trips to Italy pick the triangle, and that’s the right call. The question is what you add to it.
Your situation decides this, not a ranking. If you’ve never seen the Colosseum, the Uffizi or the Grand Canal, the triangle is the trip.
Every operator on this page sells it.
The south rewards a second visit. Sicily-only tours run from 8 days (Cosmos, from $1,829) to 10 (Globus The Sicilian, about $3,099 on a reseller listing).
Globus and Trafalgar both sell 14-day Rome-to-Palermo tours that cover Naples, the Amalfi Coast and Sicily in one go.
Want both in one trip? Tauck’s Classic Italy starts in Sorrento and ends in Venice over 14 days, and Intrepid’s Premium Italy in Depth runs Bari to Venice in 15. Neither is cheap.
| Southern Italy tour | Days | From | Per day | Route | Price source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmos Sicily | 8 | $1,829 | ~$229 | Palermo round trip | cosmos.com, 2027 |
| G Adventures Exploring the Amalfi Coast | 7 | $1,999 | ~$286 | Naples round trip, Pompeii stop | gadventures.com, Mar 2027 dates |
| Cosmos Gourmet Rome, Sorrento & Capri | 8 | $2,077 | ~$260 | Rome round trip | reseller, 2027 |
| Trafalgar Colours of Sicily | 9 | $2,600 | ~$289 | Sicily | reseller, 2027 |
| Intrepid Rome to Amalfi | 8 | $2,695 | ~$337 | Rome to the Amalfi Coast | intrepidtravel.com, Oct 2026 |
| Globus The Sicilian | 10 | $3,099 | ~$310 | Palermo to Taormina | reseller, 2027–28 |
| Globus Highlights of Sicily & Southern Italy | 14 | $4,299 | ~$307 | Rome to Palermo | reseller, 2027–28 |
| Trafalgar Country Roads of Southern Italy & Sicily | 14 | $5,300 | ~$379 | Rome to Palermo | reseller, 2027 |
How many days you actually need
You’re weighing vacation days against how much you want to see. Each row below is a real 2027 itinerary.
| Trip length | What fits | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| 7 days | Rome, Florence and Venice, two nights each | Cosmos Rome, Florence & Venice, from $1,599 |
| 9 to 10 days | The triangle plus hill towns, Cinque Terre or a southern day trip | Rick Steves Best of Venice, Florence & Rome, 10 days, $3,845; Intrepid Italy Experience, 10 days, $4,870 |
| 11 to 14 days | The triangle plus Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, Assisi or the lakes | Trafalgar Best of Italy – Premium, 11 days; Globus Italian Mosaic, 13 days |
| 14 days, south | Naples, the Amalfi Coast and Sicily | Globus Highlights of Sicily & Southern Italy, Rome to Palermo |
| 17 days | Eight stops at two nights each, Venice to Rome | Rick Steves Best of Italy in 17 Days, $6,395 |
The number that matters more than days
Count the hotel changes, not the days. Cosmos’s 7-day triangle changes hotel twice; Rick Steves’ 17-day tour changes seven times but never stays fewer than two nights. A long trip with one-night stops feels shorter, not longer.
When to go: what the calendars say
You’re choosing between price, crowds and what’s actually running. Tap a season.
Spring: popular, and priced like it
Most of the 2027 Trafalgar, Globus and Cosmos Italy departures on the reseller listing we checked start in April.
- Trafalgar listed its April and May 2027 Best of Italy – Premium dates at about $5,475 to $5,950, against a from-price of $4,075
- Venice’s 2026 fee days began April 3; the council’s 2027 plan starts on Good Friday
- Book early if you want spring; it isn’t the bargain shoulder season people expect
Summer: fee days, then a late-August dip
In 2026 Venice charged day-trippers every Friday to Sunday through July 26, plus the whole first week of June. The 2027 plan runs to mid-August.
- Globus’s lowest listed Italian Mosaic fare, $4,899, was an August 27, 2027 departure
- One data point, not a rule: ask for the fare on each date you could travel
- If your tour day-trips into Venice from outside the city on a fee day, you pay
Autumn: no Venice fee, full calendars
Neither the 2026 calendar nor the council’s 2027 plan charges day-trippers in September or October.
- Most 2027 Trafalgar Italy departures we saw run through October
- G Adventures lists Ultimate Italy dates through November 2027
- Ask for autumn fares next to spring ones before you decide
Winter: fewer departures, sharper prices
Cosmos’s lowest 2027 fares fell in November: Rome, Florence & Venice from $1,599 on November 7, and Italy’s Best at a $2,549 sale fare on November 14.
- Globus was promoting $1,000 off per couple on Italy Escapes for January 16 to March 19, 2027 travel (bookings October 16 to 31, 2026)
- Cosmos’s Italy’s Best is listed with departures from November 2026 through December 2027
- Calendars vary by route, so check that your exact tour runs in your month
We don’t quote temperatures or crowd counts: none of the operators publish them. These tabs use what they and Venice do publish: departure calendars, fare dates and fee days.
Who runs Italy, with real 2027 tours
Eight companies sell Italy to American travelers at very different price points. Sorted cheapest per day first.
| Operator & tour | Days | From | Per day | Route | Group | Price source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trafalgar Jewels of Italy (Saver) | 7 | $1,345 | ~$192 | Rome to Venice | Saver, avg 45 | reseller, 2027 |
| Trafalgar Italian Scene (Saver) | 10 | $1,925 | ~$192 | Rome round trip | Saver, avg 45 | reseller, 2027 |
| Cosmos Rome, Florence & Venice | 7 | $1,599 | ~$228 | Rome to Venice area | coach, avg 36 | cosmos.com, Nov 7 2027 |
| Cosmos Italy’s Best | 14 | $3,399 | ~$243 | Rome round trip | coach, avg 36 | cosmos.com list, 2027 |
| G Adventures Ultimate Italy | 14 | $3,999 | ~$286 | Rome to Venice via Cinque Terre | max 16, avg 12 | gadventures.com, Mar 28 2027 |
| Trafalgar Best of Italy | 13 | $4,775 | ~$367 | Rome round trip | coach; ask | reseller, Apr–Oct 2027 |
| Trafalgar Best of Italy – Premium | 11 | $4,075 | ~$370 | Rome round trip | avg 33 | trafalgar.com, deal shown Oct 2026 |
| Rick Steves Best of Italy in 17 Days | 17 | $6,395 | ~$376 | Venice to Rome | max 24–28 | ricksteves.com, 2027 |
| Globus Italian Mosaic | 13 | $4,899 | ~$377 | Rome round trip | coach, avg 36 | globusjourneys.com, Aug 27 2027 |
| Rick Steves Best of Venice, Florence & Rome | 10 | $3,845 | ~$384 | Venice, Florence, Rome | max 24–28 | ricksteves.com, 2027 |
| Intrepid Italy Experience (Comfort) | 10 | $4,870 | ~$487 | Venice to Rome via Cinque Terre | max 12 | intrepidtravel.com, Oct 2026 |
| Collette Italy’s Treasures (Explorations) | 12 | $5,899 | ~$492 | with 4 nights at a Tuscan villa | avg 19, max 24 | gocollette.com |
| Trafalgar Best of Italy – Premium Small Group | 11 | $6,825 | ~$620 | Rome round trip | avg 16, max 18 | trafalgar.com, 2027 |
| Intrepid Premium Italy in Depth | 15 | $12,375 | ~$825 | Bari to Venice | max 12 | intrepidtravel.com |
| Tauck Classic Italy | 14 | $12,790 | ~$914 | Sorrento to Venice | classic avg ~35–44 | tauck.com, 2026–28 |
From-prices in USD per person sharing, before flights. “Reseller” means the agency Global Journeys, used where the operator’s US page didn’t show a price; ask us for the live figure. Trafalgar’s 2027 tiers are Saver (ex-Costsaver), Classic and Premium (ex-Insight); its own pages label Jewels of Italy and Italian Scene as Saver, with groups averaging 45. Trafalgar doesn’t publish a Classic-tier group size.
Coach value: Cosmos and Trafalgar Saver
The cheapest per day, with a full coach and breakfast most days. Dinners are few: Cosmos’s Rome, Florence & Venice includes one.
Mainstream: Trafalgar Classic, Globus
More included sightseeing and dinners. Globus’s Italian Mosaic adds a choice of excursion in Rome and Venice.
Smaller and premium: Collette Explorations, Trafalgar Premium
Groups of about 16 to 33, 4- and 5-star hotels on Trafalgar Premium, and more meals in the fare.
Independent-minded: Rick Steves, G Adventures, Intrepid
Rick Steves keeps groups to 24 to 28, two nights per stop, every tip included. G Adventures caps Ultimate Italy at 16; Intrepid’s Italy Experience caps at 12. On all three you handle your own bag.
Luxury: Tauck, Intrepid Premium
Tauck uses hotels like the Excelsior in Florence and the Hilton Sorrento Palace. Intrepid’s Premium trip caps the group at 12 and includes 26 meals.
Shorter and slower: Roam by Tauck
Florence & the Tuscan Hills, 7 days from $7,990 in 2027, about 16 guests, three to four nights per hotel.
When the 2027 tours actually leave
Month by month, for the tours on this page that publish 2027 dates. Numbers are departures that month; rows marked “months with departures” show only which months have dates, not how many, and “first dates only” rows show the start of a season the operator hasn’t finished listing. Tap a month to see who goes.
| Tour | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Steves Best of Italy in 17 Days17 days · operator calendar | January: none listed | February: none listed | March: none listed | April: 6 departures6 | May: 6 departures6 | June: 2 departures2 | July: none listed | August: 1 departure1 | September: 7 departures7 | October: 4 departures4 | November: none listed | December: none listed |
| Rick Steves Best of Venice, Florence & Rome10 days · operator calendar | January: none listed | February: 2 departures2 | March: 4 departures4 | April: 5 departures5 | May: 5 departures5 | June: 3 departures3 | July: 3 departures3 | August: none listed | September: 6 departures6 | October: 4 departures4 | November: 2 departures2 | December: none listed |
| Rick Steves Best of Rome in 7 Days7 days · operator calendar | January: none listed | February: 2 departures2 | March: 2 departures2 | April: 3 departures3 | May: 2 departures2 | June: 1 departure1 | July: none listed | August: none listed | September: 2 departures2 | October: 3 departures3 | November: 1 departure1 | December: 1 departure1 |
| Globus Italian Mosaic13 days · reseller listing | January: none listed | February: none listed | March: none listed | April: 4 departures4 | May: 7 departures7 | June: 6 departures6 | July: 1 departure1 | August: 2 departures2 | September: 6 departures6 | October: 1 departure1 | November: none listed | December: none listed |
| Cosmos Rome, Florence & Venice7 days · reseller listing | January: none listed | February: none listed | March: none listed | April: 2 departures2 | May: 5 departures5 | June: 4 departures4 | July: 4 departures4 | August: 5 departures5 | September: 4 departures4 | October: 4 departures4 | November: 1 departure1 | December: 1 departure1 |
| G Adventures Ultimate Italy14 days · months with departures | January: none listed | February: none listed | March: departs | April: departs | May: departs | June: departs | July: departs | August: departs | September: departs | October: departs | November: departs | December: none listed |
| Collette Italy’s Treasures (Explorations)12 days · months with departures | January: none listed | February: departs | March: departs | April: departs | May: departs | June: departs | July: none listed | August: none listed | September: departs | October: departs | November: none listed | December: none listed |
| Tours leavingout of 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
Dates as published by each operator or a reseller listing that tour, checked October 27, 2026. Departures sell out and new dates get added, so we confirm the exact date when we price it. Sources: Rick Steves: Best of Italy in 17 Days · Rick Steves: Best of Venice, Florence & Rome · Rick Steves: Best of Rome in 7 Days · Globus: Italian Mosaic · Cosmos: Rome, Florence & Venice · G Adventures: Ultimate Italy · Collette: Italy’s Treasures (Explorations)
A day in the Cinque Terre, and how much you’ll walk
You’ve seen the route. This is what a real day on one feels like, with the walking spelled out.
Hike Corniglia to Manarola with your leader
Day 9 of G Adventures’ Ultimate Italy. The national park fee is in the fare.
A short stop in Riomaggiore
The last village on the day’s route.
Free time, with a train pass
An unlimited regional train ticket is included, so you can ride to the villages you skipped.
Dinner on your own
Ultimate Italy includes 13 breakfasts and 1 lunch in 14 days; most dinners are yours.
Italy on foot means cobbles, stairs and old town centers where coaches can’t park. Every operator here walks you in.
The difference is how far, and who carries the bag.
G Adventures warns that elevators are rare in European stations and hotels, and that you may carry your luggage for 15 to 20 minutes between transport and hotel. Rick Steves asks the same: your own bag, several miles a day.
Coach tours handle the bags. Tauck rates Classic Italy 3 for activity and 3 for pace on its own scale; Collette rates Italy’s Treasures “3 (Active).”
Want it gentler? Trafalgar’s Easy Pace Italy carries its “Leisurely” label over 10 days, from $3,450.
If you use a wheelchair or scooter, ask before you book. Tauck states it can’t provide individual walking, wheelchair or scooter help and asks those guests to travel with an able companion; a private tour is often the better fit.
What Italy costs per day, and all-in
The spread is almost five to one. Most of it is hotels, group size and how many dinners the fare covers, so price the extras before you compare.
Our arithmetic on the from-prices in the table above. Inclusions differ a lot: Rick Steves includes tips; Tauck includes most meals; Cosmos includes few.
All-in math
What an Italy tour costs once you land
We filled in Trafalgar’s Best of Italy – Premium and the midpoints of Trafalgar’s tip guidance. The meals figure is our starting estimate; change it, and swap in your own quote.
The tour includes 10 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 5 dinners, so about 15 meals are yours. For scale, G Adventures budgets $260 to $340 for the meals its 7-day Amalfi trip leaves out. Add your flights to the total; on a Rome-to-Venice tour, price an open-jaw ticket.
Find your Italy tour
You know your budget and your knees better than any brochure does. Answer honestly.
Matcher
Match a real 2027 Italy tour to how you travel
Five taps: budget, pace, group size, length and region. It suggests tours from the table above.
The Venice fee, and Italy’s hotel taxes
Two small charges that catch travelers out. Neither is large; both are easier to handle before you land.
Venice’s day-tripper fee
In 2026 Venice charged day visitors aged 14 and up on 60 days between April 3 and July 26, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Pay at least four days ahead and it was €5; later, €10. You show a QR code if checked.
Overnight guests don’t pay, but they still register for a free exemption code. That includes hotels on the mainland in Mestre, which is part of the Venice municipality.
The tour catch: plenty of itineraries sleep in a “Venice area” hotel, and Cosmos’s Rome, Florence & Venice is one.
If that hotel sits outside the municipality, you’re a day-tripper on fee days.
Venice also caps tour groups at 25 and bans loudspeakers, per Rick Steves’ Europe, which splits larger groups with extra guides. Ask your operator who registers you.
City taxes at Italian hotels
Italian towns set their own per-person, per-night hotel tax. Rome’s runs from €6 at a 3-star to €10 at a 5-star on Gate 1 Travel’s published table, and Florence’s from €6 to €8.
Gate 1 says the tax is included on its escorted tours. The published terms of the operators on this page don’t say either way.
One rule always holds. Any night you book yourself, before or after the tour, pays the tax at the hotel; Gate 1 flags Florence and Amalfi as cash-only.
What changes in 2027
On October 16, 2026, the dpa news agency reported that Venice’s council had voted to charge on 72 days in 2027, from Good Friday to mid-August, at up to €10. Rome still has to approve it, and Venice’s official fee site had no 2027 calendar yet. Register the moment your tour’s Venice day is fixed.
Tipping, and what’s already in the price
Tipping on an Italy tour depends far more on who you book than on Italy itself. Read your operator’s line before you pack the envelopes.
| Operator | Tour leader tip | Driver and local guides | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trafalgar | $5–$7 per day | Driver $3–$5 per day; local experts $2–$3 half day, $5 full day | Trafalgar’s own tipping guide |
| G Adventures | About €30–€40 per week | Local guides €3–€5 a day; restaurants about 10% | Ultimate Italy trip details |
| Globus, Cosmos | Not published | Not published | Prepaid tips aren’t offered in Europe |
| Collette | Extra | Extra | End-of-trip tips excluded per US terms |
| Tauck (land) | Director extra | Local guides, porters, servers included | Tauck FAQ |
| Rick Steves | Included | Included | Guides are salaried; tips not allowed |
| Intrepid Premium | Included | Included | Other Intrepid styles: per trip notes |
Our worked example: at Trafalgar’s midpoints ($6 and $4 a day), a 13-day tour adds about $130 per person in tips. Hotel porterage and dining-room tips are in Trafalgar’s fare.
One thing shapes your tour days more than tipping: which big sights are included entries.
Trafalgar’s Best of Italy – Premium opens with Vatican City and the Colosseum, and that kind of pre-booked entry is where a tour earns its money. Check which ones are in your fare, then plan your free afternoons around the rest.
Passports, flights, the clock and the cash
The paperwork for Italy is light for Americans. The flight plan is where a tour quietly goes right or wrong.
Most triangle tours start in Rome. If yours ends in Venice, price an open-jaw ticket: into Rome Fiumicino (FCO), home from Venice Marco Polo (VCE).
Then fly in a day early. A late overnight flight costs you a spare hotel night, not the Vatican morning.
Check how you get from the airport. Trafalgar’s Best of Italy – Premium lists an arrival and a departure transfer; G Adventures says arrive any time and points you to the Leonardo Express train from Fiumicino to Termini station.
Solo, with kids, or at an easier pace
Tour pricing is built for two people sharing a room. Here’s where everyone else should look first.
| If you are… | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Traveling solo, budget first | G Adventures Ultimate Italy | No single supplement if you share: you’re paired with a same-sex roommate. Pay for My Own Room if you’d rather not. |
| Traveling solo on a coach tour | Trafalgar | Room matching with a same-sex traveler at the twin-share price on nearly all its solo-friendly tours |
| Solo and set on Rick Steves | Best of Italy in 17 Days | No roommate matching since 2026; the 2027 single supplement is $1,020 |
| A family with kids | Intrepid Italy Family Holiday | 8 days from $3,315 on Intrepid’s US site. G Adventures sets a minimum age of 12 on Ultimate Italy. |
| A family wanting Disney service | Adventures by Disney | A reimagined 8-day Italy: Sicily & Amalfi Coast trip for 2027, with family and adults-only departures; ask for the price |
| Older, or slower on your feet | Trafalgar Easy Pace Italy | “Leisurely” label, 10 days, bags handled |
| After luxury | Tauck Classic Italy | Grand hotels, most meals and most tips in the fare |
| After a small group | Intrepid Italy Experience | A cap of 12, Comfort hotels, 10 days Venice to Rome |
Solo travelers pay the most for a tour’s convenience. Ask for the supplement in dollars on your exact date; Globus doesn’t offer room-sharing, and Cosmos waives the supplement only on select 2027 Europe tours.
Extra nights, a cruise, and when to book
A tour is rarely the whole trip. Plan the days around it at the same time.
Before and after the tour
Trafalgar and Tauck both sell extra hotel nights around their tours, and Tauck adds free transfers to its approved pre- and post-tour hotels. Ask for the price when you book; it’s usually simpler than finding your own.
Booking your own? Remember the city tax, and that Florence and Amalfi want it in cash.
Adding a cruise
Many Mediterranean cruises start at Civitavecchia, Rome’s port. A 7-day triangle tour before the ship covers the cities a port day can’t. See our Civitavecchia cruise port guide and Mediterranean cruises.
Sailing from Venice? Check which terminal your ship really uses on our Venice cruise port page.
How far ahead to book
Popular dates go early. On October 26, 2026, Rick Steves’ Best of Rome in 7 Days already had waitlists for its May 9 and October 3, 2027 departures.
For spring or fall in Italy, we’d book about a year out. Our booking-window guide compares the operators’ deadlines.
Insurance
Some policy benefits, like pre-existing-condition cover, depend on buying soon after your deposit. Read our insurance purchase-window guide before you pay it.
Before you book an Italy tour
These are the questions that change the price or the trip. Tick them off as you go.
Your Italy checklist
Ticks aren’t saved. Deposits and cancellation schedules for each operator are on their guides, linked below.
Who should tour Italy, and who should go alone
Book a tour if
- It’s your first time in Italy and you want the big three without planning trains and timed tickets
- You want the south but don’t fancy driving it; Sicily tours start around $1,829 for 8 days
- You’d rather unpack twice in a week than six times; pick a two-nights-per-stop itinerary
- You’re traveling solo and want company at dinner (check the supplement first)
Look elsewhere if
- You’ve been before and want long, slow days in one region; look at self-guided trips
- Your budget is tight and you’re happy with Italy’s trains; the triangle is easy by rail
- You hate group schedules; even small groups have them
- You want August in Venice for the hotels, not the crowds; the calendar won’t cooperate
Our take
For a first trip, pick the triangle and pay for two nights per stop. Cosmos does it in a week from $1,599; Rick Steves does it slower, with tips included, for more.
For a second trip, go south on its own. A 14-day Rome-to-Palermo tour covers what most first-timer tours skip.
Whichever you pick, compare per day, then read what the fare covers. A cheap day with no dinners can cost more by the end.
Where to go from here: the companies that run Italy
Free · No obligation
Want your Italy tour priced against the alternatives?
Tell us your dates, your budget and how you like to travel. We’ll price two or three real tours side by side, check the Venice day and the hotel taxes, and tell you which one we’d book.
Prefer to book the extras yourself?
Hotels, day trips and flights around the tour
Hotel nights before and after
Arriving a day early gives you a buffer if a flight runs late, and most people add a night when the tour ends.
Your free days
The days either side of the tour are yours. Day trips and tickets for the start and end cities:
Getting there and around
Fly into one city and home from another when the tour is one-way.
These are affiliate links: if you book through them, Seabound Journeys may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we recommend. Our disclosure. We’re happy to book these for you too.
Cruise + land, one trip
Add a Mediterranean cruise to your Italy trip
Tell us the tour and the sailing you’re weighing. We line up the dates so the tour ends where the ship sails, or starts where it docks, add the hotel night and the transfer in between, and price it all as one trip. Free, and you hear back within one business day.
What Italy first-timers ask us
How many days do you need for Italy on a tour?
Seven days covers Rome, Florence and Venice at two nights each; Cosmos sells exactly that from $1,599. Most first-timer tours that add Pompeii, Capri or the lakes run 10 to 14 days. Sicily alone takes about 8 to 10 days, and Rick Steves’ Best of Italy runs 17.
What is the best month for an Italy tour?
Most 2027 departures run April to October. Spring is not the cheap season: Trafalgar listed its April and May 2027 Best of Italy – Premium dates at about $5,475 to $5,950, against a from-price of $4,075. The lowest from-prices we found sat on late-August and November departures. Venice charges day-trippers on peak days in spring and early summer.
Do I pay the Venice access fee on a tour?
Only as a day-tripper on a fee day. In 2026 the fee applied on 60 days between April 3 and July 26, at €5 if you paid at least four days ahead and €10 after that. Overnight guests in the Venice municipality, including mainland Mestre, are exempt but still register. For 2027 the city council voted for 72 fee days from Good Friday to mid-August; Rome still has to approve it, and no official 2027 calendar was published by late October 2026.
Do US citizens need a visa or ETIAS for Italy?
No visa for tourist stays of up to 90 days in any 180. The State Department says your passport must be valid at least three months beyond your departure from the Schengen area (six recommended) with two blank pages. The EU’s Entry/Exit System phased in from October 12, 2025 and has run in full since April 10, 2026: fingerprints and a photo at the border, at no charge. ETIAS isn’t live and had no confirmed start date as of late October 2026.
Are Italian city taxes included in a tour price?
Italian towns charge a per-person, per-night hotel tax set by each city. Gate 1 Travel says the tax is included on its escorted tours; the other operators on this page don’t say either way in their published terms, so ask. Any hotel night you book yourself, before or after the tour, pays it at checkout.
How much should I tip on an Italy tour?
It depends on the operator. Trafalgar suggests $5 to $7 a day for the Travel Director and $3 to $5 a day for the driver. G Adventures suggests about €30 to €40 per person per week for its leader on Ultimate Italy. Rick Steves includes all guide and driver tips, as does Intrepid on Premium trips. Tauck leaves its Director’s tip out on land journeys. Globus and Cosmos publish no daily figure.
Which company is cheapest for Italy?
On the from-prices we checked, the lowest per day were Trafalgar’s Saver-tier Jewels of Italy (7 days) and Italian Scene (10 days) at about $192 a day on a reseller listing, then Cosmos at about $228 to $243. Tauck’s Classic Italy was about $914 a day. Check what each fare includes before comparing.
Should a first-timer do the south or the classic north?
For most first trips, the Rome, Florence and Venice triangle. The south, meaning Naples, the Amalfi Coast and Sicily, works best as a second trip or as a tour of its own: Sicily-focused tours run 8 to 10 days, and the combined Sicily and southern Italy tours we found were 14.
Sources · 37 links · checked October 2026
- Cosmos: Italy tours (2027 from-prices)
- Cosmos: Rome, Florence & Venice
- Cosmos: Italy’s Best
- Globus: Italian Mosaic (price and choices)
- Globus: deals page (Italy Escapes, Oct 2026)
- Trafalgar: Best of Italy – Premium (itinerary and 2027 dates)
- Trafalgar: Best of Italy – Premium Small Group
- Trafalgar: Easy Pace Italy
- Trafalgar: Jewels of Italy (Saver label, group size)
- Trafalgar: Italian Scene (Saver label, group size)
- Trafalgar: solo travel
- Trafalgar: Tipping on a Trafalgar tour
- Global Journeys: Italy tour listing (2027 reseller prices)
- Global Journeys: Trafalgar Classic listing (Colours of Sicily)
- Collette: Italy’s Treasures
- Tauck: Classic Italy
- Tauck: FAQ
- Tauck: Roam by Tauck 2027 portfolio
- Rick Steves: Best of Italy in 17 Days
- Rick Steves: Best of Rome in 7 Days (2027 dates)
- Rick Steves: 10 commitments
- Rick Steves: policy updates (solo rooms)
- Rick Steves blog: Venice’s access fee is back in 2026
- Intrepid: Italy trips (US prices)
- Intrepid: Italy Experience
- Intrepid: Premium Italy in Depth
- G Adventures: Ultimate Italy (trip details)
- G Adventures: Exploring the Amalfi Coast
- Adventures by Disney: 2027 trips (TravelPulse)
- Comune di Venezia: access fee
- blue News (dpa): Venice fee on more days in 2027 (Oct 16, 2026)
- The Local Italy: Venice fee calendar for 2026
- Europe for Visitors: Venice day-tourist entry fees
- The Local Italy: What is Italy’s tourist tax?
- Gate 1 Travel: Italian city taxes
- US State Department: Italy travel advisory (Sept 10, 2026)
- US State Department: US travelers in Europe (EES, ETIAS)