Nada's Italy

We've travelled twice with Nada's Italy, and are scheduled to take our third trip with them in a few months.
Our first trip was to the Amalfi coast, never could I imagine a more wonderful experience. Every minute from arriving in Rome, to arriving in Positano for 8 nights, and returning to Rome was amazing. Our journey director was outstanding. Our fellow travelers were fabulous, a group of 12. We would explore the coast from this beautiful spot in Positano, each day setting out for adventure in a lovely Mercedes van. We were mostly in places where we saw few Americans, we ate at wonderful restaurants, and had an absolute blast. We had a wonderful blend of active and down time, we learned and saw so much, and laughed every day ! Amazing!
The next trip was Florence, Cinque Terra, and Tuscany, amazing as well. The hotels and villa we stayed in were top notch, our journey director amazing, another perfect trip.
This was a more active trip, but we enjoyed every second, we felt like we saw a very real side of Italy, not just tourist spots. The Time we spent on each spot was magical. The charming town of Lucca and the Villa in Tuscany were top of our list.
We are not organized tour people, but the small group, perfectly curated Nada's trips are beyond. We could not recommend them more highly.

Flavors of Verona and Lake Garda tour was perfect in every way. Our guide Daniela was our "mama" and our new best friend. Every detail was smooth, every hotel was amazing, every bite was better than the last.

What a great time we had with Nada's Italy on the Amalfi Coast. They say that they are the tour company for people who don't like tours. They are right! There were only 12 of us. Our Journey Guide was wonderful. The hotels were boutique with personal service. Each stop brought a new vista, meal or experience. The front office put with my constant questions. Every step along the way was exceptional.

Nada's Italy tour made a dream come true. This tour lived up to its motto "Tour for people who don't like tours". This tour was a perfect combination of free and scheduled time, seeing the "tourist spots" and off-the-beaten path spots and cultural and interesting spots. One problem, when friends ask what was my favorite thing, I could not answer. It was all spectacular. Our journey guide coordinated everything perfectly and we felt cared for and safe. I highly recommend this company.

We have had many wonderful vacations, but we had never been on a group tour. Then we decided to finally take the big Italy vacation (Rome, Florence, Venice) we had always promised ourselves. Because there was just so much we wanted to see, and so much to learn, and so many details to get right, we decided to try a group tour for the first time. Right away, Nada's motto "Tours for people who don't go on tours" spoke to us! But we didn't jump in right away, instead we compared what Nada offered versus other operators. Several companies with "small" group tours offer similar itineraries and promise similar amenities. But Nada seemed more interested in the culture, food and experiences rather than just a checklist of must-see's. And though not cheap, the price was competitive.

We took Nada's "Italian Treasures" tour featuring Rome, Florence, and Venice (and some stops, including some surprises, in between). So how did it turn out? Our travel dreams were realized beyond all expectations!

Our tour leader Alessandro was an exceptional personality, incredibly helpful and informative, yet low key, cheery and cordial. We loved that he worked so hard to keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes, yet was able to join in the experience with comments and his thematically appropriate set of shirts for the sights we were seeing. In particular, his very passionate and personal stories at the American cemetery near Florence were deeply moving and appreciated by all.

We learned that Nada's definition of a "small" group was VERY small, small enough that our group could go into any restaurant and be treated like normal guests, and small enough that our minivans could go places big buses could not. And small enough that we could easily visit small artisan workshops, which was a real highlight.

The value of a group, especially the very small Nada-sized group, was crystallized for me one morning in Florence. We had just had a wonderful round of visits to artisans in the Altrano, and the group was next going on to lunch and a patisserie. It was a good time for our local guide to give us a short heads-up presentation for what to expect later in the day when we visited the Uffizi. So, our group stopped in a small coffee shop, and while our local guide prepared us for the afternoon, Alessandro retrieved cappuccinos for all of us. It was all so smooth, so relaxing, so endearing, and yet such a good use of time. There is no way it could have worked so well with a larger group, and it would have been impossible to do all this so calmly on our own.

Hotels: All of our three hotels were comfortable, very welcoming and in good locations.

Restaurants: I loved *ALL* of the chosen restaurants on the tour. It was so nice having regular tables, rather than being herded into a special side room as a larger tour group would have required.

Tour vs. free time: We thought Nada's provided the perfect balance between major sights where we needed the organization and interpretation from our guides, and free time for us to see things of our own special interest.

We have gone twice with Nada's Italy Signature tours. They are magical and terrifically enjoyable.

The website is well laid out and the costs are detailed there. It's a great way to experience the sights and culture of Italy, and yes, the food and wine.

A small tour is a great way to see in depth the different regions of Italy.

Best vacation ever. Our tour guides were amazing with all the details of the trip. They scheduled the most beautiful meals that included more food and wine than you could possibly consume. They always made you feel safe at all times. The guides also allowed time to yourselves for resting or exploring. They made travel from one destination to another so easy and comfortable. The sites, romance, food, wine, along with the new friends we made will always stand out to me as my best vacation.
Thanks, Nada's Italy

Nada's is the BEST! We just got back from our Italian Treasures tour which included Rome, Florence, towns in Tuscany, and Venice. Amazing small group (8 people) + the sweetest, most helpful Italian tour guide (Alessandro) who took care of every detail = the best trip we've ever been on. Still basking in the glow of the trip and the memories made... Highly recommend Nada's for trips to Italy. You will not be disappointed!

We traveled to Tuscany Italy with Nada's Italy and found it one of the best trips we have done. For over 30 years we have traveled on our own and sometimes with large bus type groups. Nada's small group (6-12) approach was wonderful. Everything was taken care of by their North Carolina staff leading up to our trip and then their born in Italy tour guide took care of the in-country itinerary. We had great meals in small towns, cooking classes, site seeing, wine tasting. and more. Our only job was to relax and enjoy. We loved this tour so much that we are booked for another part of Italy with Nada in September.

I heard so many good things about this company but the end result was a huge pain in the neck. From the first call, the representative had me on the phone for 20 minutes and I didn't have a chance to squeeze in any questions or to tell him about our trip...it was all about how great Nada's Italy was. The intro call was more about my budget and less about what kind of trip our family was looking to put together, I gave them a range for a budget because I had no idea what this kind of true would cost, he seemed disappointed I didn't guess so well. Follow on to the first conversation, I had to call them no less than 6 times and emailed them 3 times to get a call back. Never happened, no call back.