Juanita
GBI would’ve given 5 stars because… I would’ve given 5 stars because everything was as we expected and perfect from our arrival in Italy. The only downside was during the planning phase our travel agent seemed a little disorganized which made the planning part a little frustrating but in the end she nailed it. Truthfully some of the frustration may have been due to cultural communication differences. I would definitely use them again for planning a trip to Italy.
Rajib
CZGood at following instructions I had an excellent, memorable trip. I provided the agency with my travel requirements and they faithfully implemented them. At one place I asked them to make hotel arrangements. They chose a nice place where one had to also eat breakfast and dinner greatly limiting our meal choices. I did not like this at all. The lesson I had learned is that I need to do my research thoroughly and give it to them. Best not to rely on them if you have very particular expectations and needs. Overall, I was satisfied. They also need to improve their payment by credit card arrangements which was cumbersome.
Jay & Debbie C
GBAshleih put together a fantastic trip… Ashleih put together a fantastic trip for us. We couldn't have asked for a better experience with every detail laid out perfectly. The small group excursions and walking tours were a great way to have a personal feel while meeting new people and making new friends We especially enjoyed the Bites of Rome food tour in Trastevere, had a blast at the inTavola cooking class in Florence, had more fun on the Tuscany day trip to San Gimignano and Siena and loved our day hiking in Cinque Terre. Working with Ashleih was a pleasure and we've spread the word to friends who are planning trips to Italy. And thanks again for letting the hotels know this was our anniversary trip. Being greeted with wine and Prosecco was extra special.
Valued customer
GBCultural Italy was a great choice Cultural Italy was a great choice. Our agent, Luana, was very knowledgeable, particularly when it came to hotel choices with respect to their location and amenities offered. She arranged for private transfers from airports to hotel and train stations and it made the trip less stressful for us. The negatives on the trip we encountered were mostly unavoidable, i.e., massive crowds of tourists that delayed tours despite the no waiting in lines tickets. My advice would be to arrange for private one-on-one tour guides if you can afford it. Luana also made herself available when needed and was very responsive to my many emails.
Daniel
GBCustomized tour of Italy Roberta was an excellent agent. She helped plan 14 days in Italy for our family tour group of 18 persons - excursions were planned for each day. All coordination was spot on as planned and described. The selected tour guides and coach drivers ranged from good to excellent - most were excellent. I will single out one particular driver who went above and beyond. For family history reasons we scheduled a day trip from Bologna to Cento. Nothing was easy and there was very little tourism infrastructure. Our driver whom I knew only as Massimo spoke some English and he became our interpreter, tour guide and advocate so that we could see all the family landmarks. With Massimo’s help,!that day was as special as we’d hoped it would be. Accommodations were typically good. The booking was not very transparent so I cannot claim the accommodations were worth what we paid. On a few occasions the preselected rooms were not available when we arrived, in these cases the hotel management would upgrade us.