I knew I wanted to hit some of the must see places of Italy for my very first visit there. The “Highlights of Italy” trip is a great tour for first time visitors to Italy for low budget travellers.

This 9 day tour is a “Basix” style of Intrepid’s 1 of 3 travel styles. Their Basix trips are meant for travellers who spend less on their experience and can opt into the activities they wish to do during their free time. The accommodations are simple, centrally located, and very clean. We were never far from major attractions and the city centre. We spent about 2 days in each location.

9 day “Highlights of Italy” route


Here’s a few things about this Intrepid tour:

Transportation: We used trains for our transport. Our Intrepid Tour Leader had our train tickets ready for us when we arrived at the train station in the morning. The trains are comfortable and are one of the fastest and most efficient ways to travel around Italy. We had assigned seats so we all sat together in a group and bonded with our leader and other travellers while looking at the beautiful Italian vista scenery.

Group size: The group size was 10 travellers on our trip which was a perfect number for getting to know everyone. The majority of travellers on the trip were Australian. I was the only Canadian but I rather liked it that way. I got to know a bit more about Australia from my new friends.

Tour Leader: I loved our Tour Leader Andrea. He is from outside of Venice. What I like about Intrepid is that they source local leaders. Most of them will be from the country you are visiting or have been living there for awhile. Having someone local was great because he recommended specific restaurants and places to go that he knew first hand would impress us and that are less touristic and more for locals. If we ever needed anything he was more than happy to help us. In each city the first morning or afternoon we had an orientation walk provided by Andrea. His walks were very informative and he gave us some great info on historical and general facts on Italy. Once we had our walks we had a good idea of the city layout and made it easy to be on our own for the rest of the afternoon or the following day.

Urban Adventures: This is a company owned by Intrepid Group. They offer day tours in various cities of many countries lead by locals. In Italy they offer Urban Adventures in all locations we visited and in other parts of Italy. I did a 4 hour wine tour in Florence and visited 3 local wine tasting locations plus we were so full by all the aperitivos accompanied by our wine. We were able to purchase our excursion online in Canadian funds when booking our trip but you also have the option of booking the Urband Adventures excursions in local currency with the help of the Tour Leader.



Here’s a few things about Italy:

Pasta, Pizza, Wine & Dine: One thing that surprised me when in Italy was the food and not regarding the taste as I knew that would be good and of course it was amazing! How I felt after eating a full pizza or dish of pasta was not sick or too full. The fresh ingredients they use make you feel restored. I drank wine every night with my meals as it was quite affordable. In Italian restaurants you can decide how many ml/l you want if you don’t wish to have a full bottle of wine. It was cheap to have the house wine coming in the size of 500ml which was about 2 glasses. I found that a good pizza or pasta dish costs about 8 – 12 euro. Dishes with meats such as lamb or beef accompanied by vegetables costs about 12 – 16 euro.

What to bring: Pack light for your trip to Italy or use a hiker’s backpack. There are lots of cobblestone streets that aren’t good for bags with wheels on them – especially Venice and Florence. Some hotels won’t have elevators and have lots of steps to get up to your room. On the trains there’s space for large pieces of luggage but there may not be space to keep your luggage in the same compartment you are in.

Precautions: Pickpockets are very common in Italy. Especially on and near the train and subway. In the streets there are a lot of what don’t appear to be pickpockets walking up to you asking you for money. They are very slick to grab your wallet without you noticing and sometimes they work together in a group of 2; one to distract you and one to grab your belongings. Also don’t buy knock off brand bags on the streets. It’s illegal to purchase these and you can get a serious fine if the police catch you buying one.