Rita,

Rita,

Everything was fabulous!  I am soooo very grateful to Stephanie for recommending you to us and have done nothing but rave about your company and the wonderful tour guides we had while in Italy. I will be sure to contact you again.  

Elaine 

Hi Rita,

We cannot thank you enough for the wonderful experiences that we had during our trip. From the moment we arrived everything you arranged worked seamlessly. Upon arriving in Rome we met the driver immediately and were on our way.  All the train transportation worked out perfect.  The meet and greets made what could have been chaotic situations very easy for us.

In Rome Fausta did an incredible job during the Ancient Rome walking tour and the tour of Vatican City.  She was so knowledgeable and pleasant to be with.  You can tell she loved what she does!  We really enjoyed the time.  Rome was hectic, loud, fast paced and bustling.  We LOVED it!  Definitely will return for  a few days!  

Monday, David our driver who took us to Tuscany.  There we had an incredible private wine tasting and lunch.  During that stay we visited Volterra, Montepulciano, toured two fabulous vineyards and Casole D’Elsa. 

David was truly wonderful.  He picked us up on Friday morning and we were off to Florence.  He went out of his way to accommodate us even making a little side trip in the little town of Greve in Chianti on our way to Florence.  Instead of just dropping us at the hotel he took us for a brief tour of Florence which was wonderful of him.  David's service was absolutely wonderful.  He went above and beyond to be accommodating. We very much enjoyed the tour with Sabrina.  Again she was very knowledgeable and friendly.  She really wanted to be sure that we saw what we wanted.  

All went smooth on the train to Venice.  The Venice Land and Sea tour with Cristina was fun also.  She actually took us to see the kitchen in the Gritti Palace. We took a tour down the Grand Canal.  Saw a lot!!! 

Once again the train to Milan worked perfect as well as the transfer to our hotel on Lake Como.  Transfer back to Milan airport was flawless.  Again the driver was very nice.

I really would like to commend you on the job that you do.  We both commented several times that thanks to you everything was perfectly orchestrated.  Everyone associated with Customized Italy was so accommodating.  It truly will always be a trip to remember.  I would highly recommend your services to anyone traveling to Italy.  We so look forward to working with you again!!  By the way… you were right when we spoke after our flight was cancelled.  As soon a we got there everything was great.  We knew it would be!  We had all the confidence in the world in what you put together. It was good to know we had someone that we could rely on.

Grazie mille!!! 

Joann and Doug

Hi Rita,  Just wanted to send you a short email regarding our wonderful trip to your beautiful country.  My sister & I had a great trip!!!  Fausta & Barbara could not have made our two days in Rome more special.  The individualized attention made our time spent at the historical sites and the Vatican all the more memorable.  They both made us feel comfortable, welcome & free to ask any question about the fabulous sites.  They were both very knowledgeable but at the same time such fun! The one on one attention was the perfect way to see the sites.  I would highly recommend your service to any one that I know heading to Italy for a holiday.  I plan to come back again with my children & will definitely connect.  Thanks again.  Enjoy your summer!!!  Marylee

Guides were supberb.  Loved Fausta and her amazing breadth of information and style.

Hello Rita;

Now that we are back to reality and have the opportunity to reflect on our wonderful trip we would like to take the time to thank you for your contribution.  Florence and Rome came alive through the good humor, wit and insight of Bernardo and Barbara.  We are still recounting the stories of Bernardo and laughing with each retelling.

Thanks again and I would happily recommend Customized Italy to friends.

Grazie!

Marcia

Hi Rita,

We had a fabulous trip and really enjoyed both our tours with Barbara and Cristina!  Would highly recommend your company and many thanks to Mike and Priscilla for recommending your company.

Best wishes and we hope to return soon.

Kathy 

Rita,

I can't tell you how much we appreciated all your planning. Your tour guides were the best - very entertaining. You made us all love Italy and want to come back.

Thanks,

Joan 

Dear Rita,

Rita,

On the flight home and just wanted to say thanks as we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Italy. Marco, Massimo, Bernardo and Monica were fantastic and would not change a thing they did.

Best regards,

Matt 

Dear Rita,

We arrived back in Illinois last night. It was an uneventful flight for us, and we are spending the day returning to the "real world", of course. But I did not want another day to go by without thanking you for your huge role in what truly was the trip of a lifetime.

The guides you arranged for us were outstanding. We fell in love with Fausta and were so sad to leave her to go to Florence. We were sure we would never have such and engaging , charming and knowledgeable guide. And then, of course, we met Bernardo! We all agreed we could have listened to him talk about the David forever. He is so passionate about the art, the artists, the city...his city. It was an unforgettable tour.

We all found Marco and Massimo, the drivers we had the most on the trip, absolutely wonderful.  And our driver, David, who took us to Siena and San G. was really great as well.

SO, I guess what I am saying is that your attention to detail and your recommendations for options on our trip when we were not with guide was phenomenal. Thank you so much for making this trip unforgettable. We can't say enough good things about you or your services and we look forward to our next trip, and of course the opportunity to recommend you to our traveling friends.

Warmly,

Karen and Dan, Shane, Amy, Justin and Maggie

We really enjoyed ourselves with Monica once again.  We managed to cover LOTS of territory.  I think our tour turned into a spontaneous adventure with she and the driver thinking of all of the places in any given area for us to visit.  The driver was great and we wiggled through lots of tight spots.  Being guided by Monica is always a joy and unbelievably informative!

Hunter 

Dear Rita,

We are all ready to adopt Barbara!  What a great time we had with her……she is SO knowledgeable and fun to be around.  Her zest and love of her beautiful city of Rome is obvious in all she says and does, and she shared so much wonderful information with us.  All my sisters want to return someday, as our coin in the Trevi Fountain left our wish.  Thank you so much for not only Barbara, but also for sending us Massimo to drive for us.  He was so sweet and polite, and even brought water, candy and small gifts for each of us.  And our meeting place was perfect….no problem finding each other.

I talked to Gladys last night and told her of our great experience with your tour, our appreciation of Barbara, and all that we got to see, and she said, “See….I told you so!”  Thank you again for planning everything so perfect for us.

If you ever need me as a referral, you have only to ask!

Many, many thanks again,

Bo

Rita,

You are responsible for an unimaginable experience in Italy for which we will be forever grateful.  Everything was perfect!

Barbara and Bernardo, both bursting with information filled our heads with dates and details we will probably be processing over the next few months.  There is not one part of our trip we would change or do differently – that’s how good you are Rita!  We’ve already told friends about you and we will continue to spread the word – I could not imagine anyone customizing the trip better. 

Hugs…Ciao!

Nancy

Ciao Rita!

Giovanni was excellent! He studied art history and had us hanging onto every word he said! He had a wonderful personality also! What a joy!

Thank you!

Wendy

Rita,

Thank you, Rita!

We had a wonderful time!

The highlight of our entire 10 days in Europe (went on cruise too) was the 2 days we spent with Roberta. She was absolutely fabulous! We are so very grateful to her (and you) for the experience.

Roberta's knowledge and inside information made the tour far far better than we had imagined.  Thank you and thank her for us.

We look forward to going back in a few years with our 2 sons and we will definitely be calling you again!

I have recommended you to everyone! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Many blessings to you,

Darlene

Barbara was FANTASTIC!!!  Absolutely loved her!  She knew her stuff
and kept it very interesting. The boys got a lot of the info as well
and really enjoyed it. It was brutally hot but we still managed to
cover everything in the 4 hours.  the bar has been set quite high for
our next guide!

Thanks,

Marni 

Buon Giorno Rita!
 
The highlight in Rome was definitely our tour with Fausta.  She was wonderful!  So knowledgeable about the history and culture of Rome and Italy.  So willing to answer any question we asked.  (Both Paul and Bruce are information junkies!)  In the end we felt like we got about 3 tours in one!  Her love for the city was very contagious;  and we all left with a great appreciation for Rome, its history, and especially the Pantheon! 

Thanks so much for all of your help, patience, suggestions, and general enthusiasm for Italy.  We loved our visit and can't wait to return!  Take care.  Ciao!

Rita,

Thank you again for the wonderful tours!  We so enjoyed Barbara - she was so informative with a most appealing Italian humor and wit!  She is a treasure!  It was a hot, but most enjoyable 4 days!  And Massimo (the driver) was very sweet with our girls yesterday!  I will of course pass along your name and information to any friends we know who travel to Italy.  

Thanks,

Chris 

Hi Rita,

Rita,

We are back in the U.S. and want to thank you and especially Monica for a wonderful Vatican tour. Although there were hundreds of people around us at all times we were in a world of our own with Monica in charge. Lots and lots of enthusiasm, energy and especially wonderful and interesting facts. Great job.

Thanks again.

Bruce, Linda, Dick, Dolores and Caroline

Rita,

I wanted to thank you for all your help with the planning of our  Italian  vacation.  The tours were great.  The guides were very  informative. They kept us moving in order to maximize our   experience,  seeing  as much as we could in the short time span we  had.  We feel we received a good idea of what Venice is like today as  well as its glory in the past.  Again, we will gladly recommend your  tours to our friends and family.

Now we  are home and dreaming of another time to return to beautiful Italy.

Thanks again and hope all is well.

Charlie

We all want to tell you how fantastic our guide, Fausta, was.  We are all in love with her... her professionalism, and delivery of the information, her organization.  I cannot say enough wonderful things about her.  I would highly, highly recommend her.

Kim 

The tours were fantastic!!!!  We cannot say enough good about our  guide, Fausta.  Her English was very good and her knowledge was  outstanding.  She could move through a crowd with great ease.  She  was amazing!! 

Thanks, Mary Louise 

Monica, our tour guide was remarkable, very learned and generous  with her time.  She was very professional & warm natured.  Sara & I will always remember our Roma trip. 

Best wishes,

Bonnie

Rita,

We had an excellent time in Rome. Our guide Monica was wonderful, full of zest, great interest in what she is showing us and fun stories. The four hours went very fast. I would recommend her to anyone wanting the tour. She got us through fast and all of the guards seemed to know her. Thanks again for making our stay and tour special.

Betsy and Bruce

Rita,

I just wanted to drop you a line to say thanks. All of the tours were wonderful and interesting. We just got back this past weekend from Venice. The kids really did not want to leave--and can't wait to return to Italy.

Thanks again.

Tom

Rita,

Our trip to Italy was great and your tour guides were excellent!  I would highly recommend all of them to anyone even remotely interested.

Grazia was great. We enjoyed her very much and she did a great job. We felt like VIPs jumping the line to see the David. I would definitely recommend her.

Vicky

Dear Rita,

Dear Rita,

We are back from our marvelous trip, and we’re still talking about one of the extraordinary highlights – our guided tour in Rome.  It was sensational, and we all absolutely loved spending that time with you.  I’ve been talking about you ever since we returned, and I eagerly look forward to the chance to recommend you to friends who visit Italy.

Very best wishes from Terry, Marshall, Carol, Merle, Bob and Gloria

Buon Giorno, Rita!
We are finally back on Minnesota time, and wanted to say "Grazie" for all your help with our trip.  With our limited time, having the tours helped us see the most important sites in an efficient manner.  Our tour guides, Pina, Fausta, and Bernardo were wonderful!  Their knowledge and enthusiasm for their country was fun to hear and experience.
Grazie!
Kathy

Maria Teresa was such a knowledgeable and delighful person.  She made our visit to Rome all the more memorable.  She was terrific!

Thanks so much.

Kind regards,

Ray C.

Dear Rita,

Many thanks for guiding us around Italy with your great tours and guides. We had a wonderful journey and could not have done all without you. We hope to return soon and will refer you with  highest praise!  

Hi Rita,

I have been meaning to send you a note to thank you for arranging our wonderful Italian trip. Sarah and I had an unforgettable experience!

All of the guides were excellent! I don’t think I can pick out a favorite. I am a big fan of private guided tours, especially when time is limited. Your guides were knowledgeable, friendly, courteous – just great people!

The food was incredible! I honestly don’t think we had a meal that was not above average to superb. We used many of your recommendations.

The city hotels all were located very conveniently, had attentive, helpful staff, unique décor, and good breakfast.

The itinerary was a good mix of tours to historical sites, museums, art, cathedrals, wineries, excursions, and time on our own to explore and relax. You really have it down!

Thanks again for all of your help. The travel connections and scheduling with guides was seamless, allowing us to make the most of our time there.

I am very sure we will be contacting you again in the near future, as Beth is already wondering aloud quite often about when she will get to Italy!

Dear Rita,
We thoroughly enjoyed our tour - Maria Teresa was fantastic, thank you so much. It will be a very happy memory for us. She was such a knowledgeable and informative guide, as well as a charming person.

Touring with Rita is like having a great friend meeting you in a wonderful place and sharing a great glass of wine in the Roman sun; when she takes care of your itnerary it's done...and you just have to show up.  Sandra and I look forward to going back again, and again. 

Dearest Rita,

Molto Bene!

Hi Rita—

Hello Rita,

Wow!!! What a trip…Monica, Grazia and Leonardo ROCKED!!! We had THE best trip!

Thank you for the wonderful afternoon in Rome.  You are a fantastic guide.  Harris and Sylvain got so much out of your tour!!! I think it will always be remembered.  Hope to find myself in Rome again soon!!! 

Grant and I are well and are missing Italia. I feel our perception of the world has changed a little because of the knowledge and experiences you shared with us.

We thank you for the two wonderful and informative tours of Roma.  We are so fortunate to have "found you" as all your knowledge has been a great help to us in learning about Ancient Rome and The Vatican.  You are Rome's BEST guide! 

Thanks, Rita, for your outstanding services while we were on our tour. It was unbelieivable with our group of 40 vacationers, how you always made everything come off without a hitch, and made it look like it was effortless and that you were having the time of your life, even when circumstances dictated that we do something other than what was originally planned.

Thank you so much for the memorable afternoon in the Vatican. We still talk about it constantly. Thank you also for the lovely photos. They are so much better than what we produced.   We look forward to meeting with you again. Our dreams are to return to Rome and to visit Tuscany.  

We are still raving about you and the tour you gave us.  We keep talking about how much time we would have wasted if we didn't have you!

Again I must thank you for our fantastic Roma experience. What we wanted to do, in only 5 hours, was truly ridiculous but you totally saved the day and made it fun and informative, meaningful and amazingly, not rushed! You have a great gift for showing Rome in its best light and for being a friend. It was so nice to see you standing on those steps, waiting for us - unforgettable!

Jesse, Ava and I have talked about you, Italy and Roma all summer.   We are working on our Italian.   When I am sad or down I just close my eyes and day dream about Italy and our memorable experiences together during the Tuscan Troubadour Tour.