Thinking about odyssey unlimiteds Portrait of Italy tour. Anybody done that and have thoughts and/or advice?

Hi, I can't help you with your inquiry, but I changed the title of your post to include the tour operator. Hopefully someone will at least have info on the operator.

http://odysseys-unlimited.com/tours/europe/portrait-italy

Members of our extended family have taken them and found they are very well-run and reliable. Translated: you get what you pay for and with Odyssey Unlimited the tour and accommodations are very good.

As you can read in the "About Us" link, they deal with a large number of university affiliated tour groups and they handled the Ohio State group my relatives were on splendidly. Of note was the tour guide who deftly reflected the professorial egos of a couple in the group with ease and charm.

Hi Town, hubby and I did a 14 day tour of Italy back in 2006 but w/a diff operator. I LOVED it, every minute, hubby got really tired about half way thru of all the churches/museums/history/changing hotels/getting up early for the bus/etc....
so if your idea of a "good" vacation is laying on the sand with a drink in your hand for days and days you will NOT like a guided tour
however if you love history and don't want to miss a thing you will LOVE going on a guided tour.
Be prepared for early morning take offs (usually on the bus, packed and bkfts eaten by 8am) - packing up and moving on every day (or almost every day), very little "down time" (time where you pick what you want to do) it's mostly very scheduled time visiting this, seeing that. If you sign up for any "extra" excursions (and yes they will want to sell them to you) then you will have almost zero "down time".
Guided Tours have their pros and cons, only you will know if you can and want to handle them. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />