Not for the faint hearted but WOW!!

Not for the faint hearted but WOW! My husband and I recently went on the Seven Cities in Seven Days tour of Italy. I booked through Debbie at Designer Travel and she did all the work of booking the trip. It was originally going to be a surprise for my husband's 60th birthday (although I decided to tell him as he also started looking at holidays!). Anyway with the birthday in mind, Debbie made sure we had the most wonderful rooms at our hotels. Our view at the lovely hotel at Lake Garda was breathtaking. It is a very busy week with early breakfast between 7/7.30am to get on the road in good time, so if you want a relaxing holiday this is not for you, but you will be missing out on a great experience. We had a fantastic tour guide called Bill, an ex-pat from Leeds who was very entertaining and what he didn't know about Italy wasn't worth knowing. He deserved 20 out of 10. Our first hotel was lovely but it fell down a little on the food front. Nothing awful but slow and no traditional Italian fare which we were looking forward to knowing how proud they are of their cuisine. The waitresses worked very hard but the general opinion was that they could do with help in the kitchen, and the hotel wasn't even full. The Lake was 5 minutes walk from the hotel with busy little bars & cafes. Our 2nd day started with the short journey to Sirmioni on Lake Garda before heading to Verona. Day 3 - an early start for the long journey to Venice...amazing. Bill had organised gondola rides for €20 each if wanted...a bargain. Six to a gondola and we floated along and sang happy birthday to my husband! We also had a guided tour with earpieces and free time after. Day 4 - an early start to have luggage loaded onto coach before heading to the Tuscan hills and Florence. In the afternoon, we headed to the next hotel at Chianciano Terme where we all enjoyed the great Italian evening meals. None of us were ever late in bed lol. Day 5 - we had a beautiful journey through the Tuscan hills to the most beautiful San Gimignano. I could have easily spent all day here and would love to return with more time. Then we headed off to the city of Sienna, where the famous Palio horse race takes place. Another place where the time went too fast. Day 6 - Rome. A guided tour where the local guide joined us on our coach for all part walking and part driving tour of the city. The Colosseum was the most awe inspiring for my husband & myself . Free time after the tour. Day 7 dawned bright and very early again for the luggage loading and we headed off to Assisi with it's stunning views. A peaceful place. On the long journey to our next hotel, Bill and our wonderful coach driver for the week, took us on and detour to avoid stopping at all motorway services and we visited the lovely Lake Tresmaine...an added bonus. Yes, a very busy but an amazing opportunity to see a lot in a short space of time. Our party of 38 consisted of ages ranging between 82 and 21 year olds. And thank you, Debbie, at Designer Travel.  You took out the hassle, sorted out any worries I had and gave me any information I requested. We will be booking with you again. MR C & MRS A DUKE