Microtours in Italy—Guided walks, bus tours, museum tours, private guides, escorted sidetrips, and more
Guided walks are a fabulous way to bring a city to life and learn its secrets and its history
Guided visits to Italy's sights—museums, cathedrals, castles, palaces, ruins—can help make them come alive, deepen your understanding, and enrich your experience
Weird, random, oddball, and just plain fun tours and activities you can sign up for in Italy
Free greeter programs around the world encourage locals to welcome you to their hometown
Activities, walks, & excursions
- Viator.com - Best one-stop shopping site for all sorts of activities, walking tours, bus tours, escorted day trips, and other excursions. It is actually a clearinghouse for many local tour companies and outfitters, and since it gets a bulk-rate deal on pricing (and takes only a token fee for itself), you can actually sometimes book an activity through Viator for less than it would cost to buy the same exact tour from the tour company itself. (I once booked a Dublin pub crawl via Viator and later discovered that I saved about $1.50; also, the tour turned out to be sold-out, and they were turning away the folks in front of me in line, but since I had a pre-booked voucher I got in.)Partner
- Contexttravel.com - This bespoke walking tour company doesn't even call its 200 tour leaders "guides." It calls them "docents"—perhaps because most guides are academics and specialists in their fields: history professors, archeologists, PhDs, art historians, artists, etc. Groups are miniscule (often six people maximum), and most docents can be booked for private guiding sessions as well. They aren't always the cheapest tours, but they are invariably the best. People rave about Context.Partner
- Veltra.com - Chief rival to Viator, representing fewer tours but also offering some you won't find on Viator.Partner
- Freewalkingtouritalia.com - Basic walking tours that cost... "name your own price." The guides work for "tips," much of which is turned over to their boss, so you end up "tipping" them €15 to €20 per person anyway, meaning the tours aren't actually free (though, given their incentive, most guides put on a good show and give a good tour) .
- Freetoursbyfoot.com - Basic walking tours of popular Roman neighborhoods that costs... "name your own price." The guides work for "tips," much of which is turned over to their boss, so you end up "tipping" them €15 to €20 per person anyway, meaning the tours aren't actually free (though, given their incentive, most guides put on a good show and give a good tour) .
- Venicefreewalkingtour.com - Basic walking tours of Venice that costs... "name your own price." The guides work for "tips," much of which is turned over to their boss, so you end up "tipping" them €15 to €20 per person anyway, meaning the tours aren't actually free (though, given their incentive, most guides put on a good show and give a good tour) .
Multi-day excursions
- Viator.com - This clearinghouse for activities and day tours also offers longer, multi-day trips—and, since it is essentially a middleman site liking you to local outfitters, it is often among the cheapest (Viator only tacks on a modest fee)Partner
- intrepidtravel.com -
Intrepid Travel is one of only two only major tour outfits I know (along with G Adventures) of that makes a concerted effort to travel like real independent travelers—small groups (max of 8 or 12 people), staying in mom-and-pop accommodations and getting around by public transport rather than a big tour bus.
This fantastic Australian company marries an independent travel style with the expertise of truly knowledgeable guides and a focus on the cultural experience of travel.
Intrepid really does run a different breed of group tour. Let me put it this way: When my parents—who travel widely and on their own and normally would never have even considered taking a group tour—suddenly found themselves with airfare to Japan but no time to plan a trip, I suggested they try booking with Intrepid. They did—and they have raved about it every since. They stayed in touch with their guide via email for years.
Partner - Gadventures.com - Similar to Intrepid, but based in Canada. G Adventures offers a variety of small group tours (usually a max of 8 or 12 people) and adventure trips, including many hiking, trekking, and multi-sport active vacations.Partner
Useful Italian phrases
Useful Italian for sightseeing
| English (inglese) | Italian (italiano) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
| Where is?... | Dov'é | doh-VAY |
| ...the museum | il museo | eel moo-ZAY-yo |
| ...the church | la chiesa | lah key-YAY-zah |
| ...the cathedral | il duomo [or] la cattedrale | eel DUO-mo [or] lah cah-the-DRAH-leh |
| When is it open? | Quando é aperto? | KWAN-doh ay ah-PAIR-toh |
| When does it close? | Quando si chiude? | KWAN-doh see key-YOU-day |
| Closed day | giorno di riposo | JOR-no dee ree-PO-zo |
| Weekdays (Mon-Sat) | feriali | fair-ee-YA-lee |
| Sunday & holidays | festivi | fe-STEE-vee |
| ticket | biglietto | beel-YET-toh |
| two adults | due adulti | DOO-way ah-DOOL-tee |
| one child | un bambino | oon bahm-BEE-no |
| one student | uno studente | OO-noh stu-DENT-ay |
| one senior | un pensionato | oon pen-see-yo-NAH-toh |
Basic phrases in Italian
| English (inglese) | Italian (italiano) | pro-nun-see-YAY-shun |
| thank you | grazie | GRAT-tzee-yay |
| please | per favore | pair fa-VOHR-ray |
| yes | si | see |
| no | no | no |
| Do you speak English? | Parla Inglese? | PAR-la een-GLAY-zay |
| I don't understand | Non capisco | non ka-PEESK-koh |
| I'm sorry | Mi dispiace | mee dees-pee-YAT-chay |
| How much is it? | Quanto costa? | KWAN-toh COST-ah |
| That's too much | É troppo | ay TROH-po |
| Good day | Buon giorno | bwohn JOUR-noh |
| Good evening | Buona sera | BWOH-nah SAIR-rah |
| Good night | Buona notte | BWOH-nah NOTE-tay |
| Goodbye | Arrivederci | ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee |
| Excuse me (to get attention) | Scusi | SKOO-zee |
| Excuse me (to get past someone) | Permesso | pair-MEH-so |
| Where is? | Dov'é | doh-VAY |
| ...the bathroom | il bagno | eel BHAN-yoh |
| ...train station | la ferroviaria | lah fair-o-vee-YAR-ree-yah |
| to the right | à destra | ah DEH-strah |
| to the left | à sinistra | ah see-NEEST-trah |
| straight ahead | avanti [or] diritto | ah-VAHN-tee [or] dee-REE-toh |
| information | informazione | in-for-ma-tzee-OH-nay |
Days, months, and other calendar items in Italian
| English (inglese) | Italian (italiano) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
| When is it open? | Quando é aperto? | KWAN-doh ay ah-PAIR-toh |
| When does it close? | Quando si chiude? | KWAN-doh see key-YOU-day |
| At what time... | a che ora | a kay O-rah |
| Yesterday | ieri | ee-YAIR-ee |
| Today | oggi | OH-jee |
| Tomorrow | domani | doh-MAHN-nee |
| Day after tomorrow | dopo domani | DOH-poh doh-MAHN-nee |
| a day | un giorno | oon je-YOR-no |
| Monday | Lunedí | loo-nay-DEE |
| Tuesday | Martedí | mar-tay-DEE |
| Wednesday | Mercoledí | mair-coh-lay-DEE |
| Thursday | Giovedí | jo-vay-DEE |
| Friday | Venerdí | ven-nair-DEE |
| Saturday | Sabato | SAH-baa-toh |
| Sunday | Domenica | doh-MEN-nee-ka |
| Mon-Sat | Feriali | fair-ee-YAHL-ee |
| Sun & holidays | Festivi | feh-STEE-vee |
| Daily | Giornaliere | joor-nahl-ee-YAIR-eh |
| a month | una mese | oon-ah MAY-zay |
| January | gennaio | jen-NAI-yo |
| February | febbraio | feh-BRI-yo |
| March | marzo | MAR-tzoh |
| April | aprile | ah-PREEL-ay |
| May | maggio | MAH-jee-oh |
| June | giugno | JEW-nyoh |
| July | luglio | LOO-lyoh |
| August | agosto | ah-GO-sto |
| September | settembre | set-TEM-bray |
| October | ottobre | oh-TOE-bray |
| November | novembre | no-VEM-bray |
| December | dicembre | de-CHEM-bray |
Numbers in Italian
| English (inglese) | Italian (italiano) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
| 1 | uno | OO-no |
| 2 | due | DOO-way |
| 3 | tre | tray |
| 4 | quattro | KWAH-troh |
| 5 | cinque | CHEEN-kway |
| 6 | sei | say |
| 7 | sette | SET-tay |
| 8 | otto | OH-toh |
| 9 | nove | NO-vay |
| 10 | dieci | dee-YAY-chee |
| 11 | undici | OON-dee-chee |
| 12 | dodici | DOH-dee-chee |
| 13 | tredici | TRAY-dee-chee |
| 14 | quattordici | kwa-TOR-dee-chee |
| 15 | quindici | KWEEN-dee-chee |
| 16 | sedici | SAY-dee-chee |
| 17 | diciasette | dee-chee-ya-SET-tay |
| 18 | diciotto | dee-CHO-toh |
| 19 | diciannove | dee-chee-ya-NO-vay |
| 20 | venti | VENT-tee |
| 21* | vent'uno* | vent-OO-no |
| 22* | venti due* | VENT-tee DOO-way |
| 23* | venti tre* | VENT-tee TRAY |
| 30 | trenta | TRAYN-tah |
| 40 | quaranta | kwa-RAHN-tah |
| 50 | cinquanta | cheen-KWAN-tah |
| 60 | sessanta | say-SAHN-tah |
| 70 | settanta | seh-TAHN-tah |
| 80 | ottanta | oh-TAHN-tah |
| 90 | novanta | no-VAHN-tah |
| 100 | cento | CHEN-toh |
| 1,000 | mille | MEEL-lay |
| 5,000 | cinque milla | CHEEN-kway MEEL-lah |
| 10,000 | dieci milla | dee-YAY-chee MEEL-lah |
* You can use this formula for all Italian ten-place numbers—so 31 is trent'uno, 32 is trenta due, 33 is trenta tre, etc. Note that—like uno (one), otto (eight) also starts with a vowel—all "-8" numbers are also abbreviated (vent'otto, trent'otto, etc.).
