Reviews

Absolute Italy, Laura Newman and her team have been an invaluable travel resource for my wife and I, along with our friends, as we have traveled throughout Italy for the past 10 years. They have helped us plan and enjoy numerous amazing experiences from the time we landed until we departed.

Their knowledge of along with their longstanding relationships throughout Italy combined with their experience, attention to detail, level of personal and professional service make them our automatic go to with confidence every time we start to plan our next Italian excursion.

They truly are the best of the best when it comes to making your travel experience throughout Italy seamless, special, memorable and custom tailored to your personal desires and preferences.

Thanks again for the great experience with you in Italy.

Everything was amazing and the most valuable moment was during the Easter Mass at Vatican.

Absolute Italy’s guide Chiara was such an amazing and knowledgeable guide, and my kids loved her so much. She was very flexible and respectful and she went extra mile to help us out during the time at Rome. Thank you so much for introducing such a nice person to assist us during the trip.

The pizza making class at Rome and the gelato tasting experience with famous (even in Korea) gelato artisan were the big hit for all of us and made our experience even more valuable and enjoyable. We greatly appreciate it. We enjoyed every single moment in Italy thanks to you!

My parents and my kids loved the Gelato the most!:) We literally had one gelato a day. lol.

Thank you very much again!!!

I wanted to thank you so much for the fantastic job you did with the B. family trip. They were VERY happy with everything.
I received this from our client this week:

I just wanted to send a quick thank you for organizing such an awesome birthday celebration. We had an amazing time and everyone was overwhelmed with how perfectly each day was organized. Every day was better and better! It’s hard to explain how special the trip was to us, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. Thank you so very much!

P.S.. please send a thank you to Steffie and Titsy from Absolute Italy. They were fabulous!!!!!

So thanks again to your amazing team. You made me look like a Rock Star!

Travel Agent Irene

The guides for Absolutely Italy were outstanding, very knowledgeable – they truly made the trip exceptional.  The walking tour of the city was great and, of course, The Last Supper is amazing.

Your suggestion to have a driver from Como to Verona to Venice was a wonderful idea.  With someone to help lift and transfer suitcases, it made things so easy for us.   Our guide in Verona was excellent. She knew her history and gave us a wonderful perspective with our limited time there.

Verona was great and then our transfer to our Venetian hotel went very smoothly easily.  Absolute Italy again made things very easy.  The ability to skip the long lines combined with their historical dialogue made everything more meaningful.  I was nervous about “doing” the islands on a Sunday but with the guide everything went well.  We had a behind the scene tour of a glass factory and saw a master glass blower creating a new piece and then we had an exciting opportunity to buy!!!  Murano is so colorful – unfortunately, lacemaking is a dying art.  It was a good day!  

Thank you, Kathy

I want to thank you for having a company who provides our guests with excellent guides, tours, etc!
It’s so nice to have a company like yours I can rely on and not worry about!

My VIP clients who just returned from Italy were so impressed that they sent me an email about the great service they received and the wonderful guides that showed them around Italy. Here is the letter from them regarding the trip:

You did it again, dear lady, with another perfectly planned sojourn to a land of marvels. Every day was a delight and a perfect balance of planned and free time. Each leg of transportation and all accommodations exceeded expectations: Hotel Eden, Borgo San Pietro, Villa Cora, and Ai Reali were precisely suited for our needs in those locations. From the first host who met us in Rome (Marina?) to Eleanora who saw us safely to the airport in Venice, the tour guides and drivers were expert, engaging, professional and passionate about providing the best possible experience for us. Our only surprises were happy ones, as when our driver pulled over on the road to Sorrento to treat us to delicious lemon granitas. And being witness to a lovely wedding in Florence was an unexpected delight.

Kudos to you Cheryl, and to Absolute Italy, for a vacation we’ll always remember.
This is our third you’ve scheduled for us, and we sincerely hope it won’t be our last.

Yours truly, Dee & Ed T.

This is just to thank Absolute Italy and you personally for the outstanding, impeccable service we enjoyed throughout our trip to Italy.
All the rides were precisely on time, cars were sparkling clean, very comfortable, and all drivers and assistants were impressively professional,
courteous and helpful.

Igor R.

Our tour of Florence was a highlight.  Our guide, Francesca was even better than I hoped for.  She has her Phd in archeology, and decided it would be better to change her skills to a licensed guide, as she really likes people.  that came through loud and clear.  She also really took to heart what you had told her about our approach to art museums.  She presented us with a truly outstanding education on a few very important items.  No droning on about every piece of art in the museum.  Lots of interesting discussion on the history of Florence and its current place in Italy.  She joined us for lunch and continued to be a wonderful conversationalist.  We had two requests – one member wanted to look at fine leather goods.  I wanted to shop for high quality unique ceramic pieces.  At the end of the afternoon, after the Uffzi, she took us to the School of Leather, which is in the back of a monastery!  Our daughter’s significant other bought a beautiful briefcase, and others bought belts.  We all got to watch the students learning on their pieces. Never would have known about it without Francesca!  Then she dropped us off at a family run ceramic studio, where I bought the exactly right centerpiece for home dining room.  Again, would not have known about it without her.

Luca, our tour guide for Chianti was excellent.  We talked about what we wanted to see/hear do, and the fact that we wanted to shorten the day (we were bushed).  He recommended a smallish vineyard for an education tour of the cellars and wine making, and that we have lunch on the terrace.  It was called Casa Emma.  the educational tour was terrific, led by a young Italian woman from the winery. Lunch was under the gauzy white canopy on the terrace.  The food was excellent, and we had a five wine tasting over the course of the meal, with Paula doing the explaining.  The wine just kept coming.

Luca had given us a lot of background on the wine region as we drove out, and then he took us to two small towns, one of which was Greve in Chianti. He dropped us off around 5 pm and we all sighed with satisfaction.

Our Rome guide sat with our granddaughter and was absolutely wonderful. She is only 8 1/2 but loves learning. The older grandkids we just as happy. I know they will never forget this trip. Making memories is what it’s all about.

All the things you arranged for us were wonderful and went like clockwork. We’ll try to give more details soon but thank you very much for helping make this very special trip so great and memorable!
In particular, the tour guides in Rome were phenomenal and the logistics everywhere were seamless.

Just a quick note to let you know what a terrific job you and your team did on our Roman Holiday! It was seamless, sumptuous and  comprehensive, as every detail was executed as carefully planned.

Mr. B