Hello! I'm looking for some advice / opinions. I have a choice between two options for my group of 5 including my parents, uncle, and brother. We had plans previously but we had to cancel them due to a medical diagnosis; we do have the green light now though. Unfortunately the original tour we signed up with is no longer available. We're looking to spend a few days in Rome, a few days in Venice, a couple days in Germany to see a couple castles, and then maybe 5 days in London. We are looking to visit a couple touristy places, and otherwise just browse around and enjoy. We have two weeks altogether. My mom's mobility is relatively limited due to low endurance.
Choice 1: 10 day European Traveller Tour https://www.trafalgar.com/.../tours/t/european-traveller... . Pros: everything arranged, good way to see a variety of places. Cons: lots of packed days being with a tour, might be too much for endurance for my mom; only 1 night in Venice
Choice 2: Custom built tour by a travel agent that is offered to be built for me to spend the amount of time we want in each city. Pros: Leisurely pace, able to choose when / what to do. flights and accommodations can be arranged through travel agent. Cons: Need to arrange for transport / food ourselves. Getting to attractions / entrance might be a bit more for hassle? Is there a higher risk of being robbed? Not speaking the language in Italy / Germany?
I realize this is only a brief whirlwind tour of each of these places, but it's what my family is looking for in a getaway to relax and see a glimpse of a few of my parents' bucket list places.
I'm leaning on option 2 for better endurance and more directed to places we want to see. Any advice / opinions / suggestions on the above? Thanks!
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Jacqueline
How old are the people going with you? If they are 90 it's a great tour. If they are under 70.... You should just rent a van and do it yourself. I went with my family and it was basically travelling between meals. That's about it. Would not recommend unless you are old and not very mobile.

Under 70! Late 50s and early 60s.
Really?! Interesting.. travel agent person really recommended Trafalgar or CostSaver though it makes sense by affiliation..

Because of the commission you receive

Makes sense

Can she do stairs at all? That's probably your biggest issue for using the subway in Rome. Venice you walk a lot but she can stop and rest. In Italy most attractions will have tickets on their website that you can pre-purchase so that she won't be standing in long lines.

Stairs are difficult, able to do them but short of breathe and need a break after 2-3 sets of stairs.

Melanie Der Venice does have a lot of stairs over canals but the nice thing is that most are relatively short and the stairs themselves are not tall. Some museums in Italy are better than others re: elevators. You might have to ask at the front desk for instructions on finding them.

Melanie Der Energy levels are going to be a big factor so the work of independent travel place to place is going to be much more difficult. As a traveller with disabilities, I can tell you it completely changes things. You’re not planning for travel for the able-bodied so you can’t think about what you can do. You have to think about what she can do. You will probably want to plan fewer activities and breaks in between them too.

Oh and the food isn't that great. It is really easy to find good food for Way way way cheaper.

Agree, any tours we have done, food was mediocre at best. On a tour in Pompeii and Vesuvius, I had to request a dietary substitution for one of my travellers...the options were horrible....literally chicken fingers and fries. We were on the bay of Naples!!! How about grilled fish and veg?? The meals that everyone else ate, were standard, all the same, very bland, designed to meat the lowest common denominator at far as tastes ~ so not what you could find elsewhere in the area.

Darlene Not even pizza? It's Naples, that should have been a given.

Sherene not on a tour. My kids are older teen boys (read will eat anything), very seasoned travellers, even they said, "worst pizza we've had in Italy" and thats saying something since we were in Naples. Tours have a bottom line and they generally save money on bland, standards. We have done a lot of European city tours and unless they were known for their food, it was a disappointment. We often left the group during meals. We did have one good meal in Berlin, but it was definitely a cafeteria, cattle style feeding, food was decent though

Darlene I had some fantastic Neapolitan pizza just outside of the Pompeii ruins and it was cheap and delicious.

My kids have been to 16 different European countries, dozens and dozens of cities. We have backpacked, cruised, tours, explored on our own....tour food was almost always not good

Sherene yep, thats what we did after the disappointment

I would go with #2. You can book city / specific attraction tours individually if you're worried about entrance tickets. Although a lot of places you can book entrance tickets online.
I can't speak for Germany, but not speaking Italian won't be a problem for you in touristy places like Rome and Venice.
As for food, if you have data on your phone I found tripadvisor and google's search around feature extremely helpful for figuring out where to eat.
Transportation within Rome you can get cabs, but is relatively flat if walking is not an issue. Venice may be a little trickier in that regard as you'd have to negotiate stairs to do the water taxis / water buses in the canals.

I know I’m late in helping you but please remember that Rome was built on 7 hills. I have difficulty walking, shortness of breath, and found many of the streets very steep. Suggest you take hop on hop off bus in Rome. You get to see lots and can get off if you wish to or just continue on the route. In Venice take to the water with a wTer bus to get around.

Totally agree.

I agree with Sherene and Anisha on everything above. Getting meals is not an issue, so much to choose from and if you have wifi you're good. Depending on your groups sense of adventure, if you want more authentic dining experiences, casual or more formal, I would stay away from the more touristy places (anything surrounding the attractions), avoid venues with pictures and menus that have been translated into dozens of languages. These places cater to tourists and absolutely are more expensive. If thats what you want great, its all there for you, but we make a practice of going to places where everyone there is speaking the local language. Always a blow your mind meal. Especially depending when you're going, to some extent, I would caution that buying tickets ahead on line is a must and you will stand in line anyway. Don't let skip the line fool you, there is a long line of skip the line ticket holders, but still better than same day ticket sales. We are off season travellers and always stand in line with pre-bought tix. Crime? Be careful the same way you would at home in a city or neighbourhood that is unfamiliar. Do not be taken in by sales people at the attractions. BUY online, ahead of your visit. Many ticket sellers who look legit will sell you tickets for entries that do not require tickets, ie, St. Peters Basilica does not require a ticket to see the church. We saw so many people being scammed into sales. You require tix for Sistine Chapel, the dome etc., but pre-buy. There will always be tourist crime in busy tourist areas. There are very common scams and strategies, you can do some research online specific to the attractions you are visiting. You will have to plan your excursions according to how much your members can walk. Streets can be very uneven in old centres of Europe, lots of stairs in Venice crossing canals, and if you are there during a busier time, lots of people. Really have a good sense of how your group wants to travel. Have fun!!

I’d highly recommended a Mediterranean cruise. You’d see 9 cities in 10 days. Your hotel is the ship and there’s no moving suitcases as your home base moves with you.
You could take day tours or go on your own tours (which I did). Cost effective as well. The hop on hop off bus tours in all these cities allow you to see every major site in a day and are very comfortable

Thank you for the suggestions and advice everybody, it was very helpful! I ended up going with option #2 and still trying to arrange everything on the fly alongside my travel agent. For those who advised to remember energy, mobility, accessibility as factors to consider, I love that people are thinking about that! Definitely will keep that in mind and my training as an occupational therapist will come in handy for this
Any other suggestions for getting around in each city would be appreciated, ie. To and from attractions since we're not going with a tour!

I would ask how the medical diagnosis might still impact travel. A green light for travel is not the same as being able to travel the same as before necessarily. is mobility the same as before? How about energy levels? Are cobbled streets going to be a problem? If these are potential factors, a guided tour can be better since they take care of more things for you.

Highly advise finding someone expert in the area.
Have them arrange private tours, it’s cheaper than you think and maximizes your time. Someone to meet you as you get off the plane, and a car to take you to your hotel. They then pick you up and take you to the sights.
Big benefit, when your mom reaches her limit, you can modify your plan for the day. You can’t do that on big bus tours.

I would call Marissa at Epic travel. She is fantastic and would set everything up for you and end up saving you money. She is from Italy and knows her way around Europe. Worth a call for sure!

Trafalgar is for really old people

I would go with Option 2, when I went to China I could not find a tour that included everything I wanted to see so arranged for private guides in each city. They met us at the airport with arranged transportation and arranged transportation to and from the attractions we wanted to visit, as well as restaurants, translated for us, This was perfect as we saw what we wanted to see and on our time frame not a tour buses schedule.

What about a river cruise?

#2 worked for me with parents with mobility issues.