Italy, Il Bel Paese…The Beautiful Country

Published on March 09, 2020 by IBMT

Dear valuable reader,

Perfectly describes this boot shaped country! bordering Austria, France Slovenia and Switzerland. From its rocky coastline to its craggy mountains to its incredible lakes and steep vineyards, Italy should be at the top of your list of to dos.  It is much more than spaghetti and vino. It’s a palette of flavors based on regional staples passed on from generation to generation creating gastronomical delights. Famous for its trendy shops, ancient ruins, incredible art and architecture spanning centuries, Italy has something for everyone. IBMT Tours invites you to come along on a journey discovering Italy.  

Italy tours - Click HERE to view our guaranteed departures.

When you book your vacation with IBMT Tours you can expect some of the best in destinations:

•    Starting with the great world capital we know as Rome, history, and art are featured as a starting point for the vacationer. The Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, and St Peter’s Basilica are the tour stops in a structured schedule and there is ample time for exploring when the organized activities have concluded. Also on the docket for the visitor is a walk through history with visits to old Rome, the Colosseum, the Forum and Palatine Hill are the highlights of the old world tour that has something for everybody.

•    Apart from riding in a gondola through the waterways of the old city of Venice, one of the highlights is Piazza San Marco or St Mark’s Square in Venice. The square hosts St. Mark’s Basilica, a beautiful church that has stood for centuries and the design is a thing of beauty. Since the early days of the Republic, the market was the central hub of civic and religious activity without peer. The city boasts many activities that the traveler can enjoy on foot or through a gondola tour of the city and the shops and people present an opportunity to intersect with traditions and customs that have been alive for decades. Great food and wine are the expectation, and the gastronomic delights of the Venetian cuisine will be spoken of fondly for years as visitors reminisce about the great time they had in Venice.

•    Florence is home to many artistic expressions of Italian culture and there are many exhibits to visit when you spend some time in Florence. In the city’s center, you can tour the Duomo Complex, Giotto’s Bell Tower and visit the Academia Gallery. Here, at the gallery, many pieces of fantastic, timeless art are displayed and did we mention that the sculpture ‘David,’ by Michelangelo could be seen and admired. When in Florence, a visit to the Arno River and a walk over the Ponte Vecchio is a must for all visitors of the city. A cosmopolitan city if ever there was one, Florence is rich in art history and culture that make it a must-see destination for any visitor to Italy.

•    A trip to Italy wouldn’t be complete without a seaside stops in Sorrento. See the Blue Grotto on the Isle of Capri, or a day tour of the coast that is captivating for the stunning views that await the day-tripper on tour. Small towns dot the area and you can visit Villa Rufolo, a town that inspired Wagner to write one of his most famous operas, Parsifal. The warm and friendly confines of the area allow the tourist to take to the streets to savor the culture and charm in a way that Italians are renown for. The best part of IBMT Tours is they leave time for the traveler to experience Italy on their terms with a less structured environment that lends itself to exploring and experiencing the country in ways that you just can’t measure.

Make your travel plans with IBMT Tours, you can call the office today to discuss your plans with a vacation planner at 1.877.977.4268 for more information.      

TestimonialsTestimonials

Still traveling but wanted to thank you for planning a marvelous trip.  It is truly a trip of a lifetime.

Best, 

Susan Lachtman

 

The IBMT Bar Mitzvah tour was fantastic! It was the perfect blend of family time and peer group time, of sites with religious/historic significance and just plain fun. The guide was personable and informative, and even the bus driver was great. All the details were attended to and you didn’t have to concern yourself with or worry about a thing. It was a true vacation. We would highly recommend it to anyone. If you are going to Eilat, Petra is a must!

We went on a church group to the Holyland with IBMT Tours and had a great trip, everything was planned for us perfectly. There was over 123 people in four different bus groups and things went smoothly, I thought it was going to be hectic with that many people in the group but IBMT did a wonderful job and made sure the buses did not go convoy, every bus had its own time table and itinerary for the day, our guide Dani was so knowledgeable and loving. We love you IBMT and we will recommend you guys. Thanks for everything you have done for us.

We just returned from Israel on an IBMT Bar Mitzvah Tour for our three grandsons.  We had enough family members to warrant our own bus.  After checking out many tour companies we went with IBMT and all of us were glad we did.  The hotels were fabulous and the rooms allotted even more so.  From the INBAL in Jerusalem, KFAR BLUM in the Galilee, the SHERATON in Tel Aviv, to the ROYAL BEACH in Eilat we couldn’t have asked for more.  Our meals were equally excellent.  Beginning with a welcome reception at the INBAL to the closing dinner at the CANAAN restaurant in Tel Aviv one and all loved them.

It was a busy tour made even more so by my husband who was determined the grandchildren see “everything”.  Fortunately for us, we had the best guide when Ornan (from IBMT) gave us GADI.  All of the groups loved their guides but Gadi was  special.  He was able to reach the kids (ages 7-13) as well as the adults.  His knowledge, willingness to adjust the schedule, and good nature gave him a soft spot in all of our hearts.  He filled in at Yad Vashem when the guide droned on a bit too much for some of us.  He searched out a cemetery where a father, grandfather and great grandfather was buried and proceeded to enlighten us on the rituals and customs of a military cemetery.  He adjusted our times to include those little extras.  When weather precluded the camels, we visited Qumran.  After the Bar Mitzvahs, some wanted to walk down Masada - again, no problem. 

We loved everything.  Friday night dinner with an Israeli family (coincidentally the husband was from Toronto), meeting the soldiers on the kibbutz, the Druze lunch, sampling different foods at the shuk, the bullet factory and on and on.  Although the weather was precarious in December, it didn’t stop us and we were able to celebrate Chanukah in Israel...menorahs  everywhere, sufganiyot of every kind, celebrations in the street galore.

Would we recommend this tour...without a moments hesitation.  We had a family trip of a lifetime.  Thank you also to our bus driver Louie, whom we all loved and who got us around safely. 

“Gadi” - what else can we say ... g double o - d, j-o-b. Good job, good job.  V-e-r-y-n-i-c-e, very nice, very nice.💕

 

 

I cannot imagine a better, more organized, more perfect experience! IBMT went above and beyond all expectations!

Loved the trip! The itinerary was fantastic and really kept us moving. We were able to see and do so much. Best of all was our tour guide Natalie. She was very kind, patient and extremely knowledgeable on every aspect of Israel.

5/5

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