Travel prices to similar destinations vary greatly based on type of trip. There are fully-escorted luxury motor coach tours where sightseeing is paid in full up front. There are fly and drive trips where hotel vouchers allow you to stay just about anywhere in a certain country allowing even more self exploration. Then there's the independent air/land combination trips where discount travel providers lock-in airfares and hotel reservations years in advance in order to turn those savings to you.
While all this choice is good for the global traveler, sometimes you just want to know what's the least expensive trip of all. That's where we come in. Culling all the web deals (usually the least expensive in the travel industry), we'll attempt to give you the least expensive deals to a select destination per month. This month starts with perennial dream travel experience Italy.
ABC Destinations (tel. 800/227-5858; www.abcdestinations.com), is offering a five day, three night long weekend all-inclusive fly and drive package for just $699 that includes air transportation from New York to Bologna, a rental car for the entire stay with unlimited mileage, insurance, local tax, and of course, hotel accommodations. Packages are still available for the summer travel season at these low prices. In addition, daily breakfast and dinner is thrown for some of ABC's deals as well. ABC is also giving away free airline tickets to Italy. Just sign up for the "Latest Deals email blast" and you'll be eligible to win. There are also nine day seven night packages starting at $1,099.
Gate One Travel (tel. 800/682-3333; www.gate1travel.com), a likely mention in the least expensive deal category (especially to Europe) has a super saver value package to Rome. The six day four night trip starts at only $599 if you book now for a December 6 or 27, 2006 departure or any of four January 2007 departures. The package includes round-trip airfare out of New York, daily breakfast, four nights' accommodations, and airline fuel charges. A similar Florence and Tuscany trip, also for six days, with Wednesday departures starting on November 14, costs $649. Same inclusions available on this package as well. The Club Hotel in Florence is an available lodging choice for this package. Less than a mile's walk to the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio and FlorenceÂ?s main sites, the tourist class three-star Club Hotel has 61 spacious rooms.
Contiki Tours (tel. 866/CONTIKI; www.contiki.com), the tour provider focusing on package trips for young adults from 18 to 35, has an "Italian Espresso" trip to Italy costing $699 for eight days. The land-only trip takes in Italy at a fast and furious young person's pace, focusing on the main sites in the main cities. Travel is in a modern luxury coach and accommodations and some meals are included in the trip. Stopping in Rome, Venice, Florence and the Vatican City, this trip combines free time with structured, educational, guided looks at such sites as Michelangelo's David in Florence, St. Marks Basilica and the Guggenheim in Venice, and Rome's Spanish Steps.
European Destinations (tel. 877/267-2247; www.europeandestinations.com) has a six night Italian combination trip that includes airfare to Italy with overnights in Rome and Venice and a night train between the two Italian cities. Starting at $699 for travel out of New York (prices go up slightly to $734 out of Houston), the trip includes daily breakfast in each city and three nights' hotel accommodations in each as well. European Destinations offers a choice of many hotels in the destinations- 112 choices in Rome and 99 in Venice. The tour provider has other great combination trips to Europe including a five night Paris/Venice trip starting at $675 with an evening's sleep on a romantic night train.
In business for 59 years, Trafalgar Tours (tel. 866/544-4434; www.trafalgar.com/USA/Home) has land-only specials to Italy that come out to $115 per day and include sightseeing, accommodations, some meals, and travel around the country in a luxury motor coach. If you book by September 1, 2006, couples traveling together can even save $200 total on the price of the package. A ten-day Italian Experience trip costs $1,150 per person. The trip includes accommodations in a double occupancy twin share hotel room, daily breakfast and several dinners. This package visits Milan, Verona, Venice and Florence.
Last but not least, Eurofly Vacations (tel. 800/459-4980; www.euroflyvacations.com), the discount airline specializing in air travel to Italy, has extremely affordable deals to the boot. Summer airfare, which usually climbs into the high hundreds to Italy, costs just $599 to Rome and Bologna when choosing a Eurofly travel option. Expect prices to go down (maybe cut in half) into the fall and winter months. As with the travel packages mentioned above, security taxes and departure fees are not included in the prices listed above.
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Note: The deals listed were the least expensive we could find at press time. If you know of a better deal, please e-mail the details to editor@frommermedia.com.
