Reviews

In 2016 we wanted to go to Italy, but alas in never happened because the planning was overwhelming since it was our first trip to Italy. 2017 was shaping up to be the same but then we found PFI. We told Lindsay what we wanted and how we liked to travel. She made it all so easy and took care of lodging, trains, cars and trips across 5 cities. Everything was perfect from the moment our driver picked us up at the airport till the water taxi delivered us back to the airport.

Hi Lindsay, Thank you, yes, the Epicurean Tour in Sorrento was great. It was a day well spent. Our driver “Cocacola” was a good driver, and a good tour guide. Nice man and helped us learn a lot. He also went out of his way to get us water and to get us to an ATM.
The olive oil place was wonderful. Seeing the history and the evolution of their practices over time was fascinating. The tasting was comprehensive and their oil is excellent.
We then went to the winery and had a similar time of learning and enjoying the tasting. We left there feeling real good! 🙂 The farm was, I would say, the least educational stop, partly I think because we were running late by then (we really had fun at the winery), but the food was excellent. Then the drive back to Sorrento was nice and the gelateria was a good finish. Catherine enjoyed making a wonderful lemon sorbet. She only got two small drops on the floor.

I could definitely recommend the tour to anyone who wants to learn a little about traditional Italian culture while enjoying the beautiful countryside.

We can’t speak highly enough of our experiences working with PFI Travel, and in particular, Lindsay. Lindsay helped us to plan a dream vacation, with just the right amount of touring, balanced with relaxation.

She paid attention to every last detail of the trip, taking away all of the stress that comes with planning a vacation. She listened to our interests, and based upon those conversations came up with a lovely, personalized itinerary.

Highlights included a beautiful boat tour on the Amalfi Coast, semi-private guided Tours of the Vatican City as well as the Colosseum and Forum tour in Rome, a charming villa in Tuscany, a private tour in Florence that included wine and olive oil tastings, and personal suggestions for our enjoyment as we concluded our trip in Venice!

Extremely client centered, PFI Travel is a professional, reliable, service organization. Thank you PFI Travel!

The tour company and the tour of Prosecco was perfect. We were extremely pleased! We plan to be back to Italy again and will use your services again!

“We just wanted to say thank you very much for helping us plan another amazing trip to Italy. We loved all the accommodation you arranged for us and their location each time was perfect. The transfers were great however we did miss Giuseppe from Campania, this time as our transfer to Cinque Terre, could not speak English so it did make it hard for him to talk to us!!”

We are both busy professionals and didn’t have time to do the research or make the bookings for our ‘bucket-list’ holiday to Italy, so when we came across Sabrina and PFI we were thrilled. Sabrina was always responsive and very warm, nothing was ever too much trouble. We adored our time in Italy and will be back again one day to do it again.
Every accommodation was perfect, all the trains and connections were seamless, the tours really insightful and tailored to our needs and the staff always friendly. Knowing that Sabrina was on call should we have any issues while we were travelling also gave us peace of mind – especially since our Italian is minimal. Thank you Sabrina and the team at Passion For Italy. We couldn’t recommend you more highly.

Dear Lindsay, I want to thank you so much for everything you did helping me plan our vacation to Italy. This was one of the best family vacations we have had (and we have had some great ones). Your advice was spot on from the hotels, transportation, to the tours we took. I had not used a travel agent before in the past but you exceeded all my expectations. You can tell you have actually been to each of the cities and you know your stuff. Your detailed information on each of the cities were so helpful. Bill really appreciated the running information you provided on each city. You were awesome!

The arrangements for transportation to and from the airport, the water taxi in Venice, the trains to both Venice and Florence were wonderful and saved us a lot of time and worry. We loved the hotels in both Venice and Florence. The Venice Hotel with Seaview in Venice was gorgeous! We loved the sea view. The staff at the hotel were wonderful. We ate in the restaurant on the top floor overlooking the water and it was one of the best meals of the trip. Our private tour of St Mark’s Basilica and The Palace Doge in Venice were great!

Florence I think was our favorite City. Again, another great hotel – Hotel in Medici Tower– These were the best rooms. It was wonderful that our family was in a suite that allowed us to be together but still have separate rooms. We loved just strolling thru this city. The private tour was fabulous! The statue of David was spectacular, pictures do not do this justice. Our tour guide was fantastic giving us great advice on a couple of restaurants that locals use.

Rome was great, also. My favorite tour was of the Colosseum and the Forum. It was so interesting to be able to go below the Colosseum were the gladiators were at. This was our favorite tour guide. He was awesome and again we were given great advice on restaurants off the tourist track and one of our better meals. Even though it was early, the Vatican Tour was well worth the early morning. Again being able to skip the long line was wonderful. We were able to take our time going through the museum and it was not nearly as crowded in the Sistine Chapel, as it was when my daughter did the tour with her class. Saint Peter’s was incredible . My husband and the girls were able to go up to the top.

Overall, I can’t say enough about our trip. You really listened to what we wanted to do and came up with the perfect itinerary. In all three cities, after our tours, we were able to stroll at our leisure, stop in churches in the squares and view amazing paintings, eat when we wanted to at some fabulous restaurants. We were able to see a lot but also able to relax and just enjoy the trip.

My daughter says we need to make a trip to the Amalfi Coast, so I may be calling you again. I wish you also booked Scotland and Ireland. I think that may be our next trip so if you know someone who can do what you do for those countries please let me know. Thanks again,

We had such a fantastic time on our two and a half week trip PFI planned for us! I love planning vacations, but I was intimidated about our first trip to Europe.
Lindsay provided me with enough information and travel guides that I felt comfortable exploring each city on our own, but they also gave me the freedom to plan as much as I wanted to. It was so nice knowing we had someone we could contact with questions during our trip.

We had a tour company cancel one of our tours, but we didn’t have to worry about anything. Lindsay had us rebooked with a different tour company within hours. We were able to keep on enjoying our day knowing someone was taking care of our reservations! I’m so glad we found them!

Our vacation went so smoothly and we could focus on relaxing while letting the professionals deal with the details! Thanks Cameron

Sabrina did a fabulous job booking our trip. We had very specific itineraries that we wanted to complete. Sabrina found the perfect guide for us! All of Sabrina’s recomendations were spot on. She was quick to answer all of my many e-mails.
She was so nice to work with that I felt completely relaxed before and during the trip, knowing that she was only a phone call away if we needed anything. And the hotel she recommended was in the perfect location with great amenities and very helpful staff. Thanks for a great trip Sabrina!

Hi Gemma, I just wanted to say a big thank you, our trip was amazing. Everything you booked was great from the accommodation, private transfers and tours. We were very lucky with the weather over the whole time, had maybe 3 days of rain overall, the temperature was great for doing lots of walking. We loved everywhere but if I had to to choose I would have to say Tuscany, we just loved it, especially the villa we absolutely loved, and that pool area was just spectacular.

Gemma, We can’t thank you enough for helping us plan our wonderful trip. There is so much to share, it would take a novel to write it all. Every aspect was incredible, ran so smoothly and fit our style of travel perfectly. We have so many photos and wonderful experiences that we will remember forever. Such a wonderful experience we could not have done it without you! We have had so many people ask about you and how we planned the trip, we are just passing the info along. Robert

Hello Gemma, Many thanks for organizing us such a wonderful Italy experience. Everything went smoothly, and exceeded our expectations. Tivoli good but rushed. Vatican good, great getting into Sistine before the crowds, bought a book so I could get it clear in my head! Car worked out well, as did Tuscany.
Cinque Terre excellent, the hotel was good with good breakfasts, but noisy. Girls managed to get their room changed. Most of the noise was from a group of Germans who thundered their way back from dinner each night, and we didn’t hear it but girls said the staff getting breakfast ready were noisy. Hey it is Italy and they are gregarious and loud. Howard and I completed Monterosso to Vernazza walk, girls went on to Corniglia. Took ferry to Porto Vernere, a real find and not too many tourists. Manarola our favourite CT town.

Loved Bellagio, the hotel superb, wonderful lake view. It changed colours all the time! Milan great, your Passion for Italy hotel the best, staff could not do enough for us. Enjoyed Last Supper, and La Scala, as there was a show on we didn’t see the auditorium, but they gave us tickets for the next day and we went back at 9am and pretty much had the museum and auditorium to ourselves. On the recommendation of a girl in a shoe shop we took a taxi to the canal area and had a great dinner of pizza and pasta.

Loved Venice, walked lots, crossed lots of canals, went to Burano, Murano, Torcello. Helen and I did a tour of La Fenice and even sat in on some brass guys rehearsing, special. Venice hotel – excellent owner very attentive. Howard and my room overlooked Campo de Leon, bit noisy as there were some restaurants there, but all quiet about 10pm.

Train trips all went well, most were somewhat “retardo” but as we didn’t have connections it did not worry us. That’s Italy. We did lots of walking, Helen’s fitbit recorded us at 18km sometimes! Thanks again, best wishes from Howard and Jan Bale, Brisbane, Australia

Hi Gemma, Thanks for everything, we loved every minute of the trip. It’s hard being back at work!

Allow me to take a few minutes of your time to listen to our thoughts about our last Europe holiday. It was GREAT! It was MARVELOUS!! It was a BLAST!!!
Thank you sooo much for your time and effort that made our vacation a memorable experience. With endless requests coming from our big family and you tried to accommodate all of them, definitely it was everyone dream-come-true holiday.

The big family was extremely happy and they will definitely refer your service to other family and friends who plan to go to Italy in the future. The hotel, the transport, the tours, also the guides, the drivers and the hotel staff – all perfect! Maybe if we only can change the apartment in Florence, but that’s about it.

Everything was so neatly and carefully organized, and all fit our needs and requirements and standards. I can not thank you enough and I always feel blessed remembering when I decided to choosing you as our organizer for the trip. Truthfully, you have made our vacation beautiful and memorable.

Okay, we loved the place in Milan it had a wonderful morning breakfast and was bright and cheery. We loved the homemade breakfast and cappuccino!
All of the accommodations were great and some very unique and special – like the Contessa’s apt in Venice. She was delightful and so very helpful. We enjoyed a spectacular and memorable anniversary dinner at the Riviera restaurant.

Lake Como – The Relais was beautiful. we had a whole ordeal just getting there but were saved by a couple of angels. It was pouring down rain which made it more difficult to do much.

We never did take the ferry anywhere, we did take the bus to visit a large estate (also in the pouring rain) – I will have to get you the name of it to recommend because it was quite something. It was very cold there and, as you know, no heat was allowed so I think if the weather was better the place would’ve been amazing. They served wonderful food and we had a memorable dinner down in their wine cellar.

We liked Como very much and loved the Como Hotel. We felt surrounded by the rich and famous not to mention wealthy! You should’ve seen the cars! The lake is so beautiful! We both would like to return there.

Florence was a bit overwhelming and we left much to be seen… We had a great tour guide for the Uffizi Gallery and The David. I actually liked the location of the apartment in Florence even though it seemed like we were on a back alley – yet when we walked out the door there was our coffee cafe and a darling little restaurant, plus the open air market which had everything right there.

Tuscany and the Apartment at the villa was our favorite, no surprise! Doriana the manager, was amazing and provided the best, absolute best service we have ever experienced! She seemed genuinely happy to help us out with anything and made dinner reservations, set up 2 fantastic wine tours in Montalcino and Montepulciano, (even supplying maps with her suggestions, names and places) and taking me to the Dr. at 7 pm when I broke out in a rash all down my legs!!! She truly was the best!

We loved Rapallo and enjoyed a glass of wine and their fresh homemade focaccia at the hotel each afternoon. Portofino was one of my favorites – the ferry over, a long walk and lunch with the best homemade “family recipe” pesto we have ever had. Eating and drinking was something we did best and enjoyed.

Hiking Cinque Terre was amazing!

Assisi I loved. I am sorry we didn’t set up a tour there. I feel I missed so much and was frustrated. Hope to return.

You are so right I need to return I missed so much. I definitely want to see Perugia and spend time in Assisi and Umbria. Rome south will be a trip unto itself.

I too loved the people and the culture, the laughter, the family togetherness even how they dressed so nicely. I was really impressed with how conscientious they are about the use of resources, recycling, and keeping their streets and cities so clean. I loved how friendly and helpful and trusting they are and, again, the laughter and the conversation, all the things I love about life.

Thank you so much, again. We couldn’t have done it without you Gemma!”