re: Possible 10 year Anniversary trip to Italy

I planned the 10 year anniv. trip to Italy all without travel guides or message board advice 10 years ago. I used venere.com for hotels/apartments and checked indiv. airlines sites for fares. It is so much easier and cheaper now.

I'd say do not use a travel agent, unless you do not have the time to research and plan. Use aggregators, Scott's Cheap flights, Fareness, The Flight Deal, VRBO, and AirBnB for flights and lodging. Summer is super expensive and August is the worst time to go.

I have seen 1 week package trips to Rome, Florence and Venice for $1000 per person or less a LOT on Travelzoo Top 20 deals. It is mostly off season. I did that for our second trip to Italy. The 3 star hotels on it are way better than a US 3 star hotel. Sign up for Travelzoo email notifications for sure. Good luck.