I have never used a trip planner before this trip. I have always been the one who does all the research, planning, and bookings. I often have things very well planned out on my trips—I recognize that many must-do activities require advance booking, and I do all that I can to get those items booked before we leave. I then make a list of other things we can do or see while in the area to fill in the open time. Making a great trip happen to a brand-new destination is a herculean effort for me. This year, I just didn’t have the time or will to devote the energy needed to do this. I stumbled across WendyPerrin.com, and I thought that even though it sounded too good to be true, just maybe I could discover a nicer way to do all this.

It turned out to be a great decision.

For this trip, my husband and I wanted a 2-week trip to Italy. We had been to Italy for the first time last year. This year, we wanted to visit new areas – possibly Rome, or the Lakes, or Venice, but definitely including a visit to Sicily. My great-grandparents emigrated from a small town in Sicily, and I wanted to see the town that they came from. I also wanted to try to obtain their birth certificate documentation as I am attempting to receive dual citizenship via jure sanguinis.

I filled out the trip questionnaire at WendyPerrin.com and was matched with trip designer Martina, who along with her partner Alberto, is currently a WOW List “wanna-be.” (FYI—We never met with Alberto.) After meeting with Martina on a Zoom call and fine-tuning our destination desires and expected travel requirements for the trip, we decided to focus our two weeks entirely in Sicily. We took care of the flight arrangements on our own (my preference), and Martina came up with just about everything else. We didn’t know much about Sicily going into this as I didn’t have the time to do my usual research, so we blindly trusted what Martina came up with. I’m very glad we did. She had a lot of great suggestions for activities and which cities we should focus our time in. Once we agreed on the itinerary and which optional activities we wanted to have, Martina assigned another specialist, Sabina, to our trip. Sabina went ahead and completed all the bookings and arrangements and was to be our main point of contact from that point on. While I was initially a little concerned at being handed off to someone other than Martina, I needn’t have worried. Sabina was very capable and checked in with us frequently throughout the trip via What’s App to make sure that we were happy and everything was running smoothly.

Here is a list of things I absolutely loved about this trip:

* Having a dedicated driver. We’ve never had a driver before, and I am so spoiled by this now, I’m not sure we can ever not have a driver again for future trips. Our driver Salvatore was very professional, always prompt, always knew just where he was going, and was an all-around joyful person to travel with. Salvatore speaks a little English: not fluently, but it’s certainly workable. I have been trying to learn Italian, so this was a nice, safe space for me to practice speaking. (Salvatore’s “little bit” of English is much better than my Italian.) Between the two of us and a little help from Google translate, we managed just fine.

* Extra help from both Martina and Salvatore for my wish list. I was on a quest to visit my great grandparents’ hometown and get copies of their birth certificates while we were there. Martina suggested that I email a request in Italian to the Comune a month before our trip. She graciously reviewed what I had written and made corrections so that I could be sure I was sending an appropriately worded request. The Comune never responded back to that email. A few days before our trip, I asked an Italian friend to call the Comune to speak on my behalf, but they never answered the phone. I was very worried that I wouldn’t be able to effectively communicate with the Comune when we were there, so I asked our driver Salvatore if he might be able to translate for me. Salvo totally saved the day! It took us a little over an hour in that office, with lots of rapidly spoken Italian flying around the room. I presented the original email request, and with Salvatore at my side to help translate the questions the officers asked me, I was able to walk out with the documents I needed. What a gift!

* The hotels. We enjoyed all four of the hotels that were booked for us, but two of them were standouts. Any worries I may have had about what we were in for completely vanished when we were brought to our first hotel, La Foresteria Planeta in Menfì. This resort was very beautiful and relaxing, and we felt so well taken care of there. It was truly the most perfect place to begin our trip after a long night and day of travel to Sicily, and it really helped set the tone for the rest of our trip. My only regret is that we didn’t get to spend enough time there just relaxing since we had activities planned that took us away from the resort in the short time we were there. Along that same line, the Hotel Belvedere in Taormina was also a lovely, relaxing place that we would have loved to spend more time at (we had some rain that cut into our pool/beach time while there). The class of hotels that were booked for us on this trip are a step up from what I would generally reserve on my own. I do pick nice places that are well located, but I don’t often pick places this nice, since I figure we are usually out sightseeing most of the time. But staying at these lovely places made me want to slow down a little more, which was appreciated by my husband.

* The planned activities. Have I mentioned yet just how much I appreciated someone else doing all the legwork to come up with a great assortment of places for us to visit, things for us to do, and pairing us with great guides? I love, love, love this! It made this trip feel like vacation for me. I was truly able to sit back, relax, and enjoy. All the activities we did were fun, but of course, there were a couple of standouts. Enza was our guide at Valle dei Templi, and not only was this site very impressive (I’ve never seen anything like it before), Enza was very well educated about it and a great guide to have. Fede was our guide for the street food tour in Palermo. The food tour part was good and delicious, but what I appreciated even more was the extra insight Fede gave us on local Palermitan lives and culture. The private sunset boat tour in Ortigia was fantastic! We had a beautiful early evening cruise and even got to swim in the sea, which was an absolute highlight for us.

* Sabina’s check-ins. Most of the trip went off without a hitch. Sabina checked in with us frequently to make sure that all was well. There were a couple of times where we did need to be in touch about things, and it was easy. 1) Our cooking class in Siracusa had a change in location and chef the day before it was supposed to take place, but Sabina took care of the re-arrangements and simply updated our itinerary. (Great cooking class!) 2) We needed a 2:30 am pickup for our return flight home on the Sunday morning of the time change in Italy. I didn’t realize until the evening before we were to leave that with the clocks going back an hour, we would essentially have two occurrences of 2:30 am. I was having trouble contacting our driver to re-confirm the time, and Sabina was able to step in at the last minute (and on a Saturday evening) to make sure we were all on the same page.

Since this is the first time we’ve ever used a trip planner, and it was our first time in Sicily, and since the price of the trip was not itemized or broken down in any way, it’s very hard for me to gauge just how well valued the trip may have been. It did seem a little pricey to me but weighing that against having the trip planned out so quickly (and not by me!), and certainly against not having to drive ourselves around Sicily (!!), perhaps the cost of the trip is entirely reasonable. We did very much enjoy this trip and found our experience with Martina and Sabina to be excellent and easy. I would absolutely consider using them again when we return to Italy.

Gabriele, Roberto, and Salvatore held our hands as they guided us through the sights and sounds of beautiful eastern Sicily. They listened to our hopes, and added some great suggestions that we wouldn’t have thought of (for instance, our trip to the tiny island of Salina, just north of Sicily, was a true highlight). Although there are always small hitches along the way, Martina’s team was very responsive and positive, and booked us into some of the most lovely accommodations we could hope for. We loved their attentiveness and positivity!

I used Martina’s office for about a week total of travel in Rome and Naples on both sides of a separately booked small group hiking tour of the Amalfi Coast. The planning process went pretty smoothly and the Rome portion was generally fine–I really liked the walking tour and catacombs visit they suggested, as it’s probably not something I would have found/chosen myself and the guide was great. The scenery was beautiful, and it was nice to get out of the crowds in Rome for a day.

The other activities I did (food tour, Fiat 500 tour, and wine tasting dinner) were nice, if pretty equivalent to those I’ve found/booked myself on past trips. Since I was traveling alone it would have been nice to have known about the option for a porter at Termini station for my train to Naples—I had two suitcases (one large) and someone I met in Rome mentioned that booking/having a porter to get bags on/off the train was helpful; unfortunately at that point when I inquired I learned it was too late, as a porter has to be booked a certain number of days in advance. Thankfully it was fine as strangers helped me get my large bag on/off the train—I would not have been able to do it myself.

Unfortunately some problems occurred when I arrived back in Naples after my Amalfi Coast tour. The afternoon I arrived back in Naples, the guide for my scheduled walking tour was a no show, and after reaching out to Elisa on Martina’s team I learned that it was due to family emergency, which I understand. However, I specifically asked that my full day tour the following day to Pompeii/Vesuvius/a winery be confirmed, as I noted that the same guide was scheduled to be my guide in Pompeii the following day. Elisa assured me that they would obtain a replacement guide and the day would go as scheduled. Nevertheless, the following day the driver arrived an hour later than the scheduled time on my itinerary, and once he did arrive it became apparent in speaking with him that there had been a communication breakdown as he was unaware of the planned winery stop, and thought he was just taking me to Vesuvius and Pompeii. The late arrival (when I could have slept in and not rushed through breakfast) and itinerary confusion made for a stressful day. And finally, on my last day in Naples I was supposed to go to Reggia di Caserta, but realized that the same guide who was no longer available was scheduled to be my guide for that tour as well and I’d not been provided a replacement guide, so I ended up simply spending the day on my own in Naples. I’m used to things running smoothly when I use WOW List specialists (including addressing any complications when they arise), and unfortunately that didn’t happen here.

Response from Martina:

We deeply regret the inconveniences Heidi encountered during her trip. The guide for Heidi’s walking tour in Naples had a family emergency. As soon as we were informed, we arranged for an alternative guide to be available within the hour Heidi chose not to proceed with the tour. We also sent a complimentary bottle of wine to her room.

Heidi asked us to reconfirm the next day’s tour. We secured a replacement guide and provided Heidi with the guide’s contact details. Unfortunately, the driver arrived an hour later than expected due to a communication mix-up. Although the driver was initially unaware of the winery stop, he promptly adjusted the itinerary and the day continued as planned.

Heidi preemptively canceled the tour for her final day, communicating directly with the driver and without reaching out to us. Had she contacted us, we would have confirmed that the tour was set to proceed as planned.

During business hours, Heidi had direct access to her dedicated on-the-ground specialist Elisa, while after hours, our emergency line was available at all times, as outlined in her travel booklet. We regret that Heidi did not consistently rely on these channels, which would have allowed us to intervene more promptly when issues arose.

We reached out to Heidi the day of her return to the U.S. and offered a full refund for the activities she chose not to attend, even though our cancellation policy typically does not cover last-minute cancellations. We deeply value Heidi’s feedback as it helps us improve our services.

Our trip to Italy began in Rome, and right away we experienced the benefits of hiring Alberto and Martina’s company. Our driver was waiting for us at the airport, helping us seamlessly navigate the busy Rome train station, where we caught our train to Florence. As a traveler with disabilities, hiring a travel planner made all the difference. Our guides met us at our hotel for each tour, and everyone was incredibly accommodating. Martina and Elisa were both easy to reach and always available to address any issues that came up during our trip.

The experiences they curated were truly unique, but I can’t recommend their Positano team enough! Every step in Positano was worth it once we arrived at their stunning spot, overlooking the breathtaking Italian coast.

Additionally, having drivers to take us from our hotels to train stations and tours made the trip so much smoother. Vieri, who drove us through the Tuscan countryside, was particularly attentive and offered numerous tips we wouldn’t have known otherwise.

Overall, the exceptional service provided by Martina, Elisa, and Alberto truly made our trip special, and we can’t wait to return to Italy!

We were extremely pleased with Martina’s expert planning and ease of execution for the Lake Como leg of our holiday. On our e-bike tour, we enjoyed climbing breathtaking vistas while being gently active. In Varenna, our views from Castello do Vezio were stunning and well worth the cardio-workout climb. The private boat tour with Federico was perfect. We stopped in Mennagio and then lunched in Bellagio. Finally, our tour at Villa del Balbianello was terrific.

We enthusiastically recommend Martina and her team!

The trip was amazing. We loved the hotel/villa Martina found for us—it was beyond perfect. We needed one of the bedrooms w/a bathroom to be on the first floor for accessibility for my parents, and Martina found the most perfect accommodations.

In fact, I would say that the villa & the hotel were the wow on this trip. The service was outstanding, the villa luxurious and understated. Having the private pool in the August Tuscan heat made our days relaxing, cooling and fun. The breakfasts every day were so delicious and abundant. We loved having breakfast served at the villa on the days we had afternoon or evening plans. I would not have found this place without Martina’s help.

The activities that Martina helped me select and put together were wonderful. As a family, our cheese and wine tasting day in Chianti was probably the highlight. We celebrated my son’s birthday on that day, and Martina arranged for a birthday cake to surprise him at the end of the day after wine tasting and lunch. He loved it and felt very celebrated. The other two stand out activities were the food tour w/Streaty and the private tour of the Uffizi. The food guide tour was so knowledgeable about food history that we learned a lot and were beyond full by the end. The guide at the Uffizi was also very knowledgeable and made the visit highly educational, even for my 15-year-old son. Although we enjoyed visiting Livorno, I would not say this visit is a must. My family is originally from there so that was the draw for us, but we found there was not that much to see there. Our guide there was very good too, though she wasn’t as good a listener as the other guides we had on the trip so we did not connect with her as much as we did w/the other guides we had.

And lastly, I cannot sing Martina’s praises high enough. She listened to what we wanted and created exactly the right trip for our family. She was very helpful w/all the different needs of our family, ages 15 to 81. When at the last minute my parents could not come on the trip, she helped rearrange what needed to be rearranged and was available by phone and text throughout our vacation. I would definitely use her services again. Martina could not control the weather and warned me that Florence in August would be tough, but she helped plan our days w/the activities early in the day or after sunset to make it more manageable. This was our only time to take this trip and I’m very very glad we did, but I would say that if at all possible do not go to Tuscany in August.

Gale Donoghue and family at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

This was our first trip to Italy and we can’t wait to go back! It was a combination vacation — a week with our three sons and one fiancé (ages 27-30) in Tuscany and Rome and a week on our own in Florence and Venice. We contacted Wendy with the basics and were directed to Alberto Buzzanca and Martina Venturi. Alberto and Martina listened to our vision for this important family trip and brought it all together for us. Our main interests were history, art and food and we were anxious to have highlights for varying ages.

Starting at the beautiful Podere Val d’Orcia, a Tuscan agriturismo just south of Siena, was the perfect way to relax and have some fun together. We enjoyed horseback riding, hiking, truffle hunting and side trips to Siena and Pienza. Back at the resort, we created great memories together with a cooking class, olive oil tasting, hanging by the pool and just enjoying the beautiful grounds and view over a glass of wine and great food. The cadence picked up in Rome. We saw the usual highlights, I am sure, but with top-notch private guides and some unique experiences, including a street art tour in Vintage 500 Fiats and a special ticket to tour the lower level of the Colosseum (our guide was as excited about that as we were!).

The cadence really changed when my husband and I continued on alone to Florence and Venice. Such beauty and so much fascinating information, all delivered at a personal level. In Florence, we enjoyed private tours of the museums, Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. These local guides wandered the streets with us, highlighting local artisans, local food specialties and sharing their city’s history and culture. There was unstructured time built into the itinerary for us to rest or to revisit some of these vendors for local crafts and delicacies. Our guide, Paola, walked us through the Mercato Centrale, a public market and food court-type place. We returned the next day for lunch and put together what was to be one of our favorite meals of the trip. Still dreaming about the Firenze sandwich from La Schiacciata and the amazing plate of risotto in pomodoro sauce topped with burrata that we found in the back corner of the Mercato! In Venice, we loved the obligatory gondola ride, but also enjoyed a boat tour of the Northern Lagoon, with stops in Murano and Burano where we purchased some beautiful embroidered linens and handmade Venetian glassware. For our anniversary, Martina and Alberto surprised us with an upgrade to our walking tour of Venice’s Secret Gardens, a tour of an outstanding private garden and home, given by the owner.

My husband and I have never done a trip of this caliber or used a travel consultant to this extent and we did not take the cost lightly. We quickly saw the value, though — guides highly educated in their fields, tours tailored to our interests, and so many truly unique experiences, all carefully orchestrated to the smallest detail. Once they are out in the world, it is a challenge to schedule family vacations with grown children. We were grateful to relax and truly enjoy this special time with our kids.

I was very happy with our trip organized by Alberto and Martina. I decided at the last minute to visit my daughter studying abroad in Rome, and Alberto and Martina managed to arrange everything for me, even during peak tourist season.

The activities planned for us were the highlights of the trip. In Sicily, we enjoyed an all-day private boat tour, where we had the chance to swim and snorkel in beautiful bays along the coastline of Taormina. Despite my initial nerves about spending a whole day on a boat, our skipper Davide took excellent care of us. When I got seasick, he promptly brought us ashore and arranged a lovely lunch at a beachside restaurant, deviating from the original plan to dine on the boat.

In Rome, Martina had arranged a private pasta-making class and dinner at a cooking school. The chef was fantastic, guiding us through making pasta from scratch, including gnocchi, cavatelli, ravioli, veal saltimbocca, and a simple but delicious peach dessert.

Having a point of contact throughout the trip was very reassuring. When our car broke down on the way to the airport in Sicily and our driver didn’t speak English, I called Gabriele on Martina’s team. He promptly arranged for a replacement driver and car. Similarly, when I had trouble securing a reservation at a popular restaurant in Rome, Gabriele managed to get us a booking for the next night.

Martina had suggested some amazing private access tours in the initial itinerary, but I had to decline many of them to stay within my budget. In hindsight, given the overall cost of the trip, I would have appreciated more customization in our itinerary — activity ideas, insider tips, and restaurant selection and bookings. For instance, in Sicily, we discovered on our own that we could take a gondola ride to Mazzaro Bay and spend a relaxing day at a semi-private beach of a five-star hotel.

We recently returned from a family holiday in Italy, and I can’t recommend Martina highly enough!

Initially, we set out to plan our trip on our own, but as soon as we started looking for hotels that could accommodate our family of four—two adults and two teenagers—we quickly realised we were in over our heads. On top of that, we had a long list of activities we wanted to do, and the whole process was becoming overwhelming.

That’s when we contacted Wendy Perrin for advice, and they connected us with Alberto and Martina. From the very start, the planning process was smooth and stress-free. We provided a rough outline of what we were looking for and our initial budget, but as we worked with Martina, we found ourselves tempted by so many of her excellent suggestions that we ended up spending more than double our original budget. In hindsight, it was absolutely worth it! The additional experiences Martina recommended truly elevated our trip from great to fantastic. Our kids especially loved the 6-hour bike ride through the stunning Roman countryside and the private boat tour along the Amalfi Coast—definitely highlights of our trip!

Martina was incredibly patient and accommodating with all our requests and changes. Everything was meticulously planned. All our transfers were on time, and the hotels they selected for us were in perfect locations—we could not have picked better ourselves. While most of the tours were enjoyable, some were simply outstanding.

Martina even surprised us with some no-cost extras. We tried to get tickets to see The Last Supper, but they were sold out. However, at the last minute, she got tickets for us and provided them free of charge. She knew my wife and daughter wanted to buy some bags while in Milan, so she arranged a private session at Prada, which they fondly enjoyed.

Additionally, we wanted to cancel one activity because it was almost a two-hour drive away on winding roads, which would have likely made our kids carsick. Unfortunately, we could not cancel even with more than 24 hours’ notice, so we decided to skip it and absorb the cost.

Despite these small hiccups, our overall experience was extremely positive. Martina and her team made our trip completely fuss-free, allowing us to focus on creating wonderful memories as a family. Thanks to their expertise and dedication, we’ll cherish this holiday forever. If you’re considering a trip to Italy, don’t hesitate to reach out to Martina!

We traveled for 2-1/2 weeks in early June 2024 to northern Italy with the help of Alberto and Martina, recommended by Wendy Perrin. We had a specific budget and time frame (family wedding) and they met both. A pre-planning phone call allowed us to share our likes and must-haves, and the trip was very well planned to take advantage of all this region has to offer.

We especially appreciated the line-ups of drivers and tour guides as well as hotel selection (the thing that drives me crazy). Overall, the planners’ knowledge of how to get from here to there easily to maximize the time in each place was a huge help. We loved Verona, Siena, Florence and Ortisei. Rome is just a must-see, though next year (2025) is the Jubilee and many sites are right now under renovation and next year there will be huge crowds, so take that into account.

This was our first time using a travel planner, and I’m so glad we did. Definitely made the most of our budget and time!

We went to Italy during the first week of April 2024. Martina planned an incredible itinerary for our family of four (mom, dad, teenage daughter and elementary school son), and worked closely with us every step of the way to make sure we were able to do all of the things we wanted, as well as others we didn’t even know about that she had suggested. Before the trip, we had several Zoom calls together as we worked collaboratively to create the optimal itinerary for our family. She was also great at checking in with us the week before we left to make sure we were all set with our itinerary and travel documents.

Once we got to Italy everything was great. The drivers and tour guides we had were all incredible. We had the perfect balance of free time to explore the cities on our own as well as tour guides who could take us to the best parts of the cities we were visiting. On our trip we were lucky enough to visit Florence, Tuscany, Venice, Rome and Pompeii. It was so seamless getting around the country and Martina was spot-on with the timing for everything to make sure we maximized our experience in each city/region we visited. She also was in contact with us during the week to make sure we had contact information of our tour guides and to make sure our hotels were what we expected. In the one instance where it was not, she and her team acted swiftly to find us more suitable arrangements that ended up being perfect for us. It was so wonderful to have someone to work with every step of the way.

I would recommend Martina and her company to everyone. She was thoughtful, diligent, accommodating and available. It truly was the trip of a lifetime. Thank you Martina!