We loved the free time to explore cities on our tour. The tour guides in every city were very knowledgeable and engaging. Our favorites are Marco in Florence and Elena in Rome. The tour director expressed frustration with some members of our tour group. We think it would have been better if he had written the tour itinerary daily with the scheduled departures and end times, It would have make it better for all the tour members. We found him to be approachable and he assisted us with our request. The hotels were great and so where they were located. The dinners provided on the tour were average. We ate better when we went out on our own. We would consider booking another tour with Smartours.