Barcelona to Rome small group vacation
Highlights
Barcelona | Ribes de Freser | Pyrenees | Carcassonne | Arles | Nice | Cinque Terre | Pisa | Florence
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this vacation or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
Toll free 1-866-821-6866 Calling from outside the US? rosy@responsibletravel.com
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Small group adventure
What is a small group adventure?It's a great way to travel! Whether you are traveling on your own, with a partner or with friends, a small group trip is a fantastic way to see the world. You'll travel on a fixed itinerary that has been designed to help you discover the best of region. From the known highlights, the hidden gems that you won't find in the guidebooks.
Itineraries run on set departure dates, accompanied every step of the way by an English speaking local group leader. You chose the itinerary and the date that suits you best and you book on.
Why travel on a small group adventure?
Small groups allow us to explore where larger tour groups can't. Our maximum group size of 16 travelers allows us to use local transport to get from A to B, to visit rural villages, spend time with the locals and even stay at a local home overnight, and it allows us to give our travelers genuine, real life experiences of the countries we are visiting; what you'll be doing and how you'll travel depends entirely on your chosen itinerary.
Is an adventure right for me?
The word adventure means something different to everyone, and our range of trips reflects that. Whether you want to explore local markets, visit out of the way temples and meet local people or go on an early morning safari drive searching for the 'big five', we'll have a trip for you. If you are looking for a physical challenge such trekking the Kokoda Track or summiting Kilimanjaro, we can help with that too.
So what can I expect on this trip?
This is a classic style of small group adventure. You'll find your trip combines a good mix of included activities and free time, with some meals included as per your itinerary. We don't want you to feel chaperoned, it's your vacation not ours. Your group leader will be on hand to assist with organising anything you might wish to do in your free time, but how you spend it is up to you. Anything listed as included in your itinerary will be included in trip price; whereas anything listed as optional will be at an additional cost should you wish to take part.
These trips are great value, including things that you would struggle to organise independently, such as a night at a homestay in a remote village, or local guides around a remote place of interest. Transport will be a combination of private vehicle and public transport, whichever is the most appropriate for the route we are traveling; this might include train, plane, camel, tuk tuk, bicycle, boat…
On a majority of these trips you'll stay in 2-3 star accommodation, locally owned and reflective of the region you are traveling through. All solo travelers will be automatically roomed on a twin share basis with another group member of the same sex, unless you opt to pay for your own room at time of booking. There are no compulsory single supplements for solo travelers willing to share. Single rooms aren't available on camping trips, and you will be expected to help out with camp tasks such as setting up and breaking down your camp.
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your vacation will help support conservation and local people.
As a global tour operator, we are committed to operating every one of our trips in a way that respects and benefits local people, their culture and economy, while minimising our impact on the natural environment. We travel in small groups – on this trip the maximum group size is 12 passengers – which means we can stay in small, locally-owned or family-run hotels and guesthouses. Wherever possible we use public transport, and on this journey you will travel almost entirely by train as you make your way overland from Barcelona to Rome. In the Pyrenees, you will have the chance to take a cogwheel train into the Nuria Valley, in Arles (Provence) there’s an opportunity to cycle, and between Pisa and Siena we take a public bus. While in Nice, you may wish to take a day trip to Cannes and can travel by train, bus or boat. Every other journey is made by train.
On this trip, we spend a full day walking in the UNESCO protected area of Cinque Terre ('Five Lands') along the Ligurian Coast, an area famed for the beauty of its coastline and picturesque villages. The national park is funded in part by charging walkers for an entry ticket, which is included in the tour price, so by visiting the area you are also able to contribute to its preservation. The area was hit by record flooding in 2011, and a number of coastal paths were closed due to rockslides. Repair work should be completed and all paths reopened by summer 2013, but we ask all passengers to respect any areas that are deemed off-limits so that we can preserve the area for future walkers to enjoy. If you don’t feel able to walk the entire path (which is 12km in total), there is an option to take a train between any of the villages and your day pass also allows you to take electric buses within the park.
As a tour company, our responsibilities don’t stop when our tours end. In 2002, we established a charitable foundation so that our passengers and staff could support grassroots community projects around the world. To date, it has raised over £2million for over 75 projects involved with health care, education, human rights, child welfare, sustainable development, and environmental and wildlife protection. We match every donation made by passengers and pay the administration costs, so every penny that is donated goes to a good cause.
The Impacts of this Trip
As we travel through Spain, France and Italy, your tour leader will suggest authentic, local restaurants, markets and other eating places where you can dine on local produce. We choose not to include many meals on this itinerary, to give you the flexibility to select which restaurants you would like to visit but your guide will be able to point out those small businesses that offer good quality, local fare and meet our responsible travel guidelines.
As well as a Responsible Travel Code of Conduct which we adhere to as a company, we expect our staff and travelers to demonstrate the principles of responsible travel and provide a number of responsible travel tips to facilitate this, for example advice on what clothing is appropriate and respectful. In the case of this trip, while there are few dress restrictions in Europe we request that our passengers dress modestly and cover your shoulders when visiting churches or religious sites, such as Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia Cathedral or St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
As a global tour operator, we are committed to operating every one of our trips in a way that respects and benefits local people, their culture and economy, while minimising our impact on the natural environment. We travel in small groups – on this trip the maximum group size is 12 passengers – which means we can stay in small, locally-owned or family-run hotels and guesthouses. Wherever possible we use public transport, and on this journey you will travel almost entirely by train as you make your way overland from Barcelona to Rome. In the Pyrenees, you will have the chance to take a cogwheel train into the Nuria Valley, in Arles (Provence) there’s an opportunity to cycle, and between Pisa and Siena we take a public bus. While in Nice, you may wish to take a day trip to Cannes and can travel by train, bus or boat. Every other journey is made by train.
On this trip, we spend a full day walking in the UNESCO protected area of Cinque Terre ('Five Lands') along the Ligurian Coast, an area famed for the beauty of its coastline and picturesque villages. The national park is funded in part by charging walkers for an entry ticket, which is included in the tour price, so by visiting the area you are also able to contribute to its preservation. The area was hit by record flooding in 2011, and a number of coastal paths were closed due to rockslides. Repair work should be completed and all paths reopened by summer 2013, but we ask all passengers to respect any areas that are deemed off-limits so that we can preserve the area for future walkers to enjoy. If you don’t feel able to walk the entire path (which is 12km in total), there is an option to take a train between any of the villages and your day pass also allows you to take electric buses within the park.
As a tour company, our responsibilities don’t stop when our tours end. In 2002, we established a charitable foundation so that our passengers and staff could support grassroots community projects around the world. To date, it has raised over £2million for over 75 projects involved with health care, education, human rights, child welfare, sustainable development, and environmental and wildlife protection. We match every donation made by passengers and pay the administration costs, so every penny that is donated goes to a good cause.
The Impacts of this Trip
As we travel through Spain, France and Italy, your tour leader will suggest authentic, local restaurants, markets and other eating places where you can dine on local produce. We choose not to include many meals on this itinerary, to give you the flexibility to select which restaurants you would like to visit but your guide will be able to point out those small businesses that offer good quality, local fare and meet our responsible travel guidelines.
As well as a Responsible Travel Code of Conduct which we adhere to as a company, we expect our staff and travelers to demonstrate the principles of responsible travel and provide a number of responsible travel tips to facilitate this, for example advice on what clothing is appropriate and respectful. In the case of this trip, while there are few dress restrictions in Europe we request that our passengers dress modestly and cover your shoulders when visiting churches or religious sites, such as Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia Cathedral or St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
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