I wish I had known of this forum when I used Donna Franca tours a few years ago. Her agency came recommended by a friend whom I dearly trust, and even she was surprised at the shoddiness of the tour and the lack of responsibility that Donna Franca displayed. Because I was a single traveler, they insisted that I had to pay the single supplement, but that it would provide me with a double room. I never had a double room, and when I told each hotel that they had received payment for a double room it was denied at each location. Donna Franca did nothing about it, and took no responsibility for the situation. She put me into a tour of the south that took eight hours to return to Rome, and caused me to miss the first gathering of my official tour and did not repay me for taxi rides that I had to take to get to the gathering that had already ended (without any notification to me; the owner of the restaurant called her to assist me in getting in touch with the guide and she was of no help). Her guide made no attempts to check whether or not I had arrived at the hotel in Rome, did a poor job leading us in Venice, and I was charged over $100 before I left the US for her agency to call and extend my stay by one night (they had only planned for us to visit Venice for half of a day before we departed). In addition, we spent a wasteful number of hours at her estate in Italy where we were supposed to get a homemade cooked meal, and only received a tour of her winery - a room dug into the ground with a few barrels. When I returned I sent her a polite letter explaining that I loved Italy but outlining the difficulties that the tour and guide provided, and she again took no responsibility for her planning or her guide, blamed me for getting to Rome late, and of course, provided no rebate (what kind of tax exemption does she receive for bringing tours to her estate under false pretenses??!!). STAY AWAY FROM HER AGENCY.

Before leaving Boston, I paid Donna Franca tours for my stay in Florence. When I got to Florence they had never paid the local people. When I tried to check in I was told I would have to contact Donna Franca. They then charged me 40% more. ( Would not take a credit card and made my fiance pay in cash or cashiers check). We were really stuck. Thank God I speak Italian. I spent lots of time talking long distance not to mention they ruined about 4 days of my vacation. They are dishonest check out other reports. A terrible company to do business with and I hope you never have the experience.

1 tour was cancelled by tour operator
2 tour company refused to refund plane ticket, tour deposit & insurance premium
3 failed to provide invoice upon request
4 Co. Owner advised consumer to file a fraudulent insurance claim for full refund
5 I contacted them via phone 11 days prior to departure to inform them I had not received confirmation of trip nor plane tickets, then they sent me an e-mail notice of cancellation
6 Tour co. offered to issue a credit w/Italian airline less $200 penalty for cancelling, but credit must be used w/in 1 year of date of purchase, and refund $385 deposit & insurance

I didn't cancel the tour they did, I purchased the ticket through them and I am making a claim for them to reimburse me the $1,000 I spent for the ticket plus $385. I haven't heard back from them yet or received my money. Lousy conpany!

The "I'm Italy Tour" provided by Donna Franca Tours of 10/6/06.
Pre Tour Arrangement to Sorrento were horrible. Arrangements at the Rome hotel to hold our bags for the few pre tour days was never arranged. That meant I and 16 others had to carry all of our own bags to the pre tour buses. Now thats not to bad except we had two bus transfer points where I had to carry my bags to the buses. When I complained to the tour leader he said "Well I'm not the porter". Do you realize how many and heavy these bags were?

Donna Franca did not provide a direct bus for the 16 people who purchased her pre tour to Sorrento. She outsourced to a small uncooperative local tour operator that thought of us as part of their Sorrento tour with 55 people.

Donna Franca was to be an upscale tour limited to 16 vacationers it was not. DO NOT GO ON DONNA FRANCA TOURS to Italy!!!!!