Unfortunately I can’t help much with European tours as I’ve only spent time in all of the British Isles (I’ve got all of the major and several of the minor islands covered), Paris and Rome. Most of my travel is in the US, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and a bit of China (two bits actually, Hong Kong and Beijing but even that’s 15 years out of date). Ask me about Hawaii, Bermuda, Kaikoura, Bondi Beach, the Louvre, Jasper NP etc and I’ve got you.
Italy….that’s for a later trip unfortunately. I’ll be asking YOU for advice.
I can look through some things I’ve saved from my own research and see if there’s anything that catches your eye. I’m not looking to do an “Italian” adventure as neither myself nor my wife have any Italian blood that we know of and there‘s some “better” (I say that knowing there’s lots of great stuff to do in Italy, but there’s also lots of great stuff to do in Spain, Morocco, Greece, Crete, Croatia and Turkey) and cheaper options in the Mediterranean. So I’m looking to fly in and probably out of Rome, go to the Coliseum and Vatican Museum with my wife as she hasn’t been and then probably do a cruise covering the eastern Mediterranean with definitely stops in Greece and Croatia plus maybe some additional stops in Italy, Crete, Malta and the safer parts of touristy Turkey. And I want to do a separate Cruise around Spain and Portugal, plus maybe Gibraltar, Morocco, Monaco and/or Mediterranean France. I’m probably doing one of those cruises next year and then do the other the following year or maybe with a return trip to Scotland plus Iceland or back to Japan before we do the second Mediterranean cruise.
But yeah, you MIGHT want to look into some stops in Croatia. Now that it’s not war torn it’s like a friendlier and FAR cheaper Italy. Dubrovnik and Split are amazing cities and probably a fifth to a tenth the price of places like Naples and Venice. The Amalfi Coast looks fantastic and I would definitely stop there if I can find a good cruise itinerary that has it plus some of the other places I mentioned. But for me it’s taking a back seat because of price versus beauty.
Amalfi Coast
Makaraska Bay Croatia
Omis Croatia
Dubrovnik Croatia