As with transportation, travel agents can be tremendously helpful in securing pre-arranged tours. There are plenty of online operators that will let you book tours of everything from Vatican City to St. Mark's Square in advance of your trip, but a local travel agent may have personal connections that can ensure you an English-speaking guide, a good deal, and proper service. With that said, here are some websites that you can use to pre-book tours on your own.

• ITALIA TOURS

  Italia Tours offers everything from rental cars and day trips to city tours and multi-day itineraries. There are self-drive gastronomy tours, guided tours of Tuscany, tours that include cooking classes, and vacation packages for virtually every part of Italy that you can imagine. Some tours are escorted, and some include chauffeured vehicles.

• ITALY SOURCE

  Italy Source is a U.S.-based company that specializes in tours of Italy and parts of Switzerland and France. The website offers helpful articles about good times to travel, optional itineraries for first-time Italy visitors, price levels for vacations of varying lengths, and more. Tours are organized by region, price, and type (such as honeymoons and anniversaries).

• PERILLO TOURS

  Perillo Tours is a family-owned business that has offered tours in Italy since 1945. The company caters to travelers from the United States by offering tours with full, American breakfasts, competitive airfare rates from more than 130 cities in the United States, and deluxe hotels that offer the kinds of amenities that are typical on American soil. Some tours include “a touch of Switzerland” in addition to the northern Italian regions.

• ROAD TO ITALY

  Road to Italy offers private tours, group tours, honeymoon packages, and day trips throughout the country. There are also half- and full-day shore excursions available from Civitavecchia, Livorno, Naples, Venice, Palermo, Messina, and Catania. Day trips from Tuscany focus on food and wine, art and history, or specialty subjects.

• TOUR ITALY NOW

  This company offers private, group, and honeymoon tours on a prepackaged or customized basis. The site also has a good number of helpful articles about what to see and do in Italy, including must-see sights, a cruise guide, an article about renting homes versus hotel rooms, and general tips for traveling throughout Italy's various regions.