Check in with learnedax -- he was in Venice not too long ago.
When I was in Italy (a long time ago), most people spoke at least a tiny bit of English and were pretty patient with a tourist communicating via phrasebook and wild gesticulations. (except for the guys who tried to arrest me, but that's a tale for another time).
[NB: I haven't use a tour company since I was a teenager] Tours are nice because they take care of the logistics. And it's great for visiting multiple cities or ones with lousy public transit because you don't need to worry about getting yourself from place to place. That said, make sure they let you have plenty of free time for exploration. Your priorities are likely to be different from your average American tourist.
That said, I think you could handle it on your own. Travel arrangements in foreign countries have gotten vastly easier with the Internet.
no subject
When I was in Italy (a long time ago), most people spoke at least a tiny bit of English and were pretty patient with a tourist communicating via phrasebook and wild gesticulations. (except for the guys who tried to arrest me, but that's a tale for another time).
[NB: I haven't use a tour company since I was a teenager] Tours are nice because they take care of the logistics. And it's great for visiting multiple cities or ones with lousy public transit because you don't need to worry about getting yourself from place to place. That said, make sure they let you have plenty of free time for exploration. Your priorities are likely to be different from your average American tourist.
That said, I think you could handle it on your own. Travel arrangements in foreign countries have gotten vastly easier with the Internet.