The trick is to wait until some nuns or a priest is crossing - they slow down a little for them.
Oh yeah, then just as soon as nun/priest has gone they step on the gas and aim right at you and it matters not if you’re on the pavement…you are still a target
Y’see they feel as if they’ve been cheated.
I never had a problem crossing the streets in Rome, as long as I was in a crosswalk and obeying the signals. You just have to walk with the same attitude that they drive. And make sure they have enough time to stop before you step in front of them.
As for the OP, I’m with the “no tour” crowd. Getting flights and hotels is easy on the internet. I use Kayak for good airfares and spend time on the forums at Fodor’s for advice on hotels and sights to see. In the past three years I’ve done Rome, Paris, and southern Spain, and I’m off to Slovenia and Croatia in the fall, all without help from tours or travel agents. Before that, I had never traveled in Europe except as a kid with my parents (more than 25 years ago).
I also second the vote for Rick Steve’s books. He has some good advice for independent travelers, but be warned - some of his “off the beaten track” recommendations have become very popular simply due to his recommendations.
To get an Italian driver to stop, you need to make eye contact with him/her. Then they take you seriously (not in an aggression/defense way, just as a person who actually is crossing the road). It genuinely works.
If Contiki isn’t your thing, I’d avoid Busabout too - they’re run by the same company, stop at all the same campsites/hostels (some of them significantly far out of town) and have the same sort of clientele. In fact, I think it’s a bit dodgy - its marketed to ‘independant travellers’ but the bus stops in the aforementioned out of town campsites, although you’re “welcome” to find your own accommodation, in reality, you seldom can.
Why yes, I did have a negative experience with them, several years ago. Also, I only ever met other young Australian travellers, which was quite boring and not at all the point of a Europe holiday. Much better times travelling round by myself, in fact, the best times I had were in Germany – I had one German friend back home, who arranged all her friends and relations to take me in for a few nights, then pass me on to someone else! I ended up staying with friends of friends of friends, speaking no German, and they no English, and having an absolute ball, living as a local.
We did out first UK trip in 1996 with Trafalgar- very professional. I would recommend them. There were people in age from about 40 through to 80. As I said it was our first tour, and showed us what it was like and we now go and hire cars and drive ourselves with hired cottages rather than hotels- a lot cheaper and a great deal more privacy.
My daughters (early 20’s) did a Kontiki tour and they thought it was “” okay". However, a work colleagure who was slightly older actually got off a Kontiki tour midway as she didn’t like the antics of her fellow passengers.
Upturned noses and :rolleyes: for bus-sized Americans standing in the middle of busy pavements getting in everyone’s way while checking their maps, or holding up queues of people by trying to e.g. order a dry skinny organic goat-milk vanilla decaf cappucino with cinnamon from a cafe in Rome. Providing you have half a brain you’ll be fine.
If you are nervous about the languages spend twenty minutes with a phrasebook copying down a dozen or so key phrases and addresses so when your pronunciation fails you can point to “Can I please have a ticket to” “the centre of town”. Generally you’ll be OK with english only providing you don’t go too far off the tourist trail, but it’s always worth trying to make an effort, even if it’s just by going “Excusez-moi, parlez-vous Anglais?” with a hopeful/desperate expression rather than “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH??”.
Hate crimes are really only a concern if you plan on wearing a Bush 04 campaign cap and an “[del]Afghanistan[/del]. [del]Iraq.[/del] Iran.” T-shirt 
I had a better experience than you when I used them last year, but I was mixing it up with flights and train journeys and staying at my own accomodation much of the time. The internet’s made arranging that much easier!
The clientele were overwhelmingly Australian though…
That isn’t going to be a problem in the cities you’re going to. It’s good to learn a few phrases in the local languages, but you’re not going to have any problem finding people who speak English.
That’s been my experience, too. Don’t bring up politics, the war in Iraq, or how much better the US is than wherever you are if you get into conversations with locals, and you’ll be fine. They probably won’t bring up these topics, either. If they do, just act like you do when you’re with family members who you love dearly and don’t want to offend, but whose political opinions you disagree strongly with- change the subject as tactfully as possible.