Itinerary

Day 1:
Board your overnight transatlantic flight.

Day 2:
Arrival in Rome, Italy. Time to rest or start exploring the Eternal City on your own. At 6 p.m. meet your Tour Director and traveling companions and leave the hotel for a special welcome dinner with wine in one of Rome’s lively restaurants. (D)

Day 3:
Rome. Sightseeing with your Local Guide starts with a visit to the VATICAN MUSEUMS and SISTINE CHAPEL (arranged next morning if closed today), world famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling paintings and The Last Judgement. Continue to monumental ST. PETER’S SQUARE and BASILICA. Cross the Tiber and visit the COLOSSEUM and the ROMAN FORUM, where Roman Legions marched in triumph. Time for independent activities and exciting optional excursion possibilities. (BB)

Day 4:
Rome–Pisa–Florence. North to Pisa for pictures of its amazing Leaning Tower. Continue to Florence, the capital of Tuscany and home to Renaissance splendor. (BB,D)

Day 5:
Florence. Follow your Local Guide and visit the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS with Michelangelo’s celebrated David and the magnificent CATHEDRAL. Admire Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry’s heavy bronze “Gate of Paradise,” and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. The afternoon is free. Florentine leather goods and gold jewelry sold by the ounce are attractive buys. Why not join an optional dinner at a Tuscan restaurant? (BB)

Day 6:
Florence–Milan**. Drive to the dynamic city of Milan. Your orientation features the GOTHIC DUOMO, glass-domed GALLERIA, and famed Scala Opera House. (BB)



Day 7:
At Leisure in Milan**. A restful day to sleep in or stroll through Milan’s exclusive fashion district: Via Montenapoleone, Via della Spiga, and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. Another possibility—you may want to join an optional excursion to lovely Como. (BB,D)

Day 8:
Milan**–Verona–Venice. Stop in Verona, medieval setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, to see Juliet’s Balcony and the Arena. Tonight you reach Venice, deemed by some the most romantic city in the world. (BB)

Day 9:
Venice. Enter in style by PRIVATE BOAT to meet your Local Guide. Highlights of your walking tour are ST. MARK’S SQUARE and BYZANTINE BASILICA, lavish DOGES’ PALACE, and the BRIDGE OF SIGHS. Then watch skilled GLASSBLOWERS fashion their delicate objects in an age-old manner. Later discover Venice at your own pace or take an optional gondola ride. (BB,D)

Day 10:
Venice–Ravenna–Assisi. Follow the sparkling Adriatic coast to Ravenna to see the mosaics in the 6th-century BASILICA OF ST. APOLLINARIS IN CLASSE. In Assisi visit the massive 13th-century lower BASILICA OF ST. FRANCIS. Time to take in this peaceful town on your own. (BB,D)

Day 11:
Assisi–Pompeii–Sorrento. Today visit POMPEII, the Roman city both destroyed and preserved by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Overnight in the charming, bayside resort of Sorrento. (BB)

Day 12:
Sorrento. Excursion to Capri. Glide across the blue bay to the beautiful Isle of Capri. Guided sightseeing includes a visit to VILLA SAN MICHELE in Anacapri. Time to explore at your own pace before returning to Sorrento. The remainder of the day is at leisure. (BB)

Day 13:
Sorrento–Montecassino–Rome. On your way to Rome, stop in Montecassino for a visit to the ABBEY. Tonight why not join an optional festive dinner in one of Rome’s fine restaurants? (BB)

Day 14:
Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (BB)
 

Dates & Prices

ROME
Welcome dinner in a local restaurant; guided sightseeing including headsets, visit the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Square and Basilica, the Colosseum and Roman Forum

PISA
Picture stop at the Leaning Tower

FLORENCE
Guided sightseeing including headsets, visit Michelangelo’s David, the cathedral, and Signoria Square

MILAN
Visit the Galleria and the Duomo

VERONA
Orientation including Juliet’s Balcony and the Arena

VENICE
Private boat ride; guided sightseeing including headsets, visit St. Mark’s Square and Basilica, Doges'' Palace, and the Bridge of Sighs; glassblowers’ demonstration

RAVENNA
Visit the Basilica of St. Apollinaris in Classe

ASSISI
Visit St. Francis’ Basilica

POMPEII
Guided visit of the excavations including headsets

SORRENTO-CAPRI
By jet/hydrofoil ride

CAPRI
Guided sightseeing, visit Villa San Michele in Anacapri

MONTECASSINO
Visit the Abbey