Itinerary

Day 1:
(Sun.) Board your overnight transatlantic flight.

Day 2:
Arrival in Rome, Italy. (Mon.) Time to rest or start exploring the Eternal City. 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. (Tue.) Sightseeing with your Local Guide starts with a visit to the VATICAN MUSEUMS and SISTINE CHAPEL, 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. Then time for independent activities and exciting optional excursion possibilities. (BB)

Day 4:
Rome–Assisi–Venice. (Wed.) Morning break in peaceful Assisi. Visit the massive 13th-century BASILICA OF ST. FRANCIS built above the saint’s grave. Next enjoy a comfortable drive on the way to the Adriatic coast and across the Po Delta to Venice. Why not join an optional dinner Venetian-style tonight? (BB)

Day 5:
Venice. (Thu.) Start morning sightseeing in style by PRIVATE BOAT to meet your Local Guide. Highlights of your walking tour are ST. MARK’S SQUARE and the BYZANTINE BASILICA, lavish DOGES’ PALACE, and the BRIDGE OF SIGHS. Also watch skilled GLASSBLOWERS fashion their delicate objects in an age-old traditional manner. Then enjoy Venice at your own pace or join an optional cruise to Burano Island. (BB)

Day 6:
Venice–Ferrara–Florence. (Fri.) First stop this morning is Ferrara. Stroll past the imposing Este Castle and visit the marble CATHEDRAL, before continuing through the wooded Apennine Mountains into Tuscany to Florence, cradle of the Renaissance. Time on your own to wander at whim or to check out the enticing shops with Florentine leather goods and gold jewelry. You may want to join one of the exciting evening optionals. (BB)

Day 7:
Florence. (Sat.) Follow your Local Guide to visit the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS with Michelangelo’s celebrated David, the magnificent CATHEDRAL, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry’s heavy bronze “Gate of Paradise,” and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. Afternoon at leisure. (BB,D)

Day 8:
Florence–Pisa–Nice, France. (Sun.) Focus on Pisa this morning for pictures of its amazing Leaning Tower, 180 feet high and 12 feet out of the perpendicular. Then a scenic drive past a string of Italian and French Riviera resorts towards the principality of Monaco. Here leave the highway for the panoramic Moyenne Corniche. Before arriving in Nice, visit one of the PERFUME FACTORIES for which the area is famous. An optional outing is available tonight to Monte Carlo. (BB)

Day 9:
Nice. Excursion to Cannes and St. Paul de Vence. (Mon.) Follow the glittering shores of the Côte d’Azur to Cannes of film festival fame. Turn inland to visit the picturesque hilltop town of St. Paul de Vence. Afternoon at leisure to explore the Old Town or to stroll along the elegant Promenade des Anglais. (BB)

Day 10:
Nice–Paris. (Tue.) Transfer to the railway station and board the high-speed “TGV” TRAIN to Paris. Tonight an optional possibility to try out one of Paris’ fine restaurants and to explore the City of Light! (BB)

Day 11:
Paris. (Wed.) Discover the world capital of chic and style with a Local Guide and admire its most famous sights: the Opéra, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysées, Notre Dame Cathedral, and more. For a bird’s-eye view take the elevator to the second floor of Paris’ most famous landmark, the EIFFEL TOWER. An optional excursion to the Palace of Versailles is available. Tonight, a lively cabaret show might just be the ticket. (BB)

Day 12:
(Thu.) Your homebound flight from Paris 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

ASSISI
Visit the Basilica of St. Francis

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

FERRARA
Orientation

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

PISA
Picture stop at the Leaning Tower

NICE
Visit a perfume factory; excursion to Cannes & St. Paul de Vence

NICE-PARIS
By high-speed “TGV” train (first-class)

PARIS
Guided sightseeing; ascend Eiffel Tower