Classic Italy

• Itinerary
• Prices & Information

Day 1 – Depart U.S. for Venice, Italy
Depart your hometown and fly through the night across the Atlantic to start your Italian vacation in Venice. Relax with in flight meal and entertainment service as you travel.

Day 2 – Arrival in Venice
Land at Venice’s Marco Polo Airport, collect your luggage and pass through customs inspection. Your Italian English speaking tour escort will be at there to begin our adventure.  Cross the lagoon to your waiting hotel. This is a wonderful introduction to a city built on water! After checking in to your hotel, located on the Grand Canal, you are free for the remainder of the day. In the evening get together with your tour director and fellow travelers with a welcome glass of wine to discuss your vacation and then enjoy local cuisine in the hotel restaurant.
Included Meals: Dinner
Hotel: Grand Hotel Carlton, Venice 2 Nights

Day 3 – St. Mark’s Square & Doges’ Palace
This morning travel along the Grand Canal to the Piazza San Marco, the hub of the city, where your walking tour of Venice begins. See the elaborate Doges’ Palace, a rare example of civil Venetian Gothic architecture. Visit the impressive state rooms to view Renaissance paintings by Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto. Cross the Bridge of Sighs, linking the Palace with the Piombi Prisons. Then visit the Basilica San Marco, consecrated in 1094 and decorated to reflect the Venetian Republic’s maritime and commercial power. See its famous golden mosaics on the interior domes and archways. Admire the simple lines of the Campanile, or Bell Tower, and see the Clock Tower where the “Moors” strike the hours. End your tour with a visit to a nearby glassblowing factory to watch craftspeople create the popular Venetian glass. The balance of the day is free to explore Venice on your own. You may like to take a gondola or a vaporetto ride through enchanting canals.
Included Meals: Breakfast

Day 4 – Verona’s Roman Amphitheater & Tuscan Countryside
Travel by motor coach through the Veneto region to the charming town of Verona, which was the setting for Shakespeare’s love story of Romeo and Juliet. See Juliet’s Balcony at the house where her family, the Capuleti, lived in a house dating from the 13th century. Also see the Arena, a Roman amphitheater dating from the 1st century. This is one of the biggest and best preserved such buildings and today hosts a summer festival of opera. Drive south through the Emilia Romagna region, which is renowned for its delicious foodstuffs, and through the Tuscan countryside where rolling hills are covered in olive groves, vineyards and sunflower fields. This very popular region is the subject of many books and movies. Arrive in Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, an imposing city of old stone located on the River Arno. After checking into your hotel, you will have some free time before dining with your fellow travelers.
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Hotel Raffaello, Florence 2 Nights

Day 5 – Florence Cathedral & “David”
Take a half-day sightseeing walking tour of Florence, a city of artistic wealth and beauty where there are countless treasures to discover. Begin your visit in the town center at the majestic Piazza Del Duomo to see the delicately patterned green, white and pink cathedral crowned by Brunelleschi’s dome. See the Campanile, Giotto’s Bell Tower dating from 1359. The 11th century Baptistery is one of the oldest buildings in Florence and famous for its exquisite bronze doors by Ghiberti. Then visit the Academy of Fine Arts, which was founded in 1563. Here see Michelangelo’s superb “David” and many of the master’s unfinished works. The afternoon and evening are free for independent sightseeing, shopping and dining.
Included Meals: Breakfast

Day 6 Umbria & Torgiano Wine Tasting
Today drive through the beautiful countryside of Umbria to Torgiano, a charming hilltop town with vineyards all around. Visit the Wine Museum, located in a 17th century mansion, to learn all about wine from early Etruscan times and during the Middle Ages. Tour the Cantine del Vino at Lungarotti Vineyards, one of Italy’s prestigious wineries to see modern production and bottling methods and enjoy a sample. Then take a stroll around and find a place for lunch on your own. Travel south and stop to savor the atmosphere of Todi, a gracious medieval city clustered around a bustling piazza with open-air cafés and delightful stores. Continue your journey south into the metropolitan region of Rome. Take a short orientation drive around the major monuments in the city center and stop for photos at the Colosseum. Dine in a local restaurant.
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Hotel Mantegna, Rome 3 Nights

Day 7 – Rome’s Sistine Chapel & St. Peter’s
This morning experience a guided tour around the Vatican, the world’s smallest independent state, beginning at the Corte della Pigna with an overview of the history of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. See the Hall of Tapestries and the Maps Gallery but the highlight of the tour will be the Sistine Chapel, where the ceiling is covered with Michelangelo’s famous paintings of the “Creation” and “Last Judgment.” Walk across St. Peter’s Square to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in Christendom, to see the famed “Pieta” by Michelangelo and many other treasures including the golden mosaics of the apse. The afternoon and evening are at leisure for further sightseeing in this majestic city and independent dining.
Included Meals: Breakfast

Day 8 – Enjoy an Extra Day
Breakfast is served at the hotel before we enjoy a full day of sightseeing on your own, using a hop-on, hop-off bus pass to get to 13 of the major sites throughout the city. You may choose to ride around on the open-topped bus with a commentary in English and get off to visit places that appeal to you. You may explore the ancient Pantheon, the popular Spanish steps, the romantic Trevi Fountains and the Piazza Navona – you’ll find plenty of wonderful sights on this tour. 
Included Meals: Breakfast

Day 9 – Depart Rome
After breakfast we depart the hotel to Rome Airport for your return flight to the U.S.
Included Meals: Breakfast