Welcome to Italy. After being greeted by your Travel Director at Milan's Malpensa Airport, your transfer departs at 09:30 or 12:30. Join your Travel Director at 17:30 and head to local restaurant where your Welcome Dinner provides the opportunity to mingle and get to know your fellow travellers over a pleasant evening.
Continue to the glorious city of Venice.
Wake up ready to embrace this romantic city. What better way to see Venice than from a private boat, cruising past palazzos and churches to St. Mark’s Square? See the gilded basilica, the Doge's Palace and Lord Byron’s Bridge of Sighs. No visit to Venice would be complete without a gondola serenade through the myriad of beautiful canals. Relax and enjoy the local traditional songs, as you drift along in awe. While here, join a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience during a visit to a traditional arts centre, where you can see how beautiful handcrafted glass is made by expert glassblowers, safeguarding traditional skills. Spend the afternoon and evening as you wish or join an Optional Experience to the island of Burano, famous for its colourful houses and enjoy a delicious meal of local specialities.
Follow the fertile valley of the River Po, into the peaceful landscapes of Tuscany. Continue to Pisa and see the Leaning Tower in the Square of Miracles. Later, venture on to beautiful Florence - a treasure house of the Renaissance. Explore Florence with Insight Choice. Choose to visit the Accademia Museum with and see Michelangelo's David. Alternatively, wander through the market stalls on a shopping tour, enjoying all the Italian treats and finery on offer. With your Local Expert, admire the marble-clad cathedral and baptistery, and wander Piazza della Signoria, an open-air gallery filled with Renaissance sculptures. In the evening, dinner is served with a selection of Tuscany's finest wines.
Learn the secrets of traditional Florentine leatherwork when you visit a local workshop to admire the intricate work.The rest of the day is free for you to fully immerse yourself in the Tuscan capital. Perhaps shop for leather or gold goods around Santa Croce or relax and soak up the atmosphere in one of the many street cafés? Be sure not to miss the magnificent museums and galleries that house some of the most famous works of art in the world. In the evening, enjoy an opportunity to sample the true flavours of the region with a sumptuous optional Tuscan dinner, served with local wine.
Journey to Umbrian Orvieto, a hilltop village overlooking a vineyard-covered plain.Explore the town with your Travel Director and visit Piazza del Duomo to admire the cathedral, before continuing towards the Eternal City of Rome.In the evening, why not throw your coin into the Trevi Fountain to ensure your return to the city?
In the morning enjoy the very best of the city's highlights including visiting the magnificent St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. You then gain exclusive fast-tracked priority entry into the Vatican Museums with a Local Expert. Admire the Papal art collection and enter the Sistine Chapel where you'll marvel at Michelangelo's masterpiece on its ceiling. Your visit also includes behind-the-scenes access to a part of the Vatican denied to the general public, the Bramante Staircase. Afterwards, enjoy some free time. In the evening, enjoy an elegant four-course dinner with local wine at a Roman restaurant. As you dine, you'll be serenaded with a private performance of popular songs and arias from some of Italy's best-loved operas.
Bid farewell to the glories of Italy. Departure transfers arrive at Rome’s Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport at 07:00 and 09:30.
Prices shown are per person based on two people sharing a twin room. To request a personalized travel quote, click "Request Quote" and a Travel Specialist will send your custom quote including airfare if requested.
Optional Experiences are subject to change. Your Travel Director will supply you with a final list of Optional Experiences available on your trip. Optional Experiences cannot be booked online; they can be purchased during your trip through your Travel Director.
Available on Day 2
Enjoy a scenic cruise on Italy’s most famous lake. See some of the most beautiful villas in Italy – homes to the rich and famous where many have stayed including Gianni Versace, Sophia Loren, George Clooney, Mussolini and Churchill just to name a few. Afterward, there is free time to enjoy shopping in the boutiques of Como, famous for its silk products.
Adult Price: € 38
Available on Day 2
Venice can be Europe's most romantic city in the evening, offering dramatic landscapes with buildings that dazzle as the sun sets and the lights go on. Sit back and take it all in as private water taxis take you to the center of it all, Piazza San Marco, where we have seats reserved outside a famous Venetian cafe, in front of a live orchestra and in view of those illuminated St Mark's sights. Our private water taxis will also take us the length of the Grand Canal, under the Rialto Bridge, seeing Venice at its most magical.
Adult Price: € 55
An unforgettable introduction to this unique and magical city. We cruise along the Grand Canal by private water taxi, admiring the magnificent and elegant palazzos. We see the Rialto Bridge and then reach "the most beautiful outdoor drawing room in the world" - St. Mark's Square.
Adult Price: € 41
Available on Day 3
Leave the hustle of St Mark's Square behind on a delightful private cruise around the islands of the Venetian lagoon. Alight at the island of Burano, a photographer's paradise, famous for its candy-colored houses, artisan lace makers and leaning bell tower that would give Pisa a good run for its money. Enjoy a superb meal sampling the local specialties with wine included. An excursion not to be missed!
Adult Price: € 72
To only experience Venice's big set pieces - St. Mark's Square; the Rialto; the Grand Canal - is to miss out on a hidden world full of surprises! Join a Local Expert for a fascinating walk through some of the lesser-known quarters of Venice. The back lanes and ‘campi,’ small squares, where tourists seldom tread are full of history and great places to sample local life.
Adult Price: € 34
Available on Day 5
A wonderful excursion with our Local Expert to Tuscany's most famous hill-top town! Visit San Gimignano, considered a medieval Manhattan, due to its towers which dominate the skyline. Soak up the unique atmosphere of this ancient gem which has remained intact since the 14th century and today is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Adult Price: € 36
Florence and Tuscany are renowned for their rich gastronomic heritage. Tonight we'll travel into the hills near Florence to the northernmost part of the Chianti, where a local chef will introduce you to the dishes that make Tuscan cuisine famous throughout the world. This wonderful cooking demonstration, with superb food and wine, will provide warm and genuine Tuscan hospitality.
Adult Price: € 71
Through the Chianti hills, we'll drive past vineyards to a delightful hamlet. Our destination is the ancient stone house of Machiavelli, where the great political theorist wrote his immortal work, ‘The Prince'. After a welcome drink and a visit of the villa and its wine-cellars, we'll enjoy the best of Tuscan cuisine accompanied by great music and drinks, including of course, Chianti from the Villa's own vines.
Adult Price: € 68
Available on Day 6
With our Local Expert, let's take a "passeggiata" (stroll) to enjoy the backstreets and secrets of pedestrian Rome. Be amazed at sights such as the fascinating Pantheon and the beauty of 17th-century fountains and beautiful Piazzas. Come and enjoy the Rome of the Romans.
Adult Price: € 33
Enjoy an evening of delicious Roman cuisine with drinks and a great Italian ambiance.
Adult Price: € 62