Day 1 – Welcome to Rome!
Tour begins: 6:30 PM at Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi. Your family’s Italy vacation begins with an included transfer from Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino to the Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi near the Borghese Gardens. It has a great swimming pool if you’d like to take a swim after your long flight. Join us this evening for a welcome reception and dinner where you’ll meet your Director and the new friends who will enjoy the sweet life with you as your Italy vacation unfolds.
Meals: Dinner
Lodging: Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi, Rome

Day 2 – Gladiators and a nighttime tour of Rome
The first day of your Italy vacation begins with a visit to the famous Colosseum, the place for all sorts of “entertainment” in ancient Rome. 55,000 amusement-seeking Roman residents could all find seats to watch gladiators battle each other, chariots race around and around, and even mock sea battles when the arena was flooded to provide the sea. After some free time, take a walking tour to visit the famous Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona with its beautiful Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini, and Trevi Fountain. It’s said that you’re sure to return to Rome if you turn your back to the fountain and throw three coins into it over your left shoulder while wishing very hard. Visit the Gothic Santa Maria sopra Minerva Basilica as well as the Church of St. Ignatius, which was once the chapel for the Roman College and is today the site of important concerts and other festivities involving international orchestras and choirs. Your family is in for a real treat tonight as you see Rome’s amazing sights all lit up and wrapped in a golden glow during a tour of the city. It will be a treasured memory of your Italy vacation.
Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi, Rome

Day 3 – The world’s smallest sovereign state
When you visit the Vatican today on your Italy vacation, it may be hard to keep in mind that there is a whole lot more to it than meets the eye. Yes, of course there is the gigantic Basilica of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Square, and the Vatican Museums. You’ll also see Michelangelo’s amazing ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, tons of artistic treasures in the Vatican Museums and discover what’s inside huge St. Peter’s Basilica. And, yes, the Vatican is the center of the Catholic Church and the place where the Pope lives. But, when you enter the Vatican, you leave Italy because the Vatican is an independent nation (the world’s smallest) and also a community. As you admire all the famous sites to see at the Vatican, see if you can spot signs that it is a country and a community, too. You might see its army, the famous Swiss Guards, its libraries and stores, its postal system at work or one of its international diplomats hurrying along on official Vatican business.
Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi, Rome

Day 4 – The story of Pompeii
Your Italy vacation continues as you travel from Rome to Naples by the very fast TAV train thought the Italian countryside before going on to Pompeii. When mighty Mount Vesuvius blew its top on August 24th in 79 AD, the tons of pumice and hot ash that fell on Pompeii totally buried the city and everyone in it. Pompeii slept hidden under that “blanket” until it was rediscovered in 1748 and excavation began. Today, the streets of the city are very much like they were on the day before the volcano erupted; many of the buildings have been so wonderfully restored that it almost seems as if the residents have just stepped away for a minute. Your family will leave Pompeii with a very good sense of what daily life was like during the 1st century AD. Your family Italy vacation continues in Sorrento, a beautiful place nestled between the mountains and the sea with great views of the powerful volcano known as Mt. Vesuvius and the Gulf of Naples. After a walking tour of the city, you’ll understand why the Italian song, Come Back to Sorrento, sums it up so well.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Hilton Sorrento Palace, Sorrento

Day 5 – Captivating Capri
Today, your Italy vacation takes you across the Gulf of Naples by jet foil to the enchanting Isle of Capri. Once there, board a smaller, private boat to explore Capri’s rugged coast, visit the famous grottos and see the fabulous Faraglioni rocks. After lunch and some leisure time, hop into a convertible and pretend you’re famous as you wave to the crowd on the road to Anacapri before returning to the pier to catch your jet foil back to Sorrento for a free afternoon and evening to spend with your family doing whatever pleases you most.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Lodging: Hilton Sorrento Palace, Sorrento

Day 6 – The amazing Amalfi Coast
If you like roller coasters, you’ll love the drive along the Amalfi Coast today! The road seems to sometimes go straight up, sometimes straight down and careens around sharp corners at the edge of the cliffs. Take a walking tour in Positano, a cool town that seems to be holding on to its cliff-side perch for dear life, before climbing aboard a boat bound for Amalfi to look up at the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast now above you. There may even be time for a swim before lunch at a hidden cove. In lovely Amalfi, you’ll see some of this old medieval town before learning how to make paper at a paper factory. Later on, visit a family farm in the country and find out how cheese and other tasty treats are made. Then, try your hand at using that cheese as a professional chef shows you how to make your very own pizza during our special farewell dinner. You’ll have a chance to find out what Neapolitan music is all about – you may just find some new tunes for your MP3 player! Finally, work off all those pizza calories as you learn to do the toe-tapping Tarantella, a dance thought to be a cure for a spider bite in the Middle Ages; it involves a lot of whirling around, and takes a lot of energy!
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Lodging: Hilton Sorrento Palace, Sorrento

Day 7 – Journey home
Tour ends: Sorrento. Your family’s Italy vacation ends with an included transfer from the Hilton Sorrento Palace to Naples International Airport. Please allow 2 1/2 hours for airport check-in formalities. We wish you a safe and pleasant journey home. Arrivederci!
Meals: Breakfast

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