9 Days Umbria's Treasures Luxury Tour Package
Duration: 9 Days / 8 Nights
Priced From: $1,569 pp dbl. occ.
Dates: Sep 

Enjoy a unique in-depth Italy vacation in the fascinating region of Umbria and learn about the mysterious Etruscans. Your trip starts and ends in Rome, where you enjoy a welcome dinner with wine at a local restaurant. On your sightseeing tour of Rome, visit St. Peter’s Square and Basilica. Stay five nights in Assisi and hear all about St. Francis and St. Clare, as you visit their basilicas with a Local Guide. On your tour, you also visit the Carceri Hermitage, where St. Francis came to meditate and pray, the Monastery of St. Damian, and St. Mary of the Angels Basilica. Spend a full day in unique Gubbio, where St. Francis tamed the wolf. Enjoy walking tours of Perugia, named by Henry James “the city of the infinite view,” and Spoleto, famous for its Festival dei Due Mondi held each summer. Stops are also made in Orvieto, perched high atop a volcanic rock, and in Todi to admire the three sets of walls: Etruscan, Roman, and medieval. A full day at leisure allows the opportunity to join an optional wine tasting in Montepulciano in Tuscany, and an optional excursion to magnificent Spello is available as well. This trip to Italy is sure to leave you with vacation memories to last a lifetime.

Day 2 Arrival in Rome, Italy
Time to rest or start exploring the “Eternal City.” At 6 pm, join your Tour Director and traveling companions and leave the hotel for a special welcome dinner with wine at one of Rome’s lively restaurants. (D)

Day 3 Rome–Orvieto–Assisi
This morning, enjoy an orientation drive of Rome including a visit to ST. PETER’S SQUARE and BASILICA before entering Umbria, the “green heart of Italy,” and land of the Etruscans. Stop in Orvieto, perched high atop a volcanic rock, and ride a FUNICULAR right through the forbidding ramparts. Time to browse through tempting shops in the lanes off Piazza del Duomo and to take pictures of the fabulous gothic cathedral. Continue to Assisi, where you will stay for the next five nights. (B,D)

Day 4 Assisi
Your walking tour with a Local Guide starts with visits to the CHURCH OF ST. CLARE and the BASILICA OF ST. FRANCIS, the hub of a religious order devoted to the ideals of humility, forgiveness, simplicity, and love for all God’s creatures. Also visit the CARCERI HERMITAGE, where St. Francis came to meditate and pray; the MONASTERY OF ST. DAMIAN, where St. Francis received his calling and where St. Clare died in 1253; and ST. MARY OF THE ANGELS BASILICA, where St. Francis consecrated St. Clare as the “Bride of Christ.” You may wish to join an optional excursion to magnificent Spello. (B)

Day 5 Assisi. Excursion to Gubbio
Full day in Gubbio, the town where St. Francis tamed the wolf. Follow your Local Guide and admire the impressive Palazzo dei Consoli overlooking Piazza Grande, the 13th-century cathedral, and magnificent Palazzo Ducale with its elegant courtyard. For a panoramic view, ride a CABLE CAR to the San Ubaldo Basilica, which is famous as the end station for the Race of the Ceri, held in May. Tonight, you may wish to join an optional dinner outing with typical Umbrian specialties at a local taverna. (B)

Day 6 At Leisure in Assisi
Full day at leisure to relax or to further explore the city. An interesting optional outing is available to Pienza, renowned for pecorino cheese, and to the Montepulciano wine area in Tuscany. Return to Assisi in the afternoon. (B)

Day 7 Assisi. Excursion to Perugia and Todi
Start your day in Perugia, capital of Umbria, and nowadays an important university town. A guided walking tour features the PIAZZA IV NOVEMBRE, one of the grandest squares in Italy, graced by the Fontana Maggiore. Admire the gothic cathedral, the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, and Perugia’s stunning medieval municipal palace. Time to explore on your own and do not forget to shop for chocolates and other specialties, for which the town is famous, on Corso Vannucci. Next, visit hilltop Todi, originally an Etruscan frontier settlement, and a prosperous town during the Middle Ages. It still has its three sets of walls: Etruscan, Roman, and medieval. On Piazza del Popolo, marvel at the 13th-century palaces, and from the terrace of PIAZZA GARIBALDI, enjoy a panoramic view of the valley and hills of Umbria before returning to Assisi. (B)

Day 8 Assisi–Spoleto–Rome
Leave Assisi, and stop in Spoleto, a former Roman municipium and capital of an important Lombard duchy from the 6th to the 8th centuries. Spoleto is famous for the annual Festival dei Due Mondi, held each summer since 1958. During your walking tour with a Local Guide take pictures of the former Papal fortress La Rocca, which was used as a high-security prison until 1982, admire the Ponte delle Torri, erected on the foundations of a Roman aqueduct, and visit PIAZZA DEL DUOMO. Tonight, why not join an optional dinner with your traveling companions to celebrate the success of your vacation? (B)

Day 9
Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (B)

9/09