8 Days Winter Taste Of Italy Tour Package

Duration: 8 Days / 7 Nights
Priced From: $1,419 pp Dbl. Occ.
Dates: Nov, Dec, Jan - Apr

Enjoy a week in Italy, visiting its highlight cities and covering all the notable features from St. Peter's, the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum and the Forum in Rome to Michelangelo's David in Florence and St. Mark's Basilica and the Doges' Palace in Venice. Local Guides in these cities will answer all your questions. Also included is a special welcome dinner with wine in a lively Roman restaurant, and an entire free day in Venice offers the opportunity to join an optional excursion to the charming island of Burano. Scenic rides will show you the flat Po area, the wooded Apennine mountain range, and Tuscany's Chianti wine country. In Venice, a private boat ride is included. Headsets for clear commentary provided throughout the tour.

Day 2 Arrive in Rome

Saint Peter's Square in Rome, Ita

Time to rest or start exploring the Eternal City. At 6 pm, meet 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

Sightseeing with your Local Guide this morning concentrates on ancient Rome: visit the COLOSSEUM  Story aboutThe Colosseum
"Thanks to Hollywood recreations such as Gladiator, nothing symbolizes the cruelty of Imperial Rome as much as the Colosseum. In truth, the games held there were even more extreme and theatrical than modern film directors dare to suggest. A day at the Empire’s most famous arena was a total entertainment package, mixing bouts of savage violence with solemn religious pageantry, sexual titillation, slapstick comedy and kitschy stage shows."
and the ROMAN FORUM  Story aboutThe Roman Forum
"Visitors can be a little confused by the Roman Forum; at first glance, it is a rather lifeless array of marble fragments. But we must remember that in ancient times, this space was far more than the temples and monuments whose ruins we can explore today. It was filled with bustling, noisy life as the popular crossroads of the city – the predecessor, in fact, of the modern Italian piazza. Every morning at dawn, average Romans would escape their cramped, dark apartment blocks (called insulae, or “islands”) and spent their days outdoors. "
, where Roman legions marched in triumph. Then, time for independent activities and exciting optional excursion possibilities. (B)

Day 4 Rome–Florence

Visit stunning Florence and the Ponte Vecchio

 Start with a guided visit to the VATICAN MUSEUMS  Story aboutVatican Museums
"In the early 1500s, Rome was full of neglected ruins from the days of the ancient Empire, which still contained artworks buried amongst the rubble. The Renaissance had seen a sudden growth of interest in all things classical, and the popes – cultivated men who were in touch with the intellectual currents of the day – were the richest art collectors in Italy. They began offering substantial cash rewards for any sculptures, until Rome was scoured by freelance treasure hunters on the hunt for pagan masterpieces. The most dramatic discovery occurred in 1506, when a Roman father-and-son team of excavators reported a promising find near the ruined Baths of Titus. The artist Michelangelo himself excitedly hurried over to help with the work, followed by the pope’s official agent, Guiliano da Sangallo. When the excavators brushed away the dirt of 1,000 years, they found an enormous marble sculpture, perfectly intact, of a muscular Trojan hero being attacked by giant snakes. Guilano cried out in amazement, “This is the very Laocoön described by (the ancient Roman author) Pliny!” The sculpture was carted off to the Vatican Museum."
and SISTINE CHAPEL

The Sistine Chapel is world famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling paintings

, world famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling paintings and The Last Judgement. Next, visit monumental ST. PETER’S SQUARE and BASILICA. In the early afternoon, drive along the Highway of the Sun north into Tuscany
See the vineyard covered hillsides of Tuscany

and its hill-clad vineyards. Then, on to Florence, “Cradle of the Renaissance.” (B)

Day 5 Florence

Follow your Local Guide to the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS with Michelangelo’s celebrated David

Admire the detailed craftsmanship of Michelangelo's David

and the magnificent CATHEDRAL. Admire Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry’s heavy bronze “Gate of Paradise,” and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE  Story aboutLa Piazza Della Signoria
"What’s the best vantage point to ponder the most illustrious town square in Florence, the Signoria? An outdoor table in the venerable Caffè Rivoire – preferably over a delicious, if not painfully expensive cioccolata con pane, a dark and mud-thick hot chocolate. Late at night, when the crowds have gone, you can search the long shadows and imagine that very little has changed here since the 1400s. The Signoria is the most elegant sculpture garden in Europe. Masterpieces include the splendid Neptune Fountain by Ammannati, Hercules and Cacus by Bandinelli and a precise copy of Michelangelo’s David, all strategically poised in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. This grand public space has been the centerpiece of Florence since the 15th Century, the golden age when the city was established as the most beautiful in Europe. Eminent merchants in their ostentatious finery met here to discuss business in the midst of Florence’s raucous daily life."
. The afternoon is free. Florentine leather goods and gold jewelry sold by the ounce are attractive buys. You may wish to join an optional dinner outing to a fine Tuscan restaurant and try out the Chianti wines. (B)

Day 6 Florence–Venice

Venice is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world

Through the wooded Apennine Hills and the lush plains of the River Po, the largest river in Italy, to Venice, a powerful magnet for romantics and art lovers from around the globe. Enter 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  Story aboutBridge of Sighs
"The world’s most poetically-named bridge, Il Ponte dei Sospiri, the Bridge of Sighs, was built in 1614 so that prisoners of the Venetian state could be transferred in secret from the Doge’s Palace to the so-called Nuovi Prigioni, or New Prisons. The wistful name was actually conceived by the English poet Lord Byron in the early 1800s that imagined the horror of prisoners taking their last glimpse of Venice before going underground to captivity. "
. Also watch skilled GLASSBLOWERS fashion their delicate objects in an age-old traditional manner. (B)

Day 7 At Leisure in Venice

A whole day to explore Venice on your own, join the locals, have a cappuccino at a sidewalk café, or wander through the narrow streets and discover Rialto Bridge. To top it all, why not join an optional cruise to the charming island of Burano, followed by a dinner of local specialties to celebrate the success of your Italian vacation? (B)

Day 8

Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (B)