Day 1 Board your overnight transatlantic flight.
Day 2 Arrival in Rome, Italy. Time to rest or start exploring the
Eternal City. At 6 p.m. meet your tour director and traveling companions
and leave the hotel for a welcome dinner with wine in one of Rome's
fine restaurants. (D)
Day 3 Rome. Sightseeing with your local guide starts with a visit
to the VATICAN MUSEUMS and SISTINE CHAPEL (arranged next morning
if closed today), world famous for Michelangelo's ceiling paintings
including The Last Judgement. Continue to monumental ST. PETER'S
SQUARE and BASILICA. Proceed across the Tiber for a stroll along
the Via Sacra at the ROMAN FORUM, where Roman Legions marched in
triumph, and finally visit the COLOSSEUM and hear about gladiatorial
combats. Then time for independent activities and exciting optional
excursion possibilities: Tivoli, and an Italian feast at one of
the fine restaurants. (BB)
Day 4 Rome-Florence. Follow the Aurelian Way along the Tyrrhenian
coast to Pisa. Here take your pictures of the amazing Leaning Tower,
180 feet high and no less than 16 feet out of the perpendicular.
Then on to Florence, the splendid capital of Tuscany. (BB,D)
Day 5 Florence. Guided sightseeing includes magnificent SANTA MARIA
DEL FIORE, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistry's heavy bronze "Gate
of Paradise," and sculpture-studded Signoria Square. To top
it off, admire Michelangelo's celebrated David in the GALLERY OF
FINE ARTS. The afternoon is free for independent sightseeing and
browsing through the shops in Piazza Santa Croce. Florentine leather
goods and gold jewelry sold by the ounce are attractive buys. To
give you a chance to dine at a fine Tuscan restaurant of your choice,
we have not included dinner tonight. Ask your tour director for
suggestions. (BB)
Day 6 Florence-Venice. North through the fertile Lombardian plains
to Verona, medieval setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. See
Juliet's Balcony and stroll around the picturesque market square.
In the afternoon, another break on the way to Venice: visit the
six-domed BASILICA OF ST. ANTHONY in Padua. (BB)
Day 7 Venice. Start morning sightseeing in style as you glide by
private boat along the Giudecca canal to meet your resident expert.
Highlights of your walking tour are St. Mark's Square and the Byzantine
splendor of ST. MARK'S BASILICA, lavish DOGES' PALACE and the Bridge
of Sighs. Also watch VENETIAN GLASS BLOWERS fashion their delicate
objects in an age-old traditional manner. Afterwards enjoy Venice
at your own pace, or join an optional gondola ride. Tonight is your
chance to sample the city's fine restaurants. (BB)
Day 8 Venice-Rome. A kaleidoscope of Italian landscapes parades
past the coach windows on the way through the lush plains of the
mighty River Po and across the wooded Etruscan Apennine mountain
range. An exciting detour then takes you off the highway into the
vine- and olive-clad Tuscan Hills which are the home of the popular
Chianti wines. After a lunch break speed south along the Highway
of the Sun. An optional festive dinner at one of Rome's gourmet
restaurants may be just the way to celebrate the success of your
leisurely Italian vacation. (BB)
Day 9 Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (BB)
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