Venice, Florence & Rome

Benvenuto-welcome! Your Local Host is available to help you maximize your time in this automobile-free, romantic city.

Morning guided sightseeing and orientation with headset; see St. Mark's Square and Basilica with its exceptional gold mosaics. Visit Doges' Palace and the evocative Bridge of Sighs. Watch skilled glassblowers fashion their delicate objects in the age-old manner and learn why glassmaking was so important in Venetian history. Entrances to Marciana Library, and the Correr and Archaeological Museums are included; ask your Local Host for details.

Full day to explore this intriguing city of canals and bridges at your own pace. Your Local Host can help you with information.

Morning transfer to the high-speed train (first-class) to Florence.

Morning guided sightseeing, with headset, includes a visit of the Academy of Fine Arts with Michelangelo's original David (the Academy is replaced with the Duomo Museum on Mondays and on the first Sunday of each month). Walk through Piazza del Duomo; sculpture-studded Piazza della Signoria, the center of the city's political life since the 14th century; and Santa Croce Square. Also admire medieval Ponte Vecchio, the arched, stone merchant bridge spanning the Arno River.

Your Local Host can help you plan your day in this splendid Renaissance city, with suggestions such as a visit to the aromatic Old Pharmacy of Santa Maria Novella with it's soaps, perfumes, and lotions.

This morning, board the high-speed train (first-class) to Rome.

Your morning guided sightseeing, with headset, is rich in religious and ancient history. Visit the Vatican museums to see its amazing treasures. In the Sistine chapel, where the Conclave is held to elect new Popes, view Michelangelo's The Last Judgment and his famous ceiling paintings. Also on the agenda today, see monumental St. Peter's Square and Basilica, built in 313 AD above St. Peter the Apostle's tomb and home to Michelangelo's masterpiece Renaissance sculpture, the Pietà. Cross the Tiber River and continue your immersion in history at the iconic Colosseum, built for 50,000 spectators, and the Roman Forum, where the oldest structures of the ancient city are located. (Please note the Vatican Museums are closed on Wednesdays and Sundays, therefore if your included sightseeing falls on those days, your alternate sightseeing will include Trevi Fountain, a true masterpiece and icon of Rome, Palazzo Chigi, the heart of Italian political life, an inside visit of the Pantheon, and world-renowned Piazza Navona. Your tour concludes with a visit of the Colosseum and Roman Forum.)

Your Local Host will have suggestions so you can make the most of your day, such as where to find the ancient Marcellus open-air theater, with part of it's original exterior still visible; or how to assure your return to the "Eternal City" by tossing a coin into Trevi Fountain!

Your vacation ends with breakfast this morning.