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Destination > Europe > Italy

Italian Interlude

Day 1: Home - Venice

Depart on a wide-bodied jet for the overnight flight to Italy. Meals will be served at appropriate times and headsets will be supplied so you may enjoy the full-length movie and the many audio channels available.

Day 2: Venice (D)

Arrive in Venice and transfer by coach from the airport to your hotel. The unique nature of Venice has amazed people since the very beginning of its existence. A city rising in the middle of a lagoon, with water flowing between streets, intruding in front of houses and shops, seemed as strange a thousand years ago as it seems today. Venice is comprised of more than 100 islands, all linked by bridges, making it necessary to walk to most places. Remainder of the time is left free for you to acclimatize yourself to the time change and to have a delicious Italian dinner. Overnight: Mestre

Day 3: Venice (B)

After breakfast, you will take a guided walking tour of this unique city to see the Bridge of Sighs that connects the Doges’ Palace with the prisons, in which Casanova was incarcerated but from which he made a fantastic escape. It dates from the 17C and owes its name to the lamentations of prisoners who were conducted across it to their place of execution. You will also see Doges Palace, Clock Tower, Piazza San Marco and the graceful Rialto Bridge, situated halfway along the canal, built from 1588 to 1592 by Antonio da Ponte, and designed to allow an armed galley to pass under it. The afternoon is free for you to take part in your own activities, and have dinner. Overnight: Mestre

Day 4: Venice - Ravenna - Florence (B, D)

Following breakfast, you will depart this morning by motor coach to the peaceful provincial-looking town of Ravenna. Ravenna dates back to the second millenum BC. Enriched with outstanding monuments and buildings, Ravenna is the richest and best preserved testimony of early Christian and byzantine art in Italy. Then to Florence. Founded by Julius Caesar, Florence is a small compact city: its narrow streets open unexpectedly into spacious squares, populated by strollers and pigeons. A visit to Florence is a visit to the living museum of Italian Renaissance. The Renaissance began right here and the city bears witness to the proud spirit and unparalleled genius of its artists and artisans. This place has more sights to visit within one square kilometre than any other city in Europe. It is also a shopper's paradise - countless shops laden with jewelry of Florentine gold and silver, exquisite leather goods, chic fashion houses, and also of course, the straws market. Arrive in Florence, check in to hotel. Remainder of the time is at leisure. Overnight: Florence

Day 5: Florence (B)

This morning consists of a guided walking tour of the city of Dante, Boccaccio, Botticelli and Da Vinci, in which you will see all the major points of interest. The afternoon is free for your own activities. A great suggestion are two museums that should be visited. The heritage that can be admired today in the Gallerie degli Uffizi is the result of a process of acquisition, selection and rearrangement stretching over several centuries and consists mostly of antique sculpture and paintings ranging from the 13c to 18c. At the Gallerie dell’Accademia, you can see an extraordinary group of Michelangelo sculptures. There are seven in all, the most admired of them being David; the most recognized male nude in the history of art. Overnight: Florence

Day 6: Florence - Siena - Orvieto (B, D)

After breakfast, you will transfer by motor coach from Florence to Siena, arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Italy. In fact, the walled portion of the city still looks very much like it did in the Middle Ages. Then to Orvieto, the important Etruscan centre that later became a papal stronghold. It was at Orvieto that Clement VII took refuge in 1527 when Rome was put to sack by the troops of the French King, Charles V. Orvieto is a pleasant city with its wealth of historic buildings and it enjoys a particularly remarkable site on the top of a plug of volcanic rock. The region produces an enjoyable white wine, the cool and fragrant Orvieto wine. You will arrive in Orvieto, and check in to hotel. Remainder of the time is left free for you to relax or to explore the area with your teachers/chaperons. Overnight: Orvieto

Day 7: Orvieto - Rome (B, D)

Immediately after breakfast, you will transfer by motor coach from Orvieto to Rome. Upon arrival, you will check into the hotel and have free time for your own activities. Overnight: Rome

Day 8: Rome (B)

A fully guided day sightseeing tour of Imperial Rome will cover the major archaeological monuments of the city. Such sites include the Forum, the Colosseum, and the Circus Maximus, and the awe-inspiring Parthenon. Overnight: Rome

Day 9: Rome - Pompeii - Rome (B, D)

Today you will experience a full day excursion to Pompeii, the sumptuous town that was buried under lava during a volcanic eruption of Vesuvius that started in August 24, AD 79. The city tells the story clearly; the tragic figures caught under the ash, crouching under tables, struggling to get upstairs, a mother holding a baby, a horribly contorted dog on a leash. The molten ash made sculptors’ models of them all, which have been used to recreate the bodies displayed in the museum (Antiquarium) at the entrance to the excavation, or returned to their original locations. In Pompeii, the fascination lies in the glimpses of everyday life frozen in time. Drive back by the coastal road with the magnificent view of the Mediterranean. Overnight: Rome

Day 10: Rome - optional side trip to Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa (B)

Today is free for your own activities. Or, you can take an optional trip to Tivoli, a small town on the lower slopes of the Appenines where the River Aniene plunges in cascades into the Roman plain. The villas testify to Tivoli’s importance as a holiday resort from the Roman period through to the Renaissance. Tivoli or Tibur in antiquity came under Roman control in the 4C BC and it was there that a Sibyl prophesied the coming of Jesus Christ to the Emperor Augustus. See also Hadrian’s Villa, which was probably the richest building project in antiquity and was designed entirely by Hadrian (76 – 138), who had visited every part of the Roman empire. Although the succeeding emperors probably continued to visit Tivoli, the villa was soon forgotten and fell into ruin. Overnight: Rome

Day 11: Rome - Home (B)

Arrivederci Roma! Transfer to the airport for your flight home, arriving home the same afternoon.

Tour includes:

Air: Home - Venice / Rome - Home
9 nights hotel accommodation with private facilities - Participants in triple or quad bedded rooms. Chaperones in twin occupancy.
Breakfast daily
5 dinners as shown
Arrival transfer from Venice airport to hotel
Half-day guided walking tour of Venice
Transfer by motorcoach to Ravena then to Florence
Half day guided walking tour of Florence
Transfer by motorcoach to Siena, then to Orvieto
Transfer by motorcoach to Rome
Full day guided tour of Imperial Rome
Full day excursion to Pompeii
Departure transfer from Rome hotel to airport for flight home

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