Included | Itinerary
Hotels | Departures & Prices

11 Days priced from $1,349 us
Admire Rome's treasures and the Renaissance splendor
 of Florence, taste Chianti wine in Tuscany, cruise the canals of Venice,
 and enjoy St. Francis' Basilica in Assisi

Included Features
ROME Sightseeing with local guide including headsets, visit St. Peter's Square and Basilica,Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, Colosseum and Roman Forum		VERONA Orientation including picture stops at Juliet's Balcony and the Arena
OSTIA ANTICA Guided visit of the excavations		VENICE Private boat-ride,glass blowers' demonstration, sightseeing with local guide including headsets, visit St. Mark's Square and Basilica, Doges' Palace
PISA Picture stop at the Leaning Tower, visit Cathedral Square		RAVENNA Visit the St. Apollinaris in Classe Basilica
SAN GIMIGNANO Orientation		ASSISI Sightseeing with local guide and visit St. Francis' Basilica
SIENA Orientation including Piazza del Campo		ORVIETO Ride a funicular through the ramparts and visit the Orvieto Cathedral
CHIANTI COUNTRY Wine tasting in Verazzano Castle		SCENIC HIGHLIGHTS:  Tyrrhenian Coast,Tuscany, Chianti wine area, Apennine Mountains, Po Plain, Adriatic Coast
FLORENCE Sightseeing with local guide including headsets, visit the Cathedral and Michelangelo's David		INCLUDED MEALS:  9 buffet breakfasts (BB);4 three-course dinners (D), including a special welcome dinner with wine

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Day 1 Board your overnight transatlantic flight.

Day 2 Arrival in Rome, Italy. Welcome to a sunny, history-steeped land, home of exuberant, friendly, hospitable people who take art as seriously as the pursuit of ever more refined culinary pleasures. At 6 p.m. meet your tour director and traveling companions and leave the hotel for a special 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 and The Last Judgement. Continue to monumental ST. PETER'S SQUARE and BASILICA. Proceed across the Tiber for a stroll along the Via Sacra in 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.[BB]

Day 4 Rome-Pisa. Expertly guided morning visit to OSTIA ANTICA at the mouth of the Tiber, home port for ancient Rome's conquest of the Mediterranean. Hear about surprisingly sophisticated urban living more than 2,000 years before our time as you visit a trading mall, an inviting tavern and the luxurious Forum Baths. Afterwards head north along the Tyrrhenian coastline through an area where many a town was founded at the very beginning of recorded history by the mysterious, highly civilized Etruscans. Mid-afternoon arrival in Pisa, and plenty of time to wander around dazzling CATHEDRAL SQUARE. Built during the 12th and 13th centuries when the maritime republic was at its apex of wealth and power, the cathedral is considered the cradle of medieval Italian art. Take your pictures of its elegant but precariously leaning belfry, I8O feet high and no less than 12 feet out of the perpendicular. [BB,D]

Day 5 Pisa-Florence. Look forward to an unforgettable journey through Tuscany's landscape of gently rolling, vine-clad hills. Morning visit to hilltop San Gimignano, the most picturesque of Italy's perfectly preserved medieval towns. On to Siena for a leisurely lunchtime break. Follow your tour director on a 30-minute walk through ancient narrow lanes to beautiful Piazza del Campo, theater of the biannual Palio, Siena's spectacular medieval-style horse race. In the afternoon, a particularly scenic ride along the Chianti Road leading from Siena due north to Florence. On the way call at splendid VERRAZZANO CASTLE to hear about the fine art of blending four types of grapes to obtain the famous Chianti Classico. Taste the wine as the local connoisseurs do, accompanied by local specialties. [BB,D]

Day 6 Florence. A full day to savor the Renaissance splendor of the Tuscan capital. Guided sightseeing includes the magnificent CATHEDRAL, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistry's heavy bronze "Gate of Paradise," and scripture studded Signoria Square. To top it off, admire Michelangelo's celebrated David in the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. Afternoon free for independent sightseeing and browsing through the shops. Leather goods and gold jewelry sold by the ounce are attractive buys. Try the culinary delights of a fine Florentine restaurant tonight. [BB]

Day 7 Florence-Verona-Venice. A scenic drive through the Apennine mountain range and the fertile Po Plain brings you to Verona, setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. See Juliet's Balcony and stroll around the lovely market square. Take your pictures of the Arena, an incredible well-preserved pink marble Roman amphitheater. Built in the 1st century A.D., it is now the magical venue for world-famous opera performances. Tonight you are in Venice, a powerful magnet for romantics and art lovers from around the globe. [BB]

Day 8 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 BASILICA, lavish
DOGES' PALACE, and the Bridge of Sighs. Also watch VENETIAN GLASS BLOWERS fashion their delicate objects in an age-old traditional manner. Then 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 9 Venice-Ravenna-Assisi. Along the coastline of the Adriatic Sea to Ravenna. Here see the famous mosaics in the 6th-century Basilica of ST APOLLINARIS IN CLASSE. In the afternoon arrive in Assisi. From St. Clare's church enjoy a pleasant walk with your local guide, via pretty Piazza del Comune
down to ST. FRANCIS' BASILICA, the hub of a religious order devoted to the ideals of humility, forgiveness, simplicity, and love for all God's creatures. Hear about monastic life, and view the priceless frescoes adorning the walls of the church. [BB,D]

Day 10 Assisi-Rome. After a scenic drive along the Tiber valley reach Orvieto, perched high atop a volcanic rock. Access, denied to many a would-be conqueror through the ages, is easy for you. Ride a modern funicular right through the forbidding ramparts. Time for lunch, browsing through tempting shops in the lanes off Piazza del Duomo, and finding the right angle for a picture of the fabulous Gothic facade of ORVIETO CATHEDRAL. In the late afternoon return to Rome. Tonight your tour director will suggest an optional festive dinner at one of Rome's fine restaurants to bid farewell to the companions of a memorable Italian vacation. [BB]

Day 11 Your homebound flight arrives the same day [BB]

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QUALITY HOTELS

ROME Cicerone
PISA Grand Hotel Duomo or Jolly Cavalieri 
FLORENCE Sheraton Firenze 
VENICE All'Angelo 
ASSISI San Francesco or Windsor Savoia or Giotto
ROME Holiday Inn Rome West or Villa Pamphili  or Crowne Plaza St. Peter's

DEPARTURE DATES & PRICES

Leaves almost weekly throughout the year. Contact The Travel Center/Unique Journeys for exact dates & prices.

	Airfares are based on departure from New York
	Departure/arrival taxes and fares from other cities will be advised at the time of booking.
	Extra nights in Rome can be arranged.

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