Italy Escorted Tours

Italy is a country of enchanting beauty and endless variety. From the legacy of the ancients to medieval castles to the dynamic cultures of today, travelers find a fascinating blend of influences everywhere they go, from the grandest cities to the tiniest villages, from seaside plains to the high mountains.

Bellow you have a sample description of a Escorted Tour from the whole variation of tours available. For more information please contact Varsovia Travel.

Italy’s Great Cities

Visit all highlights in Rome, Florence and Venice; stop at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Juliet's Balcony in Verona; and drive through the Chianti wine region in Tuscany

Escorted
9 days • Air & Land
8 days • Rome/Rome

Your Travel Value Includes

• Scheduled transatlantic flights and airport transfers in Rome on days 2 and 9 when Brendan issues the tickets
• Services of a professional Tour Director
• Twin-bedded rooms with private bath or shower in hotels listed or equivalent; hotel taxes, service charges, and tips for baggage handling
• 7 buffet breakfasts (BB); 2 three-course dinners (D), including a special Welcome Dinner with wine in Rome
• Private deluxe motorcoach featuring full air-conditioning, extra leg room, and emergency washroom
• Sightseeing with local guides: Rome, Florence, Venice
• Special features: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Michelangelo’s David, Romeo & Juliet’s Verona, private transfer boat in Venice, Chianti country
• Inside visits as shown in bold in the tour description including admission charges where applicable
• Brendan flight bag and portfolio of travel documents

Airport transfers
Rome Fiumicino
Arrival: 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m.
Departure: 6 a.m.-3 p.m.

Itinerary

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 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: Tivoli and a country-style dinner at a local restaurant. (BB)

Day 4 Rome / PISA / 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 12 feet out of the perpendicular. Then on to Florence, the capital of Tuscany. (BB,D)

Day 5 Florence.
Guided sightseeing includes the magnificent Cathedral, 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 Academy of the 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 before continuing to Venice in the afternoon. (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 Basilica, lavish Doges’ Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. Also watch Venetian Glass Bowers 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)