Welcome to Venice! At 6 pm, meet your Tour Director and travelling companions for a welcome dinner at your hotel. (D)
After a PRIVATE BOAT RIDE, follow your Local Guide on a walking tour and visit ST. MARK'S SQUARE with its byzantine Basilica, lavish DOGES' PALACE, and the BRIDGE OF SIGHS. Also, watch a skilled GLASSBLOWER fashion delicate objects in an age-old traditional manner. You may wish to enjoy an optional gondola serenade. (B)
A scenic drive across the Apennines brings you to Pisa. In the spectacular Square of Miracles, take a humorous picture appearing to hold up the amazing Leaning Tower, 180 feet high and no less than 12 feet out of the perpendicular. Arrive in Florence, "Cradle of the Renaissance." Tonight is your chance to try Tuscan specialties. (B) Today's Distance: 280 mi / 450 km
Follow your Local Guide to the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS to see Michelangelo's celebrated statue of David. Also, admire the magnificent marble cathedral, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistry's heavy bronze "Gates of Paradise," and the sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. Continue to peaceful Assisi. (B,D) Today's Distance: 130 mi / 210 km
This morning a friar will accompany you on a visit 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. Tonight, in the "Eternal City," an optional dinner is available at one of Rome's famous restaurants. (B) Today's Distance: 124 mi / 200 km
Guided sightseeing includes inside visits to the VATICAN MUSEUMS and SISTINE CHAPEL with Michelangelo's The Last Judgment, monumental ST. PETER'S SQUARE, and BASILICA to admire Michelangelo's Pieta. Drive to the area of the Imperial Roman Forum and visit the COLOSSEUM where gladiators once fought. An optional walking tour with a Local Guide is available to further explore famous sites. (B)
Take a scenic drive south along the Highway of the Sun. Arrive in fascinating POMPEII, the Roman city both destroyed and preserved by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Your Local Guide will walk you past patrician homes, public baths, and commercial districts that strikingly recall day-to-day life when Rome was at the apex of her power. Continue further south past Naples and arrive in Sorrento. (B) Today's Distance: 193 mi / 310 km
On an orientation walk with your Tour Director see the Old Town's characteristic lava-stone streets and the Sedil Dominova building, the ancient bell tower, and Sant'Antonino Church dedicated to Sorrento's patron saint. Your Tour Director will have suggestions on how to spend the rest of the day. This evening, a farewell dinner awaits at your hotel. (B,D)
Your holiday ends with breakfast this morning. (The nearest airport is Naples.) (B)