Italy’S Great Cities (LJ) Tour

Welcome to Rome! At 5 pm, meet your Tour Director and traveling companions, and leave the hotel for a special welcome dinner at one of Rome’s lively restaurants.

Enjoy Globus’ unique guided sightseeing, including inside visits to all highlights of religious and ancient Rome: the VATICAN MUSEUMS and SISTINE CHAPEL with Michelangelo’s ceiling paintings and The Last Judgment, monumental ST. PETER’S SQUARE and BASILICA to admire Michelangelo’s Pietà, the amazing COLOSSEUM, and the ROMAN FORUM, where Roman legions marched in triumph. To make the most of your stay, join our optional walking tour, and see the Spanish Steps, and other sites and squares of medieval Rome made famous in the movie Angels & Demons.

Follow the Aurelian Way along the Tyrrhenian coast and enter Tuscany. In Pisa, take the traditional picture pushing back the amazing Leaning Tower, then continue to Florence, “Cradle of the Renaissance.” Tonight is your chance to try out local specialties on an optional dinner outing to a fine Tuscan restaurant.

Guided sightseeing features a visit to the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS to see Michelangelo’s celebrated David. Admire the magnificent marble cathedral, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry’s heavy bronze “Gate of Paradise,” and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. [LF] Taste a gelato artigianale (traditional ice cream).

A special visit to Verona, medieval setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Take pictures of Juliet’s balcony and rub the shining breast on her statue for good luck. Next, admire the Arena, an incredibly well-preserved pink marble Roman amphitheater, where gladiators used to fight. Built in the 1st century AD, it is now the magical venue for world-famous opera performances. [LF] Enjoy a tortellini lunch at Rubiani restaurant on lively Piazza Bra. Arrive in Venice, a powerful magnet for romantics and art lovers from around the globe.

Start the day in style by PRIVATE BOAT and meet your Local Guide. Highlights of your walking tour are ST. MARK’S SQUARE and the byzantine BASILICA, lavish DOGES’ PALACE and the BRIDGE OF SIGHS. Also watch a skilled GLASSBLOWER fashion delicate objects in an age-old traditional manner. Afterwards, enjoy Venice at your own pace or join an optional cruise to the charming island of Burano.

A scenic drive today through the lush plains of the mighty Po River to Ferrara. Stroll past imposing Este Castle to the marble cathedral before continuing to Rome across the wooded Apennine mountain range, past the vine- and olive-clad Tuscan Hills, home of the popular Chianti wine. This evening, [LF] a nice walk to a local restaurant for a special farewell dinner with wine is the best way to say “Arrivederci, Roma.”

Your vacation ends with breakfast this morning.