The Best Of Italy (LB) Tour

Welcome to Rome! At 5 pm, meet your Tour Director and traveling companions, and leave the hotel for a special welcome dinner with wine 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, Trevi Fountain, and other sites and squares of medieval Rome made famous in the movie Angels & Demons.

Following the Tiber Valley, reach Orvieto, perched high atop a volcanic rock. Time to browse through tempting shops in the lanes off Piazza del Duomo and to visit the gothic CATHEDRAL with its San Brizio Chapel. Next, drive through the Chianti wine area to the spa resort of Montecatini in Tuscany. [LF] Here, you will of course taste the traditional Cialde di Montecatini, a local biscuit made of almonds and sugar.

The whole day is dedicated to Florence, “Cradle of the Renaissance.” Your guided walking tour includes a visit to Michelangelo’s David in the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. Admire the magnificent cathedral, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry’s heavy bronze “Gate of Paradise,” and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. The afternoon is free to shop for Florentine leather goods and gold jewelry sold by the ounce, which are attractive buys, or to join an optional excursion to the magnificent Uffizi Gallery.

A short drive to Pisa. Take the traditional picture pushing back the amazing Leaning Tower, 180 feet high and no less than 12 feet out of the perpendicular. Next, arrive in Venice, a powerful magnet for romantics and art lovers from around the world. Board your PRIVATE BOAT to Lido Island. This evening, [LF] enjoy a ride by PRIVATE WATER-TAXI to ST. MARK'S SQUARE to discover Venice by night.

Sail to ST. MARK'S SQUARE by PRIVATE BOAT to meet your Local Guide. Highlights of your walking tour are visits to the byzantine ST. MARK’S BASILICA, lavish DOGES’ PALACE and the BRIDGE OF SIGHS. Also watch a skilled GLASSBLOWER fashion delicate objects in an age-old traditional manner. Later, an optional gondola ride is available and why not join an optional excursion to the islands of Burano and Murano.

A scenic drive through the Apennine Mountains to peaceful Assisi, where your Local Guide will take you for a visit to ST. CLARE’S CHURCH and ST. FRANCIS’ BASILICA built above the Saint’s grave.

Arrive at fascinating POMPEII. Meet your Local Guide and start your highlight visit of this Roman city both destroyed and preserved by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. See a patrician home, public baths, and shops that give a striking picture of what day-to-day life was like in Rome at its apex of power. Next, drive to Naples, cross the blue bay by JETFOIL to the beautiful Isle of Capri for your 2-night stay, and ride the FUNICULAR to Capri village.

This morning, enjoy sightseeing with a Local Guide. A highlight is [LF] your OPEN TAXI RIDE to Anacapri to visit famous VILLA SAN MICHELE. Then, [LF] enjoy a BOAT CRUISE (weather permitting) around the island. Afterwards, time to browse through the little shops on the piazzetta. Tonight, [LF] a special dinner with wine and sea view—the perfect ending to your Capri visit.

Speed across the glittering bay to the charming resort of Sorrento. Enjoy time to stroll around and check out the local shops before returning to Rome. This evening, a special farewell dinner with wine at a local restaurant has been prepared for you to say “Arrivederci, Roma!”

Your vacation ends with breakfast this morning.