04/07/2023
Italy 2024- Venice-Florence-Tuscany-Rome-Naples
You are invited to join Dennis and Joan Telmank on a customized tour Italy 13-25 OCT 2024. We have eliminated all the hassles of touring with only 3 hotel rooms, eliminating packing and unpacking, the early morning luggage outside the door, the ridiculous departure times, and traveling with folks you do not know. Travel in comfort on a trip of a lifetime.
Below is a detailed Itinerary that is to good to be refused.
DAY 1: 13OCT DEPART Overnight flight (included)
DAY 2: 14OCT ARRIVE VENICE
Upon arrival, you will meet your English-speaking assistant who will es**rt the group by private water taxi from Venice airport to your hotel.
This afternoon, take a guided walking tour in the heart of Venice. See St. Mark's Square, the heart of political and religious power of the Venetian Republic for centuries. Learn the history that lies behind the walls of its most famous landmarks: the Basilica and its Byzantine heritage, the Doge's Palace and the Prisons that retain the true secrets to comprehend how a city built on swamps became one of the most enlightened cities in the western world. See the Bridge of Sighs and learn about its romantic traditions. You will see Marco Polo's House, a Merchants’ Warehouse, explore the lively Campo Santa Maria Formosa and the Church of San Giovanni e Paolo (the Pantheon of Venice). The walk ends at the evocative Rialto Bridge overlooking the Grand Canal and the Rialto Market. Return back to the hotel for an evening at leisure.
Accommodation: Hotel Ca Dei Conti or similar (2 Nights)
DAY 3: 15OCT MURANO & BURANO (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Enjoy a guided 4-hour private tour to Murano and Burano on your own private boat with a private guide.
After being picked up by your Guide at your hotel, take in the sights as you sail past the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, the Public Gardens, the tip of Sant'Elena and the famous Arsenal of the Venetian Republic. The first stop on your tour is Murano, known throughout the world for its glass manufacturing industry. Here we stop to visit to one of the most famous and ancient glass factories, where you will enjoy a live glass blowing demonstration performed by a Maestro Glass Maker. The second stop is at the picturesque island of Burano, famous not only for its lace but also for the fishermen's houses painted in bright colours. Relax and enjoy a coffee before your guide will bring you back to your hotel or to
Venice Centre. Afternoon free at group leisure
DAY 4: 16OCT VENICE – FLORENCE (B)
Breakfast and check out of the hotel. Take your private water taxi, es**rted by an English-speaking assistant, to the train station and travel by high-speed train to Florence (late morning departure time TBD). Upon arrival, meet with your English-speaking assistant and transfer by private bus from Firenze Santa Maria Novella Train Station to your hotel. The rest of the day is at your leisure. Accommodation: Hotel De La Ville or similar (4 Nights)
DAY 5: 17OCT FLORENCE (B)
Breakfast at the hotel. Head to the Academia Gallery for a private guided tour.
The Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence is an Italian state museum, located in Via Ricasoli next to the Academy of Fine Arts. The gallery exhibits the largest number of Michelangelo's sculptures in the world (as many as seven), including the famous David. After the tour, you will have some free time to grab lunch on your own, before embarking on a private guided walking tour of Florence. Florence has always been one of my favourite Italian cities of art. Elegant, rich in history and culture, lively. A city that was the cradle of the Renaissance and the birthplace of great artists, from Dante to Boccaccio, from Michelangelo to Brunelleschi and Leonardo da Vinci. A city that, step by step, makes you dream of returning to the splendour of the Medici era. A city on a human scale, where you can stroll leisurely and lose yourself in the less crowded alleys.
DAY 6: 18OCT VERRAZZANO WINERY (B,L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Depart by private bus for a half day at Castello di Verrazzano with winery tour and lunch tastings.
Between Florence and Siena, in the territory of Greve in Chianti, stands the Castello di Verrazzano. Initially an Etruscan and then a Roman settlement, it has maintained its boundaries virtually unchanged for about 1000 years, making it a stable outpost in a land marked by centuries of family and political strife. In Verrazzano, the tradition of wine is very old. The estate's vineyards and olive groves are described in an 1150 manuscript of the Badia di Passignano . Enjoy a guided tour of the castle gardens and the historic ageing cellars, followed by an assisted tasting of a selection of our best wines from organic farming, accompanied by a rich selection of gastronomic products made with excellent Tuscan raw materials and served in the winery's Osteria. At the end of the visit return back to the hotel. Afternoon at leisure.
DAY 7: 19OCT SIENA (B)
Breakfast at the hotel. Depart by private bus in direction of Siena.
Enjoy a private, guided tour of of the walled city of Siena, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk around this magnificent medieval city, admiring site such as the impressive Piazza del Campo, where the famous Patio delle Contrade celebrations are held every year, and the 12th-14th century Cathedral, one of the most imposing in Italy. After the visit, return back to the hotel.
Afternoon free at group leisure
DAY 8: 20OCT FLORENCE – ROME (B)
Breakfast and check out of the hotel. Meet you English-speaking assistant for your transfer by private bus from the hotel to Firenze Santa Maria Novella Train Station and travel by high-speed train to Rome (late morning departure time TBD). Upon arrival, an English-speaking assistant will meet the group for the transfer by private bus from Roma Termini Train Station to your hotel.
In the afternoon, meet your private tour guide for an afternoon walking tour of Baroque Rome. It will be a walk through the streets of the city centre. You will see Piazza Spagna, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon (with an outside visit) and Piazza Navona.
Accommodation: Hotel Trevi Collection or similar (5 Nights)
DAY 9: 21OCT VATICAN CITY (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Depart by private bus and transfer from the hotel to Via Leone IV (Vatican Area).
Meet your private tour guide and visit of Vatican Museums and St. Peter Basilica. The beating heart of Catholicism, every year it attracts millions of pilgrims who come from all over
the world to gather in prayer and obtain the Pope's blessing. The construction of the present basilica overlooking St. Peter's Square began on 18 April 1506 under Pope Julius II and was completed in 1626, during the pontificate of Pope Urban VIII, while the landscaping of the square in front of it was not completed until 1667. On the same site, before today's basilica, stood another one dating back to the 4th century, built by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. Many architects have been involved in the construction of the basilica. Not far from the Basilica, walking along the walls, you reach the entrance to the Vatican Museums, which house artistic works of incomparable value. Among the museums, the Egyptian one exhibits numerous examples of sculptural art, sarcophagi and mummies, cuneiform tablets and Mesopotamian seals. The Pinacoteca houses works by Giotto, Caravaggio, Beato Angelico, Perugino, Leonardo,Titian and Raphael. The Vatican Palaces allow access to the Raphael Rooms, decorated with wonderful frescoes that the painter painted between 1508 and 1524.
After the visit, transfer from Vatican Area to the Colosseum
for a guided visit. The Colosseum is where a "rich history unfolds, filled with gladiators, slaves and ferocious animals, and also cruelty, discipline and clemency." Transfer back to the hotel.
DAY 10: 22OCT ROME (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Discover Rome’s fascinating underground tunnels, which have remained a hidden secret for years, where silence reigns supreme and time seems to have been unchanged for 2000 years. The
catacombs, which were initially used not only for Christian burials, consist of dense and irregular
networks of underground tunnels (sometimes extending for several kilometres) of varying width and height. Your private tour guide will lead you around Rome to some of the most famous and intriguing underground tunnels of the city, so you can witness the deep, ancient history with your own eyes. Next, head to Scala Santa (Holy Staircase):
located near the Basilica of St. John Lateran, it houses the precious chapel of the Popes known as the Sancta Sanctorum, where the image of the Holy Saviour is venerated. The Holy Staircase owes its name to the 28 steps that lead to the chapel and that one climbs on one's knees in veneration of the Passion of Jesus. According to Roman Catholic tradition, the Holy Stairs were the steps leading up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem on which Jesus Christ stepped on his way to trial during his Passion.
San Giovanni in Laterano is the oldest basilica in the West
and the cathedral of Rome. The Basilica of Saint John in Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano) is defined as “the mother of all churches in the world.” It represents the mixture between the Pagan and Christian eras. The land on which it stands was donated to the Church by Emperor Constantine, freshly converted, as thanks for the victory at Ponte Milvio. It was Pope Miltiades who built the first basilica here, shortly after the Edict of Milan. After the tour, enjoy the afternoon free at group leisure.
DAY 11: 23OCT NAPLES/POMPEII (B,L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Your English-speaking assistant will meet the group at your hotel and transfer by private bus to Roma Termini Train Station. Travel by train to Naples where your private guide and transfer will be waiting for you for a full day of sightseeing around Naples and Pompeii.
See the medieval castle of Castel Nuovo.
Stop in the Posillipo area at the terrace of the church of
S.Antonio from where you can enjoy the best panoramic view of the gulf. Return to the city centre with a visit to Piazza del Plebiscito, the splendid Umberto I gallery and the exteriors of the Royal Palace and the S.Carlo theatre.
Next, you will head to a local pizzeria for an authentic Italian lunch with antipasto, pizza and dessert. After lunch, you will visit the ancient ruins of Pompeii. In Roman times Pompeii was a rich and densely populated city, full of public and private buildings. On 24 Oct 79 AD. , all of Pompeii and its approximately 20,000 inhabitants were buried under a thick blanket of ash and pumice stones by a violent explosion of Mount Vesuvius.
A shower of lapilli was deposited everywhere, covering the ground for more than 4 metres, enveloping everything and leaving behind, centuries later, the negatives of the organic materials of which plaster casts have been recreated. Some 2000 years later, you have the opportunity to discover daily life in the imperial era and imagine the fear of the population before the city was destroyed. In a two-hour walk, your guide will show you the most impressive sights of the city such as the Forum, the Baths, the Lupanare, the Greek theatre and the plaster casts of the bodies of the inhabitants of Pompeii.
In the afternoon, transfer back to the Napoli Centrale Train Station to take the train back to Rome. Upon arrival, you will be met by your English-speaking assistant who will es**rt you to the bus to bring you back to the hotel.
DAY 12: 24OCT ROME (B,D)
Breakfast at the hotel. Free day in Rome. Farewell dinner hosted by Dennis and Joan Telmanik
DAY 13: 25OCT DEPART ROME (B)
Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
At the prearranged time, an English-speaking assistant will meet the group to transfer from your hotel to Rome airport for flight home.
Inclusions
-international flight costs from Charlotte Inbound Venice - Outbound-Rome (deviations from other airports)
-all gratuities
-daily hotel breakfast and other meals as noted
-all transfers and train transportation
-all tours with dedicated guides with headsets
Costs
$500.00 Deposit per person
Final payment and valid passport copies are due no later than 90 days prior to departure.
Tour limited to 30 passengers
20-29 passengers $7850.00 per person
30 passengers $7550.00 per person
