7-Nights Italy’s Great Cities: Rome, Florence and Venice - Small Group Journeys from $12,995

Venice: Splendours of Venice Walking Tour - 4 hours

• All cruise travel, personal items, meals and associated costs.
• Gratuities

Venice: Venice for Art Lovers Walking Tour - 4 hours

• Return private motorboat transfers between the harbour and central Venice
• An expert English-speaking guide (4 hours)
• Entrance fees to all stated sights and museums
• All taxes

• All cruise travel, personal items, meals and associated costs
• Gratuities

Venice: The Roman City of Verona - 7 hours

• Luxury car or minivan transfers between Venice cruise terminal and Verona
• An expert English-speaking guide in Verona (3 hours)
• Entrance fees to the stated sightseeing
• All taxes

Venice - St. Marks, Grand Canal and Murano - 6 hours

• Introduction to the history of Venice
• Visit to private glass producer in Murano
• Tour of Grand Canal by private boat
• Reservations to St.Marks and Doge's Palace - no lines

• Private English speaking guide for the day and private boat.
• Clients are picked up and dropped off at the Port

Venice in a Day - 8 hours

Meet your private English-speaking assistant and private boat at the pier side of Venice port.
The tour will start with an hour cruise by private boat along the Grand Canal to see its beauty as it was intended to be seen  by boat. Continue visiting the island of Murano: you will enter into a real working studio and see how the glass is blown and shaped with the original tools which have been used throughout history.

Next, you will come back to Venice and enjoy a ride by gondola: the symbol of Venice. Both if  you are honeymooner or young people or well travelled tourist, you will be captured by the elegance and charm of this experience.

After lunch your private English speaking guide will meet you and take you on a walking tour, explaining the historical background of Venice, its origin and development. Visiting St. Mark's square with the Golden Basilica and the Doge's palace, you will come in touch with the most admired and well known artistic jewels, especially from a monumental & architectural point of view. The past splendours of the Serenissima will appear through palaces, churches, bell towers, well curbs, elegant renaissance and baroque facades.

Also worth a detailed visit is the lively area of Rialto's market, connecting the famous bridge to St. Mark's square through the well known Mercerie street: the remnants of Venice's magnificence will fascinate you.
We will ensure your timely return transfer to the Venice Port

Highlights:

• Grand Canal, Murano island, Golden Basilica, Doge’s Palace, Bell Tower, main and -off the truck- highlights

Tour Duration: 8 hours

Tour can Operate: Morning 

Wheelchair Accessible: No

Physical Activity Level: Low

Inclusions:
·         3 hours Luxury private boat at disposal for the entire day
·         English-speaking assistant at disposal for the entire day
·         4 hour private English-speaking guide
·         No Line entrance fees for Basilica and Doge’s Palace

Exclusions:
·         All cruise travel, personal items, meals and associated costs
·         Gratuities

Venice: Lagoon Islands - 7 hours

Today you will be met by your local English-speaking guide for a full day excursion by private motor-boat to explore the Lagoon Islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello.
Venice lies in the centre of a vast lagoon that stretches for about 30 miles from north to south, studded by numerous small islands, mostly deserted. This amazing environment is what drove the Venetians to establish their city here, a perfectly secure and inaccessible little world. Enjoy the beauty of a ride across the waters of the lagoon; visit the island of Murano, where glass has been made for over 700 years and where you can see the age-old techniques of glass blowing still in use today.
Continue to Torcello, to see the breathtaking mosaics in the Basilica di Santa Maria dell’Assunta, the oldest building on the lagoon. After a leisurely lunch (payable locally) you reach the island of Burano, a quaint and colourful fisherman island famous for its lace and charming architecture.

Highlights:

• Cruise across the lagoon to Murano, where glass has been made for over 700 years using the same techniques
• Explore Torcello and Burano, a colourful fishing village famous for its lace and charming architecture

The story of Murano and Burano

Hop on a private boat and start sailing through the Venice lagoon! This unique tour will let you discover the authentic side of Venice by exploring two famous islands – Murano and Burano. First stop, Murano – an epicenter of the most sophisticated glass production in the world. “Il vetro di Murano”, the glass of Murano, is a special type of glass made for decades. You will visit one of the traditional factories and take part in a glass-blowing demonstration. Pretty exclusive, don’t you think?

Your next stop is Burano – a small, fishermen’s island, famous for its heritage of lace embroidery that it’s still today made by hand only. It is often mentioned as one of the prettiest towns in Italy and also one of the most unique thanks to two characteristics: its canals and its colorful houses that make the island a real rainbow of colors! This tour will surely let you remember the Venice Lagoon forever.

Highlights:

• Unique island experience 
• Personal guide

• Private guide
• Private boat

• Lunch
• Drinks
• Gratuities
• Items purchased for personal use

The Canal Grande cruise followed by a walking tour of Venice

Are you ready to start this tour with a private boat cruise down the most spectacular “boulevard” in the world? Yes, we are talking about The Canal Grande, Venice’s main artery. Just hop on your private boat and enjoy the scenic views of all the marvelous palaces and side alley’s canals. Sit back and relax while you absorb the breath-taking beauty and uniqueness of Venice. After the ride, the guide will take you through Calli, Callette, Ponti, Campi and Campielli. You will reach Rialto bridge, that was the only way to cross the great Canal on foot, for centuries. You can indulge in great experience of the famous local market filled with interesting products and learn more about the area that was once a significant place for trading goods.
 

Highlights:

• unique sightseeing experience 

• Personal guide

Tour Duration: up to 4h
Tour can operate: Morning / Afternoon
Wheelchair Accessible: No
Physical Activity Level: Easy

Inclusions: 

• Private guide

• No line entrance tickets for Doge’s Palace and St. Mark Basilic

Not Included:

• Lunch
• Tips
• Drinks
• Transfers

Rome Highlights and Vatican: 9 hours

Meet your private English-speaking driver at the pier side of Civitavecchia port.
Rome is a mix of architecture styles, of antiques and new, of  sacred and profane. In this full day tour you can enjoy a sample of this capital city. With your guide reach the Vatican city where you can visit the Museums, admiring its priceless collection of art and architecture: highlights include Raphael's Transfiguration, The Raphael Rooms, the Sculpture Garden featuring the famous Laokoon. Finally, the restored Sistine Chapel, famous all over the world for the breathtaking Michelangelo’s ceiling and the Last Judgment. From here you walk to St. Peter's Basilica to marvel at Michelangelo's Dome, his statue Pietà, Bernini's magnificent Baldacchino and the Tombs of the Popes.  The tour will continue with a look at the ancient part of the Eternal city and its symbol: the Coliseum, where, jumping the lines, you will be able to enter in the magnificent Flavian Amphitheatre and admire where the gladiatorial duels, wild beast fights were arranged for the entertainment of Roman people. 
The second part of the day will be dedicated to the visit of the city center, starting from Navona Square, the most important of Baroque Rome, where today it is possible to admire the monumental Fountain of the Rivers by Bernini. Continue your tour visiting the Pantheon, the jewel of Roman architecture, then Trevi Fountain, the most famous and beautiful fountain in Rome. End the tour at the Spanish Steps, built entirely in travertine in the 18th century.
We will ensure your timely return transfer to the Civitavecchia Port

Access to the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica is allowed only to properly attired visitors.



Highlights:

• Vatican Museums, Ancient Rome, main highlights

Tivoli: Villas in the Countryside - 8 Hours

A trip out to Tivoli, just east of Rome, makes for a perfect and relaxing day, when you need a little rest from extensive sightseeing in the city. On your way out, you will pass the Travertine marble quarries from which so many of Rome’s important buildings were constructed. Tivoli itself is a very pleasant town, perched on a hill but its main claim to fame lies in its country villas, Hadrian’s Villa and the Villa d’Este. The emperor Hadrian was very well traveled and when he decided to build a country villa, he was greatly influenced by some of the spectacular sights he’d seen on his travels. The result was probably the largest and most sumptuous villa in the Roman Empire and by any standards, it is huge and covers an area that would normally be occupied by a small town. The site became a sort of retirement home for Hadrian, from 135AD until his death three years later. Here you will see the remains of peaceful and romantic gardens, pools, a theater and baths, which were of course an essential part of any Roman villa. From here, you will visit the stunning Villa d’Este, built for Cardinal Ippolito d’Este in the mid-16th century. Its gardens and fountains are legendery but the restored ground floor apartments have some stunning frescoes.

Duration: 8 hours

Pricing: Please Inquire

Ostia Antica - 6 Hours

If you can’t fit in a trip to Pompeii, Ostia Antica makes a very worthwhile substitute and even though it is right by the airport, it is largely overlooked by the majority of tourists and never suffers from crowds. Ostia Antica was the main port for the city of Rome and consequently, where goods from all over the Empire were unloaded. You will see warehouses, high rise apartments for the workers and sumptuous villas for the nobility as well as baths complete with mosaics and the odd bar or two. Even the public lavatories have survived! Just outside the town, lies the beautiful castle of Pope Julius II, largely built from recycled bricks from Ostia Antica.
After the visit of the archaeological site, driving back towards the port, you will have the chance to stop for lunch in a great fish restaurant overlooking the sea.

Duration: 6 hours

Pricing: Please Inquire

Cardinals’ Villas and Parks - 8 Hours

The area around Viterbo, north of Rome, became a retreat for popes and cardinals during troubled times in Rome. Happily for us, they have left a legacy of beautiful villas and gardens, designed in one of Italy’s finest periods, the Renaissance and consequently models for the rest of Europe to copy. One of the finest villas is the Palazzo Farnese at Caprarola, a huge edifice, standing at the top of the town’s steep main street. Surrounding the palace are two magnificent gardens, a south-facing summer terrace and an east-facing winter terrace, each with appropriate plants and design. After lunch in a traditional local restaurant (not included), you will visit the Villa Lante in Bagnaia, another splendid Renaissance palace and built by Vignola, the architect of the Palazzo Farnese and considered to be his finest creation. Here though, it is the gardens that take pride of place and epitomise the Mannerist period of the Renaissance. The final visit of the day will be to the Sacro Bosco di Bomarzo, the sacred Bomarzo wood, otherwise known as the monster Park; it consists of the most amazing and often bizarre sculptures, many carved from the local rock, scattered through the woods.

Pricing: Please Inquire

Duration: 8 hours

Roman Castles - 8 Hours

The Castelli Romani (Roman castles) are a mere 35 minutes from Rome, but you could be hours away. Beautiful green hills, topped with ancient towns, a couple of volcanic lakes, delicious cuisine and abundant wines, the most famous being Frascati; all explain why Romans have been building their summer villas here for centuries. The most famous of these being Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the Pope. Frascati is the largest of these towns, while Nemi, the smallest gives its name to one of the lakes. The route out of Rome is worthwhile too, as you will pass the remains of the aqueducts that once carried water into the city and other imposing ruins.

Duration: 8 hours

Pricing: Please Inquire

Lake Bracciano and the Monster Park - 8 Hours

You will start the day by being driven to Lake Bracciano, a delightful spot and much favored by Romans escaping from the heat of the city by having a refreshing swim in the lake. It burst onto the world stage in 2006, when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married in the local castle.

After a stroll around the town, you will be taken to Viterbo where at nearby Bomarzo is a most extraordinary garden, known as the Parco dei Mostri, the Monster Park. This makes a great day out for children. Created by the hunchbacked Duke of Orsini in 1552, he set out to mock the Mannerist gardens of the time by deliberate vulgarity. At the entrance to the park stands a giant warrior, tearing apart a woodcutter, while deeper into the park, you will come across an English prince pouring the brains of a madman down an elephant’s trunk. The surprises continue to come; mossy sculptures of tortoises, elephants, a whale, dragons, nymphs and butterflies, to name but a few. After Orsini’s death, the park became very neglected but has now been restored to its former glory.

Duration: 8 hours

Pricing: Please Inquire