Italian Mosaic (14 Days) 

     Board your overnight transatlantic flight.

     Time to rest or start exploring the Eternal City. At 6 p.m. meet your Tour Director and traveling companions for a special welcome dinner with wine at one of Rome’s lively restaurants. (D)

     Sightseeing with your Local Guide starts with a visit to the VATICAN MUSEUMS and SISTINE CHAPEL (arranged next morning if closed today), world famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling paintings and The Last Judgement. Continue to monumental ST. PETER’S SQUARE and BASILICA. Cross the Tiber and visit the COLOSSEUM and the ROMAN FORUM, where Roman Legions marched in triumph. Then time for independent activities and exciting optional excursion possibilities. (BB)

     North to Pisa for pictures of its amazing Leaning Tower. Continue to Florence, the capital of Tuscany and home to Renaissance splendor. (BB,D)

     Florence. Follow your Local Guide to the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS with Michelangelo’s David and the magnificent CATHEDRAL. Admire Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry’s “Gate of Paradise,” and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. Afternoon free to relax or to find out more about Florence’s artistic wealth. Why not join an optional dinner at a Tuscan restaurant? (BB)

     Drive through the Apennine hills past Bologna, home of Europe’s oldest university, to dynamic Milan. Orientation features its GOTHIC DUOMO, glass-domed GALLERIA, and famed Scala Opera House. Then continue to Lugano in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. A leisurely break to stroll along the lake, window-shop the refined Via Nassa, or sip an espresso on the Piazza Riforma. Next, a scenic drive along Lake Maggiore, one of Italy’s most beautiful areas. Spend two nights at your elegant resort. (BB,D)

     A restful day to sleep in or maybe join an optional excursion to the baroque palace and peacock gardens of enchanting Isola Bella (open Mar. 26-Oct. 23, subject to change). (BB,D)

     East to Verona, medieval setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, to see Juliet’s Balcony and the wellpreserved Arena. Join the locals for lunch before continuing to Venice, deemed by some the most romantic city in the world. (BB)

     Enter in style by PRIVATE BOAT to meet your Local Guide. Highlights of your walking tour are St. Mark’s Square in Venice and the byzantine BASILICA, lavish DOGES’ PALACE and the BRIDGE OF SIGHS. Then watch skilled GLASSBLOWERS fashion their delicate objects in the age-old manner. Later, discover Venice at your own pace or take an optional gondola ride. (BB,D)

     Follow the sparkling Adriatic coast to Ravenna to see the mosaics in the 6th century BASILICA OF ST. APOLLINARIS IN CLASSE. Afternoon arrival in Assisi to visit the massive 13th-century lower BASILICA OF ST. FRANCIS. Then time to take in this peaceful town on your own. (BB,D)

     Today visit POMPEII, the Roman city both destroyed and preserved by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Overnight in the charming, bayside resort of Sorrento. (BB)

     Glide across the blue bay to the beautiful Isle of Capri. Sightseeing with a Local Guide includes a visit to VILLA SAN MICHELE in Anacapri. Time to explore at your own pace before returning to Sorrento. The remainder of the day is at leisure. (BB)

     On your way to Rome, stop to visit the ABBEY OF MONTECASSINO. Tonight consider saying Arrivederci to your traveling companions at an optional festive dinner in one of Rome’s fine restaurants. (BB)

     Your tour ends today. Ci Vediamo! (BB)