DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM RALEIGH-DURHAM
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight to Milan.

DAY    2            ARRIVE MILAN - VERONA - VENICE AREA (2 NIGHTS)
We will be met at the airport by our Tour manager/guide, where we will board our own private bus and transfer to Venice. En route we will visit Verona, forever associated with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and one of Italy's most ancient cities. We will take a guided Walking Tour, highlighting the city’s most important landmarks and monuments. Our day will include a visit to Verona’s Roman Amphitheater, the largest in the world; it was completed in AD 30. The arena has been the sight of executions, fairs, bullfights, opera and theater productions, and of course gladiatorial combat. We will continue to our hotel in the Venice area. (Arrival day sightseeing subject to flight arrival time)

DAY    3            VENICE (LA SERENISSIMA)
Our day in Venice begins with a Vaporetto Ride along the Grand Canal, which has been described as the world's finest street. We will view the Rialto Bridge, the most elegant and famous of the bridges that span the Grand Canal, as we make our way to St. Mark's Square. We will visit St. Mark's Basilica, featuring interior walls encrusted with spectacular gold mosaics. Our visit will also include an ascent to the Galleries to see the original bronze horses, which once adorned the facade, and a stunning view of St. Mark’s Square. We continue next door with a visit to the Doges’ Palace, residence of the rulers of the Serenissima Republic. We will explore the ornate and grandiose rooms of the palace, including a walk across the famous Bridge of Sighs to the cells, where Casanova was once imprisoned, as well as the Grand Council chamber, featuring Tintoretto's Paradise, said to be the world's largest oil painting.

DAY    4            VENICE - RAVENNA - MONTECATINI (3 NIGHTS)
This morning we begin our journey to Tuscany, stopping en route for a visit to Ravenna, one of the most unusual towns in Emilia-Romagna. Ravenna was once the capital of the Western Roman Empire, the Visigoth Empire, and the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora. Our first visit will be the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, a 5th-century chapel, which contains exceptional mosaics dating from antiquity. Translucent panels bring the mosaics alive in all their grace and harmony, vivid with peacock blue, moss green, Roman gold, eggplant, and burnt orange. We continue with a visit to the octagonal domed Museum and Basilica of San Vitale, which dates from the mid-6th century. The mosaics inside, in brilliant greens and golds, are among the most celebrated in the Western world. This afternoon we continue to Montecatini.

DAY    5            FLORENCE (CRADLE OF THE RENAISSANCE)
We begin with a visit to the Accademia Gallery, where we will view Michelangelo's statuary masterpiece, David. We continue to the Piazza del Duomo, where the Cathedral, Tower and Baptistery display the traditions of Florentine art from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. We will view the massive and detailed façade of the Duomo, before viewing the Baptistery’s bronze doors by Ghiberti, which Michelangelo commented were worthy to be the “Gates of Paradise.” After a brief visit inside the Duomo, we will have the opportunity to do one of the following: ascend the Bell Tower, climb the narrow steps to the top of the Red Dome, or visit the spectacular interior of the Baptistery (One admission included). Our afternoon begins in the Piazza della Signoria, the political stage of Renaissance Florence and virtually an open-air museum of sculpture. We continue with a visit to the Uffizi Museum, which contains a collection of the most important Italian and European paintings from the 13th to 18th centuries, including works by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Botticelli. Our afternoon concludes with a stroll along the Ponte Vecchio.

DAY    6            DAY TRIP TO PISA & SIENA
We will make an early morning start as we leave Montecatini to explore more of Tuscany. Our first stop today will be in Pisa, where we will view the breathtaking Piazza del Duomo. It is known in Italian as the “Field of Miracles” for the beautiful ensemble of the Cathedral, Baptistery and the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. Despite its sinking foundations, the tower stands as magnificently today as it did upon its completion in 1350. We continue to Siena, one of Italy’s best-preserved medieval cities, which is dominated by its unique Duomo (Cathedral) and its striped Bell Tower. We will visit the Duomo, including the beautiful Piccolomini Library, designed to house the churches collection of illuminated manuscripts. The magnificent room features an unrivaled ceiling and large frescoes depicting the important events in the life of Pope Pius II. We continue with a walk through the narrow and winding streets of Siena to the Piazza del Campo, a vast and lively square in the heart of the city. This afternoon we return to our hotel in Montecatini.

DAY    7           MONTECATINI - TIVOLI - SORRENTO (1 NIGHT)
This morning we leave Montecatini and head south to Campania. On the way, we stop in Tivoli, where we will visit Hadrian’s Villa, one of the greatest estates ever erected. Hadrian designed the villa to recreate some of the architectural wonders that had impressed him most on his many travels. A patron of the arts, a lover of beauty, and even something of an architect, Hadrian did not merely want to replicate rooms or even palaces he'd seen; rather, he reconstructed entire valleys, complete with the temples that had made them famous. We continue to our hotel in Sorrento, a romantic cliff top town, which overlooks the Bay of Naples.

DAY    8            SORRENTO - POMPEII – HERCULANEUM – ROME (3 NIGHTS)
As we leave Sorrento, our day begins with a visit to one of the most spectacular sights in the world, the remains and excavations of Pompeii. This once thriving Roman city was completely buried during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD, and today provides archaeologists and visitors with a fascinating look at life in a Roman merchant city. We will have a local specialist guide take us through the excavations within the city walls, including the Basilica, Forum, Baths, Theater and Amphitheater. We conclude the afternoon with a visit to the Villa of the Mysteries, outside Pompeii’s city walls, which is highlighted by the colorful frescoes depicting a young girls initiation in the Cult of Dionysus. Next, we will take a specialist guided tour through the ruins and excavations at Herculaneum, where the people were still working to repair the damage caused by an earthquake in A.D. 62, when Mt. Vesuvius erupted on that fateful August day in 79 AD. Herculaneum is not completely dug out today, due to the fact that the town was buried under lava, which is much heavier than the ash and pumice stone that piled onto Pompeii. This however was beneficial, in that it formed a greater protection for the buildings buried underneath, many of which are more elaborately constructed than those at Pompeii. We continue on to Rome, the Eternal City, for the night.

DAY    9            ROME (THE CITY OF THE CAESARS)
Today we will explore Rome’s most spectacular remains from the powerful Roman Empire, commencing with a specialist guided tour of the Colosseum, considered the symbol of Rome's eternity. Completed under Titus in 80 AD, over 55,000 spectators could watch the gladiatorial games. We continue with a walk through the ruins and excavations of the Roman Forum, featuring the remains of magnificent temples, basilicas and triumphal arches, which once formed the heart of the Empire. Our tour concludes with a brief visit to the Mamertine Prison, once reserved for those that posed a threat to the security of Rome, before viewing Trajan’s Column and Markets and the grandiose Vittorio Emmanuelle Monument. Our afternoon commences in the Piazza Navona, built on the foundations of Domitian's Circus. This magnificent square, designed in the 17th century by Bernini, is full of life and is highlighted by one of Rome’s most spectacular fountains, the fountain of the Four Rivers. Our afternoon concludes with a visit to the Pantheon, one of the grandest and the best-preserved Roman monuments, which today houses the tombs of Raphael, Vittorio Emmanuelle II, and Queen Margherita.

DAY    10            ROME (THE CITY OF THE POPES)
Today we will explore the Vatican, the world’s smallest independent nation, and the center of the Christian world. Our day begins with a specialist-guided tour of the Vatican Museums, which house one of the most impressive collections of art in the world. Our tour will include the map rooms, the tapestry rooms, and the magnificent Raphael Rooms, as well as the spectacular Sistine Chapel, highlighted by Michelangelo’s ceiling and his Last Judgment. We continue with a visit to St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the western world and the most important point of pilgrimage in the Catholic world. Highlights of our visit will include: The Pieta by Michelangelo, the tomb of St. Peter and Bernini’s magnificent Baldacchino. After time to explore St. Peter’s Square, we will continue with a walk to the Spanish Steps, the stairway of the Church of Trinita dei Monti, and “the sitting room” of the city. Our day concludes at the spectacular Trevi Fountain, where it is traditional to toss a coin into the fountain to ensure a return to the Eternal City.

DAY    11            DEPARTURE FROM ROME
Our enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as our guide accompanies us to the airport for the return flight home.