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

DAY    2            ARRIVE MILAN - VERONA - VENICE AREA (2 NIGHTS)
Our Tour Manager/Guide will meet us at the airport, where we will board our own private coach and transfer to Venice.  En route, we will visit one of Italy's most ancient cities, Verona, forever associated with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  We will take a Walking Tour, highlighting the city’s most important landmarks and monuments.  Our day will include a visit to Verona’s Roman Amphitheater; completed in AD 30, it is the largest remaining in the world.  The arena has been the site of executions, fairs, bullfights, opera, theater productions and, of course, gladiatorial combat.  We will continue to our hotel in the Venice area. This evening will be free to explore on our own.

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.   As we make our way to St. Mark's Square, we will view the Rialto Bridge, the most elegant and famous of the bridges that span the Grand Canal. 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, that once adorned the facade, as well as 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. We will have some free time this afternoon to explore St. Mark's Square and enjoy the ambience of Venice

DAY    4           VENICE - PISA - TUSCANY (2 NIGHTS)
This morning we will travel through the beautiful Italian countryside on our journey to Tuscany, stopping en route for a visit 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. After time to explore, we continue this afternoon to Tuscany, home of  Florence, the “Cradle of the Renaissance” and one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  Time and hotel location permitting, we will stop just outside the city to explore Piazzale Michelangelo, which offers a splendid panoramic view of Florence’s domes and towers

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 is 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 the 18th century, including works by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Botticelli.  Our afternoon concludes with a stroll along the Ponte Vecchio.

DAY    6            TUSCANY - ROME (THE CITY OF THE CAESARS) (2 NIGHTS)
We will make an early morning start as we leave Tuscany and begin our journey to Rome.  Upon our arrival 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 that once formed the heart of the Empire, before viewing Trajan’s Column and Markets and the grandiose Vittorio Emmanuelle Monument.  Our afternoon will include a visit to the Pantheon, one of the grandest and the best-preserved Roman monuments; today it also houses the tombs of Raphael, Vittorio Emmanuelle II, and Queen Margherita.  Our day concludes 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. We will have time to relax and enjoy the culture of Rome around the Piazza Navona this evening. 

DAY    7           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. Dinner will be on our own this evening.

DAY    8           DEPARTURE FROM ROME
Our enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as our Tour Manager/Guide accompanies us to the airport for the return flight home.