Day 1: Arrive in Rome
This morning you will arrive in Rome and have a private transfer to your hotel for check-in. Lunch will be independent at a recommended restaurant or trattoria. The afternoon is free for you relax, enjoy your surroundings or we can help you with a suggested itinerary. Dinner is independent at a recommended restaurant or trattoria.
Suggested Itinerary: Via Veneto- Spend your afternoon strolling down Rome’s famous Via Veneto, admiring the luxurious hotels and restaurants lining the boulevards. When are you near Piazza Barberini look for the church of Santa Maria delle Concezione. On the right side of the church is the entrance to the intriguing Capuchin Crypt, where the boens of more than 4,000 exhumed friars are displayed throughout 5 small chambers in decorative patterns resembling an artistic mosaic. Pay a small donation and ponder the meaning of this mysterious cemetery and a sign posted within the crypt stating, “What you are now, we once were, what we are now, you will be.” Upon exiting, continue your walk down to Piazza Barberini.
Day 2: Rome
This morning, you will have a half-day Private Walking Tour with English speaking guide & driver.
POWER AND GLORY OF IMPERIAL ROME – In the year 27 BC Augustus became Rome’s first emperor. In his memoirs he wrote: “I found a city of stone and bricks; now I leave it to you of marble.” In the following century the Empire expanded to become an enormous state and Rome, its capital, grew to become a metropolis of 1.5 million people. Today, monumental ruins and imposing buildings remain to reveal not only the glorious past of the “Eternal City”, but also its political, religious, and social organization. Starting from the Pantheon, in the middle of the so called Campo Marzio (the Field of Mars), the tour will take you through the most evocative monuments of classical antiquity: the Pantheon itself, the most impressive and best preserved Roman building, covered by the biggest cupola ever built by the Romans, recalled as a “celestial vault” by the historian Dion Cassius; the Capitol, where a terrace overlooking the Palatine and Roman Forum will offer one of the most magnificent views in Rome; the Imperial Forums and the Colosseum.
Lunch will be independent at a recommended restaurant or trattoria, perhaps Ai Tre Scalini. The afternoon is free but we will be glad to supply you with a suggested itinerary. Dinner will also be independent at a recommended restaurant or trattoria.
Day 3: Vatican City
Enjoy a lazy morning at your leisure or with a suggested itinerary before eating lunch at a recommended restaurant or trattoria. In the afternoon, you will have a half-day Private Walking Tour with English speaking guide at the Vatican.
TWO MASTERS AT THE PAPAL COURT: RAPHAEL AND MICHELANGELO AT THE VATICAN
The Vatican palaces and St. Peter’s were a true “factory” of Renaissance art. In the Vatican the two highest artists of the period, Raphael and Michelangelo, shared the same experience and compared their conception of art. The sweet natured and charmingly polite Raphael worked next door to the gloomy, laconic and self-absorbed Michelangelo. Both men carried out some of the most significant art works of all times: the frescoes in the private apartment of Pope Julius II, decorated by Raphael between 1508 and 1520; those on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, achieved by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, and the Last Judgment. The tour inside the Vatican Museums – one of the world’s most important art collections – and in St. Peter’s Basilica, will expose those treasures and many others, like the wonderful tapestries made to Raphael’s designs, his beautiful Madonna di Foligno and the Transfiguration of Christ in the Pinacoteca, the moving Pietà and the Dome, the very last project by
Michelangelo.
Day 4: Appian Way
Start off the morning with a half-day private tour with English-speaking guide and driver.
THE APPIA ANTICA Regina Viarum – Queen of the Roads: this is what the Romans called the Appian Way. Built in 312 BC, it was the first Roman road to be named after the magistrate which was responsible for its construction. It was adorned with villas and monumental tombs belonging to important Roman families. Today, the first few miles are part of an archaeological park, which maintains the romantic and fascinating atmosphere of its past. The tour starts from Porta San Sebastiano, the largest and best-preserved gate in the Aurelian Wall, which houses a lovely museum illustrating the history of the wall and allowing a walk on the wall itself, offering wonderful panoramas. Driving along the ancient Appian Way, we will continue onto the countryside palace built by emperor Maxentius, provided with a large very well preserved circus for chariot races, and the monumental Tomb of Cecilia Metella, one of the most famous landmarks of the Roman Campagna. Enroute stop at the catacombs of San Callisto or San Sebastiano. Following tour, drop-off at hotel.
The rest of the afternoon is free to spend at your leisure.
Day 5: Florence
Check out of hotel in the morning and transfer to the rail station for reserved train to Florence. Arrive in Florence in the afternoon and take local taxi to hotel for check-in.
This afternoon, acquaint yourselves with some of the major viewpoints in Florence. Almost everything is within walking distance so transportation should not be a problem. Begin your stroll at the Duomo, its central location will make it easier to navigate the city. Head south towards Piazza della Signoria and the Amo RIver. Walk along Ponte Vecchio and see the city from Piazzale Michelangelo; the view is amazing, especially near dusk. Following dinner at a suggested restaurant or trattoria, take a walk through one of the city’s numerous piazzas. Stop at Piazza della Repubblica and enjoy a gelato before heading back to your hotel.
Day 6: Florence
This morning, enjoy a self-guided visit of the Accademia Gallery to visit Michelangelo’s “David” with advance tickets and reservations. Michelangelo’s 15-foot tall marble “David” dominates the light filled apse created especially for its display in the Accademia Gallery. His depiction of the young giant-killer who saved his people from tyranny, is one of the high points of Western art. Explore the symbolism and carving technique of the “David” and his attendant “Slaves.” Take a break for lunch at a recommended restaurant or trattoria before this afternoon’s self-guided visit of the Uffizi Gallery with advance tickets and reservations. Here, in the late 16th century, Cosimo I de’ Medici set up one of the first public art museums in an innovative buiding designed by Giorgio Vasari.
Day 7: Florence
Today is a full-day excursion to San Gimignano and Siena with English speaking guide.
Siena & San Gimignano Full-Day Tour Departing from and returning to your hotel this tour begins with a visit to the outstanding medieval village of San Gimignano, famous for the 13th century towers that stand as testament to the medieval prosperity of the village and the wealth of its merchants. But first we will take a slight detour to visit Abbadia Isola, a stunningly well-preserved and often-overlooked Romanesque church off the beaten track. On our way to Siena we’ll take a break for lunch at Monteriggioni. This fortress is a fine example of medieval military architecture, the village is surrounded by high walls and 14 square towers. Our afternoon will end with a visit to Siena, cradle of the Italian Gothic style. Here, we will focus our attention on the spectacular Duomo and Baptistery, which beautifully symbolize the religious nature of the Sienese. The 12th century shell-shaped piazza known as the Campo is the site of the famous Palio horserace and is crowned by the Palazzo Pubblico, representing the independence and economic might of the Sienese oligarchy.
There will be a lunch break at a recommended restaurant or trattoria before continuation of full-day excursion in the afternoon.
Day 8: Venice
This morning, check out of hotel and private transfer to rail station for reserved train to Venice. Arrive in Venice in the afternoon and private water taxi transfer to hotel for check-in. In the evening, enjoy a gondola ride with music. Dinner will be independent at a recommended restaurant or trattoria.
Day 9: Venice
In the morning, you will have a half-day Private Walking Tour with English speaking guide.
THE DOGE’S DOMINION: ST MARK’S SQUARE, PALAZZO DUCALE& ITS SECRET ITINERARIES
St. Mark’s Square, for over 1,000 years the very heart of Venetian life, is the perfect place from which the cities’ most important political and religious monuments can begin to be understood. At the exotic Basilica of St. Mark’s, begun by Greek architects in 1063 to house the relics of St. Mark, we will climb to the gallery level to admire a close-up view of the dazzling golden mosaics and the four ancient gilt-bronze horses stolen from Constantinople in 1204 to grace the basilica’s facade. A special passageway connects the church to the Doge’s Palace next door. This pink-and-white Gothic building once served as the seat of government, the Palace of Justice, and the residence of the supreme head of state. Today it is a fascinating museum featuring [among other Renaissance masterpieces] Tintoretto’s “Paradiso” in the Sala di Maggior Consiglio, one of the largest paintings on canvas ever produced in Venice. The dark and dismal prison cells are reached by crossing the infamous “Bridge of Sighs:” the name of which comes from the sighs of the unfortunate prisoners who were confined here. In the 18th century the infamous “Latin Lover” Giacomo Casanova made a daring escape from his prison cell while, 100 years later, author Charles Dickens witnessed a midnight strangling after which the body was unceremoniously dumped into the waters of the canal below. Following our tour of the prisons and depending on the amount of time we have left, we will either ascend the Belltower for a final, breathtaking aerial view of St. Mark’s square and its monuments or take a look at the stunning gold altarpiece known as the Pala d’Oro.
Lunch and dinner will be independent at a recommended restaurant or trattoria. The afternoon is free to spend at your leisure.
Day 10: Island tours
Today is a full-day Private Walking Tour with English speaking guide to the ISLANDS OF THE VENETIAN LAGOON II: MURANO, BURANO &
TORCELLO.
Departing from the lighthouse on Murano, the boat to the outer islands of Burano and Torcello passes through a navigable channel marked by wooden piles. Soon the peaceful, cypress-covered island of San Francesco del Deserto appears on the right; according to a medieval story, St. Francis of Assisi was shipwrecked here and preached his legendary sermon to the birds. Neighboring Burano is dedicated to more secular pursuits. Most of the island’s inhabitants are fishermen and some of their wives and daughters still make the lace for which the place is famed. With its gaily painted houses in shades of lemon, lilac, and tangerine, Burano has a more southern appearance than anywhere else on the lagoon and boasts all the charm that nets, sailcloth, and fishermen give to any port. Following a superb lunch at one of the area’s most famous restaurants, you will have a complete tour of the island including a visit to the Museo dei Merletti where the local lace making technique “a tombolo” is explained. Our final stop of the day is Torcello: only a few minutes by boat from Burano but a world away in atmosphere. The feeling of being on a “desert island” is broken only by the sighing of the wind through the marshy grass and the voices of visitors to the island’s spectacular ancient monuments. These include the cathedral of Santa Maria dell’Assunta, founded in 639 AD, the little church of Santa Fosca and the mosaic-covered Throne of Attila. Glittering mosaics also decorate the cathedral’s interior; the ethereal Virgin Mary in the apse and the writhing monsters that populate Hell in the Last Judgement scene are among the most impressive achievements of Byzantine art.
Dinner is independent at a recommended restaurant or trattoria.
Day 11: Departure
Check out of hotel in the morning followed by a private water taxi transfer to the Venice airport.
Price: From $7000 per person
Duration: 12 Days
If you are not able to make up your mind from any of the tour itinerary or hotels listed above in The Classic Italian Cities Honeymoon Package, then we can also make changes and provide a customized, tailor-made romantic honeymoon vacations, especially for you. We can modify this package as per your budget, duration as well as the tourist places you’d like to visit or whether airfare should be included or not. This customization helps you make the best out of your honeymoon package with your loved one and keep the candle of romance burning.
Contact us for personalized romantic getaways packages and honeymoon tours.
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