Overnight flight
to Italy • Relax as you fly across the Atlantic.
Arrival in
Venice • Arrive in magical Venice, home of Marco Polo. After clearing
customs, you are greeted by your EF Tour Director, who will accompany you to
your hotel and remain with you throughout your stay. Last summer’s tour group even had some time for relaxing on the
beach!
Day 3 Venice
Guided
sightseeing in Venice • Begin your tour of la Serenissima (the
city’s nickname meaning “the most serene”) at St. Mark’s Square, “the finest
drawing room in Europe,” according to Napoleon. Allegedly buried under the
altar of the basilica are St. Mark’s remains, which, in the11th century, were
smuggled out of Alexandria in a barrel of salt pork to prevent a thorough
search by the city’s Muslim guards. Also, see the Grand Canal and the 324-foot
Campanile (Bell Tower), whose steps were originally built so that a noble could
ascend on horseback. Look for the clock where two bronze figures have been
striking the hour for over 500 years.
Visit to the
Doges’ Palace • Visit the famous 14th-century pink and white Doges’ Palace, from
which mighty Venetian dukes once ruled. Here you’ll stroll over the Bridge of Sighs, connecting the palace and
its prison. As they crossed the bridge, prisoners supposedly sighed with
perfect sadness as they regarded their beautiful city for the last time.
Casanova made a daring escape from this prison in 1756. Venice is also famous
for its glassware—you’ll see why during a glass-blowing demonstration.
|
|
This
gentleman’s family has been blowing glass using
the same ovens for centuries. |
Exploring the streets along the Grand Canal. |
|
|
St.
Mark’s incredible square! |
Anyone can ride the gondolas but few get to drive
like Ann Waltersheid did last summer! |
Optional
Excursion to Burano • This evening, enjoy dinner and explore the
island of Burano, located at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon near
Torcello and a 40-minute watertaxi trip to Venice. Known for its exquisite
lace, Burano is also known for its small, brightly colored houses. These houses
are popular with artists and with fishermen—who spot the colored houses
from sea and can then distinguish land through the fog. Other attractions in
Burano include the Church of San Martino, the Oratorio di Santa Barbara and the
Museum and School of Lacemaking.
Walking tour
of Verona • Transfer to Florence by way of Romeo and Juliet’s Verona, known
for its couplets and Capulets. Here you can see the town’s Roman Arena, which
dates back to the 1st century A.D. You’ll also see a bronze statue of Juliet,
standing below the balcony said to be the one where Juliet called to her Romeo.
Guided tour
of Florence • Fall under the spell of the powerful Medici family on today’s tour guided by a local expert. Pass the classical statues of the Piazza della Signoria—where Michelangelo’s David originally stood and now the site of an impressive replica.
From behind the Uffizi Palace, you will see
Ponte Vecchio, one of the city’s only bridges to survive WWII, and now one of
its most photographed sites. The bridge provided the Medici easy access from
the Pitti Palace to the Uffizi. Continue past the Chiesa di Santa Croce, final
resting place of Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo. Next, you will visit
the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, better known as the Duomo, or dome, that
dominates Florence’s skyline. The dome was sculptor and architect
Brunelleschi’s finest work, and the nearby campanile (bell tower) was designed
by the painter Giotto. Look for the famous bronzed doors—Ghiberti’s
legendary Gates of Paradise—at the Baptistery opposite the Duomo.
Later, watch artisans at work at a local leather-making demonstration.
 |
 |
| Breathtakingly beautiful doors! |
View of Ponte Vecchio |
. Admire Michelangelo’s original statue of David inside
Florence’s acclaimed Accademia Museum. The museum also houses the artist’s four
famous unfinished statues, the Prisoners, as well as hundreds of busts
created by Michelangelo’s contemporaries.
Visit to the Accademia.
Transfer via
Assisi to Rome • En route to Rome, stop in Assisi, birthplace of both St. Francis
and St. Clare. Wander through this city, nestled between Mount Subasio and
fields of olive groves, which draws millions of tourists every year with its
religious significance and some of Italy’s finest early Renaissance art. At the
Basilica of St. Francis, follow
the life of one of Italy’s most beloved saints through Giotto’s frescoes. Then
continue on to Rome.Arrival in
Rome • Arrive in bella Roma, the Eternal City. Here, Charlemagne
was crowned bythe pope in A.D. 800.
 |
 |
| A Franciscan friar in Assisi. |
Spectacular view of
the Italian countryside from St. Francis chapel; inside are some the world’s most famous frescos. |
Visit to
Vatican City • Today, you will explore Vatican City, the world’s smallest
country. Begin at the Vatican Museum, where elaborate galleries filled with one
artistic masterpiece after another lead you directly to the Sistine Chapel. Between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo
painted some of the world’s finest pictorial images on the chapel’s ceiling.
This was his first attempt at working in fresco, which he did by standing up
and craning backward from a scaffold. Next, tour St. Peter’s Basilica, erected
on the site where the saint was martyred. Enter the basilica under the watchful
eyes of the brightly dressed Swiss Guard. Inside, admire Michelangelo’s Pietà, the only sculpture he ever signed.
 |
 |
| Swiss Guard
uniforms were designed during the
Renaissance. |
In
St. Peter’s Square. |
Guided
sightseeing of Rome • Pass the grassy ruins of the ancient Forum
Romanum, once the heart of the Roman Empire, and admire the enduring fragments
of Rome’s glorious past. It was here that business, commerce and the
administration of justice once took place. Then visit the mighty Colosseum,
Rome’s first permanent amphitheater whose three tiers are approximately equal
to a 12- to 15-story building. At ospectators would flock to watch gladiator
battles unfold inside. During the staged fights here, as many as 10,000 slaves,
prisoners and volunteers were killed. Persecuted Christians were also murdered
as spectators saw them mauled by lions. After A.D. 404, gladiator battles
ended, but animals were still massacred in the name of sport until the 6th
century.
 |
 |
| The highlight of any Roman
tour needs no description! |
Overview of the Forum. |
Walking tour
of Rome • Continue on to the legendary Trevi Fountain and make sure to toss
in a coin to ensure your return to Rome. Then view the Pantheon, one of the
best-preserved ancient buildings in the city, commissioned by the Emperor
Hadrian around A.D. 120. This temple to “all the gods” features the second
widest dome in Rome. It was built using the exact proportions of an egg! Finish
off in the Piazza Navona, the popular square where you will see Bernini’s
impressive Fountain of the Four Rivers. Later, visit the legendary Forum
Romanum, once the heart of the Roman Empire and the place where ancient Romans
once sacrificed their victims. Even though many of the temples that once stood
here are in ruins (the Forum was used as a quarry for many years), it is not
hard to imagine Caesar delivering great speeches here.
 |
 |
| Bernini’s famous fountain. |
With
Marcus Aurelius. |
Return home
• Your tour director assists with the transfer to the airport, where
you’ll check in for your return flight home.
- Round-trip airfare
- 7 overnight stays in hotels with privatebathrooms (plus 2 nights with
extension)
- European breakfast daily
- 3 dinners (plus 2 dinners with extension)
- Full-time EF Tour Director
- Audio guide for Vatican City
- Select guides and entrances to special attractions as per itinerary
