Italy Travel Tour 248

1. 6:30 AM - 7:00 AM - Breakfast at the hotel. || 41.904257084617036, 12.48551953893982

2. 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM - Papal Audience 

The Papal Audience is not a private one-on-one audience with the Pope. When you request Papal Audience tickets, you are asking to attend a (mostly) weekly ceremony in which thousands of other people like you will be in the audience to hear and see the Pope.

3. Lunch at St. Peter's Square (not included). || 41.90224684187201, 12.456513461354824

Saint Peter's Square is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave in Rome, directly west of the neighborhood of Borgo. Both the square and the basilica are named after Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus whom Catholics consider to be the first Pope

4. 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Vatican Museums. || 41.906615527671235, 12.453678847591934

The Vatican Museums are the public museums of Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the most well-known Roman sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world.

5. 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Sistine Chapel. || 41.90305057911732, 12.454510318755979

The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magna, the chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and 1481.

6. Transfer to hotel. || 41.904257084617036, 12.48551953893982

7. Free time

8. Night in Rome

1. Breakfast at the hotel. || 41.904257084617036, 12.48551953893982

2. 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM - Colosseum. || 41.89036192065038, 12.492246989919591

The Colosseum is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world, despite its age.

3. 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM - Roman Forum. || 41.89221835647935, 12.486443161083924

The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum, is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.

4. Transfer to hotel. || 41.904257084617036, 12.48551953893982

5. Free time

6. Night in Rome

1. Breakfast at the hotel. || 41.904257084617036, 12.48551953893982

2. 9:10 AM - 10:45 AM - High speed train to Florence

3. Arrival in Florence. || 43.77141121819751, 11.2557179164783

Florence, capital of Italy’s Tuscany region, is home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture. One of its most iconic sights is the Duomo, a cathedral with a terracotta-tiled dome engineered by Brunelleschi and a bell tower by Giotto. The Galleria dell'Accademia displays Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture. The Uffizi Gallery exhibits Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and da Vinci’s “Annunciation.”

4. 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM - Walking Florence Tour

There are plenty of hidden secrets and mysteries in the city, that makes it a treasure to be discovered. Every corner and every street has its own story and interesting facts. Book this tour and hear the most interesting and fascinating stories. Also learn about gorgeous buildings, pieces of art, local food and wine, handicraft and other typical and famous products of Tuscany. Our tour will start in the Religious City Centre - the Piazza del Duomo where we will discover the Baptistery of San Giovanni, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, one of the most beautiful campanile in Italy Giotto's bell tower and the cathedral's octagonal Dome design by Filippo Brunelleschi. We will continue to the Renaissance Palace - Palazzo Medici, the first Medici palace, the home of Cosimo the Elder and Lorenzo the Magnificent and the workplace of such artists as Donatello, Michelangelo, Paolo Uccello, Benozzo Gozzoli and Botticelli. The Medieval Area of the town will be introduced by the House and Church of Dante Alighieri and The Tower houses of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. The history of Roman times and the 19th Century will be discovered at the Piazza della Repubblica - one of the main squares in Florence. Piazza della Signoria represents the Political Centre: Palazzo Vecchio which is the main symbol of civil power for the city, Statue of David, Biancone (Fountain of Neptune), La Loggia dei Lanzi with many statues, including The Rape of the Sabines, Hercules and Centaur by Giambologna, Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus. Passing the Uffizi Gallery – the world's top art museums and the place where many Renaissance masterpieces are housed to the Ponte Vecchio or Old Bridge, that joins the centre with the district of Oltrarno on the south bank of the river Arno, is surely one of the great icons of Florence and one of the most famous bridges in the world.

5. Transfer to hotel. || 43.772989567068386, 11.249652174674532

6. Free time

7. Night in Florence

1. Breakfast at the hotel. || 43.772989567068386, 11.249652174674532

2. 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM - San Gimignano. || 43.467560941876016, 11.042210956072088 

San Gimignano is an Italian hill town in Tuscany, southwest of Florence. Encircled by 13th-century walls, its old town centers on Piazza della Cisterna, a triangular square lined with medieval houses. It has a skyline of medieval towers, including the stone Torre Grossa. The Duomo di San Gimignano is a 12th-century church with frescoes by Ghirlandaio in its Santa Fina Chapel.

3. 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM - Visit Siena. || 43.31849890690028, 11.331682426622972

Siena, a city in central Italy’s Tuscany region, is distinguished by its medieval brick buildings. The fan-shaped central square, Piazza del Campo, is the site of the Palazzo Pubblico, the Gothic town hall, and Torre del Mangia, a slender 14th-century tower with sweeping views from its distinctive white crown. The city’s 17 historic “contrade” (districts) extend outward from the piazza.

4. 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM - Bodega Visit, wine tasting and lunch (wine and lunch not included)

5. Transfer to hotel. || 43.77301280850448, 11.249684361181792

6. Free time

7. Night in Florence

1. Breakfast at the hotel. || 43.77301280850448, 11.249684361181792

2. 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM - Pisa (optional). || 43.72285084364957, 10.403099678979729

Pisa is a city in Italy's Tuscany region best known for its iconic Leaning Tower. Already tilting when it was completed in 1372, the 56m white-marble cylinder is the bell tower of the Romanesque, striped-marble cathedral that rises next to it in the Piazza dei Miracoli. Also in the piazza is the Baptistry, whose renowned acoustics are demonstrated by amateur singers daily, and the Caposanto Monumentale cemetery.

3. 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM - Lucca (optional). || 43.84414363117196, 10.513868756473872

Lucca is a city on the Serchio river in Italy’s Tuscany region. It’s known for the well-preserved Renaissance walls encircling its historic city center and its cobblestone streets. Broad, tree-lined pathways along the tops of these massive 16th- and 17th-century ramparts are popular for strolling and cycling. Casa di Puccini, where the great opera composer was born, is now a house museum.

4. Transfer to hotel. || 43.77299731421475, 11.249619988167273

5. Free time

6. Night in Florence

1. Breakfast at the hotel. || 43.77299731421475, 11.249619988167273

2. 9:20 AM - 11:45 AM - High speed train to Venice

3. Arrival in Venice. || 45.436842149707516, 12.335784974172606

Venice, the capital of northern Italy’s Veneto region, is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals – including the Grand Canal thoroughfare – lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco, contains St. Mark’s Basilica, which is tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower offering views of the city’s red roofs.

4. Transfer to hotel. || 45.43406726604195, 12.330707272913457

5. Free time

6. Night in Venice

1. Breakfast at the hotel. || 45.43406726604195, 12.330707272913457

2. 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM - Saint Mark's Basilica. || 45.43469608707053, 12.33972849010674 

The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark, commonly known as St Mark's Basilica, is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Venice; it became the episcopal seat of the Patriarch of Venice in 1807, replacing the earlier cathedral of San Pietro di Castello.

3. 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM - Doge's Palace. || 45.43380134525714, 12.340373303599495 

The Doge's Palace is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice. It was built in 1340 and extended and modified in the following centuries.

4. 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM - Bridge of Sighs (Puente de Los Suspiros). || 45.43417003084428, 12.340870490106758 

The Bridge of Sighs is a bridge in Venice, Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace.

5. Free time

6. 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM - Torcello and Burano (Non-included optional tour). || 45.49663154089211, 12.414839940589506 

Tiny Torcello island has few residents but it's often busy with sightseers in summer. They come to visit the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta, with its Venetian-Byzantine mosaics and views of nearby Burano from the bell tower, or to check out the Ponte del Diavolo, a bridge with no parapets, and the stone seat known as Trono di Attila. A handful of eateries along the main canal serve lunch.

7. Transfer to hotel. || 45.43404467981337, 12.330771645927978

8. Night in Venice

1. Breakfast at the hotel. || 45.43404467981337, 12.330771645927978

2. Transfer from hotel to Venice Airport. || 45.5048121992808, 12.346699234289401