ITALY'S GREAT CITIES - 2010

9 days incl. travel, or 8 days from Rome to Rome (ZJ)

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Vacation Overview

This vacation shows you Italy’s most famous cities and landmarks—from St. Peter’s, the Sistine Chapel, and the Colosseum in Rome and Michelangelo’s David in Florence to St. Mark’s Basilica, Doges’ Palace, and the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. Local Guides in these cities will answer all your questions. Also included: a welcome dinner with wine in a Roman restaurant, as well as stops in Pisa to admire the Leaning Tower and in Romeo & Juliet’s Verona to see Juliet’s balcony and the Arena. Enjoy scenic vistas along the Tyrrhenian coast, the Lombardian plains, the flat Po area, the wooded Etruscan Apennine mountain range, and Tuscany’s Chianti wine country. In Venice, a private boat ride and a glassblowing demonstration are included.

Things to see on your vacation: View Vacation Photo Slideshow

A Vacation Story La Piazza Della Signoria

"What’s the best vantage point to ponder the most illustrious town square in Florence, the Signoria? An outdoor table in the venerable Caffè Rivoire – preferably over a delicious, if not painfully expensive cioccolata con pane, a dark and mud-thick hot chocolate. Late at night, when the crowds have gone, you can search the long shadows and imagine that very little has changed here since the 1400s. The Signoria is the most elegant sculpture garden in Europe. Masterpieces include the splendid Neptune Fountain by Ammannati, Hercules and Cacus by Bandinelli and a precise copy of Michelangelo’s David, all strategically poised in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. This grand public space has been the centerpiece of Florence since the 15th Century, the golden age when the city was established as the most beautiful in Europe. Eminent merchants in their ostentatious finery met here to discuss business in the midst of Florence’s raucous daily life."