Ten day private tour to the discovery of the wonders of Italy

Visits: Rome 3 days, Castel Gandolfo, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, Orvieto, Siena, Chianti region, Florence 2 days, Lucca, Pisa, San Gimignano, Bologna, Padua, Venice 2 days, Ravenna, Assisi, Tivoli, Rome 2 days.

Day 1st  - Rome; Rome - the navel of the world, the Eternal City, the center of Western Christianity : epithets like these have long been used to try to define the unique nature of the Italian capital. Three thousand eventful years have fashioned the character of this remarkable city, creating an historical synthesis found nowhere else in the world. In every century the masters of  Rome - the generals and emperors of classical times, and then popes and princes later - stamped their own personalities on the city. They summoned famous architects and artists to create the buildings, sculptures and paintings that lend the capital the appearance that still constitutes its fascination today. Past and present, the pagan and the Christian, art and everyday life - all are inextricably combined.
Morning, pick up from the Airport and check into your hotel; lunch in a typical restaurant, then we'll start to discover Rome, by a 4-hour van and walking tour with a local guide including Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Catacombs, Piazza Navona and Pantheon. Van and driver/tour manager at your disposal for sightseeing and shopping. For dinner you'll be free to choose from one of the many local restaurants in Rome, we'll be happy to make suggestions and help with any arrangements that will be necessary.
Driving time: from Rome airport to Rome hotel 40 minutes.

Day 2nd  - Rome and Castel Gandolfo; Full day van and walking tour with a local guide including Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Colosseum and Roman Forum. The late afternoon can be enjoyed at your leisure; in the evening we'll drive you to Castel Gandolfo, where the summer residence of the Pope is, for a dinner in a nice restaurant with view on the Albano Lake.
Driving times: from Rome to Castel Gandolfo 30 minutes, back to Rome 30 minutes.

Day 3rd - Full day private tour from Rome to Pompeii, Positano, and back to Rome;
Van and walking tour to the discovery of the most preserved archaeological area in the world and of the spectacular Amalfi coast.
After a pleasant driving along the mountainous landscape of Latium and Campania we will reach Pompeii. Set to the SW of Mt. Vesuvius no far from the gulf of Naples, Pompeii is known throughout the world for its tragic destruction, in AD 79 by the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano, and for its miraculous discovery in the 18th century. In few other excavations in Italy does one have as clear an idea as one has in Pompeii of just how the ancient Romans organized a city, a particularly complete example of a market town, with a clear distinction between quarters serving a public function and residential areas. During the walk among the well preserved buildings you will be lectured on daily life, religious beliefs and government organization in ancient Pompeii; 2 hour private tour with a local guide.
After a spectacular driving along the Sorrentina and Amalfi coasts we'll reach Positano, where the mountain spurs, covered by terraced white houses, run down to the harbour of this old fishing village. Van and driver/tour manager at your disposal for sightseeing and shopping. For dinner you'll be free to choose from one of the many local restaurants in Rome, we'll be happy to make suggestions and help with any arrangements that will be necessary.
Driving times: from Rome to Pompeii 2 hours and 30 minutes, to Positano 40 minutes, back to Rome 3 hours.

Day 4rd  - full day tour on the route between Rome and Florence; we'll first stop in Orvieto, a picturesque hill town in Umbria that has preserved its medieval appearance with its beautiful Romanesque and Gothic buildings, also famous for its wine, pottery and artisan shops; 2 hour private tour with a local guide. We'll then drive to Siena, the second most interesting town in Tuscany after Florence, lunch in a typical restaurant; we'll continue our tour through the Chianti district, Tuscany's most famous wine-making zone, wine tasting on the way; we'll then reach you hotel in Florence. Van and driver/tour manager at your disposal for sightseeing and shopping.
For dinner you'll be free to choose from one of the many local restaurants in Florence, we'll be happy to make suggestions and help with any arrangements that will be necessary.
Driving times: from Rome to Orvieto 1 hour and 15 minutes, to Siena 1 hour and 30 minutes, to Florence 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Day 5th  - Florence; The city lies on both the banks of the Arno river, split into unequal parts; the larger section lies on the right bank, and spreads out across the plain, touching the base of the hills of Fiesole; the other half climbs up the gentle slopes that adorn the Arno. Florence is a small city (403,000 inhabitants), and regional capitol of Tuscany. From the fifteenth century onwards it became a centre of learning in the arts and sciences unparalleled since the time of Athens. Florence preserves some of the greatest works of art and most beautiful buildings in the world; if we wish to sum up Italy's (and world's) debt toward Florence,we tend to mention Dante Alighieri, the perfection of the Italian language, artists from Giotto to Michelangelo, and in so doing we are guilty of a terrible simplification.
Full day van and walking tour with a local guide including the Cathedral, Accademia Gallery, Piazza Signoria, Uffizi Gallery, and Ponte Vecchio. Van and driver/tour manager at your disposal for sightseeing and shopping. For dinner you'll be free to choose from one of the many local restaurants in Florence, we'll be happy to make suggestions and help with any arrangements that will be necessary.

Day 6th - Full day private tour from Florence to Lucca, Pisa, San Gimignano and back to Florence; After a nice driving in the Tuscany country side we'll reach Lucca, one of the most beautiful small towns in Tuscany, surrounded by magnificent 16th -17th century ramparts which are its most remarkable feature; it conserves much of its Roman street plan, and is especially rich in Romanesque churches; 2 hour tour with a local guide. Next stop will be Pisa, a beautiful town, standing on the Arno a few miles from its mouth, famous for its Piazza del Duomo, with the Cathedral, Leaning Tower, and Baptistery, splendid monuments begun in the 11th and 12th century when Pisa was a great maritime Republic. On our way back to Florence we'll stop in San Gimignano, a charming hill town which has preserved its medieval appearance more completely than any other town in Tuscany; the town is famous for its numerous towers which make it conspicuous from a great distance and provide one of the most remarkable views in Italy; it is surrounded by rich agricultural land, famous for its wine (notably the Vernaccia) which was already renowned in the 14th century.
Driving times: from Florence to Lucca 1 hour, to Pisa 40 minutes, to San Gimignano 1 hour, back to Florence 40 minutes.

Day 7th  - full day tour on the route between Florence and Venice; We'll first stop in Bologna, in the geography of Italian urban attributes, Bologna ranks as "La Dotta" and "La Grassa", literally "the learned one" and "the fat one", the first adjective refers to the Studio, the university more than 9 century old; the second to the rich crops, and the lavish cuisine; 2 hour tour with local guide; lunch in a typical restaurant. We'll then drive to Padua, among its art treasuries are Giotto frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel, Donatello work at the "Santo", and work by young Titian at the Scuola del Santo, all masterpieces of Italian art history; after a short driving we'll be in Venice. Driver/tour manager at your disposal for sightseeing and shopping. For dinner you'll be free to choose from one of the many local restaurants in Venice, we'll be happy to make suggestions and help with any arrangements that will be necessary.
Driving times: from Florence to Bologna 1h and 30 minutes, to Padua 1 hour and 30 minutes, to Venice 40 minutes.

Day 8th  - Venice; This town has exhausted every adjective, and outstripped all astonishment. In the earliest times, the pilgrims who came here to take ship for the Holy Land noted this city "set in the middle of the sea, built neither on mountain slope nor in bounteous plain, but only upon wooden poles, something that, for those who have never seen Venice, may seem unbelievable", and where "you go by boat, from house to house, through every street" (Dietrich von Schachten).
The main land is only 4 km away, and the sea is just 2 km away; the city has more than 100 islands, as many canals, over 400 bridges, and just one "piazza"(every other square, circle, and triangle is either a "campo" or a "campiello"). Venice is at once unreal and exceedingly real - many have pointed this out. It seems to emerge from the void at the meeting ground of two infinities, the water and the sky, the ground here being so understated and hidden that it hardly counts.
Morning, 4-hour walking tour with a local guide including the St. Mark's Basilica, Doge Palace and Rialto Bridge; lunch in a typical restaurant, we'll then reach the Murano Island to visit a glass factory and to learn about the art of blowing glass. Driver/tour manager at your disposal for sightseeing and shopping. For dinner you'll be free to choose from one of the many local restaurants in Venice, we'll be happy to make suggestions and help with any arrangements that will be necessary.

Day 9th - Full day tour on the route between Venice and Rome; After a nice driving along the Adriatic coast we'll reach Ravenna, capitol of the Western Roman Empire from the 5th to the 7th century A.D. it preserves the most famous Byzantine monuments in Italy as the Church of Saint Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and the one of Teodorico; 2 hour walking tour with a local guide. We'll then drive to Assisi, a preserved medieval town in Umbria, has always been considered one of the most beautiful sights of Italy; entering the town one inevitably breathes a Franciscan atmosphere, fed in part by literature, which has always considered this small town "the city of St. Francis" who was born and grew up here.
We'll then reach your hotel in Rome; driver/tour manager at your disposal for sightseeing and shopping. For dinner you'll be free to choose from one of the many local restaurants in Rome, we'll be happy to make suggestions and help with any arrangements that will be necessary.
Driving times: from Venice to Ravenna 1 hour and 20 minutes, to Assisi 1 hour and 40 minutes, to Rome 2 hours.

Day 10th -  Tivoli: full day van and walking tour to the discovery of the Roman Villa Adriana and the Renaissance Villa D'Este, two splendid villas from two different ages.
About 30 km (18.6 miles) northeast of Rome, at the foot of the Tiburtini hills, lies Tivoli, which is well worth a visit, mainly to see the Villa Adriana and the Villa D'Este. Emperor Hadrian (ruled 117 - 138) built a luxurious country estate covering an area of 120 hectares. The ruins can only hint at the grandeur and beauty of this residence that was the largest of all the imperial villa complexes.
When Cardinal Ippolito D'Este was appointed Governor of Tivoli in 1550, he commissioned Pirro Ligorio to redesign a former Benedictine monastery as his residence in the town.The three-story Villa D'Este owes its fame to its magnificent gardens much more than to its Mannerist frescoes; this gardens, structured by a geometric system of paths, ramps, and steps that is repeatedly interrupted by fountains, grottoes and arched walks, are regarded as one of the peaks of European garden art.
Driver/tour manager at your disposal for sightseeing and shopping. For dinner you'll be free to choose from one of the many local restaurants in Rome, we'll be happy to make suggestions and help with any arrangements that will be necessary.
Driving time from Rome to Tivoli 40 minutes, back to Rome 40 minutes.

Day 11th - Transfer from Rome hotel to Rome airport. In the morning we'll pick you up from your hotel to transfer you to L. Da Vinci Airport.

The above tour is for individuals as well as for small groups, and it can be modified on the base of client's  interests.