Glorious Italy is famous for its beautiful art, fascinating sites, and delicious food. This  deluxe tour provides the best of each and especially the food, with seven different special culinary events, from a cooking class to wine, cheese, and gelato tastings. Florence and the beautiful towns of Tuscany are our focus. Add boat rides to the five beautiful hillside towns of Cinque Terre and the Vatican City and Rome. This tour will touch and delight all our senses!

 

Included meals are denoted: Breakfast: B, Lunch: L, Dinner: D

 

DAY 1

We depart from the Albuquerque Sunport for our overnight flight.

 

DAY 2             D

Welcome to Rome! After leaving our bags at our centrally located hotel, we have the afternoon free to explore. This evening, we meet our local Tour Guide and enjoy a welcome dinner at the traditional Tanagra Restaurant with wine and music. We lodge for two nights in Rome in our centrally located hotel.

 

DAY 3              B, L     

While mythology dates the founding of Rome at around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. Today we are joined by our local guide to tour the Vatican Museum complex, including the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. Ancient Rome comes to life during our visit to the Coliseum, Palatine Hill, and the Imperial Forums. Dinner is on our own.

 

DAY 4              B, L, D

We begin our travels north, with a stop at Orvieto. We have a walking tour with a local guide and take a funicular ride. We continue to the delightful medieval town of Radda in Chianti to lodge for 2 nights. We dine tonight at Dario Cecchini’s  very special restaurant - you might have seen him on Netflix' Chef's Table!

 

DAY 5              B, L

Today we see two of Tuscany’s most fabled towns. In Siena, known for its brick building-lined narrow streets, we join our local guide for a walking tour, before visiting the Tenuta Torciano Winery for wine tasting and a barbecue lunch.  We continue to San Gimignano, an Italian hill town with a skyline of medieval towers and encircled by 13th-century walls. Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches. Now it is time for a gelato tasting - at one of the best gelat-erias in the world - Dondoli!

 

DAY 6              B, L

We leave Siena and continue to the port city of La Spezia, our entranceway to Cinque Terre. On the way, we’ll stop at an authentic farmhouse in Montecarlo, where we will participate in a cooking class, preparing our lunch of typical Tuscan dishes to enjoy with wine. We lodge in La Spezia for 2 nights.

 

 

DAY 7              B, L

Today we take boat rides with our local guide from La Spezia to Portovenere, then to Vernazza, and finally to Monterosso. We get to see the amazing tiny villages that cling to the steep hillsides rising from the Ligurian sea. Paths, trains, and boats connect the villages, and cars cannot reach them from the outside. We lunch in an ancient winery in Vernazza and enjoy Ligurian specialties and wines – YUM! We return to La Spezia via train.

 

DAY 8              B,D

We leave the Ligurian coast behind and head back into the heart of Tuscany, the city of Florence. On our way, we stop in Pisa, home of the renowned tower, and in Lucca, famous for its intact Renaissance-era city walls. We enjoy walking tours of both towns, before arriving at our centrally located, Florentine hotel for dinner and 3 nights lodging.

 

DAY 9              B, L

A scenic drive takes us into the Chianti region, where we will enjoy a visit to a traditional vineyard, lunch and a wine-tasting. Afterwards we have free time to explore sites just a stone’s throw from our hotel such as the Ponte Vecchio, the medieval stone-arch pedestrian bridge over the Arno River that’s packed with jewelry stores. Across the bridge is the massive Palazzo Pitti, once home to the powerful Medici family, showing works by such renowned artists as Raphael and Titian.

 

DAY 10            B

Today we enjoy Florence and all its Renaissance glory.  We make the short walk to the Accademia Gallery where we explore with a local guide. The Gallery houses many extraordinary Renaissance sculptures and paintings including Michelangelo’s Prisoners, his St. Matthew and, above all, the magnificent statue of David.  We have more free time this afternoon to explore Florence. Perhaps the Uffizi Gallery which exhibits Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and da Vinci’s “Annunciation,” or the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with its iconic red-tiled dome, colored marble facade & elegant Giotto tower.

 

DAY 11            B, D

Today we leave Tuscany and return to Rome. Along the way, we stop in Perugia for walking tour with a local guide and a chocolate tasting. Upon reaching Rome, we visit colorful Trastevere, a funky, bohemian area that clings to its centuries-old, working-class roots. Here we enjoy a street food walking tour with wine tastings with a local expert. Tonight, we’re back in our centrally located Rome hotel for our delicious Farewell Dinner.

 

DAY 12            

We fly back to Albuquerque today, with tasty and wonderful memories of Tuscany, Rome, and Cinque Terre.

 

Itinerary subject to change.