Arrival in Italy, dinner and overnight stay in the Milan area, Lake Garda or Bologna, according to where the group arrives from.

After breakfast, a short tour of the centre of the city of arrival.

The bustling heart of Milan has the Cathedral, the Vittorio Emanuele II shopping gallery and the La Scala Theatre, the city’s cultural symbol.

Bologna instead is famous for its fine food and wine traditions, and for Europe’s oldest university. A stroll beneath the city’s porticoes leads to the twin squares of Piazza Maggiore and Piazza del Nettuno.

Departure in the late afternoon for Montecatini, one of Italy’s most famous spa towns and about 50 km from Florence. Check-in at hotel, dinner and overnight stay.

Guided visit in the morning to Florence, the cradle of Renaissance art and culture. The city centre is like an open-air museum, with the Cathedral in the Piazza del Duomo, the Piazza della Signoria with its famous statues, the Palazzo Vecchio and the Ponte Vecchio bridge. Free time for lunch, with the afternoon free for shopping or a visit to the Uffizi Gallery, with what are probably the city’s most famous works of art, or the Accademia Gallery or the Palazzo Pitti. Return to Montecatini for dinner and overnight stay.

Departure after breakfast for Siena. After meeting the guide, a visit to the Piazza del Campo, where the traditional Palio horserace is run, the Cathedral and the Palazzo Pubblico. Free time for lunch and a stroll in the characteristic streets and alleys of the old city centre, and then continuing to Rome, with arrival expected in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight stay.

Full-day guided visit, with the morning dedicated to Ancient Rome, including the Roman Forum, the Imperial Forums, the Arch of Constantine and the Coliseum. Visits in the afternoon to Rome’s famous squares and streets, with the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, Via Condotti and the Trevi Fountain, a masterpiece of Baroque sculpture. Return to hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Morning dedicated to Christian Rome, with a guided visit to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, St Peter’s Basilica and St Peter’s Square. In the afternoon, a choice between visits to the basilicas of St Mary Major and St John Lateran, or as an alternative an excursion to Ostia to see the ancient excavations or to Tivoli, with its famous Villa d’Este. Return to hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Departure after breakfast for Assisi, with arrival expected in the late morning. Afternoon visit to the city where St Francis was born, starting at the Basilica built above the saint’s tomb and skilfully restored after an earthquake. The Piazza del Comune takes us back in time with its mansions dating back to the Middle Ages. Not to be missed is the Basilica of St Clare, the founder of the Poor Clares and buried in the church where the crucifix that spoke to St Francis is still conserved. Dinner and overnight stay in the town of Santa Maria degli Angeli, at the foot of the hill of Assisi.

Departure after breakfast for Ravenna. Visit to the city, the last capital of the Western Roman Empire and famous throughout the world for its splendid mosaics from the early Christian and Byzantine periods in the basilicas of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Sant’Apollinare Nuovo and San Vitale, the Neonian Baptistery and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Continuation to Lido di Jesolo for dinner and overnight stay.

Excursion to Venice, by coach to Punta Sabbioni and then by private boat to St Mark’s Square. After meeting the guide, a visit to the square, one of the world’s most famous, with its beautiful basilica, and then continuing with the Bridge of Sighs, the Campanile, the Clock Tower and the outside of the Doge’s Palace. Free afternoon in Venice or as an alternative an excursion to the islands of the lagoon, including Murano, with a visit to a glass workshop, Burano with its colourful houses and Torcello. Transfer by private boat in the late afternoon to Punta Sabbioni for return to hotel with dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast in hotel and end of our services.