Italian Intermezzo - Classic Group, Winter

Welcome to Italy. After being greeted by your Travel Director at Milan's Malpensa Airport, your transfer departs at 09:30 or 12:30. Join your Travel Director at 17:30 and head to local restaurant where your Welcome Dinner provides the opportunity to mingle and get to know your fellow travellers over a pleasant evening.

Journey through Lombardy's fertile plains. Following the outline of the magnificent Alps, you arrive in the Veneto region and continue to the glorious city of Venice.

Wake up ready to embrace this romantic city. What better way to see Venice than from a private boat, cruising past palazzos and churches to St. Mark’s Square? See the gilded basilica, the Doge's Palace and Lord Byron’s Bridge of Sighs. No visit to Venice would be complete without a gondola serenade through the myriad of beautiful canals. Relax and enjoy the local traditional songs, as you drift along in awe. While here, join a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience during a visit to a traditional arts centre, where you can see how beautiful handcrafted glass is made by expert glassblowers, safeguarding traditional skills.
Spend the afternoon and evening as you wish or join an Optional Experience to the island of Burano, famous for its colourful houses and enjoy a delicious meal of local specialities.

Follow the fertile valley of the River Po, into the peaceful landscapes of Tuscany. Continue to Pisa and see the Leaning Tower in the Square of Miracles. Later, venture on to beautiful Florence - a treasure house of the Renaissance. Explore Florence with Insight Choice. Choose to visit the Accademia Museum and see Michelangelo's David. Alternatively, wander through the market stalls on a shopping tour, enjoying all the Italian treats and finery on offer. With your Local Expert, admire the marble-clad cathedral and baptistery, and wander Piazza della Signoria, an open-air gallery filled with Renaissance sculptures. In the evening, dinner is served with a selection of Tuscan wine.

Learn the secrets of traditional Florentine leatherwork when you visit a local workshop to admire the intricate work.The rest of the day is free for you to fully immerse yourself in the Tuscan capital. Perhaps shop for leather or gold goods around Santa Croce or relax and soak up the atmosphere in one of the many street cafés? Be sure not to miss the magnificent museums and galleries that house some of the most famous works of art in the world. In the evening, enjoy an opportunity to sample the true flavours of the region with a sumptuous optional Tuscan dinner, served with local wine.

Journey to Umbrian Orvieto, a hilltop village overlooking a vineyard-covered plain.Explore the town with your Travel Director and visit Piazza del Duomo to admire the cathedral, before continuing towards the Eternal City of Rome.In the evening, why not throw your coin into the Trevi Fountain to ensure your return to the city?

In the morning enjoy the very best of the city's highlights including visiting the magnificent St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. You then gain exclusive fast-tracked priority entry into the Vatican Museums with a Local Expert. Admire the Papal art collection and enter the Sistine Chapel where you'll marvel at Michelangelo's masterpiece on its ceiling. Your visit also includes behind-the-scenes access to a part of the Vatican denied to the general public, the Bramante Staircase. Afterwards, enjoy some free time. In the evening, enjoy an elegant four-course dinner with local wine at a Roman restaurant. As you dine, you'll be serenaded with a private performance of popular songs and arias from some of Italy's best-loved operas.