DESTINATION

ITINERARY:

Day 01: Mon June 3, 2024 - Depart the USA: USA – Italy: Depart the USA for Italy. (Air is NOT Included and can be booked separately from calling Jet Vacations)

Day 02: Tue June 4, 2024 - Montecatini (Tuscany): Arrive at Florence airport, after clearing customs meet with your driver and your local tour guide and transfer to your hotel in Montecatini in Tuscany. Montecatini is an exclusive world-renowned spa resort, famed for its spring waters, thermal baths and numerous spa treatments for centuries. Beyond the array of fine spas featuring treatments old and new, today’s visitors come for shopping, dining and sporting offerings, as well. After check in and little time for rest your tour guide will take you on an orientation tour of Montecatini. Tonight welcome dinner is at Hotel followed by live performance by Andy Cooney. (Dinner)

Day 03: Wed June 5, 2024 – Montecatini / Florence / Montecatini: After breakfast at the Hotel we depart to discover Florence, sublime birthplace of the Renaissance. It is full to bursting with elegant squares, imposing palaces, magnificent churches, and museums displaying riches conceived by some of the most famous names in the history of art and architecture enjoy a guided tour of Florence. See the Cathedral, whose gigantic “cupola” is the symbol of Florence’s artistic achievements, the Baptistery (from outside) with its fine bronze doors adorned with the famous gates of Paradise and the Piazza della Signoria. Time at leisure in the afternoon to explore on own, you may visit important museums, Uffizi Gallery or Accademia Gallery or simply stroll along the narrow picturesque streets of central Florence. Return to Montecatini, evening at leisure (Breakfast)

Day 04: Thu June 6, 2024 – Montecatini / Lucca / Montecatini: After breakfast we depart for a tour of Lucca. Among the richest cities in the world for its architecture and history: destination not to be missed for those who want to go deep inside Tuscany and its artistic background. We reach Lucca where our guide awaits us for a walking guided tour. Lovely Lucca offers up cobblestoned streets and elegant palaces, elaborate churches and a ring of Renaissance-era fortification walls that have been turned into biking and walking paths. For music aficionados, it also happens to be where the composer Giacomo Puccini was born. The Guinigi Tower, the Cathedral of Lucca, the Amphitheatre Square: our guided tour in Lucca will teach you the soul of the city with a pleasant stroll through the picturesque streets of the old town. Return to Montecatini for afternoon at leisure. Tuscan Dinner tonight at local restaurant in Montecatini Alto (old town) followed by live performance by Andy Cooney at restaurant (possibly openair on main square). (Breakfast, Dinner)

Day 05: Fri June 7, 2024 – Montecatini / Siena & Chianti / Montecatini: After breakfast at the hotel, depart for your excursion to Siena, set in the most beautiful Tuscan countryside of rolling hills, lush vines and gray-green olive trees, Siena offers much to see, from the fine palaces that line the narrow-cobbled streets and the superb Duomo, to the celebrated Piazza del Campo where the famed Palio horserace is run yearly. Enjoy a guided tour to visit the Dome, Piazza del Campo, Salimbeni Square and Chigi Palace. Enjoy some free time, later we depart to discover the Chianti region a perfect work of art, so beautiful as a whole that it is impossible to decide which component is the most valuable: the gorgeous grapes shining in the sun, the forest green hills, the ancient villas decorating the landscape, the richness of typical products, great food, superb wine, cultural visits or easy relaxing. The beauty of this territory, known for its wineries, lies in the perfect equilibrium between the soft forms of slopes and the thousand nuances of color and the crowded woods populated by ancient castles, secular parishes, and beautiful villas. Visit a local winery and taste their great wines paired with some regional dishes. Concert in the vineyard by Andy Cooney. Return to Montecatini (Breakfast, Dinner)

Day 06: Sat Jun 8, 2024 – Montecatini at Leisure: After breakfast at the hotel, you have a full day at leisure to simply relax and enjoy the services and facilities in town. Or you may reach Florence, easily by train, to better discover hidden corners or visit some museums. The day is yours! (Breakfast)

Day 07: Sun Jun 9, 2024 – Pisa & Cooking demonstration: After breakfast at the hotel, depart to discover Pisa to get what must be the most iconic photo in Italy, Yes, the Leaning Tower is spectacular even more so in person than in pictures, but there’s much more to Pisa than that: the medieval city also boasts an 11th-century Duomo chock-full of gorgeous art, elaborate Baptistery, and beautiful palaces. Enjoy a guided tour and some free time. After Pisa we stop at local farmhouse for a traditional Tuscan lunch and a cooking demonstration to learn the secrets of regional dishes. Tonight live performance by Andy Cooney at Hotel. (Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 08: Mon Jun 10, 2024 –Tuscany / Rome: After breakfast at Hotel check out and depart for Rome Arrive central Rome. Romans say the “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, nor can Rome be seen in a day. One could live in the Eternal City for years and still not see everything. It’s hard to say what you’ll find most breathtaking: Etruscan tombs, Republican meeting rooms, imperial temples, early Christian churches, medieval bell towers, baroque basilicas, or Renaissance palaces. After check in depart with your local guide discovering the most traditional corners of the historical center Passing by little Piazzas and narrow streets, we reach Campo De’ Fiori, Piazza Navona, The Pantheon, magnificent churches and important buildings. Dinner at local restaurant in town followed by live performance by Andy Cooney. (Dinner)

Day 09: Tue Jun 11, 2024 - Rome Imperial Rome: Enjoy breakfast at the Hotel. We start our discovery of Rome. Enjoy today a guided tour to discover the splendor of the classic Roman Empire. Your experienced local guide will introduce to the history of Imperial Rome walking along Via dei Fori Imperiali. You will admire the Roman Forum, the most important archaeological area in the city and once the center of the public life; see the Colosseum (external), the most famous monument of ancient Rome and an impressive testament to her past greatness. Enjoy the rest of the day at leisure. Tonight Dinner and live performance by Andy Cooney at the Hotel (Breakfast, Dinner)

Day 10: Wed Jun 12, 2024 - Rome free day: Enjoy breakfast at the Hotel. Free day in Rome to explore based on your personal interests. Stop at a “trattoria” in Trastevere to try the local cuisine, sit outside of a café on elegant Via Veneto, visit the Vatican Mueums or maybe shop in fashionable Via Condotti or, for a wonderful range of art, antiques and antiquities shops, visit Via Margutta. Farewell dinner at Hotel tonight. (Breakfast, Dinner)

Day 11 Thu Jun 13, 2024 – Rome/U.S.: After breakfast transfer to Rome airport for your return flight home. (B)