DESTINATION

ITINERARY:

Day 1: APRIL 4, 2024 - Departure from the USA on your overnight flight to Italy.

Day 2: APRIL 5, 2024 - Florence / Montecatini: Upon arrival at Florence airport, proceed through customs and collect your luggage. A Jet Vacations professional guide will personally greet you. Departure and transfer by deluxe coach to your hotel centrally located in Montecatini. 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 the shopping, dining and sporting offerings, as well. After check in and some time for a rest your tour guide will take you on an orientation tour of Montecatini. Enjoy welcome dinner at the hotel tonight. (Dinner)

Day 3: APRIL 6, 2024 - Montecatini / Siena & San Gimignano/ Montecatini: After breakfast at the hotel, depart for your full-day excursion to Tuscany’s true gems. Our first stop is 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 Cathedral, Piazza del Campo, Salimbeni Square, and Chigi Palace. Enjoy some free time in Siena for personal discovery and for lunch on own. Proceed to San Gimignano a town of Etruscan origin. Built by noble families, the fourteen remaining towers that lined the ramparts look like a medieval skyscraper. Return to Montecatini, dinner at hotel tonight (Breakfast, Dinner)

Day 4: APRIL 7, 2024 - Montecatini / Optional tour Pisa / Montecatini: Have breakfast at the hotel. Enjoy the day at leisure to relax or indulge in a spa treatment in Montecatini. If you want to get what must be the most iconic photo in Italy, Pisa’s your place, join us to the optional half day tour to Pisa. 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, the elaborate Baptistery, and beautiful palaces. Also included is a nice lunch at a local place. Enjoy a guided tour and some free time. Afternoon at leisure in Montecatini. (Breakfast, Lunch if on optional tour)

Day 5: APRIL 8, 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. Enjoy an included lunch at local restaurant for special Florentine dishes. 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 and do some shopping. Return to Montecatini, dinner at leisure. (Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 6: APRIL 9, 2024 - Montecatini/ Chianti / Montecatini: After breakfast, we explore the Chianti Region. A perfect work of art, so beautiful as a whole that it is impossible to decide which component is the most memorable: 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. We will have an early dinner today at a local winery and have the chance to learn the secrets of wine production and taste some great regional dishes. Return to Montecatini in the evening. (Breakfast, Dinner)

Day 7: APRIL 10, 2024 - Montecatini / Optional Tour Cinque Terre / Montecatini: Breakfast at hotel. Join us on optional Full Day tour to Cinque Terre, one of the most beautiful areas of the Liguria Region, on the Mediterranean Sea. These “five lands” are suspended between sea and earth and are nestled in the cliffs, overlooking the sea and green hills. Developed in isolation through the ages as they could only be reached by sea, the small medieval fishing ports remain architecturally intact. They represent one of the best-preserved natural areas of the Mediterranean, and are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Today, they are a National Park and Protected Marine Area with the aim of securing, not only its environment safety, but also its great cultural heritage. We will proceed by motor coach and train with magnificent views of the coast. We will stop at two of the five villages to absorb their everyday life and enjoy spectacular views of the blue sea. Return to Montecatini for evening and dinner at leisure. (Breakfast)

Day 8: APRIL 11, 2024 - Montecatini / Lucca & Cooking course/ 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. After touring Lucca, we reach our local farm for a journey into culinary traditions. Our chef will teach us the secrets of some great local recipes. Enjoy a cooking course and taste some great food to celebrate your farewell dinner. Return to Montecatini in the evening. (Breakfast, Dinner)

Day 9: APRIL 12, 2024 - Florence / U.S.: After breakfast, transfer to Florence airport for your return flight back home. Arriverderci! (Breakfast)