- Board your flight Depart Australia and begin your journey to Italy
Italian Highlights
Zig-zag from north to south in Italia as you admire rolling green hills studded with olive trees and domed churches that dominate the skyline. Students will experience opera houses, basilicas, piazzas, palazzos and cathedrals galore as they explore Milan, Florence, Venice, and Rome.
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https://worldstrides.com.au/itineraries/italian-highlights/
Italian Highlights
Zig-zag from north to south in Italia as you admire rolling green hills studded with olive trees and domed churches that dominate the skyline. Students will experience opera houses, basilicas, piazzas, palazzos and cathedrals galore as they explore Milan, Florence, Venice, and Rome.
Request Info Request Quote13 days
Destinations
MilanVeniceFlorenceRomePompeiiSorrento
Your Adventure
- Arrive in Milan Meet your Tour Director, board your coach and check in to your holtel
- Milan city walk Get a fascinating introduction into Italy’s second-largest city and one of the fashion capitals of the world. Start with the gorgeous 18th-century opera house La Scala before continuing on to the Milan Cathedral, a Gothic masterpiece that took nearly 600 years to build. Finish off your walk with a visit to the country’s oldest shopping mall—a 19th-century arcade with a gorgeous roof made entirely of iron and glass—and take a look at some of the luxury items that make the town famous.
- Duomo guided visit This stunning Gothic-style cathedral, Il Duomo di Milano, is located in the heart of Milan and stands 157 metres high and 92 metres wide. It can house up to 40.000 people and is one of the largest Catholic churches in the world.
- Travel to Venice
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Venice guided walking tour
Delve into the wonders of Venice on a walking tour with Whisper headsets led by your tour guide, visiting:
– St. Mark’s Square
– St. Mark's Basilica
– Doge's Palace
– Glass-blowing demonstration
Bubbling up on more than 100 islands in a lagoon off the Adriatic, Venice is an absolutely unique and unquestionably beautiful city. Step into Piazza San Marco, an airy expanse of arches, sunlight, and pigeons. The multi-domed Basilica on one end, completed in 1094 but decorated for centuries afterward, is the final resting place of the apostle St. Mark, Venice’s patron saint. The mosaics beneath the basilica’s outside arches depict the arrival of St. Mark’s body, stolen from Egypt in 828 by Venetian traders. The frothy Venetian Gothic Doge’s Palace stands next door. Continue on to a glass-blowing demonstration.
- Travel to Florence
- Verona sightseeing tour Your Tour Director will lead you on this sightseeing tour of Verona. Brush up on your Shakespeare before heading to Casa de Giuletta to gaze up (or down from, for a few euros more) the famed balcony that set the stage for star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. Hear about the many versions of this tragic story that existed long before Shakespeare put his pen to it. Go from this battleground of love to a real gladiator’s Roman Arena. Theatre performances still take place in this third largest amphitheatre in all of Italy, built in the 1st century B.C.
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Venice guided walking tour
Delve into the wonders of Florence on a walking tour with Whisper headsets led by your tour guide, visiting:
– Palazzo Vecchio
– Piazza della Signoria
– Chiesa di Santa Croce
– Ponte Vecchio
– Duomo
– Leather Workshop
– Gates of Paradise
– Giotto’s Bell Tower
– Dante's House - Optional: Pisa guided excursion Stop in Pisa to see the famous leaning bell tower. It was already partly finished when builders realized that - surprise! the ground beneath was too soft to support it. They tried to correct the tilt by putting a slight bend in the structure, but the extra weight just made it tilt more. Famous as it is, the leaning tower is just one component of Pisa’s Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles). Rising from an immaculate green lawn, the baptistery, duomo, and tower are fine examples of Pisan Romanesque architecture. All three are clad in intricately carved black and white marble, and on bright summer days their brilliance can be blinding.
- Travel to Rome
- Visit St. Francis of Assisi Basilica
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Rome city walk
Highlights include:
– Spanish Steps
– Trevi Fountain
– Pantheon
– Piazzs Navona
Take a walk past Rome's most beautiful and unusual Baroque fountains. At the foot of the Spanish Steps, elegant cafes surround the central fountain. The water pressure here was so low that the artist had to sink the fountain into the ground to get any water going through it, so he went ahead and designed the fountain to look like a sinking ship. There's no shortage of water pressure at the nearby Trevi Fountain, a Baroque extravagance designed by master sculptor Bernini. View the Trevi Fountain, where it is traditional to toss a coin into the fountain to ensure a safe return to the Eternal City. Spend some time in the Piazza Navona area. Built on the foundations of Domitian's Circus, this magnificent square was designed by Borromini in 17th century. It is full of life and is highlighted by one of Rome's most spectacular fountains, the Four Rivers designed by Bernini. The square is often filled with local artists. The surrounding neighborhood is also one of the best places in Rome to get a tasty tartufo or gelato ice cream.
- Vatican City guided walking tour Delve into the wonders of the Vatican City visiting iconic basilicas and churches on a walking tour with Whisper headsets led by your tour guide. Discover St. Peter’s Basilica with your tour guide and whisper headset. Outside the church, four rows of columns radiate out like welcoming arms; inside, the church seems enormous enough to embrace the entire world. The dome, partially designed by Michelangelo, rises 452 feet above the ground. [activity title="Authentic trattoria dinner"]
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Ancient Rome guided tour
Meet your tour guide for a walking tour of ancient Rome, visiting:
– Colosseum
– Roman Forum
– Arch of Constantine
- Travel to Sorrento
- Cameo workshop Stop by a modern-day cameo workshop and watch artisans carve them up close. Cameos, oval in shape and consisting of a portrait in profile carved in relief on a background of a different colour, are often worn as jewellery. Stone cameos of great artistry were made in Greece dating back as far as the 3rd century BC, the oldest being the Hellenistic piece the Farnese Tazza. They were very popular in Ancient Rome, especially in the family circle of Augustus.
- Pompeii guided excursion Stop to see the city where time stood still, literally. Once an important Roman city with 20,000 residents, Pompeii was frozen in time nearly 2000 years ago, when Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the city under 30 feet of mud and volcanic ash. Forgotten for centuries after the eruption, Pompeii was discovered in the 1600’s and is now completely excavated. On your tour you will learn how Romans of all classes lived their lives--not only from large public structures, but from details like political graffiti, bars, and street signs.
- Italian gelato cooking class Students will love taking part in a one hour Italian gelato cooking class, where you'll make traditional gelato from fresh fruits and local dairy. You'll learn the ins and outs of this delicious treat and then enjoy tasting your creations. Buon appetito!
- Travel to Rome
- Capri & Blue Grotto excursion From the Bay of Naples the island of Capri is less than an hour away by boat. Weather permitting, you will take a boat to the Blue Grotto, where sunlight reflected from beneath the water bathes the cave in a silver-blue light.
- Final farewell Say arrivederci Italy as you board your flight home to Australia
- Welcome home
