Your Adventure

1 Depart Australia

• Board your flight

2 Venice

• Meet your tour director & check into hotel

4 Venice - Florence

• Travel to Florence via Verona
• Verona tour director-led sightseeing Piazza delle Erbe, Romeo and Juliet balcony, Verona Arena
  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 amphitheater in all of Italy, built in the 1st century B.C.
• Traditional Italian pizza dinner

5 Florence

• Florence guided walking sightseeing tour Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Chiesa di Santa Croce, Ponte Vecchio, Duomo, Leather Workshop, Gates of Paradise, Giotto’s Bell Tower, Dante's House
  Immerse yourself in the charms of old-world Firenze. The birthplace and focal point of the Italian Renaissance, Florence still has the masterpieces to prove it. Brunelleschi’s monumental cuploa (dome) atop the city's renowned Duomo dominates the skyline. Your local licensed guide will take you to Giotto's Bell Tower and the aptly named Gates of Paradise, the bronze east doors of the Baptistery that spurred the burgeoning Renaissance. Don’t overlook the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli at the Chiesa di Santa Croce, or Florence’s amazing leather goods. You can check them out when you visit one of the area’s famed workshops!
• Pisa guided excursion Baptistery visit, Leaning Tower
  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.

6 Florence - Rome

• Travel to Rome via Assisi
• St. Francis of Assisi Basilica visit Pope Gregory IX laid the first stone of the Lower Basilica the day after the canonization of St Francis, on July 17, 1228. Two years later the saint's body that had been resting in the church of San Giorgio (the future church of St Claire's) was brought here in secret for fear of looting by tomb raiders and buried in the unfinished church. No date has been recorded concerning the start of works on the Upper Basilica, but it must have been after the abdication from the order of Brother Elia in 1239, who had hitherto directed the works on the Romanesque Lower Basilica. Both churches were consecrated by Pope Innocent IV in 1253.
• Rome city walk Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza 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.

7 Rome

• Vatican guided walking sightseeing tour Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel visit, St. Peter’s Basilica visit
  Visit St. Peter’s Basilica where from the outside, the church has four rows of columns that 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. Michelangelo’s mark is everywhere here, from the costumes worn by the Swiss Guards to his exquisite “Pietà” sculpture (the only sculpture he ever signed) to the amazing frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. Because he considered himself a sculptor and not a painter, Michelangelo hated working on these paintings, now considered masterpieces.
• Authentic trattoria dinner

8 Rome

• Ancient Rome guided walking sightseeing tour Colosseum visit, Forum Romanum visit, Piazza Venezia
  The ultimate symbol of Ancient Rome, the Colosseum still dominates the modern city. Tour the amphitheatre with your local licensed guide. Built by the emperor Vespasian in A.D. 72, the structure held almost 50,000 spectators but was so well organized that the entire place could be emptied within 15 minutes. Inside, the spectacles varied from gladiator battles to immense naval contests to wild beast shows, in which thousands of exotic animals like giraffes and ostriches were popped into the stadium through trap doors and left to fight Roman hunters. See the system beneath the floor that operated the trap doors and housed the animals, then continue on to the relative calm of the Forum. Ancient Rome’s commercial, religious and political center, the Forum held markets, temples and the Senate House. Near the Rostra, or speaker’s platform, you can still see game boards scratched into the marble by bored politicians - anyone up for a game of tic tac toe?

9 Rome - Sorrento

• Travel to Sorrento
• 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.

10 Sorrento - Patras

• Travel to the port
• Pompeii guided visit Pompeii is a vast archaeological site located in southern Italy’s Campania region. Once a thriving and sophisticated Roman city, Pompeii was buried in metres of ash and pumice after the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Near the coast of the Bay of Naples, the well-preserved site features excavated ruins that visitors can freely explore.
• Overnight ferry to Patras

11 Patras - Tolo

• Travel to Tolo via Olympia
• Ancient Olympia guided visit Once one of the most important sites in Greece, the former locale of the Olympic games now has some of the most picturesque ruins in the country. Surrounded by shady olive trees and flowing rivers, the stones of the original temple and stadium still inspire awe – and the occasional victory lap.

12 Tolo - Athens

• Travel to Athens Athens is one of the oldest and greatest cities of Western Civilization, with a recorded history that extends back 3,400 years. During the Classical Era, Athens was a center for the arts, learning, and philosophy. It was the home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum. Modern Athens is still a vibrant city with a rich culture that takes great pride in its long and complex history.
• Mycenae & Epidaurus guided excursion See the sacred precinct of Epidaurus, a former health clinic and spa with a 4th-century BC amphitheater. Continue to Mycenae. Framed by twin mountains and looking out over the plains, Mycenae was a palace, a workshop, and a grave. Gold cups, jewelry, bronze armor, swords, and daggers, as described by Homer, were discovered here. Walk up to the remains of the citadel. Look out over the rolling hills. Imagine the bonfires blazing in all directions, signaling that Troy had fallen to Agamemnon.
• Corinth Canal
• Greek dinner in Plaka

14 Athens (or start your tour extension)

• Delphi guided excursion Delphi site visit, Temple of Apollo
  Prophet from the past. Explore the impressive ruins at Delphi, which the Greeks considered the center of the world. Within the depths of the Temple of Apollo, a priestess would inhale intoxicating vapors that used to rise from the earth and, thus inspired, deliver the prophecies of Apollo. Modern visitors might find more inspiration in the view from Mount Parnassus, over 8000 feet high.
• Tour extension: Cruise for three days on the Aegean Set out to sea. Take three days to tour four islands of the Aegean and get to know authentic Greek island culture and some of the Aegean's best beaches. First is Mykonos, one of the Mediterranean's busiest resorts, with everything from a great museum filled with 7th-century artifacts to pure white, cubistic buildings, Crayola-colored boats, gourmet restaurants and...more beaches. Next stop is Kusadasi, known for its myriad of shops and historic sites. Then it is on to the hilly, seahorse-shaped Patmos, you'll see gold-leafed Byzantine frescos at the Monastery of St. John, the capital city of Hora, the busy port of Skala and beautiful beaches. Cruise on to Heraklion, the capital of Crete and a former Minoan seaport, for an unparalleled collection of Minoan archaeological artifacts. Finally, you’ll visit Santorini, where whole villages seem to cling to the side of the volcano, and mysterious black sand beaches stretch into the sea. Itinerary is subject to change. Your cruise includes two shore excursions.
• Your cruise includes three shore excursions The following three excursions are included on your cruise: Santorini: Spectacular Oia Village perched on the caldera rim, Ancient Ephesus through the ages: Hellenistic and Roman, and Heraklion: Minoan Palace of Knossos - 1st European Civilisation. Note that depending on the departure date of your cruise, shore excursions are subject to change.

15 Depart Greece/Tour extension: Aegean Cruise

16 Aegean cruise

17 Athens

• Arrive in Athens
• Delphi guided excursion Delphi site visit, Temple of Apollo
  Prophet from the past. Explore the impressive ruins at Delphi, which the Greeks considered the center of the world. Within the depths of the Temple of Apollo, a priestess would inhale intoxicating vapors that used to rise from the earth and, thus inspired, deliver the prophecies of Apollo. Modern visitors might find more inspiration in the view from Mount Parnassus, over 8000 feet high.

18 Depart Greece