- Board your flight Depart Australia for Rome, Italy.
Language Immersion: Italy
Experience language and cultural immersion on this tour, where learning takes place against a dramatic backdrop of iconic museums, landmarks and ancient ruins. Imagine yourself as a gladiator at the Colosseum, gaze at the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, attend language lessons in Florence and walk the many famous bridges over the canals of Venice.
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https://worldstrides.com.au/itineraries/ladolcevita
Language Immersion: Italy
Experience language and cultural immersion on this tour, where learning takes place against a dramatic backdrop of iconic museums, landmarks and ancient ruins. Imagine yourself as a gladiator at the Colosseum, gaze at the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, attend language lessons in Florence and walk the many famous bridges over the canals of Venice.
Request Info Request Quote14 days
Destinations
RomeSorrentoFlorenceVeniceMilan
Your Adventure
- Meet your Tour Director Meet your Tour Director and check in to your hotel.
- Rome city walk - Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon & Piazza Navona
- Vatican City guided tour - Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica Tour St. Peter’s Basilica with a licensed local guide and whisper headset so you don't miss a word. 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. 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.
- Ancient Rome guided tour - Colosseum, Forum Romanum & 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.
- Pizza-making class Meet a real pizza chef who will explain the manual preparation of the dough, different kind of pizza (thin and thick), spreading methods (by rolling pin, by hand and spreading machine), garnishing (basic toppings: tomato sauce, herbs like oregano or basil, mozzarella cheese). Then, enjoy preparing your own creation with your choice of toppings from an ingredients buffet and cooking style (on plate or on stone). Mangia!
- 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.
- Cameo workshop Cameos, oval in shape and consisting of a portrait in profile carved in relief on a background of a different color, are often worn as jewelry. 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. Stop by a modern-day cameo workshop and watch artisans carve them up close.
- 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.
- Travel to Florence One of Italy’s most beautiful cities, known for its magnificent architecture and art.
- Florence guided walking tour (with whisper headsets) Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Chiesa di Santa Croce, Ponte Vecchio, Duomo visit, Leather Workshop, Gates of Paradise, Giotto’s Bell Tower, Dante's House.
- Language class Join your classmates for a three hour language lessons.
- Language class Join your classmates for your second three hour language lesson.
- Optional - Pisa guided excursion Stop in Pisa to see the famous leaning bell tower. It was already partly finished when builders realized that 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.
- Language class Join your classmates for a three hour language lesson.
- Travel to Venice via Verona
- Sightseeing tour of Verona with your Tour Director 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.
- Venice guided walking tour (with whisper headsets) Take in the sights; including the St. Mark’s Square, St. Mark's Basilica, Doge's Palace visit, glass-blowing demonstration.
- Milan city walk Arrive in Milan and enjoy a half day guided tour of the city, visiting La Scala, Duomo, and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
- Flight home Say arrivederci to Italy as you board your flight home to Australia.
- Arrive home in Australia
