- 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.
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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.
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Vatican City 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 organised 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? - Authentic trattoria dinner
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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 organised 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 and dinner 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 demonstration 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 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. Stop by a modern-day cameo studio 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 Begin your journey to one of Italy’s most beautiful cities, known for its magnificent architecture and art.
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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! - Language class Join your classmates for a three hour language lessons.
- Language class Join your classmates for your second three hour language lesson.
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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.
- Language class Join your classmates for a three hour language lesson.
- Travel to Venice via Verona
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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.
- Venice guided walking sightseeing tour St. Mark’s Square, St. Mark's Basilica, Doge's Palace guided visit, 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. Venetian glass has long been considered the best in the world, and its production was such a state secret that during the Middle Ages, any Venetian glassblower who attempted to ply his trade outside the city was immediately arrested.
- Travel to Milan
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Milan city walk
La Scala opera house, Milan Cathedral (Duomo), Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
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 gander at some of the luxury items that make the town famous.
