*Families can pay less per person, and individuals in single occupancy rooms will usually pay more. Please inquire.

**The Basic and Full Land package prices will fluctuate with the exchange rate, currently pegged at $1.50 = 1 Euro. Also, prices shown here do not include airline tickets, which vary by season and by your domestic airport.

Add $100 per person rush fee if departing within 30 days.

• Rooms for 7 nights in first class, superior, or deluxe hotels or villas
  
• Daily breakfast and cooking class with lunch
  
• Meet, greet at airport in Rome and 4 transfers by private sedan between airports, docks, train stations, and hotels (all transfers, tours, and excursions are with English speaking driver or guide.)
  
•  Half day private sedan with driver in "other" Rome
  
• Guided walking tours of Ancient Rome and the Vatican City (client pays admission fees)
  
• Half day guided tour of Pompeii
• Boat excursion along Amalfi Coast to the Emerald Grotto and Positano or ferry to / from Capri*
  
• Half day excursion by to Ravello and the Amalfi countryside plus cooking class wiith lunch in Ravello.
  
• Trip coordinators in U.S and Italy
• Trip Packet with detailed daily itinerary, maps and guidebook
  
• Extensive Pre-trip consultation
• *Boat excursions, ferries and hydrofoils operate on reduced schedules, low and middle season

U.S.A. / Rome
Day 1
Depart U.S.A. for Italy. Meals Aloft

 Via Appia Antica, flanked by such important sites as the catacombs and the Roman tombs; Villa Giulia, the country home of Pope Julius III, which now houses a remarkable Etruscan Museum displaying the well-known Married Couples sarcophagus from Cerveteri, spectacular jewelry, and a fine 5th-century terra cotta statue; the expressive fifth-century mosaics on the triumphal arch of the Church of Santa Maria  Maggiore; the fifteenth-century Church of Sant’Agostino, housing Sansovino’s “Madonna”, Caravaggio’s altarpiece “Madonna of Loreto”, and Raphael’s “Isiah”; Church of San Liugi dei Francesi, displaying the magnificent Caravaggios; Borromini’s masterpiece Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza Church; or other attractions that may interest you.

Assuming that you have selected a hotel near Via Veneto (made famous by Fellini’s movie, La Dolce Vita), this evening walk past the American Embassy and the intriguing “church of the bones” to the Piazza Barberini, the location of two fountains by the baroque master, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. From here an easy stroll brings you to the top of the Spanish Steps for a panoramic view of the city. At the base of the steps is Rome’s most fashionable shopping district. If you are staying near the Spanish Steps, simply reverse the walk. B

Rome
Day 3
After an early breakfast, you begin a half day guided walking tour of Ancient Rome. Your English speaking guide will regale you with history, facts, legends, and myths as you visit the following world famous sites:

The Colosseum -  the symbol of Rome’s eternity and the location at which Gladiators did battle and where Christians were eaten by lions.
Roman Forum -  popularly referred to as the “ruins”, but the stones still give testimony to the roots of Western Civilization
Capitoline Hill - the spiritual center of ancient Rome and today the seat of Rome’s civil government. But it is the mind of Michelangelo that continues to dominate the experience of this space.
Trevi Fountain – with water flowing since 19 B.C. and immortalized in literature, film, and song.
Pantheon -  a temple built in 27 A.D., the best preserved of the ancient buildings and the one which speaks most clearly of the Roman spirit.
Piazza Navona – built above the stadium that hosted chariot races and the home to modern day cafes that are the social heart of Rome.

After lunch and this evening, you can return to any or all of these attractions, take a leisurely stroll through the fashionable shopping district, explore Rome on your own, or simply relax. If you visit the Ancient City at night, you will be struck by the magnificent effect of the lights. Return to your hotel in Rome this evening.  B

 St. Peter’s Square and Basilica -  Here the work of Bramante, Michelangelo, and Bernini continues to shape the experience of this majestic space. From the welcoming arms of Bernini’s colonnade,  to the hush imposed by Bramante’s towering piers over the main altar, finishing with the awe inspired by Michelangelo’s dome, the walk through the square and the basilica is one of the most dramatic journeys in Rome. You should be aware that on most Wednesdays there is a papal audience in an auditorium that adjoins St. Peter’s. If you are interested in attending, we will rearrange your schedule and arrange tickets for you to attend the audience.

 Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel – This  is one of the most important artistic repositories in the world and features the work of Raphael and Michelangelo, both of whom worked at the same time for the strong-willed Pope Julius II. With the cleaning of the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s magnificent vision is more clearly displayed than ever.

 The afternoon is free to return to whatever has inspired you the most. Transfer by taxi early this evening to Rome’s medieval Jewish ghetto section.  Dating back to the second century BC, its narrow streets are now filled with trendy shops and restaurants and some fine historic buildings, including the Palace of Pope Pius XVI. Return to your hotel in Rome this evening. B

As you enter the Amalfi Coast, neither words nor pictures can prepare you for the magnificent views, rugged coastline, luxuriant hills, and vineyards fragrant with olive, lemon and orange groves.   Continue on the cliffside roads to your choice of hotel in Positano, Ravello, Amalfi, or Maori. B

Amalfi Coast (Pompeii)
Day 6
You will be picked up by shuttle van at the hotel this morning and will be taken to the minibus in Maori for your excursion to Pompeii, which was frozen in time when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. Extensive excavations and painstaking reconstruction have made it possible for you to experience the homes, fountains, courtyards, inlaid marble floors, mosaics and frescoes that constituted the town's everyday life nearly 2,000 years ago. You return to Maori this afternoon by minibus and meet our shuttle driver, who will take you to your hotel.

Ask your host to recommend the best place to see locals perform the Tarantella, a seventeenth-century folk dance once believed to cure the tarantula’s bite. Return to your Amalfi coast hotel this evening. B/L

Amalfi Coast (Ravello and countryside)
Day 7
 You will be picked up by your private driver for your exploration of Ravello and the Amalfi Coast countryside. The excursion includes a cooking class and lunch in Ravello.

 The small town of Ravello is more remotely located for this itinerary than Positano, Amalfi, and Maori, but if you do not stay in Ravello you should not fail to include it as an excursion. After seeing Positano you will find it hard to believe, but the coastal views from Ravello are even more spectacular. Visit the imposing thirteenth-century Villa Rufolo, formerly the residence of Charles of Anjou and several Popes.  Beyond its Gothic entrance tower is a Moorish-style courtyard with sharply pointed arches in the Sicilian-Norman style, with exquisite interlacing above.  Be sure to see the gardens of both Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone, from which the views of the bay are awesome.  On most Thursday evenings during season there is a concert in the gardens of Villa Ruffolo at sunset.

Return to your hotel on the Amalfi coast this evening. B

Amalfi Coast (Amalfi, Positano)
Day 8
You have pre-paid reservations this morning for a boat ride to Grotto dello Smeraldo (Emerald Grotto), its exceptionally clear waters indirectly illuminated by rays of sunlight that impart an intense, deep emerald color.  View fine ancient Saracen ruins en route to Amalfi, an extremely picturesque little town with multi-storied, red-tiled white houses built on rugged slopes facing a beautiful harbor.  Walk through Amalfi’s historic center, visiting the twelfth-century Duomo, its eleventh-century bronze doors, imported from Constantinople, opening onto a harmonious blend of Saracen and Romanesque styles, including an exquisite Arab-style cloister.

Your cruise includes a 2 hour stop in Positano. Often the setting for Hollywood films and ever popular with artists and the jet set, Positano is a Moorish-style village with houses, many white-washed and some colorful, clinging spectacularly down the sides of cliffs around a protected bay. On the pebbled beach, with breathtaking views of both sea and mountains, try Limoncello, a locally produced liqueur served in the inlaid wooden vessels typical of the region. And be sure to explore Positano’s fascinating pedestrian streets, with free time to shop the many wonderful boutiques.

 Option: we will provide ferry tickets to and from Capri in lieu of the Amalfi Coast cruise if you so choose. B

Amalfi Coast - Naples - USA
Day 9

This morning, you will depart for home. Our transfer service will collect you at your hotel and transfer you to the Naples airport for your flight home. B/Meals aloft.  

Optional Extension - (Capri)
Day 10 & 11

A typical extension of 1 day / 1night to the island of Capri might look like the following:

Check out of your hotel on the Amalfi Coast, and take the hydrofoil or ferry to your hotel on the island of Capri. (The season, and your specific date of travel will dictate the best means of transfer, and the departure point dock.) Capri is an extraordinarily captivating—even magical—place.  Its beautiful, rugged landscapes and luxuriant vegetation made it popular with the ancient Romans. Today, its whitewashed houses and villas, fragrant lemon trees, narrow winding lanes, and flower-filled courtyards make it a favorite destination for travelers.  Take a guided cruise around the island, viewing the remains of Tiberius’ baths and Augustus’ Palazzo a Mare (Sea Palace), as well as a number of Capri’s spectacular marine caves, including the most famous—the Blue Grotto—which gets its name from an intensely blue light that filters through its waters via a submerged opening, creating an absolutely stunning effect.

 Continue past the Faraglioni rocks, craggy islets that have been eroded into fantastic shapes by the waves; the Arco Naturale, a gigantic natural rock arch rising high above the sea; the Grotta di Matromania, where Romans venerated the goddess Cybele; and the Grotta del Bove Marino (Sea Ox Cave), named for the roar the sea makes as it rushes in during stormy weather.  You will travel  a dramatically beautiful, sharply winding “ribbon” road to the idyllic village of Anacapri and take a chair lift to Monte Solaro, the loftiest citadel on Capri, for a spectacular, panoramic view of the whole island and the Bay of Naples. 

 Following some time at leisure for shopping and strolling Anacapri’s charming streets, have lunch in  Capri village overlooking Naples and Salerno Bay.  Next, take a walking tour to the Piazza Umberto I, lined with exclusive cafes, and home to Capri’s famous bell tower.  Walk through narrow streets flanked by beautiful villas, luxuriant gardens and elegant shops to the Villa Jovis, the splendid ruins of the estate from which Tiberius once ruled the empire.