DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight to Milan.

DAY    2            ARRIVE MILAN - VERONA - VENICE AREA (2 NIGHTS)
You will be met at the airport by your Casterbridge Tour Manager/Guide where we will board our own private coach and are transferred to the Venice area. En route we will visit Verona, forever associated with Romeo and Juliet and one of Italy's most ancient and glorious cities. A wealth of monuments testifies to its past importance. We will view the picturesque Erbe and Lord's Squares, the Tombs of the Scaligers, Castelvecchio, Scaligers Bridge and the large Roman Amphitheater before continuing towards Venice.

DAY    3            VENICE
Venice is set in languorous beauty on a shiny lagoon and the center of this city, built on a myriad of wooden piles, is St. Mark's Square. Here we visit the magnificent St. Mark's Basilica with its famous cupolas, arches and interior walls encrusted with precious art, rare marbles and impressive dark gold mosaics. Next to St. Mark's is the superb Doges Palace and we will also see the 9th century Bell Tower, the Clock Tower and the old Law Courts on St. Mark's Square. The Grand Canal has been described as the world's finest street. We will view palaces of amazing grandeur and richness when we ride on a Vaporetto. Your guide will also help you discover galleries filled with masterpieces, churches, small squares and bridges like the Bridge of Sighs.

DAY    4            VENICE AREA - RAVENNA - FLORENCE AREA (2 NIGHTS)
We will drive to Ravenna, an Eastern jewel in a Western setting, truly beyond compare. No other town in Europe has such perfectly preserved monuments and memorials from the late Empire to the early Middle Ages. The Tomb of Galla Placidia's wonderful mosaics is a model of classic perfection. The Church of St. Vitalis is one of the wonders, not only of Ravenna, but also of the world, for the beauty and richness of the marbles that remain. We travel on to Florence, a city that is a living gallery of man's greatest work of art, sculpture and architectural forms.

DAY    5            FLORENCE
Our day begins in the Piazza delle Signoria, the political stage of Renaissance Florence and virtually an open air museum. From here we move a short distance to the Piazza del Duomo, where the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, its Tower, and Baptistery display the traditions of Florentine art from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. We will view the massive and detailed façade of the church before turning our gaze to the magnificent bronze doors of the Baptistery designed by Ghiberti. It was Michelangelo who commented these doors were worthy to be the "Gates of Paradise." After a brief visit inside, we will have the opportunity to do one of the following: ascend the Bell Tower, climb the narrow steps to the top of the Red Dome, or visit the spectacular interior of the Baptistery (One admission included). Our afternoon begins at the Church of Santa Croce, where many famous Italians are buried including Dante. This evening, we will stroll along the Ponte Vecchio.

DAY    6            FLORENCE AREA - SIENA - ROME (3 NIGHTS)
Our first stop is Siena where we will wander through the medieval streets leading to the magnificent Cathedral with its unusual black and white facade and, inside, the lovely Piccolomini Library with its manuscripts and frescoes. We will then make our way to the scallop-shaped Piazza Del Campo, where the Sienese holds their Palio festival, a wild horse race around the square. We continue on to Rome, our home for the next few nights. After settling in we will take a Walking Tour from Castel Sant'Angelo over the River Tiber to Piazza Navona, a place full of color and local activity. Enjoy a gelato, see the work of local artists, or visit with people from around the world.

DAY    7            ROME (THE CITY OF THE CAESARS)
Today we will explore Rome's most spectacular remains from the powerful Roman Empire, commencing with a specialist guided tour of the Colosseum, considered the symbol of Rome's eternity. Completed under Titus in 80 AD, over 55,000 spectators could watch the gladiatorial games. We continue with a walk through the ruins and excavations of the Roman Forum, featuring the remains of magnificent temples, basilicas and triumphal arches, which once formed the heart of the Empire. Our tour continues with a visit to the Mamertine Prison, once reserved for those that posed a threat to the security of Rome including Saints Peter and Paul, before viewing Trajan's Column and Markets and the grandiose Vittorio Emmanuelle Monument. Our afternoon commences in Bernini's Piazza Navona, built on the foundations of Domitian's Circus. This magnificent square, designed in the 17th century by Bernini, is full of life and is highlighted by one of Rome's most spectacular fountains, the fountain of the Four Rivers. Our afternoon concludes with a visit to the Pantheon, one of the grandest and the best-preserved Roman monuments, transformed from a Pagan temple into a unique Christian church.

DAY    8            ROME (THE CITY OF THE POPES)
Today we will visit the Vatican, the world's smallest independent nation, and the religious center of the Roman Catholic Church. Our day begins with a specialist-guided tour of the Vatican Museums, which house one of the most impressive collections of art in the world. Our tour will include the map rooms, the tapestry rooms, and the magnificent Raphael Rooms, as well as the spectacular Sistine Chapel, highlighted by Michelangelo's ceiling and his Last Judgment. We continue with a visit to St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the western world and the most important point of pilgrimage in the Catholic world. Highlights of our visit will include: The Pieta by Michelangelo, the tomb of St. Peter and Bernini's magnificent Baldacchino. If possible, we will arrange a Papal Audience (subject to availability and the Holy Father's schedule). We will also attempt to arrange a visit to the Necropolis to see the original Tomb of St. Peter. This evening, we will walk to the Spanish Steps and follow the narrow streets leading to the famous Trevi Fountain.

DAY    9            DEPARTURE FROM ROME
Your enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as your Casterbridge Tour Manager/Guide accompanies you to the airport for the return flight home.