Take in the exciting grandeur of Rome, discover the abundant artistic treasures of Florance, and become enchanted in romantic Venice. A tour of "Classic Rome", covering most of the major sights of The Eternal City. There will be many opportunities to go back and get the picture you missed, find that shop you fell in love with or spend another afternoon in a cozy trattoria.

ROME

Rome is a huge city with several district articles containing sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and accommodation listings — consider printing them all.

Rome (Italian: Roma), the 'Eternal City', is the capital and largest city of Italy and of the Lazio (Latium) region. It's the famed city of the Roman Empire, the Seven Hills, La Dolce Vita (sweet life), the Vatican City and Three Coins in the Fountain. Rome, as a millennium-long centre of power, culture and religion, having been the centre of one of the globe's greatest civilizations ever, has exerted a huge influence over the world in its c. 2,500 years of existence.

The Historic Center of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With wonderful palaces, millennium-old churches and basilicas, grand romantic ruins, opulent monuments, ornate statues and graceful fountains, Rome has an immensely rich historical heritage and cosmopolitan atmosphere, making it one of Europe's and the world's most visited, famous, influential and beautiful capitals. Today, Rome has a growing nightlife scene and is also seen as a shopping heaven, being regarded as one of the fashion capitals of the world (some of Italy's oldest jewellery and clothing establishments were founded in the city). With so many sights and things to do, Rome can truly be classified a "global city".

Central Rome

Rome can be divided into several districts. The so-called historical center (centro storico) is quite small, only around 4% of the city's area. This is mainly made up of Old Rome and Colosseo. Districts are explained below:

Old Rome

The center of the Roman medieval and Renaissance periods, with beautiful plazas, cathedrals, the Pantheon, and plenty of laid-back dining; includes the Navona, Campo de' Fiori, and the Jewish Ghetto neighborhoods.

Vatican

The Papal City State and its endless treasure troves of sights, relics, and museums, as well as the surrounding Italian neighborhood.

Colosseo The heart of ancient Rome, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Forum of Augustus, the Forum and Markets of Trajan, the Capitoline and its museums.

History

Rome's history spans over two and half thousand years, which have seen its transformation from a small Latin village to the center of a vast empire, through the founding of Catholicism, and into the capital of today's Italy. Rome's history is long and complex. What follows is merely a quick summary. .

Rome is traditionally thought to have been founded by the mythical twins Romulus and Remus, who were abandoned as infants in the Tiber River and raised by a mother wolf before being found by a shepherd who raised them as his own sons. Rome was founded as a small village sometime in the 8th century BC surrounding the Palatine Hill, including the area where the Roman Forum is found. Due to the village's position at a ford on the Tiber River, Rome became a crossroads of traffic and trade.

The settlement developed into the capital of the Roman Kingdom, led by a series of Etruscan kings, before becoming the seat of the Roman Republic at around 500 BC, and then the center of the Roman Empire from 27 BC on. For almost a thousand years, Rome was the largest, wealthiest, most powerful city in the Western World, with dominance over most of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Even after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, Rome maintained considerable importance and wealth.

Beginning with the reign of Constantine I, the Bishop of Rome (later known as the Pope) gained political and religious importance, establishing Rome as the center of the Catholic Church. During the Early Middle Ages, the city declined in population but gained a new importance as the capital of the newly formed Papal States. Throughout the Middle Ages, Rome was a major pilgrimage site and the focus of struggles between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy.

The Santa Maria in Trastevere church, a symbol of early medieval Rome.

With the Italian Renaissance fully under way in the 15th century, Rome changed dramatically. Extravagant churches, bridges, and public spaces, including a new Saint Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel, were constructed by the Papacy so that Rome would equal the grandeur of other Italian cities of the period. In the 19th century, Rome again became the focus of a power struggle with the rise of the Kingdom of Italy, which wished to see a reunification of Italy. The Papal States remained in control of Rome under French protection, but with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, French troops were forced to abandon Rome, leaving it clear for the Kingdom of Italy to capture. Rome became the capital of Italy, and has remained such ever since.

Rome today is a contemporary metropolis that reflects the many periods of its long history - Ancient times, Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Modern Era. With the rise of Italian Fascism following World War I, Rome's population grew. This trend was stopped by World War II, which dealt relatively minor damage to Rome. With the dismantlement of the monarchy and the creation of the Italian Republic following WWII, Rome again began to grow in population and became a modern city. The city stands today as the capital of Italy and one of the world's major tourist destinations.

FLORENCE

Capital of the region of Tuscany, has a population of around half a million inhabitants, spreads on the banks of the Arno, between the Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian seas, almost in the middle of the Italian peninsula. It is a city which bustles with industry and craft, commerce and culture, art and science. Being on the main national railway lines, it is easily accessible from most important places both in Italy and abroad. The Florence "Vespucci" airport, where both national and international airlines stop, is located 5 Km. from the city centre. The main motorway, A1, connects Florence with Bologna and Milano in the North and Rome and Naples in the South. The motorway A11 to the sea joins it to Prato, Pistoia, Montecatini, Lucca, Pisa and all the resorts on the Tyrrhenian sea. There is also motorway which connects Florence to Siena. The climate is temperate but rather variable, with breezy winters and hot summers. The Chianti area, between Florence and Siena, is one of the most beautiful countrysides in Italy and a famous wine production area.

HISTORY

Founded by the Romans in the first century B.C., Florence began its rebirth after the decadence of the barbaric ages, in the Carolingian period, and reached its highest pinnacles of civilization between the 11th and 15th centuries, as a free city, balancing the authority of the Emperors with that of the Popes, overcoming the unfortunate internal dispute between Guelfs and Ghibellines. In the 15th century, it came under the rule of the Medici family, who later became the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. This in fact was the period when the city was at the height of its glory in art and culture, in politics and economic power. The Grand Duchy of the Medicis was succeeded, in the 18th century, by that of the House of Lorraine, when in 1860 Tuscany became part of the Kingdom of Italy of which Florence was the capital from 1865 to 1871. In this century, the city has once more taken up its role as an important centre for culture and the arts.

ART AND CULTURE

Florence contains an exceptional artistic patrimony, glorious testimony to its secular civilization. Cimabue and Giotto, the fathers of Italian painting, lived here, along with Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano, reformists of architecture and sculpture; Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio, founders of the Renaissance; Ghiberti and the Della Robbia; Filippo Lippi and l'Angelico; Botticelli and Paolo Uccello; the universal geniuses Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Their works, along with those of many generations of artists up to the masters of the present century, are gathered in the city's many museums. In Florence, thanks to Dante, the Italian language was born; with Petrarch and Boccaccio literary studies were affirmed; with Humanism the philosophy and values of classical civilization were revived; with Machiavelli modern political science was born; with Guicciardini, historical prose; and with Galileo, modern experimental science. Up to the time of Charlemagne, Florence was a university town. Today it includes many specialized institutes and is an international cultural center. Academies, art schools, scientific institutes and cultural centers all contribute to the city's intense activity.

VENICE

The city of Venice, Italy, is simply stunning and completely unique. Founded more than 1,500 years ago on 117 different islands, Venice is linked by a series of over 150 canals, 400 bridges and many ancient pavements. The historic city centre of Venice is divided into six quarters (sestieri) - Cannaregio, Castello, Dorsoduro, San Marco, San Polo and Santa Croce. All buildings in Venice are supported on slender oak and pine piles (posts) which are driven deep into the ground to create a solid foundation. As the soil is waterlogged, with no free oxygen, the piles remain strong and do not decay.

Venice is without doubt one of the most beautiful and popular cities in the world, and is always admired by the many tourists that visit throughout the year. There are several tourist information branches operated by the Azienda di Promozione Turistica, located on the Piazza San Marco, the Piazzale Roma, the Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta, the Lungomare Adriatico, the Venice Pavilion and the Stazione di Santa Lucia. A further tourism outlet is conveniently situated in the arrivals hall at the Marco Polo Airport. If you have time for day trips, there are also many interesting towns to explore, such as Burano, Murano, Padua, Torcello, Verona and Vicenza.

MILAN

Milan, the capital of Lombardy, has a population of 1.3 million people. It is the biggest industrial city of Italy with many different industrial sectors. It is a magnetic point for designers, artists, photographers and models. Milan has an ancient city centre with high and interesting buildings and palazzos, which is why so many people from all over the world want to see the city of glamour.

Milan has always been a rich and important city. It has always been a place full of various famous artists and offers a particular assortment of churches, buildings and monuments. There was a change of culture and art in the Renaissance with big a contribution in the period of the neoclassicism. Milan offers a big variety of buildings, monuments and museums. The most important church is the Cathedral which is the third largest church in the world.

It is overall made of marble, with immense statues, arches, pillars, pinnacles. From the roof you can experience a beautiful panorama of the city. Santa Maria delle Grazie was built between 1466 and 1490 and modified by Bramante. In the Refectory there is one of the most famous paintings of Leonardo da Vinci: the “Last Supper”. Milan has many historic palazzos like the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) which is situated in the south side of Piazza Duomo. The Sforza Castle is one of the symbols of Milan together with the Madonnina and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. All those sights together are just few reasons for a visit.

Program:

Day (1)
- Arrival at FIUMICINO APT in the afternoon meets and greet by our English speaking assistant. Bus transfer to the hotel with assistant.
- Check in
- Overnight

Day (2)
Breakfast in HTL. Groups will transfer by bus to Vatican and 1 guide at disposal HD AM for visit of the Vatican Museums. (Vatican Museums & Sistine Chappel, explore the world’s most extensive collection of art at the Vatican Museums founded by Pope Julius II in the 16th century. Brilliantly decorated and lines with masterpieces, the museums are brimming with treasures and history, our guide will lead you through the 2000 rooms that stretch over almost nine miles, and share the stories and secrets contained within the Vatican’s walls. Highlights of the museums are Michelangelo’s famous Creation of Adam fresco in the Sistine Chapel and Raphael’s Rooms. Then the imposing sculpture La Pieta’ consider another Michelangelo’s masterpieces, inside St Peter’s Basilica. Ending up at the magnificent St Peter’s Square, discover the Bernini’s ingenious use of optical illusion.
- Transfer back to HTL.
- Lunch at leisure.
- Afternoon at leisure.
- Overnight.

Day (3)

- Having breakfast in HTL.
- Bus transfer to Colosseum and 1 guide at disposal HD AM for visit of the Colosseum. (Reach the archaeological area and discover the imposing amphitheatre of Flaviano, the largest of the largest of the ancient world where the hunts and the gladiators fights took place visit. Continue through the ruins of the Roman Forum where the public life in ancient Rome was carried out, between the Basilicas and the temples honouring the origins of Rome and its mythical founders. Before get in the motor-coach have a look of the Capitoline Hill (Campidoglio) where in the past the sacred temples of Jupitter Juno and Minerva were placed.
- Transfer back to HTL.
- Lunch at leisure.
- Departure to Florence arriving Florence at afternoon.
- Overnight at Florence.

Day (4)
- Breakfast in HTL and check out.
- Departure by coach to Siena.
- Guided visit of Siena with 1 English speaking guide HD AM.
- Lunch at leisure. (Where it’s built in three steep hills and unchanged since medieval times. Take a lovely guided walking tour of this compact city with our English speaking guide and see the major sites including the “Piazza Del Campo) where the famous Palio horse race takes place every year, as well as exploring quieter backstreets.)
- Bus transfer to Florence .
- Check in Florence.
- Overnight

Day (5)
- Breakfast in HTL.
- Departure by bus to Pisa. (After a panaromic drive through the Tuscan countryside, you’ll drive along the embankment lining the River Arno into Pisa. Your visit begins with a guided visit of Piazza Dei Miracoli, home to the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa (exterior visit). This masterpieces of Romanesque art is surrounded by the equally beautiful (exterior visit) and cathedral (exterior visit). You will then have free time to explore Pisa on your own.
- Lunch at leisure.
- 1 guide for Pisa.
- Check in Florence HTL.
- Overnight.

Day (6)
- Breakfast in HTL.
- Walking guided visit of Florence HD AM. (Enjoy quite a three hour walking tour of Florence including the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, Uffizi Square, the leather market. Your local guide will identify architecture from the Maiddle Ages and Renaissance eras as you stroll the timeless streets of Florence. Visit the former Ancient Forum now Piazza Della Repubblica and a popular meeting place for writers and artists. Glance Ghilberti’s Baptistry Doors, known as the ‘Gates of Paradise’ and be sure to rub the nose of legendary il Porcellino’ the boar, so that you may one day return again to Florence. Dominating the Florentine skyline, Brunlleschi’s imposing Duomo never fails to impress. Enter inside the astounding Cathedral of Santa Maria del Restrictions on entry to the Cathedral may apply on Sundays and religious holidays.
- Lunch at leisure
- Afternoon at leisure – OPTIONAL: GUIDED VISIT OF UFFIZI GALLERY (on request)
- Overnight

Day (7)
- After having breakfast in HTL. Groups will transfer by bus from hotel to Piazzale Rome (Venice) (You’ll take a leisurely stroll through the streets of Venice. Have your camera ready for unforgettable pictures of intriguing, yet lesser-known Venice sights that will chart your route as you walk. The exact itinerary on your Venice Walking Tour will be determined by your guide on the day and will include of course: St Mark’s Basilica and Rialto Bridge. This is the perfect way to get to know Venice as visitors. As well as anyone interested in the city’s colorful history).
- Boat transfer from Piazzale Roma to Cornoldi (Venice city centre).
- 1 English speaking guide for 2 hours for guided visit of S. Marco square and Rialto Bridge.
- OPTIONAL: GUIDED VISIT OF PALAZZO DUCALE (ON REQUEST)
- Lunch at leisure.
- Afternoon at leisure
- Boat + bus transfer from Venice back to HTL

Day (8)
- Breakfast in HTL, bus transfer to Milano
- Overnight

Day (9)
- Breakfast in HTL , bus transfer for tour at Milano (Milan is a world center of glamour and most stylish Italian city, capital of fashion, design, art and nightlife. Start your visit from the Medieval Sforzesco Castlle which original construction began in the 14th century and modified many times through the years, then the Gothic Duomo, the symbol of the city, started in 1386 and ended in the late 19th century, characterized by 3400 statues and its fabulous stained-glass windows. Continue to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, shopping gallery with its wonderful structure with a glass roof, full of traditional cafes, bars, bookshops, and the original Prada store. Ending at the Teatro alla Scala one of the world’s most famous Opera House).
- Overnight.

Day (10)
- Breakfast in HTL, check out
- Bus transfer to MXP APT with English speaking assistance.
- Fly back to Amman
- End of our service