Visit a Venetian glassblowing workshop to watch artisans shape molten glass using skills passed down through generations. See the concentration and speed involved as a glowing gather of glass is worked into form.

Glassmaking has been central to Venetian craftsmanship for centuries, prized for both technical ingenuity and decorative artistry. A live demonstration reveals the human skill behind the finished pieces and offers insight into a tradition that remains part of the city’s identity.

• 3 Dinner (D)
• 9 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Lunch (L)

• Selected hotel dinners plus a locally hosted meal
• 4-star stays
• Deluxe coach and train travel

• Rome: During an orientation with your Travel Director see the medieval buildings, Renaissance palaces and Baroque churches scattered throughout the city.
• Rome: Discover ancient treasures of Rome with a Local Specialist. See Circus Maximus and visit the mighty Colosseum, which bears witness to the limitless courage of the gladiators.
• Florence: Join a Local Specialist to view the multicolored marble cathedral, bell tower and baptistery, adorned by Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise. Visit the political heart of the city, Signoria Square.
• Florence: Admire the enchanting Tuscan landscape as you travel by high-speed train to Florence. 
• Florence: Visit the Academy of Fine Arts and admire its Michelangelo collection.
• Pisa: In the Piazza dei Miracoli, see the baptistery, cathedral and the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.
• Venice: Journey by high-speed train past dramatic mountains and lush plains to ”La Serenissima”.
• Venice: Discover the ancient skill of Venetian glassblowing and play a part in preserving this traditional craft.
• Venice: Savor the vibrant atmosphere of Venice during a walk through its calli to a traditional food market in the shadow of the famous Rialto Bridge.

Trafalgar

Take in Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo, a hillside viewpoint across the Arno River. From here, the city’s rooftops spread beneath the Duomo’s great dome, with the river and historic bridges completing the panorama.

Designed in the 19th century and named for the artist whose works it celebrates, the square offers a different perspective on Florence’s Renaissance skyline. It is a natural place to pause, trace the landmarks you have seen at street level and capture photographs.

Walk Venice’s narrow calli with a Local Specialist and visit a traditional food market near the Rialto Bridge. Observe the everyday rhythms of the island city among market stalls and streets that serve residents as well as visitors.

The Rialto area has been a centre of Venetian commerce for centuries. Its market gives you a more grounded perspective on the city: one shaped not only by palaces and canals, but also by the buying, selling and conversation of daily life.

Discover Rome with your Travel Director on an orientation drive through the Eternal City. Look out for the medieval buildings, Renaissance palaces and Baroque churches that give its streets their layered character.

The drive offers an introduction to a city shaped over more than two millennia, from ancient imperial landmarks to grand public squares. It is a chance to get your bearings while sharing your first impressions of Rome with your fellow travellers.

Explore Rome with a Local Specialist, pausing in Vatican City to view St. Peter’s Square and the exterior of St. Peter’s Basilica. In Ancient Rome, see Circus Maximus, once a vast venue for chariot racing, and visit the Colosseum.

The amphitheatre hosted gladiatorial contests and public spectacles nearly two thousand years ago. Its surviving arches offer a tangible sense of the scale and ambition of imperial Rome, while the Vatican’s monumental square reflects the city’s later religious history.

Walk through Florence with a Local Specialist to see the marble-clad Duomo, its bell tower and baptistery, and the goldsmith-lined Ponte Vecchio. Explore Piazza della Signoria, the city’s historic political centre, before visiting the Academy of Fine Arts to see Michelangelo’s David.

Florence’s public spaces reveal the wealth and artistic ambition of the Renaissance. At the academy, David’s scale and precisely carved form bring one of the era’s most celebrated works into strikingly close view.

Explore Pisa’s Piazza dei Miracoli with a Local Specialist and view the Leaning Tower, cathedral, baptistery and Camposanto. The tower’s distinctive tilt makes an arresting sight beside the square’s white marble religious buildings and open lawns.

This ensemble reflects Pisa’s importance as a medieval maritime republic. The Camposanto, or monumental cemetery, is traditionally associated with soil brought from the Holy Land during the Crusades, adding another layer of history to the remarkable square.

Meet Sandra and Antonella for a Be My Guest lunch at their historic family farm, Agriturismo Borgo Vigna Vecchia, in the Tuscan hills. Share a locally hosted meal in a setting surrounded by vineyards and olive groves.

This experience offers a personal introduction to rural Tuscan hospitality rather than a conventional restaurant stop. The farm setting connects the food on the table with the cultivated landscape around it and the family who welcomes you.

Cruise by private launch to St. Mark’s Square, approaching Venice from the water as generations of visitors have done. Take in the Bridge of Sighs, Palladian churches and Customs House, along with views of St. Mark’s Basilica, its campanile and the Doge’s Palace.

The waterfront brings together landmarks of Venetian trade, faith and government. Seeing their facades from the lagoon reveals why the city’s maritime setting is inseparable from its history and distinctive beauty.

Discover the ancient city of Pompeii on an optional experience from Rome. Explore the remains of a Roman settlement preserved when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, revealing streets, public spaces and traces of ordinary domestic life.

Pompeii offers an unusually direct view of the ancient world because so much of its urban fabric survived beneath volcanic material. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Travel Director for the available arrangements.

Visit the hilltop town of San Gimignano on an optional outing into the Tuscan countryside. Its surviving medieval towers rise above a compact historic centre, earning it the nickname the “medieval Manhattan.”

The journey offers a look beyond Florence to the villages and cultivated hills of Tuscany, with an opportunity to encounter regional sweet specialities such as panforte. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; confirm the outing’s details with your Travel Director.

Dine in the Chianti region on an optional evening experience centred on Tuscan food. Leave Florence for a meal in the countryside known for its vineyards, olive groves and long-standing wine culture.

Chianti’s landscape and cooking are closely connected, making a regional dinner an appealing way to experience Tuscany beyond its museums and city squares. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; your Travel Director can advise on the venue and arrangements.

Cruise across the Venetian Lagoon to Burano for a meal on the island. Walk among its brightly painted houses and canals, a colourful contrast to the grand stone architecture of central Venice.

Burano has a long association with lacemaking and lagoon life. The boat journey makes the island’s setting part of the experience, while time ashore offers a glimpse of a smaller Venetian community. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.