Explore Palermo with a Local Expert, including visits inside Palermo Cathedral and the Palatine Chapel in the Palace of the Normans. Observe the cathedral’s varied architectural influences and the chapel’s luminous golden mosaics.

Both buildings reveal Sicily’s layered history. Arab-Norman, Byzantine and later European artistic traditions sit alongside one another, making this guided visit a concentrated introduction to Palermo’s cultural heritage.

• 8 Dinner (D)
• 16 Breakfast (B)

• Vatican City: Visit the Vatican Museums and witness the genius of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.

• Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.

Insight Vacations

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over dinner at a local restaurant in Rome. Sample Roman specialties in a setting that offers an introduction to the city beyond its ancient monuments.

Food is a lively expression of life in Lazio, from pasta traditions to seasonal produce. This shared Roman meal is an opportunity to get acquainted while discovering some of the flavours that give the Eternal City its everyday character.

Explore the Vatican Museums with a Local Expert, viewing works assembled by successive popes. In the Sistine Chapel, look up at Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling, one of the defining achievements of the Italian Renaissance.

The galleries trace centuries of artistic patronage in the heart of Vatican City. You will also admire the dome of St Peter’s Basilica. If Vatican Museums tickets are unavailable, the included visit is replaced by an exploration of Rome’s Capitoline Museums.

Explore ancient Rome with a Local Expert, including a guided visit to the Colosseum. Hear how the vast arena was built and used, and what its spectacles reveal about daily life in the Roman Empire.

See the Circus Maximus and Arch of Constantine, and look towards the Palatine Hill, traditionally associated with Rome’s founding. Together, these landmarks bring the scale of imperial entertainment, triumph and civic life into focus.

Visit Pisa’s Square of Miracles with a Local Expert and view its celebrated ensemble: the cathedral, baptistery and unmistakably tilted Leaning Tower. Examine the patterned marble and sculptural details that make the square a landmark of medieval Italian architecture.

The tower was built as the cathedral’s bell tower, and its lean has become inseparable from Pisa’s identity. The open square offers space to appreciate how these buildings were designed to be seen together.

Discover the UNESCO-listed Cinque Terre with a Local Expert, approaching a fishing village by boat when weather permits. Spend time in Monterosso, where narrow lanes in the medieval quarter meet a sandy stretch of Ligurian shoreline.

These settlements occupy a rugged coast shaped by generations of fishing and terraced cultivation. A view from the water reveals the colourful buildings against steep hillsides that make this landscape so distinctive.

Visit Portofino’s colourful harbour, where closely packed houses overlook yachts and fishing boats. Explore the small village, browse its boutiques or settle into a café on the piazzetta to watch harbour life unfold.

A cruise along the rugged Ligurian coast adds a different perspective on this stretch of the Italian Riviera. From the water, headlands, sheltered coves and seaside towns reveal the landscape behind Portofino’s polished waterfront.

Experience la passeggiata beside Lake Maggiore, the Italian custom of taking an unhurried walk and enjoying the company of others. In the lakeside surroundings of Baveno, notice how residents gather, converse and make an occasion of the early evening.

This simple social ritual is part of daily life across Italy. A gelato or a glass of wine can complement the lakeside atmosphere, with mountain scenery providing a backdrop to the passing parade.

Cruise Venice by private boat as your Travel Director introduces the city from its waterways. Pass palazzi and churches reflecting centuries of Venetian architecture, and arrive near St Mark’s Square.

Walk along the waterfront to see the Doge’s Palace and Bridge of Sighs, then take in the exterior of St Mark’s Basilica. This combination of waterborne views and a short walk shows how closely Venice’s ceremonial landmarks are connected to its canals.

Glide through Venice’s canals by gondola, passing beneath historic bridges and alongside the facades of waterside palaces. From the low seat of this traditional craft, the city feels close enough to notice details easily missed from a bridge.

Gondolas have long been associated with movement through Venice’s network of waterways. The gentle pace offers a chance to absorb the quiet rhythm of the canals and the distinctive architecture built around them.

Watch master artisans shape molten glass at a Venetian workshop. See how heat, breath and practiced movements turn the material into delicate handcrafted pieces, and hear about the skills behind the demonstration.

Glassmaking has been central to Venetian craftsmanship for centuries, with techniques traditionally passed between generations of artisans. Seeing the process at close range reveals the precision required to preserve this centuries-old craft.

Taste bistecca alla Fiorentina at a traditional dinner in Florence, accompanied by local wine. This substantial Tuscan steak is a regional specialty, prepared to let the flavour of the beef take centre stage.

The meal connects the city’s Renaissance setting with the food culture of the surrounding countryside. Sharing a Florentine steak dinner offers a distinctly local experience rather than a standard hotel meal.

Explore Florence’s historic centre, viewing the marble-clad cathedral, bell tower and baptistery, where reproductions of Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise recall the city’s Renaissance artistry. In Piazza della Signoria, see the statues outside Palazzo Vecchio, including Neptune, Hercules and Cacus.

Near the Santa Croce district, watch a leatherwork and gold demonstration. These crafts remain part of Florence’s identity, linking its celebrated art and architecture with the work of living artisans.

Choose to enter Florence’s Accademia Gallery and stand before Michelangelo’s David. View the sculpture up close to appreciate its scale, anatomical detail and the artist’s command of marble.

Created in the early 16th century, David became a powerful symbol of the Florentine Republic. This is one of two included Insight Choice activities; travellers select it instead of the local café walk and tasting.

Choose to walk through Florence with your Travel Director to a local spot favoured by residents. Sample a classic Italian treat and hear how it became part of the area’s food culture.

This relaxed experience focuses on everyday Florentine flavours and the neighbourhood places people return to. It is one of two included Insight Choice activities, offered as an alternative to visiting the Accademia Gallery to see Michelangelo’s David.

Walk Pompeii’s preserved streets with a Local Expert and explore a Roman town buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Cobbled roads and surviving buildings offer a remarkably tangible view of its former layout.

Your expert brings the site into focus through the lives of the people who once lived and worked here. Pompeii’s preservation makes it possible to consider daily life in the Roman Empire at the scale of an entire town.

Cross the Bay of Naples to Capri by boat with a Local Expert, arriving at Marina Grande beneath the island’s steep slopes. Ascend to Capri town and explore its whitewashed buildings, narrow alleyways, cafés and artisan studios.

For centuries, Capri has drawn visitors for its dramatic position above the Mediterranean. Enjoy the views from the island’s upper town before descending towards the port by funicular railway.

Explore Matera’s UNESCO-listed Sassi with a Local Expert, walking among dwellings and churches carved into the rock. The intricate hillside settlement offers a close look at a way of life that continued here into the 20th century.

These extensive cave neighbourhoods were home to thousands of people until the 1950s. Matera’s striking stone landscape has also appeared on screen, including as a setting for The Passion of the Christ.

Explore Alberobello with a Local Expert and examine its UNESCO-listed trulli: circular limestone buildings topped with distinctive conical roofs. Walk among these closely grouped structures to see their dry-stone construction at street level.

Built without mortar from local stone, the trulli express a building tradition rooted in the landscape of Puglia. Their unusual silhouettes make Alberobello one of southern Italy’s most recognisable historic settlements.

Enjoy a freshly prepared farm-to-table dinner in the Alberobello area, featuring recipes and flavours associated with Puglia. The meal offers a chance to discover regional cooking through ingredients and dishes rooted in local life.

The tour’s culinary highlight includes the opportunity to learn about a restaurateur’s farm-to-table approach and savour freshly made orecchiette pasta, a Puglian specialty whose small, ear-shaped form is designed to hold sauce.

Visit Taormina’s ancient theatre with a Local Expert and take in its tiers of honey-coloured stone. From its elevated setting, look through the surviving structure towards the Ionian Sea and Mount Etna.

First established in the Greek period and later adapted under Roman rule, the theatre remains one of Sicily’s most evocative ancient sites. Its exceptional position makes the surrounding landscape part of the experience.

Walk through Taormina with a Local Expert, discovering limestone streets, small shops and the lively setting of Corso Umberto. Pause at Piazza IX Aprile for an expansive outlook towards the sea.

The town’s hilltop position and historic streets give it a character distinct from Sicily’s coastal cities. This guided introduction pairs Taormina’s local atmosphere with the views that have long drawn visitors to its terraces and squares.

Share a Sicilian dinner and local wine at a Palermo restaurant with your Travel Director and fellow travellers. Taste regional dishes that reflect the island’s produce and its varied culinary traditions.

Sicilian cooking carries influences from the many cultures that have shaped the island. This hosted meal offers a convivial setting in which to experience Palermo’s local flavours and bring the tour’s discoveries together around the table.

Cruise across Lake Maggiore to Isola Bella and explore its palace and formal Italian-style gardens. The island’s landscaped terraces and lakeside setting offer a striking contrast to the mountain scenery around Baveno.

Created for the Borromeo family, Isola Bella is known for the elaborate design of its residence and grounds. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit San Gimignano, a Tuscan hill town known for the medieval towers that rise above its rooftops. Explore its historic streets and take in the stone buildings and views across the surrounding countryside.

The towers recall a period when prominent families displayed their standing through architecture, giving the town its distinctive skyline. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Enjoy a traditional Tuscan dinner accompanied by regional wines, including a glass of Chianti. The experience offers another way to explore the food culture of the countryside surrounding Florence.

Tuscany’s dishes often favour direct, robust flavours, while its wines reflect a long history of cultivation in the region’s hills. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore the landscapes of Mount Etna, Europe’s highest active volcano, on an excursion from the Taormina area. Travel through volcanic terrain and enjoy panoramic views across eastern Sicily.

Etna’s eruptions have shaped the island’s land, agriculture and local identity for centuries. Its dark rock and broad slopes make this a markedly different experience from Sicily’s coastal towns. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Discover another side of Palermo with a visit to Teatro Massimo, Italy’s largest opera house, and a historic street market. Listen for vendors’ traditional abbanniati calls amid the movement and colour of daily trade.

The pairing brings together Palermo’s formal performance culture and its street-level traditions. It is an Optional Experience at additional cost and bookable on tour.

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star stays