Visit a winery near Conegliano to taste regional prosecco and meet the people involved in making it. Learn how local vineyards and production methods shape this crisp, aromatic sparkling wine.

The hills around Conegliano form part of Veneto’s celebrated prosecco country. Hearing directly from the winemakers connects each glass to its landscape and craft, while offering insight into how prosecco developed an identity distinct from other sparkling wines.

Enjoy a hosted Venetian dining experience featuring traditional dishes inspired by seasonal produce. It is an opportunity to discover local flavours at the table rather than choose an independent evening meal.

Venetian cooking reflects the city’s lagoon setting and its long history of trade, with regional ingredients and traditions shaping its cuisine. Sharing dinner offers a sociable way to experience that food culture during your stay in Venice.

Glide through Venice’s canals by gondola while musicians provide a serenade. Pass beneath bridges and beside old palaces, seeing quieter waterways that offer a more intimate perspective than the city’s busy squares.

The gondola is one of Venice’s most recognisable traditions, designed for navigating its narrow canals. Water-level views, the rhythm of the boat and the sound of music bring the city’s distinctive relationship with its waterways into focus.

• 5 Dinner (D)
• 11 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Lunch (L)

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

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

Insight Vacations

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

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over dinner and wine in Rome. This hosted gathering offers a relaxed introduction to the people sharing your Italian journey.

Enjoy the conversation over an Italian meal in the Eternal City, where dining is as much a social occasion as a chance to taste the local cuisine. The welcome dinner is included.

Explore the Vatican Museums with a Local Expert using fast-tracked entry, and discover works from the papal art collections. Enter the Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo’s celebrated ceiling and altar fresco.

Visit St. Peter’s Basilica, a defining work of Renaissance architecture, when access permits. Some departures may have restricted Vatican access; if museum tickets are unavailable, a visit to the Capitoline Museums is substituted, while St. Peter’s Square remains part of the Vatican experience.

Discover the landmarks of ancient Rome, including the vast Circus Maximus, where crowds once watched chariot races, and the Colosseum, the enduring emblem of the Roman Empire. See the Arch of Constantine and look towards Palatine Hill, traditionally associated with the city’s founding.

This sightseeing introduction brings Rome’s imperial scale into focus, from its public spectacles to its triumphal monuments. The itinerary describes views of these sites, not entry to the Colosseum.

Walk through Renaissance Florence to admire the marble-clad cathedral, its bell tower and the nearby baptistery. See the recreated Gates of Paradise, whose original gilded panels helped make the baptistery famous.

Continue into Piazza della Signoria, Florence’s long-standing civic centre and an open-air setting for sculpture. Outside Palazzo Vecchio, statues including Neptune and Hercules and Cacus reflect the city’s artistic ambition and political history.

Choose to visit the Accademia Gallery and stand before Michelangelo’s David. Viewing the sculpture in person reveals the scale, anatomical detail and carefully worked marble that photographs can only suggest.

Carved in the early 1500s, David became a powerful symbol of the Florentine Republic. This is one of two included Insight Choice activities in Florence; travellers select it instead of the local café walk and treat.

Join your Travel Director on a short walk to a Florence café favoured by residents and sample a typical Italian treat. Hear how this familiar flavour became part of local life.

Rather than focusing on a major monument, this experience offers a glimpse of the city’s everyday food culture: the neighbourhood places and tastes Florentines return to. It is one of two included Insight Choice activities, selected instead of the Accademia Gallery visit.

Explore San Gimignano’s winding lanes beneath the medieval towers that have earned it the nickname ‘Medieval Manhattan’. Pause for views across the surrounding Tuscan countryside and visit the gelateria of award-winning maestro Sergio Dondoli.

Taste artisan gelato in a town whose stone streets and tower houses preserve a distinctive medieval skyline. The tasting adds a flavourful encounter with contemporary Italian craft to this historic Tuscan visit.

Explore Pisa’s Cathedral Square with your Travel Director and see its cathedral, marble baptistery and world-famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. The tower is the cathedral’s bell tower, made instantly recognisable by the tilt that developed during its construction.

The monuments bring together centuries of Pisan architecture in one striking setting. Enjoy time to take in their sculpted details and photograph the tower; interior entry and a tower climb are not specified.

Cruise along the Ligurian coast from the Santa Margherita Ligure area towards Portofino, weather permitting. From the water, take in the rugged shoreline and the colourful buildings gathered around Portofino’s small harbour.

Spend time in this elegant Riviera village, long associated with Italy’s la dolce vita. Its waterfront, boats and steep coastal setting offer a contrast to the inland towns of Tuscany and a memorable perspective on the Italian Riviera.

Explore the Cinque Terre with a Local Expert and, weather permitting, cruise past cliffs and pastel-coloured fishing villages along the Ligurian Sea. Visit the coastal communities of this UNESCO World Heritage landscape, where settlements occupy narrow spaces between steep hillsides and the water.

Enjoy an included Sea-to-Table lunch prepared with locally sourced produce and the day’s catch. The combination of coastal scenery, village streets and regional food gives this experience its sense of place.

Stroll through Baveno’s cobbled lanes and see its historic square beside Lake Maggiore. This small lakeside town offers a quieter view of the Italian Lake District, with waterside scenery set against the surrounding hills.

Notice the contrast between the old streets and the broad lakefront that helped make the region a long-standing retreat. The walk is a chance to appreciate Baveno’s local character rather than simply pass through the resort.

Take in the Dolomites’ soaring peaks and steep valleys around Cortina d’Ampezzo, an Alpine resort set among some of northern Italy’s most distinctive mountain scenery. The approach through the mountains offers broad views of the changing landscape.

Cortina’s mountain setting gives this experience its appeal: rugged rock formations rise above a town known for its Alpine character. The included scenic visit is separate from any optional summit excursion or dinner experience.

Glide into Venice by private boat, passing waterways lined with historic palaces on the way to St. Mark’s Square. See the exterior landmarks of the city’s ceremonial heart: St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs.

Approaching by water reveals why boats and canals remain central to Venetian life. The square’s architecture reflects the wealth and influence of the former maritime republic; interior visits to these landmarks are not specified.

Watch Venetian artisans blow and shape glass during a workshop visit. See how practiced movements transform heated glass into delicate handcrafted objects, and hear about the skills needed to keep this demanding tradition alive.

Venetian glassmaking has centuries of history, particularly associated with the island of Murano. The demonstration offers a close view of the craft behind objects displayed throughout the city, from the glowing material in the furnace to the artisan’s precise finishing work.

Ascend to a Dolomites summit viewpoint for sweeping views across the mountain landscape around Cortina d’Ampezzo. This optional experience is designed for travellers who want a high-level panorama without making a long mountain walk the focus.

From above, the range’s sharp peaks and deep valleys reveal their dramatic scale. The exact summit and ascent arrangements are not specified. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Travel through the Dolomites’ dramatic landscapes for dinner at a local restaurant. This optional outing pairs mountain scenery with a hosted meal, offering a different way to experience the Cortina d’Ampezzo area.

The region’s steep valleys and imposing peaks provide the setting for an evening focused on local atmosphere and conversation. The restaurant and menu are not specified. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Cruise across the Venetian Lagoon to Burano for a meal of local specialities and wine. The island is known for its brightly painted houses and waterways, giving this optional outing a character distinct from central Venice.

Burano also has a long lace-making tradition, part of the island identity visible beyond its colourful streets. The cruise and meal offer a chance to experience another lagoon community. This excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour.