See Venice from a gondola, gliding along its waterways aboard the city’s best-known traditional boat. Experience the close-up perspective that canals offer on waterside facades and the rhythm of Venetian life.

Gondolas remain a symbol of a city built around water rather than roads. This ride is an optional way to explore beyond the included private-boat crossing into Venice. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

• 2 Dinner (D)
• 9 Breakfast (B)

• London: A modular trip means fellow travellers will join and leave at various locations. There’ll be some goodbyes, sure, but there’ll also be plenty of hellos with new like-minded travellers.
• Rome: If you require arrangements to be made for your accessibility needs, please inform your Trip Manager as soon as possible. We try our best to contact all accommodations and secure ground floor rooms for easy wheelchair access.Please remember that Italy can be physically challenging to get around. Coaches can’t access historical centers, and there will be lots of walking (on roads that are often uneven and cobbled). Travellers with accessibility needs will find this trip challenging.
• Madrid: Yep. Usually, we arrange a buffet for all your included meals. If you’d like a vegetarian option, please inform your Trip Manager beforehand, and they’ll sort it out for you.
• Rome: This would depend on the museums & attractions you’re planning to visit. If you’d like to know the exact timings, please contact our 24×7 Helpline to access your day-to-day itineraries to check when you’ll have free time in each city.
• Madrid: Of course! Just inform your Trip Manager if you need refrigeration on the coach. Please remember that the fridge is turned off overnight, so you’ll have to take your medication with you into your accommodation. We recommend that you bring a cooler bag with you as a backup. It’s your responsibility to store your medication with care. 

• Rome: Stroll around the Italian capital, ticking off some sights on your bucket list! 
• Rome:  Kick back with your Contiki crew and feast on some yummy Italian cuisine – served at a local restaurant working to train and provide jobs for members of the community with disabilities.  
• Siena: This medieval Tuscan city is packed with charming photo ops. From the Duomo to Piazza del Campo. 
• Florence: See the Duomo, Basilica Santa Croce, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistery & Piazza della Signoria on a locally guided walking tour of Florence.
• Pisa: Your ultimate chance to ‘hold the tower up’ as you pose for that classic Insta snap. 
• Lucca: Ramble around the cobbled streets of this Renaissance walled city in Tuscany. It’s an Insta post waiting to happen! 
• Cinque Terre National Park: We’ll take care of your rail pass, so you can just zip around the iconic clifftop villages and focus on the Insta stories. Wanna hike around too? You’re welcome to explore on foot along the way.
• Verona: This is the address behind the legendary love story. Visit Juliet’s House and see the spot that turned Verona into a global icon.
• Venice: Speed across the lagoon to the aqueous island of Venice.
• Rome: Wander through the ruins of the ancient Roman Empire’s political heart, while our Local Guide peels back the layers of history & reconstructs the past. From the assassinations at the Forum to the bloody battles in the Colosseum, learn how the roots of Western culture started here. 

Cruise to Burano, an island in the Venetian lagoon known for its brightly painted houses. Leave the busiest parts of Venice behind and enjoy a different view of the lagoon on the journey.

Burano’s colourful streets and longstanding lace-making tradition give it a character distinct from central Venice. This island cruise is an alternative optional experience to consider during your time in the city. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Contiki

Walk through Florence with a Local Guide to see the Duomo and Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistery, Basilica di Santa Croce and Piazza della Signoria. Discover the city’s major landmarks from its streets and squares.

These places reveal Florence’s civic, religious and artistic heritage, from the cathedral’s patterned marble exterior to the sculpture-filled setting of Piazza della Signoria. The guided walk provides context for the architecture that makes the historic centre feel like an open-air museum.

Pause beside Lake Como to take in the water and the mountain scenery that have made this northern Italian destination so celebrated. Enjoy the lakeside setting and look out across its shores.

Long associated with elegant villas and waterfront towns, the lake offers a scenic contrast to Italy’s busy cities. This included stop is a chance to experience its atmosphere from land; a boat ride on the lake is available separately at additional cost.

Visit Juliet’s House in Verona and see the place associated with Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers. It is a chance to experience one of the city’s best-known literary landmarks.

Although Romeo and Juliet are fictional, the house has become a focal point for Verona’s romantic reputation. The visit connects the city’s historic streets with a story recognised around the world; entry to the house’s interior is not specified as included.

Cross the Venetian lagoon by private boat to reach the historic heart of Venice. Watch the city come into view from the water, with its waterfront buildings and waterways revealing why boats remain central to life here.

Arriving by boat captures Venice’s distinctive relationship with the lagoon. The included crossing brings you into the city for exploration; a gondola ride and a cruise to Burano are separate optional experiences.

Get out on Lake Como by boat for a different view of its waterfront and mountain backdrop. From the water, appreciate the scale of the lake and the scenery along its shores.

Boat travel has long linked communities around Lake Como, and a ride makes the lake itself the focus rather than simply a viewpoint. This excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour; the itinerary does not specify a route or duration.

Explore the Italian capital on an included orientation walk, taking in some of Rome’s celebrated sights and getting a feel for its lively streets and public squares.

Rome’s layers of history are visible throughout the city, from ancient remains to grand civic spaces. This walk offers a shared introduction to the atmosphere of the Eternal City without prescribing a fixed list of landmarks.

Meet your Contiki crew over an included Italian dinner at a local restaurant in Rome. Share the table, try Italian cuisine and get acquainted with your fellow travellers.

The restaurant also trains and provides jobs for people with disabilities, giving this welcome meal a meaningful community connection. It is a hosted dining experience rather than a routine hotel dinner.

Explore Siena’s UNESCO-listed historic centre, where narrow medieval streets lead towards the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo and the city’s richly decorated Duomo. Take time to appreciate the setting and its distinctive Tuscan architecture.

Siena’s old town preserves the character of a powerful medieval city-state. Its brick buildings and closely packed lanes make the visit as rewarding for wandering and photography as for its celebrated landmarks.

Visit Pisa’s Piazza dei Miracoli for a view of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. See its unmistakable tilt up close and find an angle for the classic holding-up-the-tower photograph.

The freestanding bell tower forms part of a monumental ensemble alongside Pisa Cathedral and the Baptistery. Its lean began during construction, making an engineering complication one of Italy’s most recognisable sights. Tower entry is not specified as part of this visit.

Wander Lucca’s cobbled streets and piazzas inside its Renaissance-era walls. Take in the city’s historic buildings and café-lined spaces at a pace that lets you notice the details.

Lucca’s intact fortifications give the Tuscan city a distinct sense of place: beyond the walls, its compact centre is shaped by centuries of civic and commercial life. This included visit is an opportunity to explore the streets rather than a specified guided tour or attraction entry.

Explore the five villages of Cinque Terre with an included pass for travel by train and hiking. Move between coastal settlements, seek out viewpoints and, where paths are open, choose to explore on foot.

Pastel-coloured buildings rise above small harbours and steeply terraced hillsides in this Ligurian national park. The pass gives you flexibility to experience the cliffside scenery in your own way; hiking is an option, not a required group activity.

Explore Bologna’s UNESCO-listed porticoes and discover the covered walkways that give its streets a distinctive rhythm. The stop also offers time to seek out the local flavours for which the city is known.

Nicknamed La Grassa, ‘the Fat One’, Bologna is closely associated with mortadella and rich regional cooking. Its porticoes have served everyday city life for centuries, providing sheltered routes beneath buildings across the historic centre. Food purchases are not specified as included.

Explore ancient Rome with a Local Guide, learning about the political life of the Roman Forum and the gladiatorial spectacles associated with the Colosseum. Hear stories that bring the ruins into sharper focus.

The Forum stood at the heart of public life in the Roman Empire, while the Colosseum remains an enduring symbol of its scale and power. The included experience is described as a guided visit; specific interior admission arrangements are not detailed.

Join an optional Tuscan evening featuring a risotto demonstration, local wine, antipasto and a sweet finish. Watch a regional dish take shape while enjoying a meal built around familiar Italian flavours.

This food-focused experience offers a social way to discover Tuscany’s table traditions during your time in Florence. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour; participation is entirely your choice.

Opt for wine at local vineyards outside Lucca, stepping beyond the walled city to experience its Tuscan countryside. Enjoy the opportunity to discover wines produced in the area.

Vineyards around Lucca are part of a wider landscape of hills and long-established winegrowing. The itinerary does not specify the vineyard, wines or tasting format, but identifies this as a choice for travellers interested in local flavours. The experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.