Depart From: USA

In Transit: Overnight flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Arrivals in Rome the following day.

Note: The visit of the Palazzo Massimo museum will require ascending two flights of stairs from street level to the entrance of the museum. Once inside, there is an elevator to reach the upper floors

Arrive To: Rome airport and clear customs, join others for transfer.

Morning: Transfer to hotel. Check-in time is 2 pm. Your room may be ready for early occupancy; if not the staff at the reception desk will accept your luggage and safe keep it. You can relax in the lobby or take a walk in the vicinity of the hotel.

Lunch: Lunch at the hotel restaurant

Afternoon: Expert-led visit of the collection of Roman Art at the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, around the corner from the hotel. A brief neighborhood walk to locate ATM's, banks, pharmacies, grocery stores, eateries. Program overview and orientation, distribution of on-site materials. At the Welcome Reception a chance to meet your fellow Road Scholars. .

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel's rooftop restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Diana

Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner

Note: Steep and uneven steps to reach the upper levels of the Colosseum. The walk around the Roman Forum is on uneven paths and original pavement of cobble stone.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Begin to unravel the multiple layers of Roman history through the sharp insight of a professor who will set the stage for your explorations. After a short break, a local expert leads the visit to the Roman Forum and Colosseum. The Flavian Amphitheater or Colosseum was built in the 80 CE while the forum area dates back to the 7th century BCE. The forum was the religious and civic center of the city.

Lunch: Lunch at Ristorante Angelino ai Fori on the Via dei Fori Imperiali.

Afternoon: A classroom lecture explores the Treasures of the Vatican in preparation for the visit that you will have of a portion of the immense art collection of the Vatican.

Dinner: Dinner at Trattoria Antica Boheme.

Lodging: Hotel Diana

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Reserved entrance time diminishes the wait in line. The museum requires negotiating multiple flights of steps and walking the long corridor to the Sistine Chapel (distance is about 1/2 mile). Year round you can expect crowds; thousands of people visit the museums daily.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Coach to the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica for an expert-led visit. The extraordinary collection of works of art will amaze you, notable are: Roman statuary: Laocoon, Belvedere Apollo, gilded bronze Hercules, Raphael's Stanze and of course Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. If security permits, your guide will lead you out a back way which puts you at the entrance of St. Peter's Basilica, where you will see Michelangelo's Pieta' and Bernini's Baldacchino over the main altar.

Lunch: on your own. There are a variety of restuarants and snack bars in the area of the Vatican

Afternoon: Free Afternoon.

Dinner: Dinner at Ristorante Strega in Via del Viminale.

Lodging: Hotel Diana

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Piazza Navona and the Pantheon are in the heart of Rome's wide pedestrian area. To view the Borghese Gallery painting collection requires ascending 2 flights of stairs, whereas the sculpture collection is on the ground floor.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Coach drops off on the banks of the Tiber River, edge of the zone where traffic is allowed. Within the pedestrian zone, walk to the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.

Lunch: Lunch at Angoletto Romano, a characteristic trattoria near the Pantheon.

Afternoon: Coach to the Borghese Gallery, the private pleasure and reception palace of Cardinal Scipio Borghese, an avid art collector and patron of the young Bernini. Follow your handouts from the lecture to get the most out of your self-guided visit. On display in the Gallery are important paintings by Caravaggio, Raphael, Botticelli and Titian. However, most people go there to see the sculptures by Bernini which are emotionally charged, a true evocation of the Baroque.

Dinner: Dinner on your own.

Lodging: Hotel Diana

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Ancient Mosaics /Train to Florence / Medieval Florence and Michelangelo

Note: Short walk from the hotel to the train station, comfortable ride on the train, short walk to hotel and city orientation in Florence.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Check out of hotel. Your bags will be delivered to the hotel in Florence. Expert-led visit of an early Christian church with remarkable mosaics.

Lunch: Lunch at Cucina Nazionale.

Afternoon: Transfer to Florence by high speed train. Travel on the train with just your carry-on bag. Check in and settle into the hotel. Late afternoon lecture on The Origins of Florence.

Dinner: Dinner at Benedicta, the hotel restaurant.

Evening: Evening walk to orient you to the location of ATM's, pharmacies, stores and shops. Florence is much smaller than Rome and can easily be traversed in 30 minutes. On a walk, you will see the Duomo, the main cathedral and Palazzo Vecchio, the 13th C. city hall, still in use.

Lodging: Hotel Rivoli

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Leisurely walk to the Bargello. In the Baptistery, if you opt to visit to the women's gallery on the upper level, you must climb a narrow, steep and winding stair case, otherwise wait 10 min seated in a church pew for the group to descend.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: An art historian leads you through the the Bargello museum and examines the development of sculpture from antiquity through the Renaissance with special emphasis on the works of Ghiberti, Donatello and Michelangelo. Notable works include Donatello's David and bronzes by Cellini and Giambologna.

Lunch: Lunch at Casa Toscana near Piazza Santa Croce.

Afternoon: Field trip continues to the Baptistery of the Duomo where you will have exclusive access to the 2nd floor women's gallery to experience up close the beautiful 13th C. mosaics depicting scenes from the Bible and the last judgment. Some free time late afternoon.

Dinner: Dinner on your own.

Lodging: Hotel Rivoli

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: The Uffizi has a vast collection. Some benches (mostly in the long decorated corridors) to sit and rest during your self-guided visit.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Morning lecture on medieval and Renaissance art in preparation for the visit to the Uffizi Gallery. Free time to wander the San Lorenzo market where vendors display leather, clothing and artisan products on push carts; or take in a church or museum not on our itinerary.

Lunch: Lunch on your own.

Afternoon: For the self guided visit of the Uffizi reserved entrance with the group, but you visit at your own pace and spend as much time as you wish in the museum. This is the most extensive collection of art, tracing the development from Gothic to medieval to Renaissance to Mannerist paintings in the world. You will find many recognizable masterpieces, including DaVinci's Annunciation, Botticelli's Birth of Venus and the Primavera, some Titians, Michelangelo's Holy Family, and a few Caravaggios as well as Artemisia Gentileschi. There is a coffee bar at the end of the second corridor, on top of the Loggia, with a wonderful view of the watch tower and Duomo where you can get a refreshment and rest.

Dinner: Dinner at Osteria de'Baroncelli near Piazza della Signoria

Lodging: Hotel Rivoli

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: 10 min. walk to the Accademia and market area. Miminal walking within the galleries of the Accademia.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Classroom session on the powerful Medici family.

Lunch: Lunch at Ristorante/Pizzeria Lorenzo de'Medici

Afternoon: Expert-led visit to the Accademia to see the newly restored David by Michelangelo. Some free time before dinner.

Dinner: Imagine yourself attending dinner with Napoleon and his sister Pauline Borghese, (you will remember her from Canova's statue in the Galleria Borghese.) Her house was decorated in Imperial style in anticipation of his visit, but he did not make it. Now the Palazzo Borghese hosts a gala Renaissance dinner, with madrigal singers and musicians, court jester and dancers--all make for a lively entertaining evening. Informal and casual is the acceptable dress code.

Lodging: Hotel Rivoli

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: High speed train to Venice, minimal walking around Venice on arrival day.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Train to Venice, short walk to the hotel. Your bags will be delivered by courier. Venice's public transportation system operates boats, called Vaporetto. All participants will be given a pass valid for the duration of the stay.

Lunch: Lunch at the Hotel Principe restaurant overlooking the Grand Canal.

Afternoon: A classroom session introduces the History of Venice. Learn how her wealth, a result of trade with the near East, allowed the city to grow into her present grandeur. Neighborhood walk will indicate the location of ATM's, pharmacies, stores and shops. Explore and discover Venice on your own and get a feel of the Grand and minor canals. Contrast the architecture with what you saw in Rome and Florence.

Dinner: Dinner at a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Principe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Leisurely vaporetto (public boat) ride to S. Mark's Square. The square is very often crowded. Walk through the many rooms of the Doge's Palace requires climbing a few flights of stairs.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Travel to Piazza S. Marco on the vaporetto along the Grand Canal. Notice the patrician palaces, with arches indicating near-Eastern influence. Some of the houses have names based on the prominent mosaic, e.g. Ca' d'Oro, the "Golden House." The ride lasts about 45 minutes. The expert-led visit to S. Mark's Cathedral, built during the 13 C., shows Byzantine influence. There are more than 45,000 sq. ft. of mosaics adorning the church, giving the impression of streets of gold. The Ducal Palace next door was the seat of civic and political power. Doges embellished the palace to demonstrate their wealth and importance. There are murals by Tintoretto and Veronese.

Lunch: Lunch at Taverna San Maurizio, a characteristic Venetian trattoria.

Afternoon: Back to St. Mark's Square. Expert-led visit of the Ducal Palace, the seat of civic and political power during the Venetian Republic. Doges embellished the palace to demonstrate their wealth and importance. There are murals by Tintoretto and Veronese. Walk across the Bridge of Sighs that leads to the Piombi prisons. At the conclusion of the visit, enjoy a gondola ride along the canals of Venice.

Dinner: Dinner at Ristorante Povoledo.

Lodging: Hotel Principe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Walk through the lively Rialto produce and fish market; stand while the guide points out sites of historical interest in the square.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: A local expert leads the visit through the bustling Rialto Market. Colorful displays of fresh fruit, vegetables and the catch of the day from the sea. The Rialto area has been used as a marketplace for centuries; its famous stone bridge lined with shops dates to the late 1500s, replacing a wooden bridge destroyed by fire.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Guided visit continues to the Accademia museum. The museum contains a great collection of art by such notables as Veronese, Veneziano, Bellini, Tintoretto and Giorgione.

Dinner: Dinner on your own.

Lodging: Hotel Principe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Enjoyable boat ride to the island, minimal effort to walk around the streets of Murano.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Vaporetto to the island of Murano for a glassblowing demonstration by master artisans. Some free time to stroll the narrow streets along the canals.

Lunch: Lunch on your own.

Afternoon: Free Afternoon. With your vaporetto pass you can easily take the boat from Murano to explore the island of Burano, whose leaning tower rivals that in Pisa. Here you can find Venetian lace and small shops where you can watch the crafters create their handiwork. Or return to the center of town.

Dinner: Farewell dinner at the Hotel Principe restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Principe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast at hotel; continental style for participants with early morning departures.

Morning: Departure transfer to Venice Airport.

Meals Included: Breakfast