In Transit: Flight to Pisa

Note: Minimal exertion, a walk around town and classroom time for a lecture.

Arrive To: Transfer from airport to the hotel in Lucca.

Lunch: At a café close to the hotel a late light lunch for those with morning arrivals.

Afternoon: Late afternoon, Lecture Introduction to Tuscany, Program overview and Welcome reception. The most updated and detailed daily itinerary will be distributed.

Dinner: At a local restaurant.

Evening: Explore briefly the area around the hotel or stroll around the city.

Lodging: Hotel Universo

Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner

Note: Not a strenuous day. Extended periods of standing during the expert-led walk in the heart of the pedestrian only small city.

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet in the hotel.

Morning: Explore Lucca’s city planning from its origins in 180 BCE to the present. See the oval shaped piazza which conforms to the old Roman amphitheater. Stroll through the elegant shopping district on your walk back to the hotel.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Medieval Lucca and the Walls is the theme of today's walk of discovery. Visit the Basilica of S. Martino and admire its marble facade decorated with Romanesque statues and motifs. In the Middle Ages the city was a destination of pilgrims traveling to view relics housed within the basilica.

Dinner: Dinner on your own.

Lodging: Hotel Universo

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Free Time in Lucca / Piazza dei Miracoli, Duomo, Baptistery, Leaning Tower of Pisa

Note: Light exertion in Pisa for the visit to the Piazza dei Miracoli, the Duomo complex comprised of the famous Leaning Tower and Baptistery. In high season reservations are required to climb the tower. 10 min. walk on flat terrain due to the wide traffic free area surrounding the Duomo complex.

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet in hotel.

Morning: Free time to explore Lucca on your own, suggestions will be available. The defensive walls surrounding Lucca date back to the 16th and 17th centuries. The circumference is just over 3 miles and the lanes are wide enough for walkers and recreational bike riders. The high walls provide a wonderful panorama of the city.

Lunch: Lunch on your own.

Afternoon: Afternoon excursion by train to Pisa for an expert led visit of the Duomo complex (Baptistery, Campo Santo, and LeaningTower, which the group does not climb). Until the port of Pisa silted up, it was a strong maritime republic (along with Genoa, Amalfi and Venice) and the wealth of the city is demonstrated by the civic and religious pride the inhabitants had by funding such a grandiose construction. The Duomo is one of the few Romanesque churches to have a dome built over the apse. The double dome of the Baptistery provides excellent acoustics.

Dinner: Dinner at a local restaurant.

Evening: Attend a performance of music by Puccini.

Lodging: Hotel Universo

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Coach one hour to Carrara and the quarries. Not a strenuous day. The expert led walk in Carrara might take 30 minutes to see the city center.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Visit the quarries above the town of Carrara. See the massive machinery used to extract the marble, then wonder how it was accomplished since antiquity prior to the invention of mechanized machines.

Lunch: Lunch at a restaurant in the center of Carrara. Enjoy some local Tuscan dishes.

Afternoon: Learn about marble as the medium for artists. Working schedule permitting, visit an artists' workshop. Return to Lucca mid-afternoon.

Dinner: Opportunity to seek out a special place to eat.

Lodging: Hotel Universo

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Coach travel and minimal walking at the winery.The historical city center of Siena is restricted to car traffic, but the walk to the Campo involves some inclines and descents. In the Palazzo Vecchio a wide staircase to reach the upper levels.

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: Check out of the Hotel Universo and set out for Siena via the panoramic route.

Lunch: Enjoy a lunch at a winery in the Chianti region and sample the local red wine.

Afternoon: Coach continues south to Siena through the Tuscan countryside. Check into hotel located in the historical section of town, on top of the hill. After settling into your room meet for a city orientation walk that points out the location of banks, pharmacies, stores as you make your way to the Campo, the very heart of Siena. The Campo is built over the original location of the Roman forum and the theater, which utilized the natural shell contours of converging hills. Not having a nearby river, the inhabitants of Siena paved the Campo as a way to direct rain water into city cisterns. The perimeter is the site where the famed Palio horse race takes place in July and August.The Palazzo Pubblico with its tall bell and observation tower offers a commanding view of the countryside and allowed the citizens to prepare for any approaching army. The Palazzo is still used as the town hall, and contains an important fresco cycle depicting an allegory of Good and Bad Government by Lorenzetti.

Dinner: At hotel restaurant to sample a variation of typical Tuscan cuisine. Each area of the region prepares its own specialties.

Lodging: NH Excelsior

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Negotiating the inclines and descents of the hill town of Siena will require more effort than the walks in Lucca or Florence. The historical city center is restricted to car traffic, so that you can walk freely, but every walk is up or down an incline.

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet at the hotel.

Morning: Classroom session on Life in Italy Today focuses on national and regional aspects of Italian society. Followed by an expert-led visit of the Duomo, the floors of which are decorated with incised inlaid marble figures religious and allegorical scenes.

Lunch: Opportunity to sample Sienese cuisine on your own. Suggestions will be provided.

Afternoon: With a local expert explore part of the vast collection of the museum complex of Santa Maria della Scala. The main building was a hospital founded in the Middle Ages for pilgrims en route to Rome along the Via Francigena. Of note are the 14th century frescoes illustrating the good works of the hospital and hospice. Late afternoon session on Tuscan Cuisine.

Dinner: Dinner at a local restaurant.

Lodging: NH Excelsior

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Coach to San Gimignano and walk around the small hill town. Not a strenuous excursion but the town roads are inclined. During free time, those with stamina may choose to climb one of the open towers to gain a commanding view of the countryside below.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Free Morning.

Lunch: Coach to San Gimignano. Lunch at a winery just outside the town. The host explains the cultivation and production process of the local white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano.

Afternoon: Expert-led visit of San Gimignano. An original Etruscan town, this town retains much of its medieval aspect. At one time 77 towers were standing in the city. They were used in family rivalries in order to attain the advantage of higher ground. In the Duomo there is a fresco cycle depicting scenes from Dante's Inferno as a way of visually entreating the people to repent from their evil ways.

Dinner: Coach to Siena. Dinner on your own.

Lodging: NH Excelsior

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Leisurely walk around town to visit one or more contrade, or districts. Note that Siena was settled on 3 hills and the walking path may include steep inclines of the pedestrian only streets.

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet in the hotel.

Morning: Illustrated Lecture: The Palio, More than a Horse Race. Learn about this centuries old tradition where each of the different contrade sponsor a horse to represent their neighborhood. The shame of losing is enough to encourage cheating. Even though there is one race in July and another in August, the competitive spirit between the contrade is manifest all year round.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant

Afternoon: A guided walk through the city noting the various symbols (Goose, Turtle, Tower, etc.) identifying the boundaries between the contrade.Exclusive visit to the museum, meeting room, and chapel of one of the contrade, venues normally reserved for club members.

Dinner: Late in the afternoon a hands-on lesson on fresh pasta and a seasonal Sienese dish at a local kitchen. Enjoy the fruits of your labor at dinner.

Lodging: NH Excelsior

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: One hour coach ride to Pienza and a coach ride through the Tuscan countryside on the return. Short walks in Pienza, a very small hill town.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Coach excursion to the town of Pienza. Pope Pius II Piccolomini (1458-1464), a humanist scholar and poet, was born in the nearby village of Corsignano, and once he became pope he began a building project to transform his home town into an idealized Renaissance city. He built his palace near the main piazza renamed the town after himself.

Lunch: Lunch on your own. In the small town of Pienza there are wine bars, cafés and restaurants from which to choose.

Afternoon: On the coach ride back to Siena, sit back and admire the rolling hills of vineyards dotted with isolated farmhouses

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Lodging: NH Excelsior

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Transfer to Florence by coach, minimal exertion.

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet at hotel.

Morning: Coach to Florence with a stop in Poggio a Caiano where a local expert leads the visit of the Villa of Lorenzo de'Medici. The designer Giuliano da Sangallo incorporated elements of classical antiquity: an arched portico which served as a porch and a shaded area around the building; an entrance inspired by an Ionic temple flanked by grand staircases leading to the main entrance.

Lunch: Before settling into the hotel, a light lunch in the market area of Florence

Afternoon: Discover Florence with an expert-led walk around the historical center. Return to the hotel for an illustrated lecture on Medieval and Renaissance Art, to prepare you for the self guided visit at the Uffizi Gallery the next day.

Dinner: Dinner at a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Corona d'Italia

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Minimal exertion, the historical center if Florence is closed to traffic and the terrain is level.

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet in the hotel dining hall.

Morning: Market walk in the area of Brunelleschi's church of S. Lorenzo. Along the streets vendors set up carts with leather goods, pottery, scarves, souvenirs, etc. In the late 1800's the Central Market was built. Stalls display and sell fresh and cured meats, cheeses, breads, and other foods. In addition there is a fresh 'fast food' court where you can get sandwiches, pizza, focaccia, or hot dishes. You might want to try one of the eateries for an excluded lunch to have an idea of how some Florentines eat if they do not have time to go home.

Lunch: Lunch on your own.

Afternoon: We reserve an entrance time to the Uffizi Gallery and allow each participant to walk through at his/her own pace. Stay as long as you like. There is a coffee shop at the end corridor that you can purchase refreshments and enjoy a commanding view of the bell tower of Palazzo Vecchio and the Cupola of the Duomo. It is located over the Loggia dei Lanzi at Piazza della Signoria. In the Gallery works are arranged in an order that illustrates the progression from the International Gothic style to Mannerism and examples of Baroque art with pieces by Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentilleschi.

Dinner: Dinner at a restaurant in the heart of Florence.

Lodging: Hotel Corona d'Italia

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Minimal exertion on walks to the museums. The Accademia gallery is at ground level; the Bargello has a flight of stone stairs to reach the upper floor. A small elevator is in service for the truly needy.

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet at hotel.

Morning: Expert-led visit of the Bargello National Museum of Sculpture. The 13th c. palace itself served as the magistrate's headquarters and civic court. Now you will find sculptures by Donatello (St. George, David), the competition pieces between Brunelleschi and Ghiberti for the north doors of the Baptistery and sculptures by Michelangelo, Giambologna and Cellini. In addition to sculpture there are rooms with fine examples of decorated pottery and armaments: swords, lances, early pistols, and suits of armor. In the Chapel is a fresco by Giotto and his school; on the right side one can see what is considered to be an early portrait of Dante.

Lunch: Select from the many restaurants where you want to sample local specialties. Suggestions provided.

Afternoon: Meet at the appointed time to enter the Accademia delle Belle Arti to marvel at Michelangelo's David. The local guide will describe the unfinished stone sculptures known as the Prisoners, because they seem to be still imprisoned in the Carrara marble. The Accademia is part of the School of Fine Arts of the University of Florence and in a hall to the left of David are plaster casts of some of the most important sculptures of the western world. This affords the students an opportunity to observe them and become inspired. Some free time late afternoon.

Dinner: Farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Corona d'Italia

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast buffet at hotel, continental breakfast for early departures.

Meals Included: Breakfast