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800-206-TOUR(8687) |
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YOUR TRIP INCLUDES:
~
7 nights:
Hotel Cicerone
or
Quirinale, Rome
Not Included: Lunches not specified, Travel Insurance optional at $99-$225. Tips to your guide & driver (Euro 6-8 per day). Items of a personal nature.
Sample Day-by-Day Itinerary: Day 1: USA - Italy Depart USA for our overnight flights to Rome . Dinner and breakfast are served on board.
Day 2: Arrive Rome Upon arrival your escort will warmly greet you this morning and welcome you to Italy. Transfer to your hotel and enjoy a free afternoon for rest, relaxation, or exploration. You tour escort can suggest sights or walks for you to enjoy
Day 3: Rome (Papal Audience and Vatican Museum Tour)Wake up in Eternal City, one of the greatest centers of Western Civilization and the first truly cosmopolitan city on earth! It is also spiritual capital for all the Catholics around the world. Today is truly a day we will have in our minds for many years to come. This morning we go to Vatican City to attend the weekly Papal Audience or Blessing given by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (pending papal schedule). Following the audience visit of the Vatican Museums, a group of most impressive edifices with hundreds of galleries filled with art treasures. See awe-inspiring relics and works of art donated throughout centuries as tributes of faith. We'll cover The Tapestry Gallery, The Raphael Rooms and the most overwhelming Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's Masterpiece, restored mural of the Last Judgment. Later, enter the largest church in Christendom St Peter's Basilica, built on the site where St Peter was martyred. Unsurpassed in beauty, a monument to the long history of the Catholic Church, to which pilgrims come from around the world, St Peter's is the grandest of the world's churches. Marvel Pieta and Bernini's amazing bronze canopy. We will also visit the grave of Pope John Paul II located at the Vatican (time permitting). Before dinner, we'll have some time at leisure, to explore your own paths, to shop, or just to sit in one of the outside cafes and watch the world go by.
Day 4: RomeThis morning we depart for a sightseeing tour with focus on "Christian Rome" .Touring we will see many important cultural and monumental sights around Rome. Stop for a visit at three major Basilicas: St Mary Major, one of the oldest shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, a shrine that contains a relic from the manger of the infant Jesus. The Basilica of the St John in Lateran, is the former residence of the popes prior to their return to Rome in 1377. St Paul Outside the Walls, which houses the remains of St Paul under its main altar. We will also see the ancient Baths of Caracalla, Arch of Drusus, Chapel "O'Domine Quo Vadis?" the remains of imperial tombs, Tomb of Celilia Metella, and the catacombs of St Callixtus where the early Christians hid themselves to escape persecution. Dinner and overnight in Rome.
Day 5: Excursion to Montecassino, Naples & Pompeii We leave the Eternal City and head south cross through the Roman countryside with its villas and vineyards, stopping at the Abbey of Montecassino, a beautiful town founded by St. Benedict in 529. Continue through the countryside surrounding Naples. We will have a short panoramic -sightseeingtour of Naples and proceed to Pompeii for lunch (included today) and a visit to the excavations, the town destroyed when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. In early evening, board the bus for your return toRome (be prepared for a long day- dinner will be later than usual tonight!).
Day 6: Excursion to Florence After breakfast we depart for Florence, a paradise for art lovers, who drew to itself the greatest artists of the Renaissance: Dante, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Donatello and many others. We will enjoy a guided tour of Florence which includes magnificent Santa Maria del Fiore, Giotto's Bell Tower, The Baptistry's heavy bronze "Gate of Paradise" the Academy of Fine Arts containing many treasures, the Ponte Vecchio, The Duomo, whose magnificent dome was created by Brunelleschi. After lunch (included today) you will enjoy free time for exploration before returning to Rome.Day 7: Excursion to AssisiAfter breakfast we depart Rome for our excursion to Assisi. We will visit the tomb of St Francis. Explore the quaint hilltop birthplace of St Francis that still retains something of the atmosphere of the early 1200s, the period when St Francis began his ministry. Contained within the huge 13th-century Basilica are many of the saint's possessions and a series of frescoes depicting his life. You may kneel before the crucifix from which Jesus spoke to St Francis, asking him to rebuild His church. It was in St Mary of the Angels Basilica where St Francis spent most of his life. Here we visit the Chapel, Portiuncola, the rose bush, and the cave where the saint retired for prayer. Stroll the medieval streets of the compact little town. After stopping at an outdoor cafe with a view of an ancient Roman temple, we go to the Church of St Clare to see the saint's incorrupt body. The foundress of the Order of Poor Clares followed the teachings of St Francis by living a life of poverty and humility. We will visit these two saints' tombs before returning to Rome for dinner and retiring for the evening.
Day 8: Rome at LeisureToday enjoy a day at your leisure for rest, relaxation, exploration or shopping. Farewell dinner.
Day 9: Rome Depart for Rome for our flights to Turin. Upon arrival at the airport you will be met by your driver and transfer to your hotel in Turin. Enjoy time to refresh before dinner.
Day 10: Turin & the Holy Shroud After breakfast we will be met by our tour guide and depart on our full day tour of Turin and visit to the Holy Shroud. During our tour of Turin we will see Piazza San Carlo, Po Street, and Mount of the Capuchin Monks. We then have the opportunity to view the Shroud of Turin in the St. John the Baptist Cathedral. Reputed to be the burial cloth of Christ, it is an amazing sight. It is a linen cloth 14 feet, 3 inches long by 3 feet, 7 inches wide bearing the distinct image of a crucified man. The last time the shroud was displayed publicly was during the Jubilee Year of 2000 and was not originally due to be displayed again until 2025. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has authorized it to be displayed for a brief period in 2010. We will have what is perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view the Shroud. We return to the hotel in time for dinner and a restful overnight!
Day 11: Depart Turin After breakfast we transfer to the airport (Turin or Milan) for our departure flights.
Any questions? Call 800-206-TOUR - or - E-Mail Us
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Round-trip
air from New York
(special
