-Day 1 Start tour
Day 2 Ahoj Prague
Details: Meet your tour director and check into hotel
Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. You’ll also have a private coach and driver while touring .
Details: Prague city walk
Feel the inspiration for Franz Kafka’s novels as you stroll the medieval streets of the Mala Strana (Little Quarter). Stop in Josefov (Jewish Quarter), to view Europe’s oldest synagogue, dating from 1270.
Day 3 Prague landmarks
Details: Prague guided sightseeing tour
Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic, built on seven hills astride the Vltava River. The beauty of Prague is legendary; Goethe described the city as “the most precious stone in the crown of this world.”. As the former capital of the Holy Roman Empire, the city was built on beauty and decadence from a wide array of architectural styles (including Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Art Nouveau). Wander through the courtyards of Hradcany (Prague Castle) where Europe’s grand ruling family, the Habsburgs, lived and reigned.
Details: Charles Bridge
Stroll across the stunning Charles Bridge which spans 16 arches and is lined with 30 Baroque statues of religious figures.
Details: Prague Castle
Prague Castle in the Hradcany quarter, was named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest ancient castle in the world. Prague Castle represents virtually all of the architectural designs of the last millennium and contains several churches, a monastery, gardens as well as multiple museums.
Day 4 Prague--Vienna
Details: Travel to Vienna
For 600 years, Vienna was the glittering capital of the Habsburg Empire. Today, it is the capital of Austria. Vienna has an incomparable musical heritage, having at one point or another been the home of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn, Brahms, and Johann Strauss.
Details: Vienna guided sightseeing tour
Follow in the footsteps of the imperial Habsburgs as a local guide brings you to the Hofburg, the family's 2,600-room palace that is now home to the Vienna Boys Choir. View the Belvedere Museum and Palace, St. Stephen's Cathedral, and Stephansdom. End the adventure with a visit to Schönbrunn Palace, where the Habsburg’s ruled until 1918 and six-year-old Mozart serenaded Marie Antoinette.
Details: Schönbrunn Palace visit
Stop just outside the city center for a visit to the 1,441-room Schönbrunn Palace, which was designed for the Habsburgs
before becoming the imperial summer palace during the 40-year reign of Maria Theresa. It was the scene of great
aristocratic events during the Congress of Vienna, including a performance by a 6-year-old Mozart.
Day 6 Ljubljana landmarks
Details: Ljubljana guided sightseeing tour
The first thing you need to know about Ljubljana is how to pronounce it: Lee-yoob-lee-yana. Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about everything else this Slovenian capital city has to offer. True to its historical significance, the Old Town center of Ljubljana remains intact despite two major earthquakes over the past 500 years. The rebuilding process did however create a unique blend of architectural works, as evidenced by the varied styles of the St. Nicholas Cathedral, St. Peter’s Church, The Triple Bridge and The Dragon Bridge—the latter of which is nicknamed “mother-in-law” due to the fearsome dragons on its four corners.
Day 7 Ljubljana--Venice
Details: Travel to Venice via Trieste
One of the lesser known, yet equally enchanting cities of Italy is the charming seaside village of Trieste. Featuring spectacular views, stunning architecture, a warm and welcoming culture and a storied history, a visit to Trieste is filled with pleasant surprises. From the many museums, castles and cathedrals to the pubs, trattorias and plazas, Trieste offers something for everyone.
Day 8 Venice landmarks
Details: Venice guided walking sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets
Bubbling up on more than 100 islands in a lagoon off the Adriatic, Venice is an absolutely unique and unquestionably beautiful city. Step into Piazza San Marco, an airy expanse of arches, sunlight, and pigeons. The multi-domed Basilica on one end, completed in 1094 but decorated for centuries afterward, is the final resting place of the apostle St. Mark, Venice’s patron saint. The mosaics beneath the basilica’s outside arches depict the arrival of St. Mark’s body, stolen from Egypt in 828 by Venetian traders. The frothy Venetian Gothic Doge’s Palace stands next door. Continue on to a glass-blowing demonstration. Venetian glass has long been considered the best in the world, and its production was such a state secret that during the Middle Ages, any Venetian glassblower who attempted to ply his trade outside the city was immediately arrested.
Details: St. Mark’s Square
Stroll through St. Mark's Square. Bordered by Venice's greatest historic buildings, St. Mark's Square is the center of both the city and its water transportation system, as well as a popular tourist attraction.
Details: Doge's Palace guided visit
Enjoy a visit to the Doge's’ Palace, residence of the rulers of the Serenissima Republic. We will explore the ornate and grandiose rooms of the palace, including a walk across thefamous Bridge of Sighs to the cells, where Casanova was once imprisoned, as well as the Grand Council chamber, featuring Tintoretto's Paradise, said to be the world's largest oil painting.
--Day 9 Start extension to Rome
Travel to Rome by train
Details: Rome city walk
Take a walk past Rome's most beautiful and unusual Baroque fountains. At the foot of the Spanish Steps, elegant cafes surround the central fountain. The water pressure here was so low that the artist had to sink the fountain into the ground to get any water going through it, so he went ahead and designed the fountain to look like a sinking ship. There's no shortage of water pressure at the nearby Trevi Fountain, a Baroque extravagance designed by master sculptor Bernini.
Details: Trevi Fountain
View the Trevi Fountain, where it is traditional to toss a coin into the fountain to ensure a safe return to the Eternal City.
Details: Piazza Navona
We will spend some time in the Piazza Navona area. Built on the foundations of Domitian's Circus, this magnificent square was designed by Borromini in 17th century. It is full of life and is highlighted by one of Rome's most spectacular fountains, the Four Rivers designed by Bernini. The square is often filled with local artists. The surrounding neighborhood is also one of the best places in Rome to get a tasty tartufo or gelato ice cream
Day 10 Rome landmarks
Details: Rome guided walking sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets
Gods and gladiators, glory and gore. Ancient Rome lives on in its spectacular monuments, flavoring the frenetic present with tastes of the past. Don a space-age Whisper headset to get the inside scoop on the most spectacular, the Colosseum, a grisly battle arena that seated more than 45,000. An enormous retractable roof awning system kept spectators cool on sunny days. The nearby Forum provides a glimpse into everyday ancient life, with markets, meeting places, and temples all combined into one vast space. Move into Christian Rome at St. Peter’s Basilica, the triumphal Renaissance church flanked by rows of columns radiating outward like welcoming arms. Within the church Michelangelo’s masterpieces are on display, the “Pietà” in the main church and the recently restored ceiling frescoes and “Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel. Continue your trek through time at Piazza Venezia, site of the enormous monument to Victor Emmanuel II, Italy’s first king, and of the Palazzo Venezia, where Mussolini set up his headquarters and from whose porch his mother was said to eavesdrop on citizens below. (The Sistine Chapel is closed on most religious holidays and Sundays, except for the last Sunday in each month).
Details: Forum Romanum visit
Tour the ruins and excavations of the Roman Forum, which features the remains of magnificent temples, basilicas, and triumphal arches that once formed the heart of the Empire.
Day 11 Flight home from Italy (Rome)
Tour Includes:
- Round-trip airfare
- 7 overnight stays (9 with extension) in hotels with private bathrooms
- Full European breakfast daily
- Dinner daily
- Full-time services of a professional tour director
- Guided sightseeing tours and city walks as per itinerary
- Visits to select attractions as per itinerary
- Guided sightseeing tours with high-tech headset as per itinerary
- Tour Diary™
- Local Guide and Local Bus Driver tips; see note regarding other important tips
- Note: On arrival day only dinner is provided; on departure day, only breakfast is provided
- Note: Tour cost does not include airline-imposed baggage fees, or fees for any required passport or visa. Optional excursions, optional pre-paid Tour Director and multi-day bus driver tipping, among other individual and group customizations will be listed as separate line items in the total trip cost, if included.
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