13-Nights Highlights Of Sicily & Southern Italy from $4,299

Sorrento: The Ancient City of Pompeii - 6 Hours

• Visit the incredibly preserved Roman city of Pompeii

• Luxury car or minivan at your disposal during the tour
• An expert English-speaking guide at the Pompeii site (3 hours)
• Entrance fees to the Pompeii site
• All taxes

Sorrento: The Iconic Amalfi Coast - 6 Hours

• Drive along the magnificent Amalfi Coast, stopping at Positano, Amalfi and Ravello.

• Luxury car or minivan at your disposal during the tour
• An expert English-speaking driver-guide throughout the tour (6 hours)
• Entrance fees to the Villa Ruffolo
• All taxes

Sorrento: Capri Exploration by Private Motorboat – 8 hours

• Private skippered motorboat to explore the beautiful island of Capri, including Marina Piccola and Marina Grande. 

• 34-foot (1-4 pax) or 43-foot (5-6 pax) private motorboat with English-speaking skipper (8 hours)
• All taxes

Palermo and Monreale - 8 hours

• Visit of Piazza Pretoria-Quattro Canti-Norman Palace and Monreale
• Visit of Palermos famous food market Vucciria
• Time for shopping

Bari: Polignano a Mare & Monopoli - 5 hours

Today you will have the chance to visit Polignano a Mare, a shining gem on the coast of the Valle d’Itria, perched atop a 20 metre-high limestone cliff above the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic.

Continue to Monopoli, whose history has been thoroughly influenced by its east-facing position and its fortified sea-front walls and castle. Visit the colourful street market, the cathedral and the elegant bell tower that is over 60 metres high, completely dominating the town below.

Walk down the sea front promenade, where you will visit the church of Santa Maria della Zaffira and take a look at Monopoli’s harbour with it’s fishermen mending their nets or unloading the day's catch.

Highlights:

• Perched atop a 20 metre-high limestone cliff Polignano a Mare makes for a fascinating stop
• Walk along Monopoli’s sea-front promenade, with its colourful street market and fishermen unloading the day’s catch  

• Luxury car or minivan at your disposal during the tour
• An expert local guide (5 hours)
• Entrance fees
• All taxes

• All cruise travel, personal items, meals and associated costs
• Gratuities

Bari: Locorotondo & Alberobello - 5 hours

You will visit Locorotondo where you will see the architecture typical of the region with white-washed, stone buildings with cool, shaded, cave-like interiors, narrow streets and churches. The town also features several community squares, each of which are built on the edge of the hill allowing for some spectacular views.

Afterwards you will visit Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Alberobello represents the heart of the Itria Valley. The city was founded in the 15th-century by the Counts of Acquaviva. The image of the trullo in Alberobello has always been associated with Puglia, where the deep roots of Alberobello act as one of the most typical expressions of the area. The trullo is a construction with a central round or square base of dry stone and at its summit a cone-shaped roof.

Highlights:

• Visit Locorotondo, whose historical centre contains charming white-washed stone buildings
• Explore Alberobello the UNESCO World Heritage Site characterised by the Trullo cone-shaped roofs

• Private transport by luxury car or minivan
• An expert local guide throughout (5 hours)
• Entrance fees
• All taxes

• All cruise travel, personal items, meals and associated costs
• Gratuities

Bari: Ancient Matera - 8 hours

Spend a full day soaking up the unique ambience of Matera. Venture down the steep streets that crisscross Barisano and Caveoso, the two districts of Matera's sassi (literally the "stones"). Visit a house furnished as it would have been when as many as ten people lived with their animals in one or two rooms. Explore the chiese rupestri, or rock churches, some of which still have their original fresco decorations. After lunch on your own, head out on an easy hike along the opposite ridge of the ravine on which Matera is built and discover some of the rock churches that dot the countryside.

Please note: Matera involves steep walking

Highlights:

• Soak up the unique ambience of Matera and its ancient centre 
• Hike to discover the nearby rock churches that dot the countryside

• Private transport by luxury car or minivan
• An expert local guide throughout (8 hours)
• Entrance fees
• All taxes

• All cruise travel, personal items, meals and associated costs
• Gratuities

Bari: Highlights of Puglia & Cheese Tasting - 8 hours

Today you will meet your English-speaking guide for a full day excursion of “Valle d’Itria”. You will visit Alberobello which has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded in the 15th-century by the Counts of Acquaviva. The image of the trullo in Alberobello has always been associated with Puglia. The trullo is a construction with a central round or square base of dry stone and a con-shaped roof.

Afterwards you will visit Locorotondo where you will see the architecture typical of the region with white-washed, stone buildings with cool, shaded, cave-like interiors, narrow streets and churches. The town also features several community squares, each of which are built on the edge of the hill allowing for some spectacular views.

Next visit to a local cheese production where you will see the different phases of how different cheeses are made. After the visit you will enjoy an informal cheese tasting with a buffet where you will taste the local products.

Finally, visit Polignano a Mare, shining gem on the coast of the Valle d’Itria, perched atop a 20 metre-high limestone cliff above the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic, Polignano a Mare truly lives up to its name and literally could not be any more ‘at sea’!

Highlights:

• Tour the charming and architecturally impressive villages of Alberobello and Locorotondo
• Experience the authentic taste of Puglia with a cheese tasting that includes various local products

• Private transport by luxury car or minivan
• An expert local guide throughout (8 hours)
• Cheese tasting
• Entrance fees
• All taxes

• All cruise travel, personal items, meals and associated costs
• Gratuities

Taormina and Mt Etna Day - 8 hours

• Experience visiting a live volcano
• Visit the charming sea village of Taormina
• Stop at a local winery near Mt. Etna
• Time for shopping on the famous Corso Umberto in Taormina

• Meals

Rome Highlights and Vatican: 9 hours

Meet your private English-speaking driver at the pier side of Civitavecchia port.
Rome is a mix of architecture styles, of antiques and new, of  sacred and profane. In this full day tour you can enjoy a sample of this capital city. With your guide reach the Vatican city where you can visit the Museums, admiring its priceless collection of art and architecture: highlights include Raphael's Transfiguration, The Raphael Rooms, the Sculpture Garden featuring the famous Laokoon. Finally, the restored Sistine Chapel, famous all over the world for the breathtaking Michelangelo’s ceiling and the Last Judgment. From here you walk to St. Peter's Basilica to marvel at Michelangelo's Dome, his statue Pietà, Bernini's magnificent Baldacchino and the Tombs of the Popes.  The tour will continue with a look at the ancient part of the Eternal city and its symbol: the Coliseum, where, jumping the lines, you will be able to enter in the magnificent Flavian Amphitheatre and admire where the gladiatorial duels, wild beast fights were arranged for the entertainment of Roman people. 
The second part of the day will be dedicated to the visit of the city center, starting from Navona Square, the most important of Baroque Rome, where today it is possible to admire the monumental Fountain of the Rivers by Bernini. Continue your tour visiting the Pantheon, the jewel of Roman architecture, then Trevi Fountain, the most famous and beautiful fountain in Rome. End the tour at the Spanish Steps, built entirely in travertine in the 18th century.
We will ensure your timely return transfer to the Civitavecchia Port

Access to the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica is allowed only to properly attired visitors.



Highlights:

• Vatican Museums, Ancient Rome, main highlights

Tivoli: Villas in the Countryside - 8 Hours

A trip out to Tivoli, just east of Rome, makes for a perfect and relaxing day, when you need a little rest from extensive sightseeing in the city. On your way out, you will pass the Travertine marble quarries from which so many of Rome’s important buildings were constructed. Tivoli itself is a very pleasant town, perched on a hill but its main claim to fame lies in its country villas, Hadrian’s Villa and the Villa d’Este. The emperor Hadrian was very well traveled and when he decided to build a country villa, he was greatly influenced by some of the spectacular sights he’d seen on his travels. The result was probably the largest and most sumptuous villa in the Roman Empire and by any standards, it is huge and covers an area that would normally be occupied by a small town. The site became a sort of retirement home for Hadrian, from 135AD until his death three years later. Here you will see the remains of peaceful and romantic gardens, pools, a theater and baths, which were of course an essential part of any Roman villa. From here, you will visit the stunning Villa d’Este, built for Cardinal Ippolito d’Este in the mid-16th century. Its gardens and fountains are legendery but the restored ground floor apartments have some stunning frescoes.

Duration: 8 hours

Pricing: Please Inquire

Ostia Antica - 6 Hours

If you can’t fit in a trip to Pompeii, Ostia Antica makes a very worthwhile substitute and even though it is right by the airport, it is largely overlooked by the majority of tourists and never suffers from crowds. Ostia Antica was the main port for the city of Rome and consequently, where goods from all over the Empire were unloaded. You will see warehouses, high rise apartments for the workers and sumptuous villas for the nobility as well as baths complete with mosaics and the odd bar or two. Even the public lavatories have survived! Just outside the town, lies the beautiful castle of Pope Julius II, largely built from recycled bricks from Ostia Antica.
After the visit of the archaeological site, driving back towards the port, you will have the chance to stop for lunch in a great fish restaurant overlooking the sea.

Duration: 6 hours

Pricing: Please Inquire

Cardinals’ Villas and Parks - 8 Hours

The area around Viterbo, north of Rome, became a retreat for popes and cardinals during troubled times in Rome. Happily for us, they have left a legacy of beautiful villas and gardens, designed in one of Italy’s finest periods, the Renaissance and consequently models for the rest of Europe to copy. One of the finest villas is the Palazzo Farnese at Caprarola, a huge edifice, standing at the top of the town’s steep main street. Surrounding the palace are two magnificent gardens, a south-facing summer terrace and an east-facing winter terrace, each with appropriate plants and design. After lunch in a traditional local restaurant (not included), you will visit the Villa Lante in Bagnaia, another splendid Renaissance palace and built by Vignola, the architect of the Palazzo Farnese and considered to be his finest creation. Here though, it is the gardens that take pride of place and epitomise the Mannerist period of the Renaissance. The final visit of the day will be to the Sacro Bosco di Bomarzo, the sacred Bomarzo wood, otherwise known as the monster Park; it consists of the most amazing and often bizarre sculptures, many carved from the local rock, scattered through the woods.

Pricing: Please Inquire

Duration: 8 hours

Roman Castles - 8 Hours

The Castelli Romani (Roman castles) are a mere 35 minutes from Rome, but you could be hours away. Beautiful green hills, topped with ancient towns, a couple of volcanic lakes, delicious cuisine and abundant wines, the most famous being Frascati; all explain why Romans have been building their summer villas here for centuries. The most famous of these being Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the Pope. Frascati is the largest of these towns, while Nemi, the smallest gives its name to one of the lakes. The route out of Rome is worthwhile too, as you will pass the remains of the aqueducts that once carried water into the city and other imposing ruins.

Duration: 8 hours

Pricing: Please Inquire

Lake Bracciano and the Monster Park - 8 Hours

You will start the day by being driven to Lake Bracciano, a delightful spot and much favored by Romans escaping from the heat of the city by having a refreshing swim in the lake. It burst onto the world stage in 2006, when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married in the local castle.

After a stroll around the town, you will be taken to Viterbo where at nearby Bomarzo is a most extraordinary garden, known as the Parco dei Mostri, the Monster Park. This makes a great day out for children. Created by the hunchbacked Duke of Orsini in 1552, he set out to mock the Mannerist gardens of the time by deliberate vulgarity. At the entrance to the park stands a giant warrior, tearing apart a woodcutter, while deeper into the park, you will come across an English prince pouring the brains of a madman down an elephant’s trunk. The surprises continue to come; mossy sculptures of tortoises, elephants, a whale, dragons, nymphs and butterflies, to name but a few. After Orsini’s death, the park became very neglected but has now been restored to its former glory.

Duration: 8 hours

Pricing: Please Inquire