Italy in Depth

Explore Italy in depth with your students. Start with the canals and color of Venice. Move on to Florence where you’ll behold Michelangelo’s David and the magnificent Duomo dome, and cook a three-course meal. Next, a stop at San Gimignano’s famed 14 towers en route to Mediterranean Sorrento and mysterious Pompeii. Dance the Tarantella in Capri, then steep yourself in Caesar’s Rome and Vatican City. …la dolce vita!
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Day 1 Start tour
Day 2 Ciao Venice
Meet your tour director and check into hotel
Day 3 Venice landmarks
Details: Venice guided sightseeing tour
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 Venetian Gothic Doge’s Palace stands next door.
Details: Bridge of Sighs
View the famous Bridge of Sighs, which was built in the seventeenth century and connects the Old and New Prison. Local legend is that as prisoners walked across the bridge to their execution they would sigh as they got one last glimpse of the outside world.
Details: Doge's Palace 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.
Details: St. Mark's Cathedral visit
Visit St. Mark's Basilica, where Monteverdi was the maestro di capella and the Gabrielis composed their antiphonal brass pieces.
Day 4 Venice--Florence
Travel to Florence
Florence guided sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets
Accademia visitBaptistery DoorsChiesa di Santa CroceDuomoPonte Vecchio
LEAP Cucina Fiorentina!
Cooking class with dinner
Details: LEAP Patron of the Renaissance
Imagine you’re a Medici. Suppose you’re a Sforza. Use this innovative activity to explore the motives of the patrons of the Renaissance.
Details: Accademia visit
Founded in 1563, the Accademia was the first school in Europe established to teach drawing, painting and sculpting. Michelangelo's David (the biblical hero who slayed Goliath) is the most famous work on display.
Details: Ponte Vecchio
Stroll along the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest of Florence's six bridges and one of the best-loved sites of Florence. Lined with numerous shops, visitors often do not realize they are on a bridge until the reach the center arches that look out over the Arno.
Details: LEAP Cucina Fiorentina!
Bring your appetite with you and cook up a traditional Florentine meal. With our chef as our guide, we will prepare some traditional Italian dishes and learn about Italian culture through the art of cooking.
Day 5 Florence
Tuscan Farm Lunch
Dinner on your own
Details: San Gimignano Excursion
Explore San Gimignano, famous for its fourteen fortified, crumbling towers.
Day 6 Florence--Sorrentine Peninsula
Travel to Naples by train
Details: LEAP Great Renaissance Debate
Greet six renaissance giants including Giotto, Galileo, and Isabella d’Este, and debate who made the greatest impact on civilization.
Day 7 Sorrentine Peninsula
Details: LEAP Tarantella Dancing
Participate in the art of Italian folk dancing as you listen to the strumming of mandolins. Professional dancers in traditional attire will guide you through the Tarantella, one of southern Italy’s most renowned dances.
Details: Dance lesson
Take a dance lesson, perhaps learning Italy's signature dance, the Tarantella.
Day 8 Sorrentine Peninsula--Rome
Details: Rome guided sightseeing tour
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.
Details: Colosseum visit with Whisper headset
The Colosseum, considered to be the greatest symbol of Ancient Rome's power and glory, was completed under Titus in 80 A.D. The Colosseum could hold 55,000 spectators, on a par with many of today's modern sports stadiums. Among the sights included is the Arch of Constantine, a triumphal arch finished in 315 A.D., commemorating the victory of Constantine I over Maxentius in the year 312 A.D.
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 9 Rome landmarks
Vatican City guided walking sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets
Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel visitSt. Peter’s Basilica visit
Rome city walk
Spanish StepsTrevi FountainPantheonPiazza Navona
Details: Vatican City guided walking sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets
Visit St. Peter’s Basilica where from the outside, the church has four rows of columns that radiate out like welcoming arms; inside, the church seems enormous enough to embrace the entire world. The dome, partially designed by Michelangelo, rises 452 feet above the ground. Michelangelo’s mark is everywhere here, from the costumes worn by the Swiss Guards to his exquisite “Pietà” sculpture (the only sculpture he ever signed) to the amazing frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. Because he considered himself a sculptor and not a painter, Michelangelo hated working on these paintings, now considered masterpieces.
Details: LEAP Caesar's Gladiators
Experience a day in the life of a gladiator in ancient Rome. Through demonstrations and workshops, you'll see how the gladiators lived, what they did, how they trained, and more.
Details: Gladiator school visit
Experience a day in the life of a gladiator in ancient Rome. Through demonstrations and workshops, you'll see how the gladiators lived, what they did, how they trained, and more.
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
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Day 10 

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    Day 10 Start extension to Rome
    Free time to explore Rome
    Day 11 
    Tour Includes:
    • Round-trip airfare and other transportation described in the itinerary
    • Centrally located three- and four-star hotels
    • Plentiful daily breakfast to start the day energized and ready to go
    • Appetizing, culturally representative, three-course dinner daily (lunch replacement where "dinner on your own" is noted)
    • Full time, multilingual, WorldStrides tour director who is LEAP-trained in experiential education
    • Local guide at sites and on city tours as described in the itinerary
    • LEAP! Learning through Exploration and Active Participation; trademarked immersive approach of learning by doing
    • Entrances and transportation to sites and activities described in your itinerary
    • Local guide and local bus driver tips; see note regarding other important tips
    • 24/7 On Tour Emergency Support
    • 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, any required passport or visa fees, optional excursions, or recommended Tips for the Tour Director or multi-day Bus Drivers. Optional excursions, optional pre-paid tips, or other individual/group customizations will be listed as separate line items in the total trip cost, if included.

    We are better able to assist you with a quote for your selected departure date and city over the phone. Please call 1.888.378.8845 to price this tour with your requested options.

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    6497.00 total fee
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