European Winter Tour: Visit Southern European Cities

Overview: We arrive in Rome and meet at the hotel. You have the day at leisure, until our evening walk to the local restaurant, where we’ll enjoy a welcome dinner.

(D)

Accommodation: Trianon Borgo Pio apartments or similar

Overview: After being issued with a 7 day transport pass, we will be joined by a local guide. In the morning, we head to Vatican City tour the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, and visit St Peter’s Basilica. In the afternoon, we take a tour of Rome that includes entrance to the beautiful Basilica of San Clemente, built in the eleventh century.

Accommodation: Trianon Borgo Pio apartments or similar

Overview: Today, you have a day at leisure to explore the historic sites of Rome on your own, and make use of the transport pass. In the evening, we walk to a local restaurant where we’ll enjoy a Traditional Christmas Eve Dinner.

(D)

Accommodation: Trianon Borgo Pio apartments or similar

Overview: It is Christmas Day, so after breakfast in the hotel we will walk to St Peter’s Square where we will attend the Pope’s midday address. After the address, we will visit the Piazza Navona Christmas Market. In the evening, we’ll enjoy dinner at a local restaurant.

(B,D)

Accommodation: Trianon Borgo Pio apartments or similar

Overview: After breakfast at the hotel, we embark on a full day tour of Rome. In the morning, we visit the Galleria Borghese, which houses many extraordinary Italian artefacts and paintings. Then, we visit the magnificent Capitoline Museums. After this, we stop the view the famous Colosseum from outside. You have the remainder of the day at leisure.

(B)

Accommodation: Trianon Borgo Pio apartments or similar

Overview: In the morning, we transfer to Tivoli by coach, and are joined by a guide. While there, we tour of Hadrian’s Villa, a spectacular world heritage site which includes a complex of classical buildings, constructed by Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century.

Accommodation: Trianon Borgo Pio apartments or similar

Overview: In the morning, we transfer to coach to the station where we board a train to Florence. Arriving in Florence, we walk to our hotel (Includes porterage of one bag per person from station to hotel). Then, in the afternoon, we take a walking tour of Florence. We will visit the Accademia Gallery, which inclues some extroardinary Michelangelo sculptures, and the Bargello museum. The Palazzo del Bargello is Florence’s oldest public building, a former barracks and prison that now displays a number of masterpieces, and works by Michelangelo and Bernini.

In the evening, we walk to a restaurant near our hotel.

(D)

Accommodation: Hotel Londra or similar

Overview: After breakfast, you have a day at leisure to explore Florence as you wish.

(B)

Overview: After breakfast, we walk to the station where we board a train to Venice. (Porterage of one bag per person from hotel to station).

Arriving at Venice in the early afternoon, we take a private boat transfer to the hotel. Then, we take a half day tour of the city, which includes entrance to the Ca’ d’Oro or Palazzo Santa Sofia, a palace on the Grand Canal.

In the evening, we walk to a restaurant near our hotel, where we enjoy dinner.

(B,D)

Accommodation: Ca de Conti hotel or similar

Overview: It’s New Years Eve! After breakfast in the hotel, you have a day at leisure to enjoy exploring Venice. You may also want to get some rest, as we’ll be walking from the hotel to view the spectacular midnight fireworks.

(B)

Overview: Today, we travel to Croatia. After breakfast, we check out of the hotel late morning. We take a private boat transfer to Tronchetto, then head to Palmanova (a star fort town of the late renaissance), where we take a short walking tour. We then travel to Trieste, a city and seaport, where we take a short walking tour. We travel from Trieste across the border to Optaija. We enjoy dinner in the hotel, before spending our first night in Croatia.

Accommodation: Grand Hotel Adriatic or similar

Overview: Today, we have a full day in Istria, the largest peninsula in the Adriatic. We are joined by a local guide and travel to Hrastovlje, where we visit the Church of the Holy Trinity, which contains a lovely late medieval fresco. Then, we head to Porec where we enter the Byzantine-style Euphrasian Basilica and the Bishop’s Palace, originally built in the 6th century. We travel on to Rovinj, where we stop to view the beautiful coastal town, before going on to Pula, where we take a tour that includes the Roman Ampitheatre. We return to Opatija to spend the night.

(B)

Accommodation: Grand Hotel Adriatic or similar

Overview: After breakfast we travel to Plitvice, a national park full of natural wonders, where we take a tour of the park waterfalls. We then travel to Zadar where we view the extraordinary Sea Organ – which uses pipe organs to create music from the waves – and the Sun Salutation – which converts solar energy into illumination.

We have dinner at the hotel.

(B,D)

Accommodation: Hotel Kolvare

Overview: After breakfast, we travel to Sibenik by coach, where we view the impressive Cathedral of St James. We then travel on to the beautiful waterfront city of Split, where we take a tour of the city and enter Diocletian’s Palace, built by Rome at the turn of the 4th century. The coach then takes us to Dubrovnik. We walk from our hotel to a local restaurant, where we enjoy dinner.

(B,D)

Accommodation: Antica Ragusa hotel or similar

Overview: After breakfast, we take a half-day tour of Dubrovnik; we enter the Franciscan monastery, the first part of which was constructed in the 13th century. We also visit the War Photo Museum.

The afternoon is at leisure; then we take a Cable car to Mount Srd, from where you can look over the city.

(B)

Accommodation: Antica Ragusa hotel or similar

Overview: After breakfast in the hotel, you have the day free to explore Dubrovnik at your leisure.

(B)

Accommodation: Antica Ragusa hotel or similar

Overview: Today, we travel to Albania. After breakfast we head from Dubrovnik to Kotor, which includes a ferry trip from Kamenari to Lepetane. We take a walking tour of Kotor, before travelling on to Shkoder where we visit the fortress Rozafa, a magnificent, ancient castle.  We travel on to Tirana, where we have dinner near our hotel.

(B,D)

Accommodation: Grand Hotel Tirana or similar

Overview: After breakfast in the hotel, we take a tour of Tirana, Albania’s capital. We visit  Et’hem Bey Mosque, built in the 18th century, and Sali Shijaku House, sometimes claimed to be the oldest house in the Balkans. We then travel from Tirana to Ohrid, in Macedonia, where we enjoy dinner at a restaurant near the hotel.

(B,D)

Accommodation: Apartment Joven or similar

Overview: After breakfast, you have today at leisure to explore Ohrid on your own.

(B)

Accommodation: Apartment Joven or similar

Overview: After breakfast, we enjoy a half day guided tour of Ohrid. This includes a visit to the Robev Family House National Museum, which houses local artefacts, and the striking Sveta Sophia Church. We then travel to Boletin where we visit the magnificent St John Bigorski Monastery. We return to Ohrid where we spend the night.

Accommodation: Apartment Joven or similar

Overview: Today, after breakfast, we leave Ohrid, first travelling to Resen where we visit the Saraj, a gorgeous neoclassical estate, containing a gallery and library. We travel on to Bitola where we visit the local museum (once an army barracks), and enter the Heraclea archaeolgical site and museum. The coach then takes us to Veroia, in Greece, where we have dinner in the hotel.

(B)

Accommodation: Hotel Makedonia or similar

Overview: Today, after breakfast in the hotel, we take a coach to Naousa, in Greece, where we visit the site of Aristotle’s school. We then travel to Lefkadia where we enter the Macedonian Tomb of the Palmettes. The coach then takes us to Pella where we visit the Pella museum and the local archaeological site. From Pella, we head to Vergina, and visit the Royal Tombs. We end the day in Veroia.

Accommodation: Hotel Makedonia or similar

Overview: We begin the day, after breakfast, travelling to Kalambaka by coach. A local guide will meet us for tours of the Great Meteoran monastery and the Varlaam Monastery. We have dinner at the hotel.

(B,D)

Accommodation: Kosta Famissi  or similar

Overview: Today, after breakfast, we are taken by coach to the famous thermopylae, where we view the memorial to Agamemnon and the Spartans. We then travel to Delphi, where a local guide takes us on a tour of the archaeological site and museum. We have dinner at the hotel.

(B,D)

Accommodation: Hotel Iniohos or similar

Overview: From Delphi, we travel to Marathon, where we stop to view the marble memorial. From Marathon we travel to Athens, where we visit the Dromeas runner statue. We spend the night in Athens.

(B)

Accommodation: Ava apartments or similar

Overview: Today we enjoy a guide joins us for a full day tour of Athens. We visit the Acropolis and museum, see the Theatre of Disonysus, and take a walking tour of Plaka. In the evening, a transfer is organised to take us from our hotel, to a restaurant in Plaka, where we will enjoy a farewell dinner, and then back to our hotel.

(B,D)

Accommodation: Ava apartments or similar

Overview: After breakfast, we say our farewells, and the tour draws to a close.