A Roman Holiday

Depart the United States in the late afternoon/evening. We will take an overnight flight to Rome.

Arrive Rome late afternoon due to 7-hour time difference. Check into hotel. Welcome dinner at traditional Italian trattoria.

Put on your walking shoes! Today we will explore many of Rome’s most famous places. We will depart in the morning and head to the Colosseum for a skip-the-line tour. We will have special access to the arena floor and avoid lines by entering the colosseum via the Gladiator’s Gate. Afterward, we head to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. (3 hrs)

Taking a break for lunch then on to:

• Spanish Steps/Piazza di Spagna
• Trevi Fountain
• Piazza Colonna
• Pantheon

Dinner this evening will be in the lively Roman neighborhood of Trastevere

We will depart early this morning to have the chance to be some of the first people to explore the Vatican museums today. We will skip the line and first visit the Sistine Chapel after the tour you can spend your day inside the Museums. This will be a 3-hr guided tour. You also have the opportunity to leisurely wander the Vatican’s magnificent galleries at your own pace, allowing you to focus on what interests you, if you prefer.

In the afternoon/evening we will go on a Street Food Tour of Rome – experiencing Italian classics and real Roman street food.

Today we will leave early to take the 2.5 hour drive to Pompei In the afternoon, you will explore Pompeii, Italy’s most famous archaeological site, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site like no other. Pompeii, a lively city, got indeed buried in ash and pumice by Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD. You can see a perfectly preserved fossil record of ancient Roman life, visiting the most fascinating sites of the city, from plaster death casts to streets cut out by carriage wheels 2,000 years ago.

After our visit in Pompeii, we will head to Naples, where you will wander Naples’ quaint streets, bustling shops, its historic centre (UNESCO World Heritage Site), its swag of royal palaces and castles and buildings such as San Carlo Opera House, Europe’s oldest working theater, and fascinating museums boasting some of Europe’s finest archaeology and art. Naples is also known as one of Italy’s culinary heavyweights, serving up some of the country’s best pizza, pasta and coffee, and many of its most-delicious seafood dishes, street snacks and sweet treats.

Today we will wake early and head to visit the Abbey of Montecassino.

The Abbey of Montecassino is one of the most known Abbeys in the world. In 529 Saint Benedict chose this mountain to build a monastery that would host him and those monks following him.

We will arrive in Rome late afternoon.

This evening back in Rome we will participate in a pizza and gelato making class, where you will have the opportunity to learn some of Italy’s best kept secrets for these popular Italian .

This morning we will visit Villa Borghese. Villa Borghese is a landscape garden in Rome, containing a number of buildings, museums and attractions. It is the third largest public park in Rome. We will also visit the Borghese Gallery, which houses beautiful Renaissance and Baroque art.

Early afternoon, we will visit the Catacombs of San Domitilla. The Catacombs of San Domitilla are an underground Christian cemetery named after the Domitilla family that had initially ordered them to be dug.

New Year’s Eve Celebration
This evening we will enjoy a wonderful New Year’s Eve Farewell Dinner. For those interested, tonight we will attend a concert and watch the fireworks at midnight at Circus Maximus.

Wake on New Year’s Day in Rome. We will depart today on our flight back to the United States reflecting on this incredible experience.