Classic Italy

Day 1 – Arrive Rome

Airport Transfer, Dinner

Benvenuto a Roma! Welcome to Rome! Upon arrival you will be greeted by a member of the JBT Italy team and accompanied to your accommodation where you can refresh and adjust to Italian time. Walking is the best cure for jet lag so the afternoon will be dedicated to stretching your legs and discovering your immediate surroundings in the company of a local JBT guide who will be your main point of contact throughout your stay. In the evening you’ll dine at a classic Roman trattoria to learn the ins and outs of Italian menus and get a taste of local specialties like amatriciana (first course) and saltimbocca (second course).

Day 2 – Historic Rome

Walking Tour, Private Guided Visit, Breakfast

First stop, a neighborhood bar to watch Italians in action and partake in a Roman ritual. Your guide will teach you fundamental Italian phrases and help you order espresso, fresh squeezed juice and cornetto pastries. Afterwards you’ll stroll along the winding, cobbled streets of the historic center and make frequent stops to watch artisans carry-on age-old traditions inside historic workshops. On the way you’ll pass the Mausoleum where Rome’s first emperor was buried, visit the Pantheon, ancient Rome’s best-preserved building, and Piazza Navona, to browse the easels of street painters. Afterwards you can get lost on your own or lunch near the Tiber River at a family-owned trattoria. Later you’ll skip the lines of the Colosseum with your JBT guide to discover the inner workings of this iconic monument that set the standard for stadiums. Later you’ll enjoy an expertly mixed cocktail and gaze on the rooftops of Rome from the terrace of one of the city’s finest restaurants.

Day 3 – Holy Rome

Private Guided Visit

This morning you’ll beat the crowds at the Vatican and discover there’s more to the world’s oldest art collection than the Sistine Chapel. You’ll explore gardens, rub shoulders with deceased popes and climb to the top of St. Peter’s for a breathtaking view of the Eternal City. After a lunch in the nearby streets of Borgo Pio that have catered to pilgrims for centuries you’ll follow the Tiber River downstream to the charming Trastevere neighborhood. Here you’ll explore narrow medieval streets and get a tasty introduction to Roman gelato in Piazza Trilussa. You’ll end the day with a delicious plate of cacio e pepe pasta at da Enzo’s and experience the city after sun down at a Roman enoteca winery and mix with friendly locals.

Day 4 – Rome & Beyond

Transfer, Lunch

In the morning you’ll zig-zag your way through the Jewish Ghetto and discover Roman kosher classics like deep-fried artichokes. Your JBT guide will lead you to Piramide where you’ll swap ancient ruins for a 20th century neighborhood and pay your respects to Keats and other poets, philosophers and politicians at the Protestant Cemetery before heading to the vibrant Testaccio market. Pick a stand and create an improvised snack with the city’s famous sandwiches, aged goat cheese, fresh bread and wash it down with wine produced on the volcanic hillsides within sight of Rome. Along the way you’ll explore the residential streets of Aventino, home of the shaded Giardini degli Aranci (Orange Gardens) and the Buco di Roma keyhole with a surprising view of the Vatican. From here you’ll hop into a FIAT 500 and experience Roman traffic as your guide drives you to Via Appia Antica, Rome’s first road located just outside the center. The Queen of Roads, as it is known, is lined with ruins and is an opportunity to explore Circo di Massenzio and Mausoleo Cecilia Metella away from the crowds. You can explore the area even further on foot or horseback, and escape the summer heat underground inside the San Callisto catacombs where Christianity’s earliest Popes were buried.

Day 5 – Welcome to Florence

Transfer

After a farewell cappuccino in the capital, you’ll board a high-speed train to Florence. Ninety minutes later your JBT Florence guide will greet you at Santa Maria Novella station and accompany you to your accommodation. On the way you’ll discover what makes the city unique. Everywhere there are new colors, architectural styles and flavors. For lunch, you’ll savor traditional Tuscan recipes like ribollita, a hearty vegetable soup, or dig into the region’s famous T-bone steak. In the afternoon, your guide will lead you to the Duomo cathedral where you’ll climb to the top of the cupola and learn how Brunelleschi solved a medieval architectural challenge and helped kick-off the Renaissance. Down below at the Museo dell’Opera museum you’ll see the original Baptistry doors and learn how the cathedral was built. You’ll end the day at Divina Terrazza to sip on a spritiz and admire Florentine rooftops while discovering the city’s culinary delights.

Day 6 – Renaissance Masters

Private Guided Visit

You’ll start the day in Piazza della Repubblica, the ancient heart of the city, before strolling to Piazza della Signoria, the main square where executions were once performed and legendary families like the Medici ruled. Your Florence born and bred guide will describe how skilled laborers mastered dozens of trades and organized themselves into guilds (modern day unions) which financed the artists who decorated buildings like the Uffizi. This world-famous museum isn’t very big but it is crammed with invaluable artwork that traces the evolution of the Renaissance. Inside you’ll get face-to-face with Botticelli, Da Vinci, Caravaggio and many overlooked artists. There’ll be time for an espresso at the museum bar with a great view of the square below. After lunch in a nearby osteria you’ll watch skill and creativity on display at Il Papiro where local stationary traditions are preserved and take an ice-cream break at a gelateria. The tour continues on foot along the Pontevecchio, Florence’s oldest bridge that survived World War II and catastrophic flooding. You’ll see the scars left from German bullets, discover how the Medici once crossed the bridge and learn why butcher shops were replaced with jewelers on your way to the manicured gardens behind Palazzo Pitti.

Day 7 – Florence & Beyond

Private Guided Visit, Happy Hour

Mornings are the only time to see the city’s Last Supper frescoes, such as Cenacolo di Ognissanti and Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia, which were painted inside small neighborhood churches and are overlooked by most tourists. It’s a great chance to get close to a masterpiece. After you’ve seen a handful, enjoy your street food or thick local steaks at Cucina Torcicoda before bypassing the lines outside the Accademia and standing underneath the world’s most famous statue. David doesn’t disappoint and your guide will recount how Michelangelo turned a block of faulty marble into a masterpiece. Florence’s hillsides are where the city really began and the ride to the village of Fiesole provides insight into how the area’s ancient inhabitants lived. Paths are steep but the payoff is a magnificent view of the entire city. Hikers can explore the wooded area outside of town where da Vinci reportedly conducted his flying experiments. Afterwards you’ll dine al fresco and enjoy a final taste of Tuscany.

Day 8 – Welcome to Venice

Private Guided Tour, Lunch

Enjoy some morning caffeine in the city where the coffee machine was invented before boarding a high-speed train to Venice. In less than two hours you’ll be greeted by your JBT Guide and welcomed to a city unlike any other.  After you’ve settled in, follow the yellow signs to St. Mark’s Square and take the secret tour of the Doge’s Palace to discover why they call it the Bridge of Sighs. Enter St. Mark’s Basilica next door and learn why this church and its thousands of mosaics has little in common with the ones you’ve seen in Florence and Rome. Although the city is crowded there are plenty of deserted side streets to explore and local eateries where you’ll sample lagoon fish transformed into tapas-like appetizers called cicchetti. All’Arco across from the Rialto Bridge is a good introduction and close to the animated fish market. From there you’ll hitch a ride over the Grand Canal in a gondola ferry and spend the evening in Campo Santo Stefano listening to Vivaldi.

Day 9 – Venetian Visions

Private Guided Visit

Watch fishmongers and greengrocers under the colorful Rialto market and shop for masks along the adjacent streets. Atelier Pietro Longhi is a good place to browse costumes and get into the Carneval spirit all year long. Head to any of the traditional bacari bars nearby and accompany the meal with sparkling prosecco wine. Afterwards your guide will point out Marco Polo’s house and show you the entrance to the oldest ghetto in Europe where Jews were once locked in at night for safe keeping. Take a pastry break and sample as many delicacies as you can. There’s a different sweet for every season, but buranei are baked all year round. Walk or board a sleek Venetian water taxi to the Galleria dell’Accademia for a glimpse of Venetian Renaissance art. Contemporary canvases are waiting at the Guggenheim Foundation and Punta della Dogana at the very tip of the Dorsoduro neighborhood. Order Venetian risotto at Osteria da Codroma and enjoy the nightlife of Campo Santa Margherita with its eclectic street musicians that keep the square animated until the early hours.

Day 10 – Lagoon Island Hopping

Private Guided Tour, Glass Making Demonstration

Equiped with your day-long ferry pass set out on a vaporetto departing from Fondamente Nuove. Grab a window seat or stand on the windy deck for the best views of the lagoon. Get off at Murano to visit traditional workshops and watch a glassblowing demonstration at Vetreria Artistica. Continue on the 12 vaporetto from the Faro stop to Burano. It’s a 40-minute ride past lagoon wildlife, and you’ll be rewarded with fried calamari and beer at Fritto Misto near the main dock when you arrive. Afterward, explore the small island on foot and capture the beauty with your camera or sketch pad. There are rows of colorful houses and galleries where locals create and sell textiles and glassware. Just north of Burano is the sparsely inhabited island of Torcello. There’s only one path to follow unless you prefer to cross the Ponte del Diavolo (Devil’s Bridge) and hike along the dirt trail to Basilica Santa Maria Assunta. On the way back stop at Locanda Cipriani, where Hemingway stayed, before returning to Venice just in time to watch the sun set over the lagoon.

Day 11 – Back to Rome

Airport Transfer

It takes 3.5 hours to get back to Rome by train. Leave Venice early enough to enjoy a last lunch in the capital. Climb the Gianicolo Hill for a final look at the Eternal City and say arrivederci to Italy before heading off to the airport.