Luxury Italy Tour in 14 Days

After breakfast, take the train northbound into the radiant slopes of the Italian Alps to reach the shores of Lake Como. The eponymous town sits on the southern tip of the water with a marvelous historical ambiance captured in colorful buildings reflected off the water. Medieval lanes twist and turn inside the Romanesque fortifications leading to Piazza del Duomo and the imposing Tower Gate in Piazza Vittoria. The creamy façade of Villa Olmo looks out over the water with the extravagant design of an 18th-century mansion erected for an aristocratic family related to the pope. Enjoy a day at leisure to settle in and enjoy the surroundings.

After breakfast, venture to the shores of the second-largest lake in northern Italy, Lake Maggiore, whose shoreline stretches for upwards of 40 miles. Board a ferry in the charming town of Stresa bound for the extravagant Borromean Islands. As the boat glides across the stoic water, your view of the lakeside promenade features colorful facades glinting with elegant boutiques and chic restaurants. Reach the Isola Bella and the 17th-century villa of Count Vitaliano Borromeo. The period furnishings accentuate the refined style of the aristocracy featured in the Flemish tapestries and Lombard paintings with many works crafted by masters like Titian, Van Dyck, and José Ribera. White peacocks parade through the gardens with feathers as pristine as a wedding train. The garden contains ten tiered terraces rising to 105 feet above the garden ground boasting rows of lemon and orange trees, magnolias, and blossoming camellias.

The scenic ride through the slopes of the Alps leads into the plains of Veneto and the waterways of Venice. Your private vaporetto will meet you at the train station and escort you across the water to reach the dock of your hotel. Your adventure through the classic Italian city begins when your guide greets you in the hotel lobby. Gondolas glide past with their gondoliers ducking beneath arching bridges, and nearby St. Marks’ Square symbolizes the luster of Venice crowned by the bulbous domes of the eponymous basilica, and the Venetian Gothic façade of the Doge’s Palace. Entering the grounds after hours brings a sense of privacy and intimacy as St. Mark remains the most notable depiction at the heart of the nave featured with a celestial light accentuated by gold leaf and colored glass pieces framed by the surrounding five domes, at the center of which Jesus stands amid flickering stars.

The Jewish Ghetto of Venice is located in the contemporary neighborhood of Cannaregio. In the 16th century, the Venetian Republic first decreed that Jewish residents such as lenders, doctors, and merchants were allowed to commence their business in the city during the day, but must return to the confines of the ghetto by night. It was not until the reunification of Italy in the 19th century that the Jewish community in Venice gained their emancipation from the Ghetto. After exploring the unique histories of the neighborhoods around the city, you can board your boat bound for the island of Murano, settled with artisan glassblowers after the Doge removed them from the main city in the 13th century due to a fear of fires. Artisans continue their craft in the city shaping glass by hand, and you can meet an artist in their studio and experience the intense heat emanating from the kiln for yourself.

After breakfast, you will travel west toward the coast of Liguria and the famous towns of Cinque Terre. Make your first stop in fair Verona, a city famous for its history and ambiance of romance as woven by Shakespeare in his play of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. The soaring figure of the Roman amphitheater captures your eye in Piazza Brà. The theater contains 44 rows of seating and can still accommodate up to 22,000 people during the summer Verona Opera Festival. The surrounding city retains the grace of its past embodied in the central feature of Piazza delle Erbe. One of the classic highlights of the city pertains to Juliet Capulet, the heroine of Shakespeare’s tragic play. The palazzo is located near Piazza della Erbe offering visitors access to the charming courtyard. The beautiful display of medieval architecture hosts a small archway as an entrance, and you will notice the letters clinging to the brick written by visitors from around the world, hoping for guidance from their champion of romance.

In the morning, travel to the town of Vernazza to begin your exploration of the five towns of Cinque Terre. The clear waters of the Ligurian Sea shine on the western side of town with the verdant mountain slopes glinting to the east. Cobblestone streets and stairways create deep ravines that carve between the colorful tower homes. The railway connects the five towns together, but a number of trails also highlight the original connection between towns when traveling by land instead of the sea. Travel along the Blue Path to Corniglia in the south leading you through the lush forest between the elevated promontory and Cinque Terre’s smallest hamlet of San Bernardino. Corniglia stands atop a 328-foot tall plateau surrounded by serene vineyards and a fabulous view of the water. Terraces create the perfect panorama from the only spot on the coastline, where all five villages are visible at once.

After a leisurely start, you will depart Vernazza at the train station and continue to Lucca, a city famous for its preserved Renaissance walls and beautiful piazzas. The city quickly endears itself to you with cobbled lanes and quiet promenades. While in Lucca, you can enjoy lunch at Giglio, a restaurant awarded a Michelin Star for 2019. The long-established restaurant brims with enthusiastic recipes from three young chefs working classic Tuscan dishes with a mosaic of complimentary international personalities. Continue to the famous city of Pisa, a powerhouse of maritime trade in the 11th century until defeat by the rival Genoese navy in the 13th century. The city has maintained a prevalent space in the history of Italy and Tuscany with popular university and gorgeous architecture influenced by the Medici family. The Leaning Tower remains the most iconic structure in the city with an incredible list of nearly four degrees, creating a distance of 12 feet between the base and the top of the tower. Architects began building the structure with the charismatic thin columns of Pisan Gothic design in the 12th century.

Florence is a majestic city revolving around the medieval walls and Renaissance art, grand palaces, and marvelous churches. After breakfast, your guide will greet you in the lobby of your luxurious accommodations in the heart of the city and escorts you to the Uffizi Gallery. The gallery displays works from masters of artistry in consecutive order allowing you to witness the variety of artistic aesthetics at work during the same period between the 14th and 18th centuries. The day of captivating art continues in the Galleria Accademia dell’Arte, which was erected in the 18th century. Magnificent sculptures grace the halls of the museum including the famous statue of David by Michelangelo.

After breakfast, you can travel south to cross the border into Umbria to reach the celestial town of Assisi. The streets wind up the slopes of Mount Subasio with the foundations of the Basilica of San Francesco. The cobbled lanes lead past the Temple of Minerva, a 1st-century BC edifice converted into a church in the 16th century and refurbished with Baroque designs in the 1600s. You will then continue to Rome, the Eternal City, for an introduction into the ever-evolving streets encompassing 3,000 years of history. The inspiring skyline sweeps from bell towers to the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and the soaring walls of the Colosseum. Your guide’s eagerness is infectious as you step out into the enchanting streets to discover the historic sites of Rome, ending at the famous Pantheon. The structure is nearly 2,000 years old after being rebuilt in the 2nd century AD. You find the tomb of famous Renaissance artists Raphael, as well as the Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of a united Italy.

Vatican City became the world’s smallest sovereign state in 1929 after the Pope made a deal with Mussolini touching the ancient, Renaissance, and Baroque with Italy’s contemporary history. After breakfast, you can meet your guide in the center of St. Peter’s Square in the shade of the ancient obelisk. The museum galleries of the Vatican host a spectacular array of antiquity ranging from Etruscan relics to Egyptian reliefs, Roman tombs to Byzantine mosaics. Inside the former apartments of the popes, your guide points to the artwork of Raphael, whose distinct style followed the classical symmetry by which the characters maneuvered around a focal point in the fresco, School of Athens. The marvels of the Raphael Rooms fade in comparison to the grandeur of the Sistine Chapel. The rectangular hall was decorated in the 15th century with biblical scenes from the Old and the New Testaments. The captivating depictions on the ceiling capture the mastery of Michelangelo’s artwork embodied in the central panel featuring the Birth of Adam.

The market in Campo de’ Fiori fills with locals and visitors alike in the morning. After a short wander, you will depart and travel by fast train through the countryside south of Rome to reach Naples and the famous ancient city of Pompeii. The fascinating urban expanse covers 170 acres and was once a large port city connected with the Roman empire covered in pumice and ash after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The legendary eruption looms large over the grounds with the peak of the active volcano visible from the streets of Pompeii. While exploring the captivating streets of Pompeii, your guide leads you beyond the obvious highlights to the lesser-known locations. The House of Menander embodies the prestige of the merchant class in the city with lovely flourishes like the Corinthian capitals and a wooded atrium preserving a small temple. An opening allowed water to collect and drain while the interior hosts a beautiful collection of scenes from Homer’s Iliad. End the day with your arrival in Sorrento, and enjoy an evening at leisure.

The charming coastal town of Sorrento embraces the refreshing aromas of citrus and the sea breeze in the morning. Your private driver will meet you at your hotel after breakfast, eager to introduce you to the legendary beauty of the Amalfi Coast. A 25-mile long road connects Positano in the west to Vietri sul Mare in the east with intermittent towns clinging to the promontories and coves overlooking the shimmering waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The town of Minori was once prosperous due to its history of shipbuilding and maintained a sense of its lavish past with a contemporary charm. Locals lounge under umbrellas on the small pebbled beach listening to the sea lap against the shoreline. Continuing to the eponymous town of Amalfi brings the past to life through the historic architecture lining the narrow streets. Stopping as you would like to explore, your private driver will be at your disposal.

The morning light washes over the blue of the water returning the vibrant colors to the small fishing vessels moored in Marina Grande. The cafes open along the boardwalk placing tables on terraces and the street for impressive views over the Bay of Naples. After breakfast and one last morning walk, your private transfer greets you in the hotel lobby and escorts you around the Bay of Naples to reach Naples International Airport to board your flight home.