The Ancient Romans were famous for their decadence. Imagine Julius Caesar sprawled across a chaise longue, drinking wine out of a golden chalice with his manservant feeding him luscious, plump grapes... Sounds fairly pricey, as it no doubt was! But today all of Rome's patented decadence is available to the rest of us who aren't Roman Emperors at a great value. So if you've been craving a bottle of great red wine with a heaping plate of Spaghetti alla Carbornara, what's stopping you from hopping a flight and enjoying Rome the way the ancients intended!
Then after a picturesque train/car ride through Umbria and Tuscany we arrive at our next destination.
In Florence we find not only Italy's finest collection of art, but also a city that in itself is among the country's loveliest examples of artistry. Famous churches and museums, among them the Uffizi Gallery, bejewel the city, each holding the priceless treasures of the Renaissance. But promenading the Florentine streets will present you with magical architecture in graceful dialogue with the nearby Tuscan countryside, and a vibrant people whose mannerisms and language are redolent of Florence's creative spark. As if this weren't enough, local chefs and winemakers dazzle our palates with their own artistry-forged each time they masterfully harness nature's bounty and create one of Italy's finest gastronomies.
One aspect of Florence is entirely unique: there is no "suburbia. Once we leave its magnificent streets we find immediately ourselves in the Tuscany countryside...
If we were charged with the task of picking the single place that has elevated the delights of Italy from first-rate to transcendental, it would be Tuscany. Within this region humanity experienced the spark of genius-perhaps the greatest in our history-that was the Italian Renaissance. And when we think of superlative Italian cuisine and wine, Tuscany is the ideal against which all other traditions are compared. Where else in the world do we have endless rolling vine-covered hills complemented by radiant golden sunflowers as our very own back yard? Italy is a country well endowed with the extraordinary-but it all begins here, in Tuscany.
This is a Suggested Vacation.
This suggested vacation is all about you and your independence. If you like what we've put together just the way it is, just click and your vacation is all planned; if not, amend, add, and replace anything you like. You may change the number of days in each city, add or remove options, even change our suggested means of transportation between cities. Do whatever you'd like, after all, it's your Italy Vacation!
Printer-friendly version
