OUR PROGRAM:
2 Nights - Rome, Italy
2 Nights - Naples, Italy
2 Nights - Palermo, Sicily
2 Nights - Taormina, Sicily
2 Nights - Alberobello, Italy
1 Night - Rome, Italy

ITINERARY : Sep 23 Overnight transatlantic flight

Sep 24 Arrival in Rome, Italy.
Time to rest or start exploring the Eternal city. At 6:00pm we leave the hotel for a special welcome dinner with wine at one of Rome's restaurants. Dinner

Sep 25 ROME
We have a sightseeing tour with a local guide starting with a visit to the Vatican Museums and Sistine chapel, world famous for Michelangelo's ceiling paintings. We continue to monumental ST. PETER'S SQUARE and BASILICA. Cross the Tiber and visit the COLOSSEUM and the ROMAN FORUM, where Roman Legions marched in triumph. Then time for independent activities and exciting optional excursion possibilities. Buffet Breakfast

Sep 26 ROME-NAPLES
This morning we visit splendid REGGIA OF CASERTA, an impressive residence of 1,200 rooms with elegant GARDENS stretching two miles, reminiscent of the French Palace of Versailles. Next, we enter lively and colourful Naples. A local guide will take us first to the NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, housing some of the world's greatest Greco-Roman treasures; focus on the well-preserved objects found in Pompeii. Then on to the city center to admire the remarkable Triumphal Arch of the New Castle, St. Charles Theater, the Royal Palace, Galleria Umberto, and the semicircular Piazza Plebiscito. We will drive up to Posillipo Hill for a sweeping view of the Bay of Naples. We have time to explore the city independently. Buffet Breakfast

Sep 27 NAPLES - EXCURSION TO CAPRI
We will speed across the Bay of Naples to the Isle of Capri, an ancient retreat for Roman emperors. Our sightseeing with a Local Guide includes a visit to VILLA SAN MICHELE in Anacapri. We will also have time to explore this beautiful Capri town at our own pace before we return to our hotel in Naples. Buffet Breakfast, Dinner

Sep 28 NAPLES-SORRENTO-POMPEII-OVERNIGHT CRUISE TO PALERMO
A beautiful drive takes us along the Mediterranean Coast to the charming resort of Sorrento. We have time to check out the local shops before continuing to POMPEII, the Roman city both destroyed and preserved by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79A.D. Our local guide will walk us past patrician homes, public baths, and commercial districts strikingly recalling day-to-day live when Rome was at the apex of her power. Tonight we board our Ferry for the overnight cruise to Sicily, the great melting pot of the Mediterranean world: Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Normans, French, and Spanish have left their marks and contributed to its rich heritage. Buffet Breakfast

Sep 29 PALERMO
After breakfast we take a sightseeing tour with a Local Guide to visit the ornate Piazza Bellini, the CATHEDRAL, and the Arab-Norman PALATINE CHAPEL in the Royal Palace. Later we drive up to Monreale for a panoramic view of the Conca d'Oro and a visit to the 12th -century NORMAN CATHEDRAL, famous for its 50,000 square feet of precious Byzantine mosaics. We also visit the typical and picturesque village of Mondello. We return to Palermo over scenic, history-steeped Monte Pellegrino. Tonight we have the opportunity to enjoy local specialties on an optional dinner outing.
Buffet Breakfast

Sep 30 PALERMO, EXCURISON TO VALLEY OF TEMPLES
This is a day devoted to the scenic beauty and ancient Greek treasures of southwest Sicily. We head south to Agrigento and enjoy a walk with our local guide through the breathtaking VALLEY OF TEMPLES. Even travellers who have visited Athens and Delphi are awed by the gigantic yet graceful Greek structures that miraculously survived 24 centuries of tormented history. In the afternoon we visit the DORIAN TEMPLES and ACROPOLIC at Selinunte, built on a natural balcony overlooking the sparkling Mediterranean.
Buffet Breakfast, Dinner

Oct 01 PALERMO - SYRACUSE-TAORMINA
We have an easy morning drive through the heart of Sicily to Syracuse, birthplace of the mathematician Archimedes and once a powerful Greek port whose fleet was feared throughout the Mediterranean. It attracted visitors such as the philosopher Plato and later the Apostle Paul, who converted its citizens to Christianity. We enter the ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE with a local guide for a visit of the 5th century B.C. sparkling white Greek Theatre, the Garden of Paradise, the Ear of Dionysus, the Altar of Hieron II, the Roman Amphitheatre and the Cordmakers' Cave. Then onto our hotel in Taormina area.
Buffet Breakfast, Dinner

Oct 02 AT LEISURE IN TAORMINA
In the morning we have the option to relax for the day or to take an exciting optional morning excursion to Mount Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe. The afternoon is free for relaxing
Buffet Breakfast

Oct 03 TAORMINA-MATERA-ALBEROBELLO
We travel by ferry across the Strait of Messina, landing in Calabria then drive along the Ionian coast through Apulia, the richest region of the south and onto pretty Matera. (There are arch- aeological finds here from the Paleocene, Neolithic & Bronze Age) After an orientation we continue to the picturesque town of Alberobello.
Buffet Breakfast

Oct 04 AT LEISURE IN ALBEROBELLO
Today we have a full day to relax and explore this beautiful, quaint old village famous for its unique trulli - the whitewashed dry stone circular houses with pinnacled, conical roofs, an exceptional example of building technique that has survived from prehistoric time. Buffet Breakfast, Dinner

Oct 05 ALBEROBELLO - ROME
Today we travel north back to the Italian capital, passing through the hilly region of Irpinia. We overnight in Rome and have the option to take part in an optional festive dinner at one of Rome's fine restaurants
Buffet Breakfast

Oct 06 After breakfast we ravel back to Canada
Buffet Breakfast

Cost - Per person rate sharing twin/double accommodation :

Land tour only - $2669.00 Canadian funds / Single supplement $584.00

Return airfare from Toronto or Montreal -$1150.00 per person (plus air taxes at time of booking)
Note: We can quote return airfare from any city in Canada

If you would like to come along on this exciting program please complete and return the enclosed 'Reservation Sheet'
I hope you will join us !!