Insight - Country Roads of Southern Italy & Sicily - Classic Group (04/2023 - 10/2023) (E725ZN18)

14 Days From Rome to Palermo 
Tour Style: Country Roads
Insight Brochure Price from $3,982.00
Brochures: Europe & Britain Premium 2023 v2, Europe & Britain Premium 2024 v1
Visits: Italy, Vatican City

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Indulge in Italy’s finest food and views during this 2-week guided tour. When in Rome, you will toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain during a walking tour with a Local Expert. At the Vatican Museums, get a behind-the-scenes look at the Bramante Staircase, a winding masterpiece normally closed to the public. In Sorrento, settle into a luxurious resort and take in the views of Mount Vesuvius, which buried Pompeii in a sea of lava in 79 A.D. A restaurant’s founder will share why he uses only organic ingredients that he grows himself — and you will indulge in those freshly picked vegetables during a farm-to-table dinner featuring fresh orecchiette pasta. In Palermo, a historian will take you through the old city, showing you its cathedral and the Palatine Chapel in the Palace of the Normans, where glittering 12th century mosaics will surely take your breath away.
Choice Highlights

• Choose between two carefully selected activities
• Capri: Discover the luxuriant Gardens of Augustus with a Local Expert and admire views of the Faraglioni rocks.
• Capri: Enjoy a tasting of limoncello, Capri's traditional lemon liqueur.

Authentic Dining

• Rome: Enjoy a Welcome Dinner with your fellow travellers at a uniquely Roman local restaurant.
• Capri: Enjoy a tasting of limoncello, Capri's traditional lemon liqueur.
• Palermo: At a local restaurant, enjoy fresh, rustic dishes served with local wine at your Celebration Dinner.
• Dining Summary: 7 Dinner with Wine (DW), and 13 Breakfast (B)

Top Rated Highlights

• Rome: Sightsee the local way, with a leisurely passeggiata through the backstreets, where a friend in Rome will explain how modern life takes place, around ancient treasures like the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.
• Sorrento: Perched upon the cliffs, lookout to see the mighty Mount Vesuvious across the Bay of Naples.
• Capri: Discover the luxuriant Gardens of Augustus with a Local Expert and admire views of the Faraglioni rocks.
• Capri: Cruise by jetfoil to this famous isle through beautiful blue Mediterranean waters to meet your Local Expert.
• Capri: Relax and enjoy the views as you are driven in an iconic open-top taxi.
• Pompeii: Walk with a Local Expert through the cobbled streets of this ill-fated town, frozen in time since the 1st century.
• Alberobello: Led by a Local Expert, explore this UNESCO World Heritage Site showcasing the Trulli of Alberobello. Circular structures with conical roofs that are domed within, built from local limestone and stacked without using mortar.
• Matera: With your Local Expert, visit the famous Sassi or cave dwellings, which were home to approximately 20,000 people until 1950 and are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Agrigento: A Local Expert will lead you through the magnificent remains of the Greek colony in the Valley in the Temples. See the massive Temple of Concord and clifftop Temple of Juno.
• Palermo: Discover the Sicilian capital with your Local Expert. See Pretoria Square and the 16th century fountain. View the composite architectural styles of the Palermo Cathedral and visit the Cathedral of Monreale.

Insight Experiences

• Vatican: Gain priority access into the Vatican Museums and admire the famous Bramante Staircase. Witness the genius of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel and view the splendid dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

Make Travel Matter

• Alberobello: Dine at Trattoria Terra Madre, where owner Alessandro and his nonna have built a restaurant that focuses on sustainability and creating jobs for locals. Everything is grown organically and harvested on site, and excess produce is donated to their community. The restaurant sources their produce locally, implements a strategy to reduce their food waste and promotes sustainable agricultural practices. Trattoria Terra Madre, advances UN Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Consumption & Production.

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Insight Tour Itinerary

Day 1	Welcome to the Eternal City of Rome
	Welcome to Rome, a glorious city filled with classic antiquities, medieval buildings, Renaissance palaces and baroque churches. Transfers depart from Rome's Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport for your hotel at 09:30, 12:30 and 15:30. Relax and settle in before joining your Travel Director at 17:30, and get to know your fellow travellers over a delicious Welcome Dinner with wine at a local restaurant.
	Visits: Rome
	Meals: Dinner with Wine
	Accommodation: Golden Tulip Rome Piram.
Day 2	Rome with the Locals
	Rome is about art, antiquity, piazzas and pizza, and our guided walk with a Local Expert has it in abundance. Toss a coin into the spectacular Trevi Fountain, see the Pantheon, the best-preserved monument from the Roman period, and enjoy free time to do as the Romans do.Perhaps join a tour to discover the incredibly characteristic Roman quarter of Trastevere?
	Visits: Rome
	Meals: Breakfast
	Accommodation: Golden Tulip Rome Piram.
Day 3	VIP Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica and on to Sorrento
	Meet your Local Expert for a guided visit through the Vatican Museums, culminating beneath Michelangelo's famous ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. Your priority visit includes fast-tracked entry and a behind-the-scenes look at the Bramante Staircase, a part of the Vatican closed to the general public. Continue with your Local Expert to visit St. Peter's Basilica, one of the largest churches in the world. Later depart for the picturesque resort of Sorrento, perched upon the southern cliffs of the Bay of Naples and looking over to Mount Vesuvius.
	Visits: Rome, Vatican, Sorrento
	Meals: Breakfast
	Accommodation: Hotel Isabella, Sorrento.
Day 4	Capri, The Isle of Dreams
	Cruise by jetfoil across the impossibly blue sea to the sun-drenched island of Capri. On arrival, enjoy an escorted ride in an open-top taxi to Capri Town and meet your Local Expert for an orientation walk through narrow alleyways. Explore Capri with Insight Choice. Choose to visit the immaculate Gardens of Augustus with a Local Expert and admire the views over Faraglioni Rocks. Alternatively, enjoy a tasting of limoncello, Capri's famous lemon liqueur. Descend to the port by funicular, before returning to Sorrento where you are at leisure for the rest of the day.
	Visits: Sorrento, Capri
	Meals: Breakfast
	Accommodation: Hotel Isabella, Sorrento.
Day 5	Pompeii and Alberobello
	Start your day in Pompeii, buried in A.D. 79 by the historic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Walk with your Local Expert through the cobbled streets to see a city frozen in time. Venture on to Alberobello.
	Visits: Sorrento, Pompeii, Alberobello
	Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine
	Accommodation: Grand Hotel La Chiusa di Chietri, Alberobello.
Day 6	The Trulli of Alberobello Relaxed Start
	Admire another of Italy's record number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites with a Local Expert. The Trulli of Alberobello are circular structures with conical roofs that are domed within. They are built from local limestone and stacked without using mortar. In the evening, join a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience at Trattoria Terra Madre. Alessandro, the owner, shares his philosophy of using home-grown organic and seasonal produce. See Nonna making orecchiette pasta during a demonstration, before a delicious four-course, Farm-to-Table Highlight Dinner.
	Visits: Alberobello
	Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine
	Accommodation: Grand Hotel La Chiusa di Chietri, Alberobello.
Day 7	Alberobello at Leisure Relaxed Start
	The day is free for you to enjoy this fascinating town. Perhaps visit Ostuni - reminiscent of a North African Arab Medina - with its stark, whitewashed buildings, narrow cobbled streets and arched stairways? Later, relax and indulge in the amenities of your remarkable hotel.
	Visits: Alberobello
	Meals: Breakfast
	Accommodation: Grand Hotel La Chiusa di Chietri, Alberobello.
Day 8	Journey South to Matera Relaxed Start
	Journey along the country roads to the ancient town of Matera, specially selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2019. Meet with a Local Expert for an in-depth exploration of the extraordinary Sassi, a complex of cave dwellings carved into the mountainside, the most extensive example of their kind in the Mediterranean. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mel Gibson chose Matera as the setting for his film ‘The Passion of the Christ’. This evening, indulge in a delicious meal with wine at your hotel.
	Visits: Alberobello, Matera
	Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine
	Accommodation: MH Matera Hotel.
Day 9	To Sicily and the Taormina Riviera
	In the morning, travel along the Purple Coast to the very toe of Italy and board your ferry bound for Sicily, across the Strait of Messina. According to Grecian legend, this was home to Scylla and Charybdis, which posed inescapable threats to passing seafarers as avoiding one meant passing too close to the other. You will soon arrive at your hotel where you will spend three glorious nights on the Taormina Riviera. Join a Local Expert for a visit to the Greek Theatre of Taormina, graced with the most spectacular of backdrops. Stroll on to the tiny courtyard of the Palazzo Corvaja, Taormina's grandest building. Further along the elegant Corso Umberto, the Piazza IX Aprile offers panoramic views. Take your pick of specially selected restaurants for your Dine-Around Evening.
	Visits: Matera, Taormina
	Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine
	Accommodation: RG Naxos Hotel, Taormina.
Day 10	Free Time on the Taormina Riviera Relaxed Start
	The day is at leisure to relax at your resort's private beach, or perhaps explore the medieval quarter? Don't miss the chance of an optional drive through the national park to Mount Etna, Europe's largest volcano.
	Visits: Taormina
	Meals: Breakfast
	Accommodation: RG Naxos Hotel, Taormina.
Day 11	A New Dawn in Sicily Relaxed Start
	Early risers may experience what D.H. Lawrence christened the ‘dawn coast of Europe.' The day is free to explore Taormina at your leisure, or to embark on an Optional Experience to Syracuse.In the evening, venture to a local restaurant for a tasty meal accompanied by wine.
	Visits: Taormina
	Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine
	Accommodation: RG Naxos Hotel, Taormina.
Day 12	Agrigento, the Valley of the Temples and on to Palermo
	Drive to Agrigento and walk along the fortified ridge of the Valley of the Temples with a Local Expert. See the massive Temple of Concord and clifftop Temple of Juno, overlooking the sea. In the afternoon, continue to the Sicilian capital of Palermo.
	Visits: Taormina, Agrigento, Palermo
	Meals: Breakfast
	Accommodation: NH Palermo.
Day 13	Palermo and the Golden Age of the Normans
	Join a historian on a guided walk to see the gems of the old city. Visit the amazing Palatine Chapel in the Palace of the Normans. Outside, there are few clues to its astonishing interior, completely covered in glittering 12th century mosaics. Continue to the Palermo Cathedral which has been altered over the years and a venture inside will help you to appreciate the blend of architectural styles. In the afternoon, there is free time to explore or shop in Palermo or continue sightseeing. In the evening, join your fellow guests and Travel Director at a local restaurant for a Celebration Dinner of delicious local cuisine and wine.
	Visits: Palermo
	Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Wine
	Accommodation: NH Palermo.
Day 14	Depart Palermo
	Your journey draws to an end. Departure transfers arrive at Palermo Falcone–Borsellino Airport at 06:00 and 08:00.
	Visits: Palermo
	Meals: Breakfast

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Available Room Types: Single, Triple, Twin, Twinshare
Child: ages 5 to 17