Italy at a slower pace: Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Florence and Venice

1. Day 1: Arrive in Rome

   Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) to your hotel in the historic centre

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Rome
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 30 km west of the city. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall, takes your bags to the vehicle and brings you to a central hotel with a lift, near Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, about 45 minutes away. The afternoon is yours to rest; there is nothing to be at before 6:30 pm. Then your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the lobby for a short, seated briefing: how the fortnight runs, which three mornings start early and why, how the trains and luggage work and where every free afternoon falls. The welcome dinner is at a Roman trattoria a few minutes' level walk away, or a short ride if you prefer: cacio e pepe, artichokes in season and a glass of wine from Lazio. We keep dinner unhurried and back at the hotel by about 9:30. If your flight lands late, your seat is kept and your guide catches you up over breakfast.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner at a trattoria in the old centre

   Free time: Free until the early evening briefing

   Activity: Under 1 km on foot.

2. Day 2: The Vatican at opening

   Rome: the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Rome
   Day 2 details

   This is one of three early mornings, because the Vatican Museums are calmest in their first hour. We leave the hotel at about 7:30, and our vehicle drops the group at the entrance for our timed entry at the 8 am opening, with a licensed guide and quiet-guide headsets. The guide takes the route with lifts where the museum offers them, through the Pinecone Courtyard, the Gallery of Maps and the Raphael Rooms to the Sistine Chapel, where you can stand or sit on the benches along the walls under Michelangelo's ceiling and Last Judgement. Photography is not allowed in the chapel. Where the group passage is open we continue into St Peter's Basilica for Michelangelo's Pietà, otherwise the vehicle takes us round to the square. By about 12:30 we sit down to an included lunch in the Prati district, then the vehicle takes the group back to the hotel. The afternoon is free: rest, or walk to Ponte Sant'Angelo at dusk to see the dome lit.

   Included

   • Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel on a timed group entry at opening, with a licensed guide
   • St Peter's Basilica
   • Quiet-guide headsets for the museum visit
   • Sit-down lunch in Prati
   • Vehicle drop and pick-up

   Easier option: Leave after the Sistine Chapel and rest in a cafe by the museum exit until lunch; the Basilica stays open into the evening.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 km on foot over 3 hours, mostly on marble floors, with lifts where the museum offers them. Leave the hotel at about 7:30 am for the 8 am entry.

   

3. Day 3: The Colosseum and the Pantheon

   Rome: the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, then the Pantheon and Sant'Ignazio

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Rome
   Day 3 details

   A later start today. The vehicle leaves at about 9:30 for a timed group entry at the Colosseum, inaugurated in AD 80, with a licensed guide. The lower level is close to flat, and there is a lift to the upper level, where you look down into the arena and across to the Forum. From there we take a short walk along the main path of the Roman Forum, past the Arch of Titus and the temples of the Via Sacra, with benches and a water fountain on the way; the climb onto the Palatine is optional, for anyone who wants it. The vehicle then takes us to the old centre for a sit-down lunch near the Pantheon, rebuilt under Hadrian and still roofed by the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. After lunch we cross to the church of Sant'Ignazio, where you sit in the pews and look up at Andrea Pozzo's painted ceiling and his false dome. The Trevi Fountain is a few minutes' level walk on. We are back at the hotel by about 4 pm.

   Included

   • The Colosseum on a timed group entry with a licensed guide, with the lift to the upper level
   • A short walk on the main path of the Roman Forum
   • Sit-down lunch near the Pantheon
   • The Pantheon (entry included)
   • The church of Sant'Ignazio and the Trevi Fountain with your guide

   Easier option: Skip the Forum walk and wait in the shade with a coffee; the vehicle collects everyone together for lunch.

   More active option: Walk the Palatine Hill with your guide's directions before lunch, a climb of about 30 minutes on gravel paths.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: About 4 km on foot in four short stretches, on uneven Roman paving at the Forum.

   

4. Day 4: By fast train to Sorrento

   Rome to Naples by high-speed train, then by road to Sorrento

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Sorrento
   Day 4 details

   No rush this morning. We check out at about 10 am, and the vehicle takes the bags and the group to Roma Termini for a reserved high-speed train to Napoli Centrale, about 1 hour 10 minutes, with assigned seats and racks for the cases. Your guide and our driver lift the bags on and off, and a second vehicle and driver meet the train in Naples. The road runs round the bay below Vesuvius to Sorrento, about an hour and a quarter, and we stop for a sit-down lunch on the way or on arrival, depending on the train time. Sorrento is our base for three nights, in a hotel with a lift near Piazza Tasso, the town's flat main square, so cafes, the shops of Via San Cesareo and the cliff-top public gardens of the Villa Comunale are a short, level walk. The afternoon and evening are free. Watch the sun set over the Bay of Naples from the gardens, or rest after the travel.

   Included

   • Station transfer in Rome with luggage
   • Reserved high-speed train from Rome to Naples
   • Transfer from Naples to Sorrento
   • Sit-down lunch

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Sorrento

   Activity: Under 1 km on foot; about 1 hour 10 minutes by train and 1 hour 15 minutes by road.

5. Day 5: The Amalfi Coast and Ravello

   Sorrento to Positano, Amalfi and Ravello, back by ferry

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Sorrento
   Day 5 details

   The second early-ish start, at 8:30, because the Amalfi Coast road is narrow and fills with traffic by mid-morning. Our own vehicle, sized for the bends, stops first at a lay-by above Positano, where you can take in the stacked houses without leaving the roadside. The road then clings to the cliffs past Praiano and the Furore fjord to Amalfi. The striped Cathedral of Sant'Andrea stands at the top of a long stair; your guide tells its story from the piazza below, and anyone who wants to climb can. Then it is a short drive up to Ravello, about 350 m above the sea, and a long, sit-down lunch with the coast below. The gardens of Villa Rufolo are next to the square and have some gentle steps; there are benches on the terraces. In the afternoon we drop back to Amalfi and, in season, take the public ferry to Sorrento. Out of season, or in rough seas, the vehicle drives us back.

   Included

   • Drive along the Amalfi Coast road in our own vehicle, with a stop above Positano
   • Amalfi and the Cathedral of Sant'Andrea
   • Ravello and the gardens of Villa Rufolo (entry included)
   • Sit-down lunch in Ravello
   • Ferry from Amalfi to Sorrento in season

   Easier option: Stay in the Ravello cafe on the main square while the others visit Villa Rufolo, or spend a quiet day in Sorrento instead.

   More active option: Climb the cathedral stair in Amalfi and visit the Cloister of Paradise while the group has a coffee in the piazza.

   Free time: Evening free in Sorrento

   Activity: About 2 km on foot, with gentle slopes in Ravello. Tell us if you get carsick and we seat you up front. Without the ferry, the road back adds about 45 minutes.

   

6. Day 6: Pompeii on the step-free route

   Sorrento to Pompeii and back

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Sorrento
   Day 6 details

   Pompeii gets its own morning rather than a tired afternoon after a train. We leave Sorrento at about 9 am for the 30 km drive and go in at about 9:30 with a licensed archaeological guide, before the heat. Pompeii, buried by Vesuvius in AD 79 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a city of big, uneven paving stones and high kerbs, so we follow the site's step-free route, which runs on smoother paths and ramps past the Forum, the main streets and a selection of houses, with Vesuvius above. Your guide plans stops in the shade and points out the benches and the water fountains. About two and a half hours is enough. We sit down to lunch near the site, then drive back to Sorrento by about 2:30 pm. The afternoon is free: a nap, a limoncello in Piazza Tasso, or the lift down from the Villa Comunale gardens to the harbour at Marina Piccola.

   Included

   • Pompeii with a licensed archaeological guide on the step-free route (entry included)
   • Sit-down lunch near Pompeii
   • Transfers from and to Sorrento

   Easier option: Your guide keeps a shorter loop near the Forum and a bench in the shade for anyone who wants to stop early.

   More active option: Leave the step-free route with your guide for a short detour on the original paving to the theatres.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Sorrento

   Activity: About 3 km on foot over two and a half hours, little shade; bring a hat and water.

   

7. Day 7: North by train to Florence

   Sorrento to Naples, then high-speed train to Florence

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Florence
   Day 7 details

   The one long travel day, broken up so it stays gentle. We leave Sorrento at about 10 am, and the vehicle takes us round the bay to Naples, about an hour and a quarter. Lunch is a Neapolitan pizza, the city's own dish, at a sit-down pizzeria near the station. Then the direct high-speed train to Firenze Santa Maria Novella, about three hours with reserved seats, north through Lazio and southern Tuscany; it is faster and far calmer than five hours on the motorway. Our driver in Florence meets the train, takes the bags and drives us to a central hotel with a lift, our base for four nights. After a rest, dinner is included at a trattoria near the hotel, so nobody has to hunt for a table after a day of travel: ribollita or pappardelle, and a Chianti. Your guide walks the group back past the Duomo, lit at night, about ten minutes on the flat.

   Included

   • Transfer from Sorrento to Naples station with luggage
   • Pizza lunch in Naples
   • Reserved high-speed train from Naples to Florence
   • Station transfer in Florence
   • Dinner at a trattoria near the hotel

   Free time: A rest before dinner

   Activity: Under 2 km on foot; about 1 hour 15 minutes by road and 3 hours by train, broken by lunch.

8. Day 8: Florence: the Uffizi and the centre

   Florence: the Uffizi, Piazza della Signoria and the Duomo

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Florence
   Day 8 details

   The last of the three early mornings: the Uffizi at its 8:15 opening, when the Botticelli rooms are still quiet. The gallery has lifts between its floors, and our licensed guide keeps the visit to about two hours, with a seated break at the gallery cafe on the terrace above the Loggia dei Lanzi. You see Giotto's Madonna, Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera and Leonardo's Annunciation, and the corridor windows that look down on the Arno. Outside, Piazza della Signoria is a few steps away, with the copy of David at the Palazzo Vecchio door, and then a short, flat walk past the Baptistery's bronze doors to Brunelleschi's dome over the Duomo, with a coffee stop on the way. The guided part ends by about 12:30 near the hotel. Lunch and the afternoon are free: the leather and paper shops, a rest, or a seat at a cafe on Piazza della Repubblica.

   Included

   • The Uffizi Gallery on a timed group entry at opening, with a licensed guide
   • A short walk of the centre: Piazza della Signoria, the Baptistery and the Duomo from outside

   Optional experiences

   • Brunelleschi's dome or Giotto's bell tower climb (over 400 steps, no lift), booked ahead at the official price

   Easier option: Leave the walk after Piazza della Signoria; a taxi back to the hotel is a few minutes.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 km on foot, flat; about 2 hours in the gallery with lifts between floors.

9. Day 9: Siena and a Chianti farm lunch

   Florence to Siena, lunch on a Chianti farm, back to Florence

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Florence
   Day 9 details

   A 9:30 start and three drives, the longest about an hour and ten minutes. The first runs south to Siena, a hill town whose centre is steep, so we use the public escalators that climb from the car parks below the walls into the old town instead of the lanes. A gentle downhill walk brings us to the Piazza del Campo, the shell-shaped square where the Palio horse race is run on 2 July and 16 August; there are cafe tables on its rim. The striped Duomo, whose inlaid marble floor is uncovered for part of each year, is a short walk on, and has a level entrance. At about 1 pm the vehicle takes us about 15 minutes into the hills just north of Siena, on the road home, for a long, seated lunch at a family farm or wine estate, with its own olive oil and Chianti wines to taste. The drive back to Florence is about an hour, and we are at the hotel by about 5 pm, with the evening free.

   Included

   • Siena with your guide: the Piazza del Campo and the Duomo (entry included)
   • Sit-down lunch and tasting at a Chianti farm or wine estate
   • Vehicle and driver for the day

   Easier option: Wait at a cafe on the Campo while the group visits the Duomo, or spend the day in Florence and join the farm lunch only.

   More active option: Climb the roughly 400 steps of the Torre del Mangia (no lift) for the view over the Campo, when numbers allow.

   Free time: Evening free in Florence

   Activity: About 2.5 km on foot, with escalators for the climb into Siena. Driving about 2 hours 25 minutes in three legs: about 1 hour 10, 15 minutes and 1 hour.

10. Day 10: Michelangelo's David and a free afternoon

    Florence: the Accademia, then Piazzale Michelangelo by vehicle

    • Drive about 30 min
    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Florence
    Day 10 details

    A slow morning, then the Galleria dell'Accademia on a mid-morning timed entry with a licensed guide. The gallery is on one level and step-free, and an hour is enough to stand under Michelangelo's David, carved from a single block of marble between 1501 and 1504, and to see his unfinished Prisoners straining out of the stone along the corridor. There are benches facing the statue. After the visit the vehicle takes us across the Arno and up the hill road to Piazzale Michelangelo, the terrace where the dome, the bell tower and the Ponte Vecchio line up below; it is a drive to the top, not a climb. Then the vehicle drops the group back in the centre by about 12:30. Lunch, the afternoon and the evening are free. Your guide has a list of quiet trattorias in Santo Spirito and Sant'Ambrogio, and can book a table for anyone who asks.

    Included

    • The Galleria dell'Accademia and Michelangelo's David on a timed group entry, with a licensed guide
    • Piazzale Michelangelo by vehicle

    Optional experiences

    • The Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens on your own; the gardens are steep

    More active option: Walk down from Piazzale Michelangelo through the rose garden and the San Niccolo gate to the river, about 20 minutes downhill on steps and paths.

    Free time: Afternoon and evening free

    Activity: About 1.5 km on foot, flat and step-free in the gallery.

11. Day 11: By train to Venice

    Florence to Venice by direct train, then by water taxi to your hotel

    • By train
    • Breakfast and dinner
    • Stay in Venice
    Day 11 details

    Check-out is at about 10 am, and the vehicle takes the bags and the group to Santa Maria Novella for a reserved direct high-speed train to Venezia Santa Lucia, about 2 hours, under the Apennines and across the Po plain. Venice is a city of stepped bridges, so we do not walk it with luggage: a water taxi waits at the landing by the station steps and takes us and the bags down the Grand Canal to a hotel with a lift in the historic centre. On the way you pass the Rialto Bridge and the palaces along the canal, with your bags at your feet. After a rest, your guide leads a short orientation walk chosen for its few bridges, shows you how the vaporetto stops work and where to sit on the water buses, and stops at a bacaro for a glass of wine. Dinner is included tonight at a Venetian restaurant close to the hotel, so the first evening needs no planning.

    Included

    • Station transfer in Florence with luggage
    • Reserved direct high-speed train from Florence to Venice
    • Water taxi with luggage from the station to your hotel
    • Short orientation walk with your guide
    • Dinner near the hotel
    • Vaporetto pass for days 11 to 13

    Easier option: Skip the orientation walk and meet the group at the restaurant.

    Free time: A rest before the evening walk

    Activity: About 1.5 km on foot, with two or three small bridges.

12. Day 12: St Mark's and the Doge's Palace

    Venice: St Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace and a free afternoon

    • By boat
    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Venice
    Day 12 details

    We take the vaporetto down the Grand Canal to San Marco, which saves the walk and its bridges, and enter St Mark's Basilica on a reserved group slot, to see the gold mosaics in its domes. The floor is uneven and rippled with age, so take your time. Then we cross the piazza to the Doge's Palace with a licensed guide: the Golden Staircase, the Hall of the Great Council with Tintoretto's Paradise, and the Bridge of Sighs seen from the inside. The palace route has stairs, and your guide arranges the lift for anyone who needs it where the palace allows; there are benches in the great halls. By about 12:30 the guided part is done. Lunch and the afternoon are free: a seat at a cafe under the arcades while the orchestras play, the vaporetto down the Grand Canal for the palaces, or the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which is on one floor.

    Included

    • St Mark's Basilica on a reserved group slot
    • The Doge's Palace and the Bridge of Sighs with a licensed guide (entry included)

    Optional experiences

    • A shared gondola ride at the official city tariff, booked by your guide; boarding needs a hand down

    Easier option: Visit the Basilica only and wait at a cafe on the piazza while the group tours the palace.

    Free time: Afternoon and evening free

    Activity: About 2 km on foot, with stairs inside the Doge's Palace (lift where the palace allows).

13. Day 13: Murano, Burano and a farewell dinner

    Venice to Murano and Burano by private boat, then back to the city

    • By boat
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Venice
    Day 13 details

    Instead of standing on crowded water buses, a private boat collects the group near the hotel at about 9:30 for the lagoon islands. First Murano, where the glass furnaces were moved out of the city in 1291 for fear of fire; we sit in for a furnace demonstration, with no obligation to buy. Then about half an hour across the lagoon to Burano, a fishing island of painted houses along small canals, known for its lace. Burano is flat and easy to walk, with benches along the main canal, and lunch is included here at a seafood restaurant: risotto with lagoon fish is the dish. The boat brings us back to the city by about 3 pm, and there is time to rest before the evening. The farewell dinner is at a Venetian restaurant near the hotel, a last plate of sarde in saor for anyone who likes them, and a toast to the fortnight.

    Included

    • Private boat to Murano and Burano and back
    • Murano and a glass furnace demonstration
    • Burano
    • Lunch on Burano
    • Farewell dinner in Venice

    Easier option: Stay on the boat or at a cafe by the Burano landing while the group walks the island.

    Free time: A rest between the boat and the farewell dinner

    Activity: About 2 km on foot, flat; a step or two on and off the boat with a hand from the crew.

14. Day 14: Leave from Venice

    Your hotel to Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) by water taxi

    • By boat
    • Breakfast
    Day 14 details

    Breakfast, then goodbye. A water taxi takes you and your bags from the hotel landing across the lagoon to Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE), about 30 to 40 minutes on the water, and from the airport jetty it is a covered walkway to the terminal. We group the transfers by flight time, so flights leaving after about 11 am are easiest; earlier ones are fine with an earlier boat. If you are staying on in Venice, or carrying on by train to Verona or Milan, we take you to Santa Lucia station instead, and we can book extra nights at the same hotel if you tell us when you book. Airport assistance with a wheelchair to the gate is free from the airport if you ask your airline at least 48 hours ahead. Your guide sees the first boat off and stays reachable by phone until the last guest has left, in case a flight changes.

    Included

    • Water taxi from your hotel to Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) or Santa Lucia station

    Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 11 am for an unhurried morning.

Wildlife and weather: April to June and September to October are warm and good for walking; we do not offer this version in July and August, when the heat makes Pompeii and the cities hard going. From October, high tides (acqua alta) can flood parts of Venice for a few hours, and the Amalfi ferries run roughly April to October, depending on the operator; outside the season we drive back.

• Rome3 nights
• Sorrento3 nights
• Florence4 nights
• Venice3 nights