Journeys
The classic first trip, run so that you spend your time in cities, not stations.
Most first trips to Italy go Rome, Florence, Venice, and for good reason: the three cities are different from each other and well connected by fast train. What goes wrong is the logistics. Hours on platforms, a hotel too far from everything, a timed ticket you booked for the wrong day.
We take care of that part. You travel with a small group and a guide who is with you from Rome to Venice, and you have an afternoon free in each city, because that is when you find the café you will talk about at home.
Day 1
Check in at your hotel near the centre. At 17:00 we walk up to the Gianicolo for the city at golden hour, then down to Trastevere for a welcome dinner.
Day 2
Early entry to the Forum, Palatine and Colosseum with our archaeologist guide. The afternoon is free; a card of our favourite lunches and lanes is in your room.
Day 3
A late-morning high-speed train to Florence, about an hour and a half. We walk to the Duomo and the old centre, and at dusk we go up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the view of the whole city.
Day 4
A timed visit to the Uffizi with a guide, then lunch across the river in the Oltrarno, where we visit a craft workshop. You can add a climb of the Duomo's dome by reservation.
Day 5
A morning train to Venice. We take the water bus down the Grand Canal to your hotel, then a walk through the quiet streets of Cannaregio and an evening of cicchetti in a bar.
Day 6
San Marco early, before the day-trippers, then a visit to a working gondola yard. The afternoon is free for a boat to the islands or a long lunch.
Day 7
A slow breakfast and a last walk. Your transfer takes you to the station, Marco Polo airport or the water bus, as you need.
Your hotel in central Rome, Day 1 at 17:00
Hotel details sent on bookingWe send the hotel address, a welcome letter and the full day-by-day timings three weeks before you travel.
Open in mapsComfortable boutique hotels in central locations, chosen for being within a short walk of the sights. We send the names with your final documents.
Yes. The same guide and the same group of up to 12 travel together from Rome to Venice. Free afternoons are your own.
That depends on your passport. Visitors from the US and UK do not currently need a visa for short stays but do go through the EU's Entry/Exit System at the border, and ETIAS is expected to follow once it launches. Indian passport holders need a Schengen visa. Our practical guide in the Journal explains what is current and when we last checked.
Journeys
from€4,680per personThree nights in Rome, two in Naples with Pompeii, two in Florence and two in Venice. Fly into Rome and out of Venice, with a guide the whole way.
Journeys
from€2,890per personRome's ancient centre, then south by high-speed train to Pompeii, Sorrento and the cliff-hung towns of the Amalfi Coast, with a day on the Path of the Gods.
