The Eternal City, the cradle of the Renaissance and a city built on water, Italy's grand tour, slowed down and stitched together by fast train.
Into a city where three thousand years are stacked on top of each other. After the flight we keep it easy, a first plate of cacio e pepe in Trastevere, a passeggiata past a floodlit fountain, an early night.
The Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine hill at opening, before the heat; the perfect dome of the Pantheon; the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. An evening food tour through the Testaccio markets and trattorias.
St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums early, the Sistine Chapel ceiling before the crowds thicken, then Castel Sant'Angelo and a slow afternoon in the lanes. Rome rewards getting wonderfully lost between the gelato stops.
The Frecciarossa north to Florence in 90 minutes. The Duomo and the climb up Brunelleschi's dome, Michelangelo's David at the Accademia, and the Ponte Vecchio glowing over the Arno at sunset. A proper bistecca alla fiorentina to finish.
The Uffizi and its Botticellis, the leather and gold workshops of the Oltrarno, and the view over the whole city from Piazzale Michelangelo. A gelato crawl, a Negroni in the square it was invented in.
Out into the cypress hills, the medieval towers of San Gimignano, a Chianti wine estate for a tasting and a long lunch, and the shell shaped Piazza del Campo in Siena. Back to Florence by evening.
North to Venice, a city with no cars and no straight lines. The Grand Canal by vaporetto, St Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace, and the back lanes where the crowds thin to nothing. Cicchetti and a spritz as the light goes gold.
A row in a sandolo or a gondola at dawn, then out across the lagoon to Murano's glass furnaces and Burano's painted fishing houses. A final quiet dinner in Cannaregio, far from the day trippers.
A last espresso and a final wander before your water taxi to the airport. Italy gives you antiquity, art and romance in one clean line, and a list of reasons to come straight back.
Three ways to do the same route: Comfort, Premium or Luxe. Breakfasts in. Mix tiers city by city if you like, it is your trip.
Priced to your dates, your hotel tier and how the two of you like to travel. Ask, the first answer usually lands within minutes.
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