Italy, Turkey & Greece Exploration

Itinerary

Land Program

DAY 1 - 29 July 2025

Upon exiting Customs in the Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, you will be met and transferred to the Millenium Grand Hotel Palace. This 5-star boutique hotel enjoys a privileged city center location, on via Veneto, the Dolce Vita street. It features marble floors, chandeliers made of Murano crystal, and stunning frescoes by Venetian artist Guido Cadorin.

Check in is at 3:00pm, and the rest of the day is yours to settle in at your leisure. Meals are on your own today.

DAY 2 - 30 July 2025

Following breakfast at the hotel, you will tour the Vatican Museums and Saint Peter’s Basilica. The museums contain some of the world’s greatest paintings and sculptures, including works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Caravaggio. Besides seeing the most well-known exhibits like the Sistine Chapel, you will also visit areas usually closed to the general public, including the tomb of Pope Pius XII and the Niccoline Chapel, which features the lives of St. Lawrence and St. Stephen.

Note: When the Niccoline Chapel is not available, we will substitute with a visit to the “private room of the tears and the room of Pope’s vestments.

After the visit you will return back to your hotel.

In the afternoon, meet the group in the lobby and leave the hotel to enjoy a beautiful panoramic drive of the Ancient Rome. Pass by the Colosseum, the Caracalla’s Baths and the Circus Maximus. Then, you will reach Trevi Fountain, theatrically designed by Nicola Salvi; be sure you throw your coin to ensure your return to Roma.

Next, you will walk to the Piazza Navona, a lovely square constructed in the 15th century and lined with cafes and Baroque palaces. Under the Navona’ Square lies the magnificent Stadium of Domitian. The Stadium was commissioned around 80 AD by the Emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus as a gift to the people of Rome, and was used mostly for athletic contests. After the visit you will enjoy a cocktail in this amazing location.

Afterwards, you will return to your hotel. Dinner is on your own.

NOTE: for guests with mobility restrictions, scooters are not permitted in the Vatican Museums and guests with wheelchairs are not permitted to tour with the group. Guests requiring a wheelchair will need to use a Museum wheelchair and a have a separate guide at an additional cost of approximately 150 Euro payable on site (subject to change). Also, at Domitian Stadium there are 20 steps with no elevator.

DAY 3 - 31 July 2025

Following breakfast at the hotel, you will drive East from Rome toward Tivoli.

Tivoli is a small town on the lower slopes of the Apennines where the river Aniene plunges in cascades into the Roman plain. The villas testify to Tivoli’s importance as a holiday resort from the Roman period through the Renaissance. Tivoli or Tibur in antiquity came under Roman control in the 4C BC and it was there that a Sibyl prophesied the coming of Jesus Christ to the Emperor Augustus.

Visit Villa D’Este, masterpiece of the Italian Garden, and included in the UNESCO world heritage list. With its impressive concentration of fountains, nymphs, grottoes, plays of water, and music, it constitutes a much-copied model for European gardens in the mannerist and baroque styles.

After the visit, enjoy some free time to wonder through the colorful open-air market selling all sorts of souvenirs, fruits and local products, then enjoy lunch in a beautiful restaurant overlooking another one of Tivoli’s sights, the beautiful Villa Gregoriana. Drive back to the hotel.

In time, you will return to your hotel where the remainder of the day and dinner are on your own.

NOTE: for guests with mobility restrictions, the Villa d'Este Gardens are not accessible for wheelchairs or scooters. Only the first floor will be accessible in the Villa. The restaurant in Tivoli has approximately 40 steps to enter without an elevator.

DAY 4 - 1 August 2025

Following breakfast and check out at the hotel, you will transfer to the ship to begin your cruise.