This morning we’ll meet our local guide for a tour through one of Rome’s most spectacular private palaces. The Palazzo Colona is one of the few residences in Rome where the original family has lived for the past thousand years. It’s a unique opportunity to avoid the rush of Rome’s crowds. In this one home we can witness the stratification of time through the layers of the Medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Modern. We’ll also see how collections of art, daily life, and the passage of centuries can shape the places we call home.

This afternoon we’ll be free to explore this remarkable city. The Capitoline, Palatine, Borghese, and National museums offer just a few of the tantalizing treasures hidden in plain sight. Or take a stroll across the Tiber into Trastevere while seeking out the city’s best gelato.

Walking: moderate, 2-4 miles

After an early breakfast at our hotel we’ll meet our bus and set out for the next leg of our journey.

Today we will drive south into the heart of ancient magna Grecia. On the way, we’ll stop for lunch and a guided visit to Herculaneum. This ancient Roman town was destroyed and subsequently preserved by the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in the first century A.D. Our local guide will walk us through this astonishingly preserved town, where we’ll feel like time-travelers as we explore the stone streets, wander through beautifully frescoed homes, sit in domed bathhouses, and learn about the daily life of the citizens who named their town after Hercules, the demi-god of great feats of human strength and ingenuity.

In the late afternoon we’ll arrive at our beautiful Agriturismo, a seventeenth-century villa, farm, and vineyard where we’ll have just enough time for a quick swim in the pool before a family-style meal with food produced by our wonderful Italian hosts. We’ll sleep here for two nights.

Walking: moderate, 3-4 miles
Bus time: 3.5 hrs.

After breakfast in our Agriturismo we’ll continue our classical pilgrimage with a guided visit of the ancient Greek city at Paestum.

As we enter the high stone walls, we’ll see some of the best preserved Greek temples anywhere in the world. The temples to Poseidon, Hera, and Athena offer an insight into modes of worship that bestowed the highest honor on the divine in nature and humanity.

Walking these ancient stone streets and meandering through the foundations of homes, theaters, and marketplaces, we can almost hear the voices of those who once filled this city named for the god Poseidon and the rustle of the waves in the nearby sea.

The second part of our morning will be dedicated to observing the Italian tradition of making buffalo mozzarella by hand. For today’s lunch we’ll taste some of that same mozzarella as we enjoy another slow-food, farm-to-table experience.

This afternoon we’ll head for a relaxing swim in our nearby agriturismo before regrouping for a wine tasting and visit to our farm’s cantina.

Walking: moderate, 2-4 miles
Bus time: 1.5 hrs.

After an early breakfast this morning we’ll depart our hotel and drive to Matera, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements. Built into the rock and natural caves, historians believe that humans have lived in these cave-dwellings, or sassi, for the past 12,000 years. 

Matera not only boasts one of the most ancient settings for any traveler to Italy, but also one of the most inspiring. Perched on the cliff side, overlooking a natural gorge, this city of stone invites the visitor to participate in the living history of this magical place. We’ll do just that today as we admire the thousand year old frescoes of churches built in caves and sleep in a beautifully renovated albergo diffuso, a hotel that has converted the ancient sassi into elegant rooms overlooking the gorge.

Walking: moderate, 2-3 miles
Bus time: 2.5 hrs.

After the once-in-a-lifetime experience of sleeping in an ancient sassi, we’ll leave the region of Basilicata behind as we drive northeast towards the crystal blue waters of Adriatic Sea and the breathtaking views of Gargano National Park.

We will stop en route at the hilltop village of Ascoli Satriano where we will meet our local guide for a visit to the museum and an introduction to the civilization that thrived here almost three thousand years ago. After learning about the traditions and beliefs of this pre-roman people and seeing the astonishing 1,200 B.C. griffon marbles we will turn our attention to lunch.

In keeping with the traditions we’ve just observed, we’ll take lunch as an opportunity for a cooking lesson where we learn some of the oldest recipes that belong to this place.

After lunch and experiencing the local wines first hand, we’ll continue our journey towards Gargano National park. This region is best known to Italians for its fabulous coastline formations and relaxing beaches. After checking into our seaside hotel in the late afternoon we’ll be free to enjoy an Italian style vacation at the sea. Take a quick swim or go for stroll by the sea. Tonight we’ll celebrate our journey with fresh seafood, wine, and the glowing radiance of the nearby sea.

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Walking: moderate, 1 mile
Bus time: ~ 4 hrs.

Today we’ll be free to swim, hike, and relax in our little corner of paradise. There are no scheduled activities today except to enjoy the natural beauty of this place.

This morning our journey will continue towards one of Italy’s most beautiful hidden gems, the region of Abruzzo. Preserved in large part by the economic poverty of the twentieth century, Abruzzo an experience of daily life from centuries gone by. 

Our first stop of the day will be along the Adriatic coast at a ‘traboccho’, a traditional fishing hut built over the water. For centuries, local fishermen have employed these trabocchi to fish the sea with a complex series of nets.

Around mid-morning we’ll say arrivederci to the glistening Adriatic and drive west into the mountains of Abruzzo. We’ll stop in one of this regions beautiful towns for lunch and visit the gorgeously frescoed Oratorio of the Pilgrim before arriving in Santo Stefano di Sessiano and checking into our hotel. Here we’ll stay at an albergo diffuso, a fortified medieval town whose rooms have been elegantly converted into a hotel that combines the artisan culture and history of the village with the comfort of simple luxuries.

Walking: moderate, 2 miles
Bus time: ~5 hrs.

After breakfast this morning, we will take the day to bask in the traditions and culture that still thrive in this place. Our activities, like those of our hosts, will depend on the time of year. Our typical day will include a hike up to the medieval fortress of Rocca Calascio,  and depending on the season and weather we may include lessons on making bread and pasta, weaving, artisan goods, the local production of saffron, wine-tasting, and even truffle-hunting. Today’s activities will be dedicated to an immersion in traditional Italian culture.

By mid-afternoon we’ll return to Santo Stefano di Sessiano where we’ll be free to soak in the beauty of the town before re-grouping in the evening for a spectacular Abruzzo styled meal and wine. 

Walking: moderate, 2 miles

This morning we’ll leave the mountains behind as we head into Umbria, the center of Italy and the region at the very heart of Italian cuisine, culture, spirituality, history, and art. Artisans, monasticism, farmers, and a rich love of nature all still thrive here. 

Our first stop of the day will be Deruta, the ceramics capital of Italy. Here we’ll visit a family run ceramics studio and witness the centuries-old process from start to finish. After our introduction to ceramics we’ll be free to explore this charming town before continuing our journey towards a local farm and winery where we will have lunch and enjoy some of Italy’s finest wines. 

We’ll arrive in Assisi in late afternoon where we’ll be free to enjoy the tranquility of this ancient Roman and medieval pilgrimage town after the visitors have gone. We’ll stay here two nights.

Walking: moderate, 3 miles
Bus time: ~ 3.5 hrs.

This morning we will walk in the footsteps of St Francis of Assisi, the ordinary man who became a saint by dedicating his life to simplicity, humility, love of nature, and helping others. There are few role models better equipped to guide the modern traveler.  A pilgrim himself, Saint Francis invites us to make an inward journey while becoming more attune to the beauty of the world around us. 

Our activities this morning will seek to follow this example as visit the peaceful Eremo delle Carceri. This hermitage is built over the caves where St. Francis and his friends came to pray. It is a place dedicated to peace, silence, and observing the beauty of nature. 

Our next stop today will be the church and monastery at San Damiano. Situated outside the medival walls of Assisi and within the beauty of the surrounding countryside. It was here that Saint Francis received a vision from God and Saint Claire founded her order, famous for joyfulness and poverty. 

Our last stop for the day will be the Basilica of Saint Francis. This stunning church, painted by Giotto, is a forerunner of the Renaissance in Florence. The gorgeously frescoed images here not only illustrate the story of Francis’ life but remind the traveler that it is through simple acts of charity that true beauty is achieved. 

The patron saint of animals and nature, St. Francis relinquished a life of hedonism and luxury in pursuit of a life of spiritual perfection.
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Walking: moderate, 3 miles
Bus time: ~ 1 hr.

Famous for its wine, rolling hills, villas, delicious cuisine, and Renaissance artistry, Tuscany is the region synonymous with Italy itself. This morning we’ll take in the scenery of this place as we travel towards Florence, a city that changed the course of history.

After arriving at our hotel, a former Renaissance Palazzo, we’ll head out to explore the city from a perspective that doesn’t simply avoid a superficial encounter with famous sites but seeks to understand the history, its people, and how the decisions they made shaped our world today. 

This afternoon we will read the story of Florence through its many monuments and artworks. And we’ll conclude our guided walk with a visit to the Duomo Museum and the opportunity to visit the Baptistry, the bell tower, and to climb Brunelleschi’s dome.

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Walking: Moderate, 4 miles

After breakfast this morning we’ll pick up with our local guide where we left off the previous afternoon. This morning we’ll explore the backstreets of Florence that will bring us to encounters with the young Michelangelo, the poet Dante exiled from his city, the ingratiating Machiavelli, the uncompromising Galileo, and the noble aspirations and achievements of Da Vinci, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Giotto, and many more. Today we’ll focus on the stories of Florence’s citizens that are sometimes forgotten or seldom told. We’ll discover the role of women in the history of the city. And we’ll visit the Bargello, the city’s great sculpture museum. Here we’ll see the evolution of the Renaissance including Donatello’s David, the first freestanding bronze nude cast in Europe after antiquity. 

After a mid-morning cafe, our walk will continue to the Oltrarno, to the other side of the river Arno, where the workshops and craftsmen of the city still thrive. Here we will encounter the artisans who work with leather, textiles, book-binding, printing, jewelry, and much more. Our morning’s activities will conclude with a visit to Santo Spirito where we’ll see Michelangelo’s first known woodcarving. 

 This evening we’ll gather one last time for an Italian style family meal, alla fiorentina. We’ll feast and make toasts to our favorite moments on our journey.

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Walking: Moderate, 4 miles

Breakfast is included, but no activities are planned for today. Hop on the train back to Rome, fly to your next destination, visit Milan, Venice, or the Cinque Terre. Your Alithea guide will be available to help with arrangements during breakfast.