The cost includes:
Tour escort per 8 days
Private transportation by coaches
Tandem in Lucca (1 hour)
Le Cinque Terre train ticket
3-night accommodation sharing a multiple room in a 3-star hotel in Florence
2-night accommodation sharing a multiple room in a 3-star hotel in Versilia (Tuscany)
2-night accommodation sharing a multiple room in a 3-star hotel in Milan
7 breakfasts
7 dinners
4 packed lunches
Entrance tickets:
Guided tours of:
Marble Workshop
Cost does not include:
ITINERARY (Some parts of the itinerary may involve bullet train or boat travel)
Day 1 Rome – Florence
At the airport of Rome Fiumicino, you will be your tour escort who will stay with you throughout the entire stay in Italy. Before heading to Florence, an orientation guided tour of Rome is due looking at the main monuments of the Capital of Italy. After, some time will be left in town to stretch your legs before boarding the private coach and reach Florence. Once in Florence, check-in and dinner.
Day 2 Florence
Today will be completely dedicated to the visit of the famous Renaissance town. Your visit will also include the Academy Gallery, where the famous statue of Donatello is located and the Duomo. Time at disposal in the afternoon before returning back to the hotel
Day 3 Siena – San Gimignano
Today, it will the turn to visit Siena and San Gimignano. Siena, was the rival town of Florence during the Middle Ages when Florence was sided with the Pope while Siena with the Emperor. Famous is the Montaperti Battle in 1260 when Florence was heavily defeated. Siena is also famous for the Palio, a horse race run twice a year since that time.
On the way back to Florence, you will stop in San Gimignano, the Medieval village famous for its towers.
In 1282 the government of San Gimignano promulgated a law that prevented the demolition of old houses except to build more beautiful ones.
Unfortunately, of the 72 towers (one for each wealthy family) built in the Middle Ages, only 13 remain today. Despite this, the effect for those arriving from the Tuscan hills and suddenly seeing the silhouette of the town emerge is simply exciting.
Day 4 Lucca – Pisa – Le Cinque Terre
Check-out and transfer to the western part of Tuscany where you will stay for two nights.
Before reaching the destination, you will stop and visit Lucca, one of the best well-preserved wall-towns in Europe. You will also have at disposal a tandem bike for 1 hour to tour the centre of the town.
The second stop will be Pisa where you will visit the famous Leaning Tower and the other monuments located in the Miracles’ Square. With an extra charge, there is the possibility to buy the entrance ticket to the Tower and climb on the top.
Check-in in a hotel in a hotel in Versilia, a coastal region in Tuscany, Italy, known for its long, sandy beaches and as a popular destination for summer holidays
Day 5 White marble quarry - Marble laboratory
Today you will explore the mountains around Carrara, the most famous city in the world for marble.
Meeting in the morning with the guide in Carrara and departure for the marble valleys. Upon arrival at destination, the students will be divided in two groups following the same itinerary, but in two different moments:
Group #1: 4x4 tour (each vehicle contains 8 people + drivers) lasting one hour during which we climb to 1000 m. height to see the quarries up close and talk about modern excavation methods while watching the quarrymen at work.
Group #2 will reach by bus the venue where the sculpture workshop will take place (5 minutes) where they will do the sculpture test
After about 1.5 hours or so the two groups switch. Lunch break in an area with an indoor canopy.
The sculpture workshop lasts 90 minutes and starts with an explanation of the different reproduction techniques, from the plaster model on the marble. Each of the participants will be provided with a marble tile, protective glasses, hammer and chisel.
Everyone draws something on marble: an animal, the initial of your name, a fictional figure. Then the sculptor shows the students the correct use of hammer and chisel to start removing the marble around the design and create a low-relief. Each participant will be able to take home their own marble artefact.
In the afternoon, the two groups together will visit the quarry museum, an interesting exhibition of tools and machinery used for the extraction and transport of marble, from Roman times to the present day (open-air exhibition).
Approximately 3.30pm, departure and back to the hotel.
.
Day 6 Le Cinque Terre – Milan
Check-out. Explore Le Cinque Terre villages walking along the path that follows the coast and taking the train from one village to the other.
This itinerary allows to discover the salient characteristics of the landscape of the Cinque Terre National Park and to understand the roots and traditions of a unique and fascinating world. The characteristic geographical position and an uncontaminated environment, slowly transformed over the centuries by man, but untouched by industrialization and overbuilding. A thousand-year history essentially linked to the activities of viticulture, fishing and maritime trade. A “landscape architecture” made up of brightly colored tower houses, fortifications linked to the defense of the coasts, small landing places, fascinating medieval churches and infinite extensions of terraces used for the cultivation of vines and supported by simple dry stone walls. The Cinque Terre are a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.
The itinerary will be done by train travel, with short sections on foot.
Once in Monterosso, the last village on the westside of Le Cinque Terre, board the coach and drive northwards to Milan. Check-in a hostel in town.
Day 7 Milan
Guided tour of Milan in the morning, including visit the Science and Technology Museum where you can admire many machines invented by Leonardo. Remaining part of the day on your own for some great shopping before the departure the following morning.
Day 8 Departure
Check-out and transfer to the airport of Milan Malpensa
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