FLORENCE TO ROME VIA SIENA
Our driver, who speaks perfect English, will pick you up at your hotel in Florence and drive directly to Siena. Along the way, you can have a stop for a picture at the village of Monteriggioni (a 13th-century fortress town, remembered even by Dante in his Divina Commedia), or if you want, you can just pause for a good glass of wine! Once in Siena you'll be driven directly into the heart of the town to meet your local guide, who will show you the highlights of one of best preserved "gothic" towns in Italy. You'll see all the main monuments, including the Cathedral and the Piazza del Campo. Walking through the narrow streets, still intact since the Middle Ages, you will also have time to venture into the back roads, leaving the crowds behind and seeing many hidden aspects of the town such as the ancient trail of the "pilgrims road" (which went from Rome all the way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain). Free time for lunch (choose a local restaurant-trattoria or even a quick snack on the spectacular Piazza del Campo) and after a good espresso, you'll continue on to your central Rome destination.
This tour lasts eight hours and ends at your hotel in Rome. Prices include private car and driver; two hours with a personal tour guide is an optional extra. Please note that while your driver speaks English, his job is to get you safely from one place to another, so he should not be expected to chat while en route. Entrance tickets and meals are not included, and no touring in Rome is planned. Lunch in Siena usually costs about 60 Euro/person. If your group includes at least two adults plus children, up to two of the children under 18 years old pay nothing for the tour except for entrance tickets. If you have more than two children, all the others pay the adult price for the tour no matter their age.
2012 Prices Without Guide With Guide in Siena 1 person 851.00 Euro/group 1069.00 Euro/group 2 people 851.00 Euro/group 1069.00 Euro/group 3 people 908.00 Euro/group 1161.00 Euro/group 4 people 908.00 Euro/group 1161.00 Euro/group 5 people 943.00 Euro/group 1195.00 Euro/group 6 people 943.00 Euro/group 1195.00 Euro/group 7 people 943.00 Euro/group 1195.00 Euro/group 8 people 1448.00 Euro/group 1747.00 Euro/group
Your driver, who speaks perfect English, will pick you up at your hotel in Florence and drive you west to Pisa.
Because it is essentially out of the way, Pisa has the distinction of being a celebrity destination that is visited by relatively few tourists. It's a tiny town with a handful of charming narrow streets, most of which lead to the astounding Field of Miracles – a vast open plain blanketed with bright green grass and hosting the town's exquisite white marble cathedral and its renowned belltower, more commonly known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It took three centuries, starting in 1173, to build this unique monument. You will meet your local guide for a two-and-a-half hour tour of the city's main sites. If you wish, you may also climb the Leaning Tower with the guide.
This tour lasts ten hours and ends at your hotel in Rome. Prices include private car and driver; two hours with a personal tour guide is an optional extra. Please note that while your driver speaks English, his job is to get you safely from one place to another, so he should not be expected to chat while en route. Entrance tickets (20 Euro/person for the Tower), and meals are not included, and no touring in Rome is planned. If you choose the option with tour guide, your guide will have purchased your Leaning Tower tickets before the tour (but you will need to pay the guide for them in cash). If you choose the option without a guide then you will need to purchase your own tickets beforehand, online (please ask us for the correct time to schedule the visit). Lunch in Bolgheri usually costs about 60 Euro/person. If your group includes at least two adults plus children, up to two of the children under 18 years old pay nothing for the tour except for entrance tickets. If you have more than two children, all the others pay the adult price for the tour no matter their age.
Next you'll drive down the Mediterranean coast for about an hour and stop in Bolgheri, a fairy-tale town that has become world famous for the superior wines it exports, such as Sassicaia. You'll have time to get out and explore around the medieval castle which lies at the end of an arrow-straight 4km-long road lined with ancient cypress trees. After that you'll drive on to your central Rome destination.
2012 Prices Without Guide With Guide in Pisa 1 person 1023.00 Euro/group 1276.00 Euro/group 2 people 1023.00 Euro/group 1276.00 Euro/group 3 people 1069.00 Euro/group 1345.00 Euro/group 4 people 1069.00 Euro/group 1345.00 Euro/group 5 people 1218.00 Euro/group 1494.00 Euro/group 6 people 1218.00 Euro/group 1494.00 Euro/group 7 people 1218.00 Euro/group 1494.00 Euro/group 8 people 1701.00 Euro/group 2023.00 Euro/group
Your English-speaking driver will pick you up at your hotel in Florence and whisk you away from the chaos of the city, out onto the fast road into Umbria. During the 90-minute trip you will drive along the shores of Trasimeno, Italy's largest non-Alpine lake. Mountains and hills surround the silvery water, and they are lined with vineyards and studded with medieval castles. The vast tranquil panoramas of the lake will prepare you for your spiritual pilgrimage to Assisi, the immaculate medieval hill town that was home to Italy's patron saint, St. Francis. Always a vortex of beauty and spirituality, it also offers some wonderful frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue.
As your local guide takes you through the impressive Basilica, its quaint chapels, and the narrow cobblestone streets of the town, you cannot help but be enchanted. Artisan shops abound where you can purchase exquisite ceramics, leather and paper items. After your tour, you'll stop at a winery estate outside Sinalunga where you can have a simple lunch, and on the way to Rome you will cruise past miles and miles of silvery olive groves and bright yellow sunflower fields.
This tour lasts nine hours and ends at your hotel in Rome. Prices include private car and driver; two hours with a personal tour guide is an optional extra. Please note that while your driver speaks English, his job is to get you safely from one place to another, so he should not be expected to chat while en route. Entrance tickets and meals are not included, and no touring in Florence is planned. Lunch in Assisi usually costs about 60 Euro/person. If your group includes at least two adults plus children, up to two of the children under 18 years old pay nothing for the tour except for entrance tickets.
2012 Prices Without Guide With Guide in Assisi 1 person 851.00 Euro/group 1069.00 Euro/group 2 people 851.00 Euro/group 1069.00 Euro/group 3 people 897.00 Euro/group 1149.00 Euro/group 4 people 897.00 Euro/group 1149.00 Euro/group 5 people 954.00 Euro/group 1207.00 Euro/group 6 people 954.00 Euro/group 1207.00 Euro/group 7 people 954.00 Euro/group 1207.00 Euro/group 8 people 1471.00 Euro/group 1770.00 Euro/group
Your English-speaking driver will pick you up at your hotel in Florence and whisk you away from the chaos of the city, onto the famed autostrada. Delighted to let him do the driving, you will be treated to one of the world's most unforgettable views: the thickly wooded, steep Florentine hills, dotted with massive Renaissance villas and lined with vineyards, olive groves and rows of cypress trees. Soon the hills give way to farmlands and more gently rolling terrain, where ancient castles and hamlets still keep lookout across the valleys. After about 90 minutes you'll round a bend on the highway and see a towering mesa that could have been moved here from New Mexico, except that it is crowned by one of the world's greatest artistic masterpieces: the Cathedral of Orvieto.
Your driver will take you to meet your local guide so that together you can admire the peerless marble decorations of the cathedral façade. Inside, you'll see Signorelli's unforgettable frescoes depicting the end of the world, the resurrection of the dead, Heaven and Hell. Next you'll explore the lovely little hill town of Orvieto, also famous for its colorful ceramics and its crisp white wine. You will visit a local wine cellar for a tasting, then have ample time to experience both, and then linger for a lazy lunch before continuing on to Rome.
This tour lasts eight hours and ends at your hotel in Rome. Prices include private car and driver; two hours with a personal tour guide is an optional extra. Please note that while your driver speaks English, his job is to get you safely from one place to another, so he should not be expected to chat while en route. If the winery in Orvieto is closed, you will have a tasting at a Tuscan winery estate. Entrance tickets (4 Euro/person for the frescoes), wine tasting (10 Euro/person) and meals are not included, and no touring in Rome is planned. Lunch in Orvieto or at the estate usually costs about 60 Euro/person. If your group includes at least two adults plus children, up to two of the children under 18 years old pay nothing for the tour except for entrance tickets.
2012 Prices Without Guide With Guide in Orvieto 1 person 851.00 Euro/group 1069.00 Euro/group 2 people 851.00 Euro/group 1069.00 Euro/group 3 people 908.00 Euro/group 1161.00 Euro/group 4 people 908.00 Euro/group 1161.00 Euro/group 5 people 943.00 Euro/group 1195.00 Euro/group 6 people 943.00 Euro/group 1195.00 Euro/group 7 people 943.00 Euro/group 1195.00 Euro/group 8 people 1448.00 Euro/group 1747.00 Euro/group
