Best of Italy 13-Day Tour

Welcome to Italy. A private water taxi meets you on arrival and whisks you directly to your hotel — no queuing, no bus transfers, just the Grand Canal opening up in front of you as Venice announces itself. It's one of the great arrivals in travel, and your specialist times it so you pull in as the light softens in the afternoon.

Check in, settle into the city, and spend the evening at your own pace. Venice rewards slow movement — an aperitivo at a canal-side bar, a wander through the backstreets away from the tourist trail, dinner in a neighbourhood trattoria. Your specialist will have the right suggestions ready.

A full day in Venice, and the centrepiece is a private gondola ride through the smaller canals away from the main thoroughfares — the quiet water streets where locals still go about their day and the city feels genuinely intimate. Your gondolier will navigate the backstreets of Dorsoduro and Cannaregio as your specialist explains what you're seeing.

The afternoon takes you to Basilica San Marco and the Doge's Palace — two of the most significant buildings in European history. Pre-booked entry means you walk straight in. The Doge's Palace in particular rewards the time: the Council chambers, the armouries, and the Bridge of Sighs connecting to the old prison are extraordinary.

A private boat day on the lagoon — one of the best things you can do in Venice. Murano, the glassblowing island, is the first stop: your specialist arranges a private demonstration at a working furnace, not a tourist show. The glass has been made here by the same families for 700 years, and watching a master work is genuinely extraordinary.

Burano comes next — the island of lace-making and brightly painted fishermen's houses. It's photogenic in a way that feels almost implausible, and far less visited than the main island. The return journey crosses the open lagoon with views back to Venice's skyline that you won't see any other way.

A private transfer takes you to Venice Santa Lucia station for the high-speed Frecciarossa to Florence — two hours through the Veneto and Apennines, arriving at Santa Maria Novella station in the heart of the city. A private driver meets you at the platform.

Check in and spend the afternoon getting your bearings. Florence is compact enough to walk and the centre is astonishing — the Duomo visible from almost everywhere, the streets narrow and medieval, the Arno curving through the middle. Your specialist will have dinner reservations at somewhere worth the effort.

The Uffizi Gallery holds the world's greatest collection of Italian Renaissance painting — Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Leonardo's Annunciation, Raphael and Michelangelo in the same rooms. Your specialist pre-books a timed entry and pairs it with a private guide who knows the collection deeply. Plan two to three hours here.

The afternoon is for the Duomo — climbing to the top of Brunelleschi's dome for the view over Florence is one of those experiences that stays with you. Entry requires advance booking; your specialist handles it. The evening brings a Florentine cooking class: a few hours learning pasta and bruschetta in a private kitchen before sitting down to eat what you've made.

A private transfer south from Florence into the Chianti hills — the classic Tuscan landscape of cypress trees, stone farmhouses, and vine-covered hillsides that most people only know from photographs. Your accommodation here is either a family-run agriturismo or a restored estate depending on your preference — both give you access to the landscape in a way a city hotel never can.

The rest of the afternoon is yours. Walk the vineyards, sit on the terrace, do nothing in particular. The pace in Tuscany is different and the transition from Florence takes a day to appreciate.

A day among the medieval hill towns that define the Tuscan interior. Siena's Piazza del Campo is one of the great public spaces in Italy — the scallop-shaped square ringed by medieval palazzos, the Torre del Mangia rising above it. A private guide walks you through the cathedral and the historic contrade. San Gimignano follows: the medieval Manhattan of towers, now one of Tuscany's most visited villages, but genuinely extraordinary in the early morning before the day-trippers arrive.

The afternoon returns to the estate for a private wine tasting — Chianti Classico in the cellar where it was made, paired with local cheeses and cured meats. Your specialist will have briefed the winemaker beforehand.

A morning truffle hunt in the Val d'Orcia with a local hunter and his dogs — one of those experiences that sounds gimmicky until you're actually in the oak woods watching a dog work. The truffle season dictates what you find: black summer truffles or the prized white truffles depending on your travel dates. Either way, a chef prepares lunch from whatever the morning yields.

The Val d'Orcia itself is UNESCO-listed — the rolling hills, the isolated farmhouses, the cypress avenues that appear in every Renaissance painting. An afternoon here at your own pace, then the evening back at the estate.

A private transfer from your Tuscan estate to the nearest high-speed rail station, then the Frecciarossa south to Roma Termini — about 90 minutes. A private driver meets you at the platform and takes you directly to your hotel.

Rome needs no introduction, but arriving by train with a private transfer makes the transition seamless. Check in, leave your bags, and spend the afternoon getting your bearings. The city rewards walking — there are more layers of history in any given neighbourhood than most countries manage across their entire territory.

The ancient city — the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine Hill — pre-booked, skip-the-line, with a private guide who knows the archaeology. The Colosseum held 50,000 spectators; the Roman Forum was the centre of an empire that stretched from Scotland to Mesopotamia. Your guide puts both in context in a way that self-guided visits rarely manage.

The Pantheon follows in the afternoon — the best-preserved ancient building in Rome, free to enter, extraordinary in almost any light. The evening brings the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain (early, before the crowds), and dinner in Prati or Parioli — the Roman neighbourhoods your specialist knows work well.

The Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel with early-morning access — your specialist times the entry for the quietest possible window. The collection is one of the largest in the world and the Sistine Chapel ceiling is genuinely better than any photograph suggests. St. Peter's Basilica follows — climbing to the dome is optional but the views justify the climb.

The afternoon is Trastevere — the neighbourhood across the Tiber that feels most like the Rome that existed before mass tourism. A street food tour here makes the most of it: supplì (rice croquettes), pizza al taglio, gelato from somewhere your guide has vetted. The evening is yours.

A private transfer from Rome to Naples — about two hours — with a stop in Naples for a proper Neapolitan pizza at a place your specialist knows (the originals are still the best). Then the drive south onto the Amalfi Coast road, which is genuinely one of the world's great drives: the cliff road winding between the mountains and the sea, Positano appearing below you in tiers of pastel buildings.

Check in at your clifftop or village hotel. The Amalfi Coast has a different energy from the rest of Italy — slower, quieter in the right places, and extraordinarily beautiful in the evening light.

A final morning on the coast before departure. Ravello sits high above the sea — the Villa Rufolo gardens are extraordinary, the views back along the coast even better. Amalfi town itself has a beautiful cathedral and the harbour where the maritime republic once rivalled Venice. Your specialist times the morning around your flight.

A private transfer to Naples Airport completes the journey. Most people leave the Amalfi Coast already planning their return.