The Best of Italy and Paris Custom Tour

DAY 1 Arrival to Rome

This tour will begin with the exploration of Rome and concludes in Paris.  Traveling solo but with our expert tour guides that will ensure you a special experience.  We highly recommend our private airport transfer for a smooth transition from the airport by having a driver take you and your luggage directly to the hotel.  Once you arrive to the Eternal City, take in the sights and settle into your lovely 4-star hotel. You will spend your first night in Rome.  Welcome to Italy!

DAY 2 Private Rome Walking Tour, Vatican visit with a local guide

Today, you will start your journey with Rome’s most famous sights.  Meet your guide in the lobby and walk to the stunning Piazza Navona, the first destination of your visit to the heart of Rome.  You’ll be enchanted with Bernini’s ‘Fountain of Four Rivers’, a renowned sculpture with a compelling story behind it.  You will then continue to the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon, a dazzling 1,900-year-old building and marvel of art and architecture.  Before free time for lunch, your guide will lead you to the pride of Rome – the Trevi Fountain, and end with the Baroque quarter.

After your introduction to the city, you will have free time for relaxation and lunch.  Then, it is off to the Vatican for a guided visit where you will enjoy celebrated artworks, architecture, and Michelangelo’s breathtaking masterpiece – the Sistine Chapel.

Overnight in Rome

DAY 3 Rome to Florence with Siena tour and lunch

Wake up this morning to a delicious Italian espresso and breakfast.  Then meet your tour guide at your hotel for a beautiful drive to Florence by private car.  The drive itself is a pleasant journey down the roads of Tuscany and offers a scenic view of its hills, bell towers, olive trees, and villages.  Your first stop is likely Italy’s loveliest medieval city, Siena, home to magnificent masterpieces.

When you arrive in Siena, experience a “farmer lunch” (original Tuscan food) in addition to a wine tasting, cheese, and salami.  After you finish lunch, you will have free time to explore the city’s highlights.  Afterwards, you will continue to the iconic capital of Italy’s Tuscany region, Florence, in the late afternoon.
Before we arrive, there is one final stop in a vineyard in Chianti for a divine wine tasting.  Once we are in Florence, you will have the evening to explore the preeminent city of art and dine on your own.

DAY 4 Florence walking tour with a local guide including David tickets

Continue your tour of Florence uncovering scenic parts of the city: visit San Lorenzo’s fresh market, where you will find food arriving fresh to the Tuscan countryside daily.  Today offers a wonderful opportunity to taste a mixture of cheese, fruits, breads, and vegetables.  Afterwards, there is free time for lunch.
Then, meet your guide in the hotel to walk to the heart of the city and learn more about its history and culture.  Lorenzo de Medici had an enormous influence on transforming Florence into the core of the Renaissance by drawing in the finest artists, architects and writers of the time, including Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli.  During your tour, you will visit the Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio (its exterior), the Dome with Giotto’s bell tower (its exterior), and the Ponte Vecchio. Your last stop will be the Accademia, where you can admire the renowned masterpiece sculpted by Michelangelo: the statue of David.

Overnight in Florence

DAY 5 Free day in Florence

Today is a free day to continue exploring Italy’s shrine to the Renaissance.   There are optional tours available to you that offer many ways to discover this city-size open air museum.  Your agent will give you suggestions and your travel documents will give you tips on main attractions to visit as well.

DAY 6 Train from Florence to Venice

After breakfast, you will have a transfer to the Florence train station to head to your next destination; Venice.  Once you board, enjoy the ride by high-speed train. The lagoon city was built on small islands supported by bridges, so you will not see cars and roads, but instead boat and canals!  You will arrive by late morning and have a transfer to your 4-star hotel in the Laguna.  Once you’re settled in, take time to explore the labyrinth Venice on your own.

DAY 7 Walking tour of Venice with our local guide

In the morning, visit classic Venice, known as the “Sestieri”: S. Marco Square, Doge Palace, the Rialto Bridge and the Grand Canal, the gems of the city!  You will have free time for lunch and to continue to explore the heart of Venice as the sun sets.

Your tour guide will take you to experience the Venetian “calli” and their “Bacari”, which are long-established Venetian bars where you can taste the well-known “Cicchetti”, a traditional Venetian food. This recommended itinerary offers the opportunity to discover the charm and magic of Venice.  End your day with a true Venetian dinner.

Optional: Gondola Tour after the city tour. In the evening, meet your assistant for a 45 minute sunset walk.

DAY 8 Italy to France

Your day will start with a transfer to the Venice airport followed by a flight to Paris.
Begin your private 3-night post-tour to Paris.
Once you arrive in Paris, meet your private driver for a transfer to your hotel.

Settle in and relax as you take it all in.

Overnight in Paris.

DAY 9 Walking tour of Paris with our local guide

Today, with an accompanied driver-guide, you will visit the historic landmarks of Paris: Notre-Dame Cathedral, Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower.

Your route will entail iconic sites of Paris:

• Concorde Square
• Louvre Museum
• Seine river and its bridges
• French Academy
• Cité Island with the Palace of Justice
• Notre-Dame Cathedral (stop and free time)
• Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) – the Latin Quarter with the Sorbonne and the Pantheon of famous French Men –
• Arch of Triumph
• Champs-Elysées Avenue – Eiffel Tower
• Invalides with the dome of Napoleon’s Tomb
• Opera House, Montmartre (stop near Sacré-Coeur Basilica and the artists’ square, Place du Tertre)

DAY 10 Free day in Paris

Today you will have free time to explore Paris or its nearby regions with suggestions from your agent and travel itinerary for museum-touring, shopping, and district-exploring. Don’t miss out on lesser-known jewels such as the Musee Rodin.

DAY 11 Depart from Paris

We are sad to see you go! Alas, today is your final day of services. You have the option to book the airport or railway station transfer, or decide a different route home.

As a reminder, Italy4Real can also organize pre and post tour hotel, villas, rental cars, and activities that take place before or after this tour. We also provide France and Greece as options for travel, which are wonderful extension destinations that lead up to or follow this tour.