Classic Italy Tour

• Return flights from Isle of Man to Italy
• Return airport-to-hotel transfers
• Three nights' dinner, bed and continental breakfast accommodation at the four-star Grand Hotel Moon Valley, Vico Equense
• Visits to Pompei, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Mount Vesuvius and Montecassino
• Four nights' dinner, bed and continental breakfast accommodation at the three-star Superior Hotel Capri, Fiuggi
• Visits to Rome, Florence, Assisi and Orvieto
• The services of a Newmarket Tour Manager
• Government taxes and service charges

Single rooms are available for a supplement

This holiday is based beside the beautiful Bay of Naples, and in the idyllic Tuscan countryside.

Vico Equense

Set on the blue Bay of Naples, some four miles from Sorrento, Vico Equense enjoys a stunning setting beneath the wooded slopes of Mount Faito. Typically Southern Italian in atmosphere and style, 'Vico' is home to a selection of bars, cafes and al fresco restaurants.

Fiuggi

Nestling in the Apennine Hills, Fiuggi's health-giving waters have made the town a favourite spa retreat for many years. Ideally situated between Rome and the Bay of Naples, the town has a good selection of shops, bars and restaurants. It's the perfect place to relax and watch the world go by.

Day One

Fly to Italy, meet our Tour Manager in the airport and transfer to Vico Equense and the Moon Valley Hotel, your base for the next three nights. You'll then have time to rest and relax before dinner is served at the hotel.

Day Two

Today you'll begin to explore the beautiful Bay of Naples, travelling first to the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, whose brooding cone looks over the blue waters below. The road leads to a height of 1000 metres, but you can take a guide (payable locally) and climb the further 500 metres or so to the rim of the volcano itself.

Descending Vesuvius's mighty slopes we'll then head to Sorrento. Here you'll be free to wander the maze of narrow alleyways crammed with small shops, bars and restaurants, and enjoy its two tiny ports, even tinier beach and blue waters dotted with colourful pedalos and sailboats.

Day Three

This morning's highlight is our included half-day tour of Roman Pompeii. Buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D.79 and forgotten for hundreds of years, Pompeii was rediscovered in the 18th Century. Since then, excavations have gradually revealed the city's magnificent villas, temples and frescoed houses.
 
In the afternoon, we'll head to the Amalfi Drive. With its immense cliffs and dizzy bridges spanning deep gorges, this is among Europe's most scenic coast roads. Experience the unforgettable view above Positano's colourful Moorish-style houses, and visit beautiful Amalfi and Ravello, with its alleys, stairways and roofed passages clinging to the mountainside, on this final optional excursion.

Day Four

Bidding farewell to Vico Equense, we'll head north towards the rolling hill country of Lazio. En route, we'll call at the town of Cassino, scene of one of the fiercest battles of World War Two, and site of the Benedictine monastery of Montecassino. The town and hill-top monastery have been faithfully restored, buy the museum and cemetery still contain poignant reminders of the turbulent past.
 
Later this afternoon you'll arrive in Fiuggi, your base for the next four nights.

Day Five

Today we travel south to the Eternal City - Rome. Explore on your own, or enjoy our optional guided tour of the ancient Colosseum and Forum, the great basilicas and the Baroque fountains. In the Vatican City, the dome of St Peter's looks over the vast Square, while a visit to the nearby Sistine Chapel will reveal Michelangelo's fabled frescoes.

Day Six

Revel in the wonders of Florence, Italy's beautiful Renaissance capital. Join our optional city tour and you'll see the magnificent Florentine skyline, explore Santa Croce and cross the medieval Ponte Vecchio. For art lovers, the Accademia houses Michelangelo's peerless statue of David, and the Uffizi, Botticelli's exquisite 'Birth of Venus' (gallery entrances payable locally).

Day Seven

On our final included excursion we'll travel into Umbria, to Assisi, birthplace of Italy's patron Saint, and home to Umbria's greatest glory - the magnificent Basilica. After time to explore here, we'll head to the Tuscan hill-top settlement of Orvieto. Some 300 metres above the valley floor, the town stands on a volcanic bluff crowned by the great Gothic cathedral, one of the most ornate in Christendom.

Day Eight

Transfer back to the airport for check-in and your flight home.

Entrance fees

Some of the attractions visited on our optional excursions offer free admission to visitors aged under 18 or over 65, therefore we do not include entrance fees within the excursion's price. If appropriate, these will be payable locally.