Fire & Ice – The Wonders of Sicily, Italy & Austria

Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to northern France for an overnight stay.

We depart our overnight hotel early this morning as we begin our journey towards Italy. During the day we will travel through Switzerland, bypassing places such as Basel and Lucerne before arriving at our hotel in the Parma area for an overnight stay.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

We continue our journey south bypassing Bologna, home of the famous Bolognese sauce and the Tuscan capital of Florence. We continue past the ‘eternal city’ of Rome and later Naples, Italy’s third largest city, before arriving at our hotel on the Sorrento Peninsula for a three-night stay.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Pompeii

Today we visit the historic town of Pompeii at the foot of Mount Vesuvius on our included excursion. We begin our day with a visit to Pompeii, and the spectacular ruins of what was once a great Roman city. In 79AD the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the town of Pompeii in about 6/7 metres of stones and ash. Painstaking excavations, which are still ongoing, began in the 18th century and have uncovered a remarkable hidden city. Accompany your expert guide around the town, walking along roads with indents from the passing of chariot wheels and discovering the remains of homes, shops and public baths (entrance to the ruins is included). We then continue to the awe-inspiring Mount Vesuvius. Discover the history of the volcano’s activity. The coach will take you within 1000 metres of the summit and from here you can walk to the very top and admire the splendid, panoramic views across the bay. Please note: there is a local charge of approximately €10 to visit the crater.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Mount Vesuvius

A free day in Sorrento today, or you can join our superb optional excursion as we sail across the Bay of Naples to the Isle of Capri. Visit the fabulous villa of Dr Axel Munthe (entrance cost is extra – approximately €8), a Swedish doctor, whose bestselling book “Story of San Michele” tells of his time on Capri. Continue to Capri town, famous for its main square Piazza Umberto, which has a pretty white church and several open-air cafes where you can sit and watch the world drift by. Leading off the square are medieval looking alleyways and arcades full of shops selling handicrafts of the island, clothing, shoes, ceramics and jewellery made from coral and gold. There is so much to see and do on this tiny island paradise you will be sorry to leave.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

We leave our hotel and travel south to the ‘foot’ of Italy and take a ferry across to Sicily where we stay for the next five nights.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Mount Etna

Today we take an unforgettable drive up Mount Etna, the highest volcano in Europe. Standing at 3350 meters (10,991ft) Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of eruption. Although it can occasionally be very destructive, it is not generally regarded as being a dangerous volcano. Thousands of people live on its slopes and in the surrounding areas where the fertile volcanic soil support extensive agriculture. Our coach takes us within 1900 meters and if the weather is good why not enhance your experience of Etna with a visit to its summit (at own cost). A 15-minute gondola ride takes you to 2504mts and offers some fantastic views of the landscape, which has been characterised by countless lava flows. For the more adventurous, we then join the special modernised ‘Busses’ which, driven by expert drivers, take you on a 20-minute journey to an altitude of 3000mts. There will be some free time at the summit to photograph the impressive central and southeast craters before we commence our descent. Later in the day we travel to Taormina for free time where you can explore the sights or perhaps visit some of the many shops along the car free main street ‘Corso Umberto’.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Enjoy a free day to relax in resort.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Stromboli

Another memorable optional excursion today as we leave the hotel and take a boat to the tiny island of Panarea. We arrive at the port and then either walk or perhaps take a local taxi (own cost) into the village centre. We spend free time on this enchanting island surrounded by typical Aeolian white houses and clear blue seas. Perhaps meander through the town centre, have a meal in one of the restaurants, or enjoy a swim at Zimmari Beach. This evening we board a boat and travel out to Stromboli and anchor off shore to view the mighty volcano at night. This is the best time to see the mountains fiery explosions, a truly breathtaking sight. We return by sea to Milazzo and then return to our hotel late this evening.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner*

Syracuse

A further day at leisure today or why not join our optional excursion to Syracuse, once the most powerful of all Mediterranean cities and the home of the famous natural Philosopher, Archimedes. Accompanied by our guide, we are introduced to the delights of this lovely town. We see the grand Theatre whose cavea is one of the largest ever built by the ancient Greeks. Entrance to the Archaeological area is also included.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

We say goodbye to Sicily as we travel back to the foot of Italy and head north to Fiuggi and onto our overnight hotel.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Rome

We leave our hotel this morning as we head north towards our overnight hotel in Tuscany. En-route we visit the beautiful Italian capital city of Rome. A lovely place to explore on foot, our optional walking tour is a fantastic way to introduce you to the city’s array of spectacular sites. We see the famous Trevi Fountain, and to ensure a return visit to the city, it is tradition to toss a coin into the water. We also see the beautiful Piazza Venezia, the central hub of Rome in which many thoroughfares intersect. The imposing Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of Italy, dominates the piazza. The Viale di Fori Imperiali starts here, a main thoroughfare, which leads past the Roman Forum and Trajan’s Forum, to the mighty Colosseum (entrance not included). Although Rome is a relatively compact city, we would remind you that this is a walking tour, not suitable for anyone with mobility difficulties and we would recommend you wear suitable shoes for the day.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

We continue our journey north as we head towards the Austrian Tyrol. We pass the beautiful border town of Vipiteno, the ancient city of the Fugger. We continue our journey across the magnificent Brenner Pass and to our hotel where we stay for two nights.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Krimml Falls

Our included excursion takes us along the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse and up the Grossglockner, which at 3,789 metres, is Austria’s highest mountain. We view the icy world of the massive Grossglockner Glacier from the magnificently situated Franz-Josefs-Heights panorama viewing platform.

• Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

To Belgium for an overnight stay.

• Included meals: Breakfast

Return home.

• Included meals: Breakfast