Compare Amalfi Coast, Capri & Rome Break by Original Travel vs Italy: Eternal Rome by Sights and Soul Travels
Compare details and see what other travelers are saying.
| Trip |
5 | Excellent
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0 | Poor
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| Duration | 8 days | 6 days |
| Price From | $ 3,145 | $ 2,495 |
| Price Per Day | $ 393 | $ 416 |
| Highlights |
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| Trip Style | Private guided tour | Small group tour |
| Lodging Level | Luxury | Premium |
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| Countries Visited | ||
| Cities and Attractions |
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| Flights & Transport | Ground transport included | Ground transport included |
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| Meals Included | N/A |
5 Breakfasts, 2 Lunches and 3 Dinners |
| Description |
The fact that Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country on the planet, that the food is mouth wateringly good, and that the landscapes are so varied and so beautiful, makes it as near perfect destination as you get. This eight day itinerary is the ideal antipasto to a lifetime of love for Italy; with a taste of its coastal glamour, island life Italian-style, and a side of city life you'll be left wanting more and more. |
Rome is one of the world's great cities: it's the city of the Caesars and la dolce vita, of long sunny days, endless art galleries, churches and museums, of fountain-splashed piazzas and majestic monuments from Rome's Imperial Golden Age. Rome is a city where the ancient buildings, cobbled medieval streets and Renaissance domes set the stage for great wine bars, fabulous dining, sidewalk cafes and incomparable shopping. The Eternal Rome Tour will be an opportunity to immerse ourselves in the culture and history of the Eternal City and travel back two and a half thousand years to the dawn of Western civilization. We will tour the most significant monuments of ancient Rome: the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, visit the sites related to the early Christians and the Vatican - the present seat of Catholicism. We'll be awed by the historic city center with its purely Renaissance and Baroque character and the modern city around the architectural and artistic marvels, as we enjoy the Roman dolce vita of dining, shopping and friends. |
Day 1: UK – Naples
Accommodation: Casa Angelina
There are several flights a day from London and other UK airports, with the flights ranging from two and a half to three hours. Upon arrival at Naples airport, meet your driver in arrivals to be chauffeured to your hotel on the beautiful Amalfi Coast.
The journey should take around an hour and a half and along the way you’ll catch your first glimpses of the rocky clifftop views Amalfi is so famous for. Once checked in and freshened up, head out for your first, wonderfully Italian, meal of the holiday.
Day 2: Pompeii
Recover from perhaps rather an over indulgence of lovely Italian wine last night with a leisurely breakfast and lots of coffee, polished off on your hotel's terrace. By mid-morning and now feeling ready for the day, it's time to hit the road with a private transfer one hour north to the ancient ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Completely buried (sometimes to a depth of 20ft) by burning hot ash after the devastating eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, these astonishingly well preserved Roman towns were rediscovered under the now solidified pumice rock in 1788, and are now a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The beautiful volcanic backdrop is a poignant reminder of the power of nature. Amazingly you can still walk down intact Roman streets and wander into what would have been temples, shops and cafes; and your private guide will really help you to get to grips with the layout and day to day activities that once filled this fascinating place. Our guides are exceptionally well qualified and know the crowd free areas of Pompeii and Herculaneaum like the back of their hands, so if you want to design your own route or have a particular sight you really want to see, then they can easily adapt the tour to suit
Day 3: Path of the Gods
Get up nice and early this morning as we’ve planned a spectacular walk for you, and you don’t want to be doing it in the midday heat! A hearty breakfast is also going to be key, so enjoy it in the sunshine as you slowly wake up. The walk we recommend is along the Sentiero degli Dei, or Path of the Gods.
To get there you’ll take a half an hour taxi from the hotel to the start of the trail, which is on the outskirts of Bomerano. From here it is an easy three hour walk to Nocelle, where your driver will be waiting to meet you and take you back to the hotel - after a long leisurely lunch of course! We think the trail certainly lives up to its name and provides some of the most dramatic and haunting panoramic views in Europe. Plus, it’s almost always blissfully quiet so as you take in the clifftop ocean views, it can like just you and the mountains. John Steinbeck rhapsodised in 1953 that the Amalfi Coast was, ‘a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there but becomes beckoningly real after you are gone.’ Sounds about right. Spend your last night on the Amalfi coast capturing some final shots of the cliff edge and the sunset over the ocean. When you’re ready, head to Restaurant Il Refettorio at Monastero Santa Rosa for dinner, where Chef Bob will ensure your meal is full of fresh local ingredients and precision-perfect flavour. The fusilli with baby squid, Piennolo’s tomatoes and basil scented aubergine comes particularly highly recommended.
Day 4: Amalfi Coast – Capri
Accommodation: Capri Palace hotel or JK Place Capri
After breakfast this morning you will be collected from the hotel and driven to the port in Sorrento or Amalfi (depending on where you are staying) where you will board a fast ferry to Capri - which should take anywhere between 20 minutes and an hour, with an impressive arrival into the harbour in Capri. You will then be transferred to your hotel in Capri which should take around 15 minutes.
Enjoy lunch either at the hotel or at one of the lovely restaurants on the island recommended in our detailed Dossier. This afternoon you can relax by the pool until evening and then indulge in that most Italian of traditions, the passeggiata, or evening stroll. By now the day-trippers have departed the island and it will be you and the Caprese locals wandering the pretty streets of Capri town. The Piazzetta is the 'finish line', and this tiny square is home to four fun bars, the best of which is the original, Al Piccolo. Try and grab a table on the first floor terrace (gold dust) and watch the square fill up while nursing a Bellini made with fresh island-grown peaches. Next stop, dinner, and we can pre-book a table at Aurora, home to the pizza all'aqua (a lighter take on the traditional Neapolitan pizza base) and every visiting A-lister. Blag yourself a table (again, gold dust, but we can help) outside on buzzing Via Fuorlovado for prime people watching and choose an oversize bottle from the peerless Italian wine list.
Day 5: The Isle of Capri
You’ve only got one full day on Capri, so make the most of it. Spend the morning wandering around the town stocking up on classic Capri pants for the ladies and dapper trousers from Laboratorio for the chaps before descending the sinuous steps down a cliff face to the water’s edge for lunch at Caprese institution Fontelina restaurant overlooking the iconic limestone Faraglioni rocks that rise vertiginously from the sea just offshore.
Despite its charmingly low-key vibe (thatched roof, open sides, beach umbrellas), so popular has the place become that they do two lunchtime sittings, and we will have booked you a table here. Order the spaghetti vongole and a jug of the delicious house sangria and when you’ve finished go for a refreshing swim around the rocks before you are picked up from the Fontelina jetty for an afternoon cruise around the island. Your skipper will keep you stocked up with chilled Peronis as you motor around and between the Faraglioni rocks before Capri heading around to the other side of the island and the Blue Grotto, a large sea cave that glows a mysterious piercing azure as if there’s an internal light source shining up from the cave floor. During the day the cave is crowded with visitors who are rowed in in tiny rowing boats.
Day 6: Capri – Rome
Accommodation: Hotel de Russie
After an earlyish breakfast you will be transferred back to the harbour in time for you to take the hydrofoil or fast catamaran ferry back to the mainland – this time into Naples - which will take around an hour.
You will be transferred around two and a half hours north into the city centre of Rome. As before, we’ve planned this so you will arrive in time for lunch, and our trusty Dossier should again come in use. This afternoon is yours to spend wandering and acclimatising to the buzz of city life. As evening settles in, sip an Aperol Spritz or two and then explore bohemian Trastevere - the old Jewish Quarter and home to many of the city’s best restaurants - in search of the perfect Italian dinner.
Day 7: When in Rome
Feeling fully refuelled after a good night's sleep, it's time for a full day of exploration. Despite the wealth of things to do and sites to see, Rome is a surprisingly small city, and arguably best explored on foot.
For first timers it's probably best to start at the beginning with a tour of the ancient city centre - the Forum, Palatine Hill and Colosseum, and we have booked a local guide who can bring an already colourful story even more vividly to life on a morning tour of Imperial Rome. Then, after lunch, pay a visit to the smallest country on Earth - Vatican City. We will have pre-arranged tickets to view the Sistine Chapel but if you want to splash the cash we can also arrange a private view of Michelangelo's masterpiece.
Additional Activities
Private Tours - we can arrange private tours of Palazzo Colonna, Palazzo del Quirinale or Galleria Villa Borghese
Foodie Rome Tour
Hidden Rome - a half day guided tour with an archaeologist to explore underground Rome, a labyrinth of ancient crypts, sewers, tunnels and buildings
Day 8: Rome - UK
It might be your final day but the trip isn’t over yet. A visit to the effortlessly fashionable Italian capital wouldn’t be complete without a spot of shopping; so whether you treat yourself to a new Prada handbag, a classic Italian scarf, or just a great bottle of wine, make sure you do go home with some goodies.
Depending on what time your flight is, there might be time for one last lunch and a gelato (can we tell we’re rather parial to Italian ice cream?) in the sun, before a private transfer to the airport for the two and a half to three hour flight.
Day 1: Rome of the Artists Tour
Meals: Dinner
Accommodations: San Carlo Hotel, Rome
On your arrival in Rome, you will be met by a chauffeur on your arrival at the Rome Fiumicino Airport for a private transfer to our boutique hotel in the center of Rome. In the afternoon, we'll meet for a welcome drink, followed by an introductory walk of the city: Rome of the Artists, featuring the highlights of the Baroque and Renaissance Rome, and in the evening, we'll celebrate the Roman way of life and la dolce vita with the welcome dinner.
Day 2: Ancient Rome
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Accommodations: San Carlo Hotel, Rome
After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, we'll join a private historian-led walking tour of ancient Rome, featuring the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We'll get fascinating insights into Rome's millennia of history, as we stroll from the Colle Oppio with a panoramic view of the Eternal City to the Colosseum where we'll listen to tales of gladiators, mock sea-battles and executions, by the Arch of Constantine, through the Palatine Hill overlooking Nero's Circus Maximus, where chariot races were held, to Via Sacra (the Sacred Way), the main path through the Roman Forum that was used for triumphal processions. After this introduction to the ancient Rome, we'll enjoy a delightful cafe lunch, and the afternoon will be free to explore Rome at your leisure.
Day 3: Tivoli
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Accommodations: San Carlo Hotel, Rome
After all the history and art, today we'll get a chance to escape Rome and journey to the ancient city of Tivoli to visit Hadrian's Villa, an outstanding Roman site, with impressive ruins of Emperor Hadrian's favorite residence. We'll tour the monumental Marine Theater, walk past the ruins of great libraries, the Heliocaminus thermal baths, and the Golden Square with its gardens and Hadrian's reproduction of a sacred site in the Egyptian city of Canopus. A short drive will take us to Villa d'Este, the magnificent Renaissance villa with beautifully frescoed rooms and the spectacular park with countless fountains, imaginative landscaping and centuries-old olive trees lining the paths. We'll stop for lunch at a restaurant attached to a former acropolis of Tivoli, which offers great food as well as spectacular views over the town and the cascading Aniene River waterfall. Before leaving Tivoli, there will be time to stroll through the town's picturesque street market with colorful stalls and local products.
Day 4: Vatican Museums
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Accommodations: San Carlo Hotel, Rome
After breakfast, we'll set out for the Vatican City to tour the Vatican Museums, which house over 9 miles of the most extensive collection of art in the world. We'll be able to experience Michelangelo's famous Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel and the School of Athens in Raphael's Rooms, be humbled by the imposing beauty of St. Peter's Basilica, where we'll encounter another Michelangelo's masterpiece, La Pietà, and admire the magnificent St. Peter's Square, with Bernini's ingenious use of optical illusion. In the evening, we'll relax over a low-key dinner at a traditional Roman pizzeria.
Day 5: Villa and Galleria Borghese
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Accommodations: San Carlo Hotel, Rome
Today, we'll visit Villa and Galleria Borghese, on a tour that is a great journey into the history of art, to discover and appreciate the absolute masterpieces from several epochs, as well as the opportunity to know the artists and the powerful patrons that contributed to their fame. In the splendid setting of Villa Borghese, an architectural masterpiece in itself, we'll get acquainted with the life of Pope Paul V, his princely court and his nephew, Scipione, who played a fundamental role in the gallery's creation. Obviously, the works of art by Bernini will play a central role. In the villa we'll admire his splendid sculptures of Aeneas and Anchises, Truth, Apollo and Daphne, and experience the visions, stories and legends behind them. There are beautiful works by Caravaggio, such as Saint Jerome and a self-portrait in the guise of Bacchus that will help shed light on the great master of chiaroscuro, his adventurous life - to say the least, the murder he committed, and his great artistic talent. In the evening, we'll say good-bye to Rome with a farewell Roman dinner.
Day 6: Departures
Meals: Breakfast
After breakfast at the hotel, you'll have time to enjoy other aspects of Rome before your private transfer to the airport according to your flight departure time.
