Italy

Italy - Known for its rich cultural heritage and natural beauty, Italy's cities have spectacular churches and large central plazas. Their museums contain some of the world's best-known art. The countryside has warm, sandy beaches; high, glacier-topped mountain peaks; and rolling hills covered with green fields and vineyards.

The country also includes two large islands, Sicily and Sardinia. Two independent countries actually lie within Italy's borders: the tiny Republic of San Marino, in north-central Italy, and Vatican City, which is located completely within the city of Rome.

Italy's landscape is dominated by two mountain ranges - the Alps and the Apennines. The Alps tower across the northernmost part of Italy, while the Apennines form a backbone that runs nearly the length of the peninsula.

The country boasts several world-famous cities. Rome, the capital and largest city of Italy, was the center of the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago. Florence was the home of many artists of the Renaissance, a period of great achievements in the arts. Venice, with its intricate canal system, attracts tourists from all over the world.

Italians are strongly attached to their towns, neighborhoods, and families. Many who leave their home in search of greater opportunities hope to return eventually to their old communities.

The world’s love affair with Italy continues. The bel paese (beautiful country) might no longer be a blushing bride but this most beguiling of countries still has the power to thrill, to throw up surprises and excite emotion.

Italy’s enduring appeal is easy to explain. Rome’s martial monuments, Florence’s Renaissance glories and the drama of the Amalfi Coast are all well known. Less famous is the red-blooded hedonism of Italy’s foodie capital, Bologna, and the edgy atmosphere of Naples’ high-voltage historic centre. Much of southern Italy is mountainous and remote, its forbidding landscape largely overlooked by foreign visitors.

Introducing Rome

No other city comes close. It may no longer be caput mundi (capital of the world), but Rome is an epic, bubbling-over metropolis harbouring lost empires. One visit and you’ll be hooked. Rome has a glorious monumentality that it wears without reverence. Its architectural heirlooms are buzzed around by car and Vespa as if they were no more than traffic islands.

The city bombards you with images: elderly ladies with dyed hair chatting in Trastevere; priests with cigars strolling the Imperial Forums; traffic jams around the Colosseum; plateloads of pasta in Piazza Navona; sinuous trees beside the Villa Borghese; barrages of pastel-coloured scooters revving up at traffic lights as if preparing for a race.

People in Rome encapsulate the spirit of the city. Pass a central café and the tables outside are animated with people, downing fast shots of espresso and sporting big black sunglasses. They are neither posing nor hung over. Nuns flutter through the streets, on the trip of a lifetime or secondment from the Philippines, bustling across the road before treating themselves to an ice cream. Churches fill during Mass, and the priests, dressed in purple, cream or red silk (right down to their socks), read the rites to a hushed congregation (mostly from out of town).

Here the national preoccupation with the aesthetic fuses with incredible urban scenery to make Rome a city where you feel cool just strolling through the streets, catching the sun

light on your face outside a café, or eating a long lunch. It’s a place that almost encourages you to take things easy. Don’t feel like going to a museum? What’s the need when it’s all outside on the streets?

Skip the Line: Vatican Museums

Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Rap

hael's Rooms and St Peter's

Take a small group walking tour of the Vatican Museums and St Peter's Basilica, and

jump the queue by booking ahead. Numbers are limited to a maximum of 20 people on this small group walking tour, ensuring you'll receive personalized attention from your guide. And by booking ahead, you won't waste any time waiting in line!

Your knowledgeable guide will escort you into the Vatican Museums to explore the world's most extensive collection of art. Brilliantly decorated and lined with masterpieces, the museums are brimming with treasures and history. Your guide will lead you through the 2000 rooms that stretch over almost nine miles, and share the stories and secrets contained within

the Vatican's walls.

Highlights of the museums are Michelangelo's famous Creation of Adam fresco in the Sistine Chapel and Raphael's Rooms. After taking in the Vatican Museums, you will encounter another of Michelangelo's masterpieces, La Pieta, in St Peter's Basilica. For a fascinating finish to your small group guided walking tour, stop to admire magnificent St Peter's Square, as your guide points out Bernini's ingenious use of optical illusion.

Do you want to skip the line AND the crowds too?

Upgrade to the 8:10am tour and not only will you skip the long lines (which can last up to two hours!) to enter the Vatican Museums but gain access as soon as the doors open - before the general public step foot inside! Tours are arranged exclusively for our guests and groups never exceed 8 people in total. No upgrades available on Wednesday.