Visit the most important art collection of the world, discovering  the highlights of the Vatican City, including Raphael's Rooms, the ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, the Renaissance Tapestries, the Gallery of Maps with

views of the Gardens, the Sistine Chapel home to Michelangelo's awesome frescoes and Last Judgment. Enjoy anecdotes and accounts of famous artists and popes giving you a fuller understanding and appreciation of the renaissance spirit which heralded great changes in thoughts, art, architecture, music and human conditions. Then see the colossal Basilica and Square of St. Peter to marvel at its overwhelming Dome and structure, the sublime and touching Pietà, Bernini's glorious and mystical baroque Canopy, and the burial-site of St. Peter with the monumental tombs of Popes. Hear about the Papal Swiss Guards and the making of Vatican City State through the centuries.

After a lunck break in a typical restaurant suggested by our tour guide, Walk over the  fascinating medieval streets and narrow alleys accompanied by intriguing stories and legends recounted by our friendly guides to discover Rome, in the cool and away from the usual tourist itineraries to capture the unforgettable sensual atmospheres of charming squares like Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona and Santa Maria della Pace, romantic and mysterious.

Return to your hotel

SECOND DAY

TOUR GUIDE WILL MEET YOU AT YOUR HOTEL OR ANY OTHER AGREED SPOT . Enter the impressive symbol of Rome, the Coliseum and hear vivid details  of the ferocious gladiator combats, wild animal hunting scenes and the many varied spectacular events held there. Visit the Palatine Hill and see breathtaking views of the Emperors' residences. Stroll along the "Via Sacra" just as Julius Caesar, Caesar Augustus and Hadrian did when they paraded their victorious legions to the Roman Forum, centre of political, religious and commercial life in ancient Rome.

See the interior of the old Senate, Temple of Vesta, dwellings of the Vestal Virgins and Triumphal Arches of Titus and Septimius Severus. Our storyteller guides will bring history alive describing the architecture, superstitions, traditions and myths of the sprawling roman populace and the incredible extravagancies of the imperial court when the city was capital of an unrivalled empire. Our exploration will lead us up to Capitoline Hill to observe the suggestive and evocative ruins of the millenarian Latin civilization and then to discover the Michelangelo-designed elegant renaissance square with its bronze statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Stop to explore the mysterious Catacombs situated along the old Appian Way, totalling some 150 kilometres of underground tunnels and galleries used as cemeteries by early Christians under roman persecutions. See the tracks of the vast Circus Maximus where 180 thousand inflamed spectators could fervently incite their favourite heroes to victory and view the sprawling Emperors' Palaces on Palatine Hill. Courageously dare placing your hand in the oldest “lie detector” in the world,  the famous “Mouth of Truth”  and then continue your walk to admire the well-preserved Temples of Hercules and of Portunus situated on the banks of the Tiber. Discover the most recent archaeological excavation-site in Rome  to visit the  Portico D’Ottavia, Theatre of Marcellus and the nearby old Jewish Ghetto .

Return to your hotel and end of tour. 

  RATES  PER PERSON