Ms. Meleca's Venice to Palermo

242 Days until departure

June 16, 2025 - June 30, 2025

Trip ID: Meleca-3903

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Day 1 Overnight Flight to Venice

Day 2 Ciao Venice

, St. Mark's Basilica,

Details: Meet your tour director and check into hotel

Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. You’ll also have a private coach and driver while touring .

Details: Venice guided walking sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets

Bubbling up on more than 100 islands in a lagoon off the Adriatic, Venice is an absolutely unique and unquestionably beautiful city. The weight of its opulent architecture – bulbous domes, gothic spires, and lacy marble – may be sinking the city by 10 inches a century, but your local guide will make sure you don’t sink out of sight as you tour the intricate labyrinth of streets and bridges. Step into Piazza San Marco, an airy expanse of arches, sunlight, and pigeons. The multi-domed Basilica on one end, completed in 1094 but decorated for centuries afterward, is the final resting place of the apostle St. Mark, Venice’s patron saint. The mosaics beneath the basilica’s outside arches depict the arrival of St. Mark’s body, stolen from Egypt in 828 by Venetian traders. The frothy Venetian Gothic Doge’s Palace stands next door. Continue on to a glass-blowing demonstration. Venetian glass has long been considered the best in the world, and its production was such a state secret that during the Middle Ages, any Venetian glassblower who attempted to ply his trade outside the city was immediately arrested.

Details: St. Mark’s Square

Stroll through St. Mark's Square. Bordered by Venice's greatest historic buildings, St. Mark's Square is the center of both the city and its water transportation system, as well as a popular tourist attraction.

Details: Doge's Palace guided visit

Enjoy a visit to the Doge's’ Palace, residence of the rulers of the Serenissima Republic. We will explore the ornate and grandiose rooms of the palace, including a walk across thefamous Bridge of Sighs to the cells, where Casanova was once imprisoned, as well as the Grand Council chamber, featuring Tintoretto's Paradise, said to be the world's largest oil painting.

Day 3 Venice landmarks

Murano Glass Factory

Glass-blowing demonstration

Dinner on your own

Details: Gondola ride

The ultimate indulgence. Slice through the dark waters of Venice's canals and see the city as it was meant to be seen. The gondola, constructed from 260 separate pieces of eight different types of wood, is perfectly designed for navigating the city -- its flat bottom allows it to glide through the shallow canals, and its tilting uneven shape allows the gondolier to row on only one side of the boat (so he doesn't tangle with oncoming traffic in the narrow lanes!) and still keep it moving in a straight line. The ferro, or iron "comb" on the front of the gondola, counterbalances the gondolier's weight.

Day 4 Venice--Florence

Travel to Florence

Cooking class with dinner

Details: Uffizi Gallery guided visit

Today you will visit one of Italy's most famous museums. The Ufizzi Gallery was originally built in 1560 as an administrative centre for the Florentine State. It now houses the largest collection of Italian Renaissance paintings. You will view the famous 'Birth of Venus' by Botticelli and 'The Baptism of Christ' by Da Vinci and many other works of art.

Details: LEAP Cucina Fiorentina!

Bring your appetite with you and cook up a traditional Florentine meal. With our chef as our guide, we will prepare some traditional Italian dishes and learn about Italian culture through the art of cooking.

Day 5 Florence landmarks

Palazzo Medici Riccardi

Palazzo Vecchio

Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens visit

Tuscany vineyard tour and dinner

Day 6 Florence--Rome

Travel to Rome

Details: Rome by Night guided tour

See the famous wonders of the Eternal City on an evening tour of Rome. You will learn more about the history of the city while you see amazing views of the of the illuminated sights without the day’s crowds.

Day 7 Rome

, Arch of Constantine,

Details: Rome guided sightseeing tour

Gods and gladiators, glory and gore. Ancient Rome lives on in its spectacular monuments, flavoring the frenetic present with tastes of the past. Don a space-age Whisper headset to get the inside scoop on the most spectacular, the Colosseum, a grisly battle arena that seated more than 45,000. An enormous retractable roof awning system kept spectators cool on sunny days. The nearby Forum provides a glimpse into everyday ancient life, with markets, meeting places, and temples all combined into one vast space.

Details: Colosseum visit with Whisper headset

The Colosseum, considered to be the greatest symbol of Ancient Rome's power and glory, was completed under Titus in 80 A.D. The Colosseum could hold 55,000 spectators, on a par with many of today's modern sports stadiums. Among the sights included is the Arch of Constantine, a triumphal arch finished in 315 A.D., commemorating the victory of Constantine I over Maxentius in the year 312 A.D.

Details: Forum Romanum visit

Tour the ruins and excavations of the Roman Forum, which features the remains of magnificent temples, basilicas, and triumphal arches that once formed the heart of the Empire.

Day 8 Rome--Sorrento

Travel to Sorrento via Pompeii

Details: Pompeii guided excursion

Stop to see the city where time stood still, literally. Once an important Roman city with 20,000 residents, Pompeii was frozen in time nearly 2000 years ago, when Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the city under 30 feet of mud and volcanic ash. Forgotten for centuries after the eruption, Pompeii was discovered in the 1600’s and is now completely excavated. On your tour you will learn how Romans of all classes lived their lives--not only from large public structures, but from details like political graffiti, bars, and street signs.

Day 9 Sorrento

National Archaeological Museum of Paestum

Details: Capri & Blue Grotto excursion

From the Bay of Naples the island of Capri is less than an hour away by boat. Weather permitting, you will take a boat to the Blue Grotto, where sunlight reflected from beneath the water bathes the cave in a silver-blue light.

Day 10 Sorrento--Matera

Travel to Matera

Matera cave residence visit

Day 11 Matera--Siderno

Travel to Siderno

Free time in Siderno

Day 12 Siderno--Taormina

Travel to Taormina

Olive oil tasting with farm visit

Palazzo Corvaia, Botanical Gardens, Greek theater visit

Details: Taormina guided sightseeing tour

An earthly paradise. From the ancient Greek theater on a Taormina hilltop, your eye wanders over the violet outline of Mount Etna dominating the skyline, through the almond and lemon groves releasing the fragrance of blossoms and marzipan and lemonade, across bright fishing boats bobbing on the ocean's blue waves to the distant misty view of the Italian mainland hovering above the water. With a licensed local guide, explore the views and history that have enchanted so many, from the ancient Greeks to the Romans to the Moors to the Normans to the Spanish to Francis Ford Coppola, who filmed scenes for "The Godfather" nearby.

Day 13 Taormina--Palermo

Travel to Palermo

Villa Romana del Casale visit

Capuchin catacombs visit

Day 14 Palermo

Quattro Canti, Palermo Cathedral, Teatro Massimo, La Martorana, Monreale visit, Monreale Cathedral visit

Details: Palermo guided sightseeing tour with cathedral visit

Explore the chaotic and vibrant capital of Sicily, where a mix of Italian, Arab, French, and Phoenician influences -- to name only a few -- has created a culture unique in all of Italy. Islamic filigreed windows throw intricate shadows on 17th-century Baroque cupolas; gold and marble mosaics sparkle in churches while leafy palm trees ruffle in ocean breezes outside. With a licensed local guide, start your tour of this energetic city at the Baroque Quattro Canti ("four corners"), Palermo's central intersection. Head to the Norman Palace, once home to the finest and most learned court in Europe. (Notice the halos on the statues -- they were added to the original Moorish statues when the Christian Normans arrived in 1072 and took over the building.) Step inside La Martorana, one of the few buildings remaining from the Middle Ages, for a peek at its glittering gold Byzantine mosaics. And don't miss the rows of pastry shops selling marzipan, a Sicilian specialty; the sweet almond-paste candy is sculpted and dyed to resemble realistic fruits, vegetables -- even shellfish!

Day 15 End tour

Tour Includes

Round-trip airfare and other transportation described in the itinerary
Basic Medical, Dental, Emergency Evacuation Insurance during trip
Up to three college credits upon course completion (grades 9-12) or high school credit (grades 6-12)
Centrally located three- and four-star hotels
Plentiful daily breakfast to start the day energized and ready to go
Appetizing, culturally representative, three-course dinner daily
Full time, multilingual, WorldStrides tour director who is LEAP-trained in experiential education
Local guide at sites and on city tours as described in the itinerary
LEAP! Learning through Exploration and Active Participation; trademarked immersive approach of learning by doing
Entrances and transportation to sites and activities described in your itinerary
Local guide and local bus driver tips; see note regarding other important tips
24/7 On Tour Emergency Support
Note: On arrival day only dinner is provided; on departure day, only breakfast is provided
Note: Tour cost does not include airline-imposed baggage fees, any required passport or visa fees, optional excursions, or recommended Tips for the Tour Director or multi-day Bus Drivers. Optional excursions, optional pre-paid tips, or other individual/group customizations will be listed as separate line items in the total trip cost, if included.

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Ms. Meleca's Venice to Palermo

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