Etruscan Memories

10 Days /9 Nights
1 night Transatlantic Flight,

3 nights Rome, 2 nights Viterbo, 2 nights Perugia, 1 night Orvieto

9 Breakfasts, 9 Dinners

Day 1: DEPARTURE CITY - ROME

Overnight flight to Rome.

Day 2: ROME

After your Hotel Transfer and check in, enjoy a walking tour of Rome. See: Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Pinzio Hill and the Spanish Steps. Dinner and Overnight at the Hotel.
 

Day 3: ROME

After breakfast we begin our tour with a visit to the Villa Giulia, National Etruscan Museum, the world's foremost collection of Etruscan art & artefacts. It is housed in a Renaissance villa createdfrom an earlier villa by Pope Julius III shortly after 1550 to entertain his guests & to get away from the pressures as head of the Church & of the Papal States. Next we drive out to Cerveteri, site of one of the most powerful of Etruscan city-states, to the necropolis which furnished some of the objects in the Villa Giulia Museum. Here we see tombs & large burial mounds laid out along streets forming a true city of the dead. Dinner and Overnight at the Hotel.
 

Day 4: ROME - SANGIOVENALE - VITERBO

Breakfast. Today's visit is to San Giovenale and Aquarossa Etruscan town-sites. On our way to San Giovenale we shall make a brief stop at Blera to walk down to a small Roman bridge which spans a brook lost in a ravine far below the modern road. The sites were excavated in the late 1950's and early 1960's by the king of Sweden and a team of Swedish and Italian archaeologists. San Giovenale and Acquarossa, have provided Etruscologists with most of the available information on Etruscan houses and are among the very few sites where ruins of Etruscan houses can be seen. Then a brief stop at the gracious medieval town of Barbarano Romano, after whice we proceed to Viterbo, a gracious provincial capital north of Rome with one of the most picturesque Medieval quarters in central Italy. In Viterbo we visit a unique exhibit on Etruscan houses, the only one of its kind in the world. All the material on display has come from the San Giovenale & Acquarossa. Dinner and Overnight at the Hotel.
 

Day 5: VITERBO - TUSCANIA - TARQUINA - VITERBO

After breakfast we drive a shot while to the town of Tuscania, a small town completely encircled by massive cyclopic walls with high towers, full of imposing churches, palaces and regular streets with ancient mansions and shops, manifestly a very rich place since a remote past, Tuscania was a powerful Etruscan town from the VIII cent. B.C. We then continue to Tarquinia, the most populous and important of the Etruscan cities - a place of riches and high culture 3,000 years ago, long before the rise of the Romans. Its historical legacy has been passed on to us via their more than 200 painted tombs and numerous artefacts. After a visit to the necropolis we’ll have a guided tour of the Etruscan National Museum of Tarquinia, one of Italy’s best.   Late afternoon return to Viterbo. Dinner and Overnight at the Hotel.
 

Day 6: VITERBO - BETTONA - PERUGIA

Day 7: PERUGIA - CORTONA - CHIUSI - PERUGIA

Breakfast and departure for Cortona (Under the Tuscan Sun). Cortona's medieval streets are pleasant to wander and you'll be rewarded with fabulous views of the countryside along the Etruscan town walls. We then continue to the lowlands around Chiusi; a treasure trove of tombs for Etruscan civilization. We will visit the Etruscan Museum of Chiusi, one of the most important repositories of Etruscan remains in Italy.  Late afternoon return to Perugia. Dinner and Overnight at the Hotel.

DAY 8: PERUGIA - ORVIETO

After breakfast we will depart for the spectacular city of Orvieto. The town sits on an outcrop of volcanic tufa rock, with thousands of caves underneath the city, dug out during Etruscan, Medieval and Renaissance times. We will explore a fascinating subterranean tour of Orvieto Underground. Afternoon free time. Dinner and Overnight at the Hotel.
 

Day 9: ORVIETO - ROME

Breakfast and departure for Rome  wher we will visit Vatican City, one of the European microstates, situated on the Vatican Hill in the west-central part of Rome. Its borders closely follow the city wall constructed to protect the Pope from outside attack. Leaving the Piazza San Bernardo, adorned by Moses’ Fountain the itinerary will continue passing by Via Bissolati, Via Veneto and the Villa Borghese. After this ample panoramic view, we will visit the Vatican Museums and the Vatican Galleries. There you will admire the modern entrance built for the Jubilee 2000, the Galleries of the Chandeliers, of the Tapestries and of the Geographical Maps, the Sobiesky Hall and the Immaculate Conception Hall. We will then stop to admire the Sistine Chapel, seat of the Conclave, with the famous frescoes of Michelangelo. We will continue with a visit of the Basilica of Saint Peter, commonly called Saint Peter's Basilica. Afternoon free time. Dinner and Overnight at the Hotel.

Day 10: DEPARTURE

After breakfast we transfer to Rome airport for the return flight.