Art Cities of Tuscany Tour

Package Overview

Travellers flock to the cities and towns of Tuscany to admire the world’s greatest concentration of medieval and Renaissance art, but rarely devote sufficient time to appreciate fully its technical brilliance and intellectual richness. Unpack your bags and enjoy longer stays in Pisa, Siena and Florence on this new 15-day tour exploring the region’s economic and cultural flowering in the Middle Ages, and its rise to European super-power with the Medici. Tuscany’s simple, seasonal cuisine is at its best in winter, when there are also fewer visitors and the weather is generally mild.

Experience
The art and culture of medieval Tuscany, far beyond what most tourists see
Tuscany’s glorious small towns, villages, monasteries and villas – each one different from the other, each one beautiful, atmospheric and compelling
Masterworks of the Renaissance, by Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Botticelli
Tuscany beyond Florence, from Pisa’s maritime excellence to Siena’s Gothic glories
The rise of the Medici in Florence, their power and enduring artistic legacy
Regional diversity in landscape, gastronomy, art and architecture
HIGHLIGHTS

World-class art in Florence’s Uffizi and Accademia, Siena’s Pinacoteca and Pisa’s spectacular Museo di San Matteo
Beautiful villages and atmospheric abbeys, from Lucca and San Gimignano to San Galgano and Monte Oliveto Maggiore
Explore the careers of major Renaissance artists: Piero della Francesca in Arezzo, Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel, Filippo Lippi in Prato
Elegant Siena: time to shop and enjoy the evening passeggiata over four nights
Savour Tuscany without the tourist hordes: winter cuisine, wine tastings in stunning contemporary settings, uncrowded museumsReturn international/domestic air travel unless those flights take place during the tour
Special taxes and airport levies that can only be paid in cash at the destination. We will advise you of these charges (if any) before you depart
Costs involved in obtaining visas for countries visited, where required
Travel insurance. We require all participants to have comprehensive travel insurance. A typical policy for one of our tours will cost from $160 upwards, depending on your age, pre-existing medical conditions, the countries you are visiting and the overall length of your trip
Lunches and dinners not specifically mentioned as included in the itinerary
Personal expenses such as laundry and phone calls
Costs associated with any activity mentioned as “optional” in the itinerary, or any suggested free time activity

Contact Agent Plan A Trip Text Me

Day wise Itinerary

• Day 1 : Arrival

  Our tour begins in the afternoon, with a briefing in the hotel and an orientation stroll. There is a light dinner tonight near our hotel. Overnight Pisa

  • Meals & Drinks : Dinner

• Day 2 : The Splendour of Medieval Pisa

  This morning we explore the cosmopolitan style of medieval Pisa, influenced by its eastern trade. After a talk in our hotel, we walk to nearby Santa Maria della Spina, where the reliquary chapel is entirely covered in delicate Gothic and neo-Gothic tracery. After a visit to the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo, one of Italy’s finest museums of the Middle Ages with a superlative collection of painted crosses, we enjoy a guided tour of the spectacular Piazza dei Miracoli. After we explore the cathedral, baptistery and restored Camposanto frescoes, there is time to climb the Leaning Tower. Overnight Pisa

  • Meals & Drinks : Breakfast

• Day 3 : Elegant Lucca

  Today we make the short trip to Lucca. On our walking tour of this well-heeled town, we explore its fascinating history, from Roman origins to Romanesque churches, medieval streets and Renaissance walls. Lucca has excellent shops and, after our welcome lunch in a fine local restaurant, there is free time to look at them before we return to Pisa. We have a talk in our hotel this evening. Overnight Pisa

  • Hotspots : History
  • Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch

• Day 4 : Clans and Commerce in Tuscany

  Today we check out of our hotel and travel to Volterra, famous for its production of alabaster and for its stark Romanesque beauty. Its regional museum contains the startling Deposition altarpiece by Rosso Fiorentino. In the afternoon we explore San Gimignano, its towers symbolising the factional conflict that ravaged medieval Tuscany. We also admire beautiful frescoes here by masters such as Benozzo Gozzoli and Ghirlandaio. After checking in to our hotel in Siena, we enjoy dinner in a nearby restaurant. Overnight Siena

  • Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Dinner

• Day 5 : Siena and the Via Francigena

  Siena’s medieval growth was due in large part to the banking and trade it carried out along the Via Francigena, the primary pilgrimage route from northern Europe to Rome. After a talk in the hotel the morning is at leisure, but we meet in the afternoon for a guided tour of Siena’s cathedral complex. In the cathedral and baptistery, we appreciate the development of sculpture in Siena, from the Middle Ages to Renaissance, while in the Museo dell’Opera and Ospedale della Scala, we admire Duccio’s grand Maestà and the organisation of the city’s pilgrim traffic. Overnight Siena

  • Meals & Drinks : Breakfast

• Day 6 : Into Southern Tuscany

  Today we enjoy an excursion into southern Tuscany, where the bare hills have a dramatic beauty in winter. The Abbey of San Galgano is today an evocative ruin, but in the 13th century it was an important Cistercian complex and a sword belonging to Galgano is still embedded in the stone of a nearby sanctuary. In Pienza, where we have free time for lunch, we see the later reinvention of southern Tuscany in honour of Pope Pius II, who was born here and had the town redesigned in the 15th century according to Renaissance principles. In the afternoon, we tour the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, still surrounded by forest and decorated by Sodoma with frescoes celebrating the everyday life of the monks. Overnight Siena

  • Meals & Drinks : Breakfast

Contact Agent Plan A Trip Text Me

Inclusions

• Hotel
• Sightseeing
• Any flights mentioned in the itinerary that take place during a tour
• Land travel by private air-conditioned coach. Where appropriate public transport is also used for short distance travel on some tours
• All accommodation in hotels or apartments as stated in the itinerary
• Breakfasts, lunches and dinners specifically stated as included in the itinerary
• Drinks at welcome and farewell meals. Other meals may not have drinks included
• Background talks on tour, site notes and online resources
• Services of tour leader throughout tour
• All entrance fees to sites mentioned in the itinerary
• Local guides at some sites
• Tips for drivers, local guides and restaurants for included meals
• Airport Transfers
• Tours begin either at the arrival airport or the first hotel, depending on the itinerary. If you have booked your international flights with Academy Travel and arrive before the tour commences, we will provide airport to hotel transfers to the closest main city on your arrival, and to the closest airport at the end of the tour. These may be either individual or group transfers.

Contact Agent Plan A Trip Text Me

Exclusions

• Return international/domestic air travel unless those flights take place during the tour
• Special taxes and airport levies that can only be paid in cash at the destination. We will advise you of these charges (if any) before you depart
• Costs involved in obtaining visas for countries visited, where required
• Travel insurance. We require all participants to have comprehensive travel insurance. A typical policy for one of our tours will cost from $160 upwards, depending on your age, pre-existing medical conditions, the countries you are visiting and the overall length of your trip
• Lunches and dinners not specifically mentioned as included in the itinerary
• Personal expenses such as laundry and phone calls
• Costs associated with any activity mentioned as “optional” in the itinerary, or any suggested free time activity

Contact Agent Plan A Trip Text Me

Terms & Conditions

Payment Terms & Methods :
* Some Advance Percentage of total booking amount
* Airfare/Transport fare to be paid full at one time in advance.

Cancellation & Refund Policy :
* Upon cancellation, refund will be made after deducting the Retention Amount.
* Retention Amount varies as per the number of days left before your package start date.

Contact Agent Plan A Trip Text Me

This Tour is Offered by

Academy Travel View Profile

0 / 5

• Level 1, 341 George St Bank of New South Wales Building, NSW, Sydney, Australia
• XXXXXX0023 View Contact
• XXXXXXXXXX@academytravel.com.au View Mail ID

About Academy Travel

Contact Agent Plan A Trip Text Me

Interested in This Tour?

• Requests are send directly to the tour operator
• We recommend to request quotes from 3 operators