CTAC & Voyager Trips Presents: The Italy that Never Goes Out of Style...
Join us on a 9-night/10-day trip to Italy that Voyager Trips curated exclusively for CTAC members on September 15 - 24, 2023! This will be the third CTAC trip to Italy coordinated with Charlevoix native, Doug Heise and his wife Erica Vecchione.
Here is the proposed itinerary for the 10-day tour:
DAY 1 – Arrival
- Travelers arrive independently in Levanto and check in at hotel
- Chill out and visit the town.
- Italian-style cocktail aperitivo
- Night in Levanto
DAY 2 - Cinque Terre by land
- Visit Vernazza and Manarola, two jewels of the Mediterranean
- Lunch and wine tasting with a renowned local sommelier. Learn all about the history and culture of wine in this area.
- Evening free
- Night in Levanto
DAY 3 – Cinque Terre by sea
- Weather permitting, do a private boat tour of the Cinque Terre coast
- Visit Monterosso
- Afternoon free
- Group dinner in Levanto
- Night in Levanto
DAY 4 – From the Leaning Tower to the Piazza del Campo
- Bus to Pisa (about 1.5 hours), where we will stop in the “Piazza of Miracles” and visit the Leaning Tower
- Then bus on to Siena (about 2 hours) and check into the hotel.
- Late afternoon guided walking tour of central medieval Siena
- Evening free
- Night in Siena
DAY 5 – Under the Tuscan Sun
- Soak up the best of Tuscany by visiting a world-class Chianti winemaker, with lunch included at the vineyard
- Then visit one of the most famous of all the Tuscan hilltop villages: San Gimignano
- Evening free
- Night in Siena
DAY 6 – Her Royal Highness: Florence
- Train to Florence in the morning (about 1 hour and 15 minutes)
- Guided walking tour of the city center in the morning.
- Then tickets are provided for entry into the Uffizi Galleries. Everyone is free to go at their own pace through the museum, and the rest of the day is free to do what you want in Florence.
- Group dinner that evening after we return to Siena
- Night in Siena
DAY 7 – Rome, the Eternal City
- Take a private bus to Rome (about 3 hours)
- Check into the hotel and then do an early afternoon guided walking tour of the heart of Classical Rome.
- The rest of the day is free.
- Night in Rome
DAY 8 – The Vatican
- In the morning, we do a guided visit of the Vatican Museums, including the one and only Sistine Chapel
- Afterwards, we continue on to St. Peter's Cathedral.
- In the afternoon, everyone is free to do what they want. We will help people organize their visits to other Roman monuments if they want.
- Night in Rome
DAY 9 – Hidden gems of Rome
- In the morning, take taxis to the San Callisto Catacombs just outside central Rome, the most extensive underground burial tombs in Italy. Guided visit.
- Then, take the taxis to the Palazzo Farnese, inside which are the legendary Carracci frescoes of The Loves of the Gods. This artistic wonder is not open to the general public.
- Afternoon free.
- Farewell group dinner.
- Night in Rome.
DAY 10 – Travelers depart independently for the States or other destinations
Price Per Person: $3,450 (USD) per person
Single Room Supplement for 9 nights: $450 (USD) per single room
The per person price includes:
∙ Double occupancy rooms for 9 nights in three star hotels, breakfast included ∙ All ground transportation for events in the itinerary
∙ 3 group dinners
∙ 2 group lunches
∙ 2 wine tastings
∙ 1 welcome aperitivo
∙ 1 private boat tour (weather permitting)
∙ Guided walking tours of Florence, Siena, and Rome
∙ Uffizi Gallery Florence
∙ Vatican Museums
∙ St. Peter's Cathedral
∙ San Callisto Catacombs
∙ Palazzo Farnese
∙ Italian Wine Sommelier traveling with the group
∙ Organizational fees to Voyager Trips
The per person price does not include:
∙ Airfare to and from Italy
∙ All meals aside from those listed above
∙ Personal expenses, souvenirs, and extraneous
∙ Travel insurance
Ready to book?
Here's how to make your deposit:
First, get in touch! Write to us at voyagertrips@gmail.com to let us know you're interested and want to make a deposit.
Second, we accept deposits in many ways. You can:
- send us an old-fashioned check (Douglas Heise, 200 Auld Ave, Charlevoix, MI 49720)
- make a bank payment to our Bank of America account (we can provide the details to you)
- pay us through Zelle using the above email address
- pay us through Paypal using the above email address
If you go through our website voyagertrips.com, the Paypal page that comes up accepts payments only in Euros. If you make a payment this way, we will calculate the equivalent amount in US dollars and credit you any amount that is more than the $500 deposit.
But more than anything, let us know your plans so we can guide you through any questions you have. Hope to hear from you! - Doug & Erica
