ITALY
Portofino
Lucca • Pisa • Porto Venere • Genoa • Cinque Terre • Portofino
Lucca, Portofino & the Cinque Terre No distance at all separates Lucca and Pisa from Portofino, the Cinque Terre & Genoa, but the treasures they offer make for a diverse experience. In Pisa’s Square of the Miracles there’s the Leaning Tower, cathedral and baptistry, but much less well known are the colourful villages that cling to the Ligurian coastline.
Your itinerary DAY 1 – Arrival in Lucca Arrive at the airport for your flight to Pisa from where you will be taken to your hotel. (D)
Cinque Terre
Genoa
48
DAY 2 – Lucca & free afternoon After breakfast we take a tour with a local guide who will bring the story of Lucca to life. The city was founded by the Etruscans, and its well-preserved walls date from the Renaissance. As we explore the centre, you’ll notice the rectangular grid pattern which originated with the street plan of Roman times, while the oval Roman amphitheatre is another evocative reminder of millennia past. This afternoon you can experience more of Lucca’s wonders, exploring its cobbled streets, strolling along its shady promenades and relaxing in its elegant piazzas. (B,D) + Included Experience – Guided tour of Lucca DAY 3 – Pisa After breakfast, it’s just a short drive to Pisa for a guided tour. You’ll marvel at
how such a relatively small space can accommodate such magnificence. The Leaning Tower – one of the world’s most instantly recognisable silhouettes – is your iconic introduction to the rest of the piazza. We conclude our visit with the Camposanto, a huge cemetery reputed to contain soil from Golgotha – the site of Jesus’s crucifixion. In the afternoon we return to Lucca for you to relax or explore at your leisure. This evening we dine at a local restaurant serving traditional Tuscan cuisine. (B,D) + Included Experience – Guided tour of Pisa V Signature Experience – Savour an enhanced dining experience at one of Lucca’s authentic restaurants DAY 4 – Porto Venere Our morning drive north takes us past Carrara’s enormous gleaming quarries, source of the finest marble, which has been used in masterpieces by sculptors since Roman times into the great monuments now dotted across Italy’s landscapes and beyond. Our exploration of the extraordinarily arresting coast of Liguria brings us to the Gulf of the Poets, an evocative name for an inspiring area. One of its highlights is the picturesque village of Porto Venere, its fortress high on the hillside overlooking an array of colourful multi-storeyed houses lining the harbour. A stroll along the
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