Villas and Garden of Central Italy
8 Days / 7 Nights
Day 1: Rome
Arrival in Rome. Mett your local guide. Dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Rome
Morning visit to the Vatican Gardens, a unique assortment of trees and plants,
a rock garden with shaded woodland and wine-covered pathways on the upper slopes.
Lunch at Villa Valadier in the Pincio gardens, with its spectacular vistas of
Rome and St. Peters. In the afternoon, we will visit Villa Borghese, the largest
and most beautiful of Rome's public parks. It was created for Cardinal Borghese
in the early 17th century. The city of Rome's zoo and the International Equestrian
Ring at Piazza di Siena are only some of its many attractions.
Dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Rome - Tivoli
Full day excursion to Tivoli visiting the spectacular Villa Adriana and then
continue on to the Villa d'Este, built on the site of another Roman villa. The
Villa d'Este is a former Benedictine convent which became the home of the 16th
century governor Cardinal d'Este. The gardens of the villa are one of the most
famous in Italy, both for their natural location and design. It has more than
500 fountains with a wonderful blend of nature and architecture.
Dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Ninfa - Norba - Sermoneta
Today we will go southeast of Rome to discover the ruins of Ninfa. Today,
wild, romantic gardens cover the shells of medieval houses: roses and clematis
vines climb cypress trees and spring bulbs blanket green hillsides. The Caetani
Family has gathered thousands of specimens from around the world and made them
flourish in this ideal micro-environment. Visit to the ancient Italic town of
Norba, which looks down on Ninfa from a high bluff. Light lunch followed by
a tour of the Castle of Sermoneta. Return to Rome for dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Bomarzo - Villa Lante - Siena
We leave Rome and make our way north to Bomarzo or the Park of the Monsters,
ordered by Duke Orsini. It is a bizarre testament to a fantastic and twisted
taste which developed in the late, declining Renaissance. Practically forgotten
for centuries, it was only after the end of the war, that the park was restored
and "rediscovered". It is one of its kind, situated on the edge of
a natural amphitheater, and consisting of a series of terraces, with gigantic
sculptures cut out of the rock. The figures are animals, real and imaginary,
grotesque colossi with little or no significance.
After lunch, we will visit the splendid Villa Lante, designed by the Renaissance
architect Vignola. It is a typical Italian garden of the Late Renaissance with
its fantastic play of water. There are five terraces, the center piece of which
is a monumental rectangular fountain. In the late afternoon, we drive through
the beautiful Tuscan countryside to Siena. Check-in at our hotel, dinner and
overnight.
Day 6: Villa Cetinale - Florence
The morning begins with Villa Cetinale, placed at the edge of a dense wood
just outside Siena. It was designed by a pupil of Bernini for Cardinal Chigi.
A long green way lined with tall cypresses and statues by Mazzuoli, leads to
a crescent terrace from which stone stairs ascend to a hermitage on the summit.
Vistas of the surrounding countryside are breathtaking. Rustic lunch will be
served in a typical Tuscan country restaurant. In the afternoon, we move on
to Florence. Check-in at the hotel, dinner and overnight stay.
Day 7: Florence
Morning visit to the Historical Topographical Museum to view the painted lunette
by G. Van Utens, which depicts the Villa Medici in the town of Castello, just
outside Florence, which the importance of its influence on Italian garden design.
Leisurely walk to the Boboli Gardens and the Palazzo Pitti, the best example
of formal Italian landscape architecture of the Renaissance. With its variegated
terracing, sculptures and grotto one can see the art of Italy's finest landscape
artists. Free afternoon in Florence. Farewell Dinner in a typical Tuscan restaurant
in Fiesole.
Overnight stay at the hotel.
Day 8: Florence - Rome
After breakfast, Departure to Rome Airport.
|
