| City Tours |
Full Day visit of Florence
(7 hrs) |
The private guide will meet you and together you will reach the Accademia Gallery where you can admire Michelangelo's David. Everything in the fascinating story of its creation contributes to its lasting fame: the fact that the work was begun by another artist, the low quality of the marble block and Michelangelo's genius, which finally transformed it into the figure of a man with classical shape and an anatomically perfect body. Finished in 1504, the statue was exposed for 250 years on the Piazza della Signoria, right opposite of the Palazzo Vecchio.
Proceed for the visit of the Duomo and its Giotto’s bell tower that was begun by Giotto in 1334, carried on after his death by Andrea Pisano, and finished in 1359 by Francesco Talenti; the Baptistery of Saint John, for centuries thought to be a pagan temple "converted" to Christian use. Dante calls it his "lovely Saint John's". And from the 14th to the 16th century, the exterior sculptural decoration for which the Baptistery is famous was put in place: three sets of bronze doors and the bronze and marble statuary above them. These works illustrate Bible stories which the believer is invited to ponder if he would live his faith to the full.
Free time for light lunch and in the afternoon visit of Piazza della Signoria and admire the marvellous Palazzo Vecchio (external visit) and the beautiful Loggia del Lanzi. Forward to Ponte Vecchio and Santa Croce Basilica. The architect Arnolfo di Cambio begun the construction in year 1294 and became one of the masterpieces of the Italian gothic style. Cimabue , Brunelleschi, Giotto and Donatello worked in this basilica. End of the tour. |
Half Day visit of Uffizi Gallery (3 hrs) |
The private guide will meet you at the hotel. Together you will reach the Uffizi Gallery, one of the most complete Italian painting gallery. It was the private collection of the Medici Family, who were as interested in money as in art. Several hundred works were bought, confiscated and commissioned in over 200 years of their political regency.
The tour starts with the rooms dedicated to medieval painting (Giotto's Maestà and the works of Cimabue and Duccio). From there we visit the most famous paintings of Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo's only accomplished painting, the Tondo Doni.
At the end a visit to the rooms dedicated to Raffael, Tiziano, Tintoretto and Veronese. At the end of the visit you will walk through the famous Piazza della Signoria, to admire the marvelous Palazzo Vecchio (external visit) and the beautiful Loggia del Lanzi. End of the visit.
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| Excursions from Florence |
| Full Day visit of Pisa |
Your private guide and driver will meet you at hotel. You will reach Pisa in 2 hours .
With our guide, you will discover Pisa's most important monuments and squares: our walking tour starts with a visit to the world famous Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) with many medieval masterpieces: Leaning Tower, Baptistery, Cathedral (inside visit) and the Campo Santo (inside visit) cemetery Passing medieval Tower houses we head for Piazza Dante with Pisa's State University where Galileo Galilei taught and finishes at Piazza dei Cavalieri, the central civic square of medieval Pisa with Italy's academic showpiece, the Scuola Normale Superiore.
Back to Florence in the afternoon.
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| Full Day visit of Siena and San Gimignano |
Your private guide and driver will meet you at the hotel. The excursion leads you in the Tuscan countryside where you can visit Siena that together with Florence and Pisa, is one of the leading art cities in Tuscany. This city has managed to preserve its medieval character completely.
Your guided tour starts with a visit to San Domenico, a church much frequented for its venerated relics of Saint Catherine, patron saint of Italy and Europe. Then we head for the magnificent palace of Monte dei Paschi bank, founded in 1472 - the oldest bank in Europe.
From there we reach nearby Piazza del Campo, the unrivalled center of vivid city life. Here is the place where the Palio is played , Siena's breathtaking bareback horse race. With a stop at the Chigi-Saracini Palace you finally reach the Duomo with its marble pavement made with a startling sequence of 56 marble.
Free time for lunch and in the afternoon continuation of the tour with the visit of san Gimignano .Positioned favourably at the via Francigena - an ancient roadway used by merchants, prelates, soldiers and pilgrims - this charming little town of only a few thousand residents reveals an unexpected richness of art treasures. Passing the main entrance gate Porta San Giovanni, you will see Piazza della Cisterna with its impressing medieval tower houses, and the church Santa Maria Assunta, with frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli, Taddeo di Bartolo and others. We continue to the Rocca di Montestaffoli, the old fortress with a tower from where you will enjoy a superb view on the surrounding Tuscan landscape.
The tour concludes with a visit to the church of Sant'Agostino, embellished by Bennozo Gozzoli with 17 scenes of the Saint's Life. Back to Florence in the afternoon.
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| Full Day Chianti region |
Your private guide and driver will meet you at the hotel.
The excursion leads you in the Tuscan countryside and is dedicated to the visit of the Chianti Classico area.
In the morning visit of S.Gimignano, small medieval village with its 13 towers, where is possible to taste the “Nobile di Montepulciano”. Forward to Greve in Chianti, for a lunch in a castle with the roast suckling pig “ Maialino Chiantigiano” and to visit the wine cellar. In the afternoon forward to Radda in Chianti for a wine tasting in a wonderful wine farmhouse inside a medieval village; Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Riserva, Super Tuscan.
On the way back to Florence, stop to Castellina in Chianti from where you can have a panoramic view of the Chianti area.
Back to Florence in the afternoon.
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