Focusing on the grandeur of classical Rome, we'll marvel at the Colosseum, Pantheon, and Capitoline Museum before heading out on a bike ride along the ancient Appian Way.
As we ramble through the heart of Rome, we'll admire breathtaking Bernini statues and ponder sunbeams inside St. Peter's Basilica. After dinner, we'll take a nighttime stroll, lacing together the city's piazzas and fountains.
We explore Rome on a more intimate scale - dodging Vespas in Trastevere, roaming through the historic Jewish Ghetto, and enjoying art treasures in a string of rarely visited churches to uncover the charms of hidden Rome.
In Florence, we'll revel in the genius of Michelangelo and Botticelli, climb the dome that kicked off the Renaissance, and cross the Arno to take in modern-day artisan life.
We enjoy Renaissance art in Florence, the city that propelled Europe out of the Middle Ages. Then we visit two cultural capitals in their own right: Pisa, where we'll marvel at a tipsy tower; and Lucca, where we'll celebrate Puccini.
In Paris, we'll cruise the Seine River, pay a visit to Napoleon's tomb, and take in the majestic Louvre. Then we'll shop in a village-like neighborhood, attend church in a pipe organ loft, and celebrate Bastille Day.
