Eternal Italy: A Family Journey Through History in Rome, Florence & Venice

Book early if you want to see the Vatican Museum's monumental works of art from the greatest Italian artists of the Renaissance.

The Vatican Museum is actually 26 different museums, which include not only exhibitions but chapels, apartments, and other rooms of the Vatican palace, covering a huge range of fine and applied arts patronized by the popes. There's also an outstanding collection of ancient antiquities (including even the Emperor Nero's red stone bathtub), a gallery of hand-painted maps, and whole rooms turned into works of art. In addition to ancient and medieval works of art, you'll see masterpieces by the "who's who" of the Italian Renaissance, including Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, and Caravaggio. Other highlights include panels by the brilliant monk-artist Fra Angelico, works from the Venetian school, including Vavarini, and much, much more.  Booking in advance is highly recommended as otherwise you can wait for hours or not even be able to get in at all.

Explore the gigantic and incredibly beautiful church known as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom".

The basilica is one of the chief pilgrimage sites in the Christian world, and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Rome. The basilica is the symbolic center of the church not only because the Pope frequently celebrates Mass there, but because it is believed that the apostle St. Peter is buried beneath it. Catholics consider Peter as the first Bishop of Rome and "the rock" upon which the Catholic Church was built, in accordance with Christ's instructions. Inside you can admire sculptures by Bernini as well as Michelangelo's famous sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the crucified Jesus, known as The Pietà. The church's elaborate and impressive golden interior is a sight to behold. Other sights include St Peter's tomb, the Papal crypts in the necropolis under the basilica, as well as the dome, which rewards visitors with views over Rome.  Entry is free, but queues to visit the Basilica can be lengthy, so it is highly advised to either get there early or to purchase a skip the line entrance. The dome is also paid entry. 

Escape the crowds in this oasis of green hidden behind the walls of the Vatican.

Accessible only via a guided tour, the gardens are definitely worth a visit. Just as the Popes have for hundreds of years, you can stroll the gardens and relax amidst the greenery, while taking in the perfect view of St. Peter's. 

Stand in the middle of this famous square in which the faithful gather to hear the Pope give audiences and celebrate mass.

As one of the most superb conceptions of its kind in civic architecture, St Peter’s Square is the masterpiece of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and makes a wonderful approach to one of the world’s most magnificent churches, St Peter's Basilica. An oval rather than an actual square, the piazza, laid out in 1656-67, is partially enclosed by two semi-circular colonnades on which stand 96 statues of saints and martyrs. At the center of the oval stands an 84-foot (26m) tall Egyptian obelisk of red granite.

Gaze up at the world's most famous ceiling, the masterpiece of Michelangelo.

This famous chapel inside the Vatican Museums is best known for Michelangelo's 16th-century painted ceiling of "The Creation of Adam" and "The Last Judgement" fresco that covers the whole altar wall of the chapel. The jaw-dropping sight is not to be missed, considered one of the top highlights of visiting the Vatican Museums and one of the top artistic wonders of the world. 

Book early if you want to see the Vatican Museum's monumental works of art from the greatest Italian artists of the Renaissance.

The Vatican Museum is actually 26 different museums, which include not only exhibitions but chapels, apartments, and other rooms of the Vatican palace, covering a huge range of fine and applied arts patronized by the popes. There's also an outstanding collection of ancient antiquities (including even the Emperor Nero's red stone bathtub), a gallery of hand-painted maps, and whole rooms turned into works of art. In addition to ancient and medieval works of art, you'll see masterpieces by the "who's who" of the Italian Renaissance, including Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, and Caravaggio. Other highlights include panels by the brilliant monk-artist Fra Angelico, works from the Venetian school, including Vavarini, and much, much more.  Booking in advance is highly recommended as otherwise you can wait for hours or not even be able to get in at all.

Discover the crypt and catacombs of an ancient Christian burial site estimated to hold half a million bodies.

The catacombs are the most important landmark along the ancient Appian Way route because they include the Crypt of the Popes, which contained the remains of nine popes buried between the 2nd and 4th centuries. In times of persecution, the catacombs also provided a secret place of worship for early Christians. There are five levels and roughly 12 miles (20km) of passageways. Over time, the catacombs were mostly forgotten as the relics of the popes and saints they contained had been moved to different churces of Rome. It was not until the 19th century that Italian architects rediscovered it.

Discover the crypt and catacombs of an ancient Christian burial site estimated to hold half a million bodies.

The catacombs are the most important landmark along the ancient Appian Way route because they include the Crypt of the Popes, which contained the remains of nine popes buried between the 2nd and 4th centuries. In times of persecution, the catacombs also provided a secret place of worship for early Christians. There are five levels and roughly 12 miles (20km) of passageways. Over time, the catacombs were mostly forgotten as the relics of the popes and saints they contained had been moved to different churces of Rome. It was not until the 19th century that Italian architects rediscovered it.

Discover the crypt and catacombs of an ancient Christian burial site estimated to hold half a million bodies.

The catacombs are the most important landmark along the ancient Appian Way route because they include the Crypt of the Popes, which contained the remains of nine popes buried between the 2nd and 4th centuries. In times of persecution, the catacombs also provided a secret place of worship for early Christians. There are five levels and roughly 12 miles (20km) of passageways. Over time, the catacombs were mostly forgotten as the relics of the popes and saints they contained had been moved to different churces of Rome. It was not until the 19th century that Italian architects rediscovered it.

Discover the crypt and catacombs of an ancient Christian burial site estimated to hold half a million bodies.

The catacombs are the most important landmark along the ancient Appian Way route because they include the Crypt of the Popes, which contained the remains of nine popes buried between the 2nd and 4th centuries. In times of persecution, the catacombs also provided a secret place of worship for early Christians. There are five levels and roughly 12 miles (20km) of passageways. Over time, the catacombs were mostly forgotten as the relics of the popes and saints they contained had been moved to different churces of Rome. It was not until the 19th century that Italian architects rediscovered it.

Art museum and home to Michelangelo's famous David

The Gallery's prized exhibits are naturally its works by Michelangelo, including in addition to David his unfinished Slaves (or Prisoners). 

Art museum and home to Michelangelo's famous David

The Gallery's prized exhibits are naturally its works by Michelangelo, including in addition to David his unfinished Slaves (or Prisoners). 

Art museum and home to Michelangelo's famous David

The Gallery's prized exhibits are naturally its works by Michelangelo, including in addition to David his unfinished Slaves (or Prisoners). 

Art museum and home to Michelangelo's famous David

The Gallery's prized exhibits are naturally its works by Michelangelo, including in addition to David his unfinished Slaves (or Prisoners). 

Visit a sublimely elegant cemetery built upon soil brought back from the Holy Land by crusaders.

The Camposanto has been called the most beautiful cemetery in the world. The interior of the Composanto is in the form of an oblong cloister, lit by lovely traceried windows which were never filled by glass. These frame a lawn on the site of an earlier burial ground, which according to legend, the Archbishop Ubaldo Lanfranchi created by having Pisan knights on the Fourth Crusade of 1203 bring a cargo of soil back to Pisa from the hill of Golgotha, in order that eminent Pisans might be bureid in holy earth. From the 14th century onwards Roman sculptures, including a huge collection of sarcophagi, were brought here to decorate the four walks, and despite theft, removal and damage in the Second World War, many have survived to this day.

Listen to your steps echo in the largest baptistry in Italy.

Another great monument on the Square of Miracles is the Baptistry of San Giovanni (St. John). The echoing interior has a two-storeyed ambulatory, and is decorated with bands of black and white marble. While its interior is a bit underwhelming, it is famous for its acoustics (ask the guard to demonstrate). Also take a moment to admire the beautiful pulpit, created by the father of the sculptor responsible for the pulpit in the cathedral (Duomo), though the workmanship here is possibly even more delicate.

Take a disorientating climb to the top of this iconic tower.

World-famous because of its pronounced tilt, the tower is over 4m (13ft) out of the perpendicular, and travelers for centuries have admired its capacity not to topple over. The foundation stone of this magnificent Romanesque building was laid in 1173, although we don't know who its architect was. Over 54m/177ft high, it has seven storeys, six of them encircled with loggias with 180 little columns. The beautiful bell chamber on the top was only added after 1350. The building survives as one of the most original monuments of medieval Europe. You may already know the apocryphal story of Galileo, who was born in Pisa in 1564, carrying out experiments from the tower to demonstrate to members of the Pisa university that all falling bodies, regardless of their size, descend with equal velocity (though a cage on top of the tower will prevent you from carrying out the same experiment these days).

See what is perhaps the most famous and beautiful Romanesque cathedral in Europe, whose construction began almost a thousand years ago.

The breathtaking duomo is one of the most celebrated Romanesque buildings in Italy and the prototype of the Pisan style of architecture copied throughout Tuscany but never quite surpassed. Begun in 1063 and completed about a century later, the building's effect is heightened by the broad white marble pavement on which it stands. It is covered inside and out with an interplay of black and white marble, subtly toned on the exterior to a delicate grey and russet. There are four tiers of variegated colonnades with open galleries, above a row of seven tall blind arches.

Venture into the richly-adorned chambers of the palace from which Florence and Tuscany were governed for centuries.

The fortress-like Palazzo Vecchio was originally constructed around 1299 to house the government administration, but underwent many reconstructions and was utlized for many purposes over the following centuries. Visiting the palazzo is usually a lot simpler than lining up with the crowds next door trying to get into the Uffizi Gallery. You simply need to go through the courtyard at the front entrance to the ticket office where the queues should be relatively short. Highlights of the palace include the magnificent inner courtyard, the chancery once used by Machiavelli, and the lovely Sala delle Carte decorated with 57 maps painted in 1563 depicting what was then the entire known world.

Escape the crowds to visit this gallery filled with the greatest works of Renaissance sculpture.

The Palazzo del Bargello dates back to 1255 and was the former residence of the chief of police (Bargello means police station). But in 1865 it was transformed into a museum containing the richest collection of Renaissance sculpture in Italy, although it is thankfully free of the huge crowds that are attracted to the Uffizi. You'll encounter masterpieces by Michelango, Donatello, Cellini, and many others.

See Florence's wealth of sculptural treasures in this 14th-century open-air gallery.

Originally completed in 1382 as a platform for the swearing in of public officials and other state affairs, it was only in the late 18th century that the Loggia was reserved exclusively for the display of the city's greatest exponents of sculpture. In the corner by the palazzo is a copy of one of the Renaissance's most iconic works, Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus Trampling Medusa (1545). If you examine the sculpture from the back, you can see the self-image of the sculptor Cellini on the backside of Perseus' helmet. Another headturner is Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Woman, created from the largest single piece of sculptural marble ever seen in Florence.

Venture into the richly-adorned chambers of the palace from which Florence and Tuscany were governed for centuries.

The fortress-like Palazzo Vecchio was originally constructed around 1299 to house the government administration, but underwent many reconstructions and was utlized for many purposes over the following centuries. Visiting the palazzo is usually a lot simpler than lining up with the crowds next door trying to get into the Uffizi Gallery. You simply need to go through the courtyard at the front entrance to the ticket office where the queues should be relatively short. Highlights of the palace include the magnificent inner courtyard, the chancery once used by Machiavelli, and the lovely Sala delle Carte decorated with 57 maps painted in 1563 depicting what was then the entire known world.

Step inside this inconspicuous Gothic 15th-century church to discover some of Venice's most famous tombs and artwork.

The relatively austere brick Gothic Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari holds many surprises. It has the second tallest campanile in Venice after St Mark's, and contains numerous masterpieces of painting and sculpture by the likes of Titian, Bellini and Donatello, plus a number of important doges' tombs, as well as Titian's tomb. Titian's majestic painting of The Assumption in the sanctuary, with its dramatic movement and coloring, is the work that established Titian's reputation as one of the greatest of all Italian painters. Even if you feel you've seen too many churches already, this one is definitely worth visiting and we recommend investing in the audio guide to get the best out of your time here.

Visit this underrated art museum featuring works by the famed Renaissance artist Tintoretto.

Next door to the Frari, one of the most magnificent of Venice's charitable associations, The Scuola Grande di San Rocco is one of the most magnificent of Venice's charitable associations. The building was completed in 1560, and Tintoretto won a competition held to select an artist to decorate the interior. Over the next 23 years, he executed an incomparable series of paintings that cover the walls and ceilings. According to the writer Jan Morris, "no collection of sacred pictures is more overwhelming of impact than the immense series of Tintorettos in the Scuola [...] - often dark, often grandiose, often incomprehensible, but culminating in the huge masterpiece of the Crucifixion, which Velazquez humbly copied, and before which, to this day, you may still see strong men moved to tears."

Walk over or ride under the most famous bridge on the Grand Canal.

The 16th-century Rialto Bridge is the most iconic bridge in Venice. With a width of other 75 feet (23m) and span of over 100 feet (31m), the wide stone footbridge crosses over the Grand Canal and connects the San Marco and San Polo districts. It stands on the spot of an earlier wooden drawbridge which collapsed under the weight of a crowd gathered on it to watch a wedding procession. It took almost 150 years before the current Rialto bridge was built, this time in stone, and thus still stands as a symbol of the city. Surrounded by tourist shops and pricey restaurants, it sits on 12,000 wooden pilings and will be forever immortalised in millions of photographs as the backdrop to the classic Venetian photo shot, which captures the city's gondolas as they ferry lovers around the Grand Canal. While for many a gondola ride is a must-do experience in Venice, it's also possible to admire the bridge on foot. For a less-pricey way of seeing it from the water, you can always take the Number 1 local Vaporetto (water bus) and see the bridge as you pass underneath. 

Experience the sights, tastes, and smells of Venice's historic "Pescaria" fish market, as well as the fresh produce market.

Located close to the Rialto Bridge stands the Rialto Market, "the incomparable fish market of Venice, a glorious wet, colorful, high-smelling concourse of the sea, to which in the down hours fleets of barges bring the day's supply of sea-foods" (Jan Morris). Established well before the bridge was built, Venice's iconic market is a sight to behold, with colourful vegetable stalls and loud market vendors touting for business. It is a great spot for photographs and of course for a taste of the freshly caught fish with a host of appetising snacks on offer. Adjacent to the fish market you'll find a produce market, which is also important for a city which demands fresh ingredients for its cuisine. Keep in mind that the markets close at 1pm, and both markets are closed on Sundays (the fish market is also closed on Mondays).

Explore the staterooms and masterpieces inside this famous Gothic-style Palace.

Important Note: Entry lines can be very long. We suggest taking advantage of skip the line entry. As the name suggests, the Palace was the official residence of the Venetian rulers, the Doges, and the chief magistrates. The building was founded in the 9th century, but the present one dates from the 14th century. Tour its elaborate staterooms, grand halls and the 24-carat golden staircase before seeking out its collection of priceless masterpieces by Venetian artists including Titan, Veronese and Tintoretto. Be sure to spend some time in the most incredible room of all, the Chamber of the Great Council, the assembly hall where all Venetian patricians gathered to participate in the running of the city - up to 2,500 at any one time. There you will find the Doge's throne and the world's longest canvas painting in the world, Tintoretto's Il Paradiso.

Explore the staterooms and masterpieces inside this famous Gothic-style Palace.

Important Note: Entry lines can be very long. We suggest taking advantage of skip the line entry. As the name suggests, the Palace was the official residence of the Venetian rulers, the Doges, and the chief magistrates. The building was founded in the 9th century, but the present one dates from the 14th century. Tour its elaborate staterooms, grand halls and the 24-carat golden staircase before seeking out its collection of priceless masterpieces by Venetian artists including Titan, Veronese and Tintoretto. Be sure to spend some time in the most incredible room of all, the Chamber of the Great Council, the assembly hall where all Venetian patricians gathered to participate in the running of the city - up to 2,500 at any one time. There you will find the Doge's throne and the world's longest canvas painting in the world, Tintoretto's Il Paradiso.

Explore the staterooms and masterpieces inside this famous Gothic-style Palace.

Important Note: Entry lines can be very long. We suggest taking advantage of skip the line entry. As the name suggests, the Palace was the official residence of the Venetian rulers, the Doges, and the chief magistrates. The building was founded in the 9th century, but the present one dates from the 14th century. Tour its elaborate staterooms, grand halls and the 24-carat golden staircase before seeking out its collection of priceless masterpieces by Venetian artists including Titan, Veronese and Tintoretto. Be sure to spend some time in the most incredible room of all, the Chamber of the Great Council, the assembly hall where all Venetian patricians gathered to participate in the running of the city - up to 2,500 at any one time. There you will find the Doge's throne and the world's longest canvas painting in the world, Tintoretto's Il Paradiso.

Explore the staterooms and masterpieces inside this famous Gothic-style Palace.

Important Note: Entry lines can be very long. We suggest taking advantage of skip the line entry. As the name suggests, the Palace was the official residence of the Venetian rulers, the Doges, and the chief magistrates. The building was founded in the 9th century, but the present one dates from the 14th century. Tour its elaborate staterooms, grand halls and the 24-carat golden staircase before seeking out its collection of priceless masterpieces by Venetian artists including Titan, Veronese and Tintoretto. Be sure to spend some time in the most incredible room of all, the Chamber of the Great Council, the assembly hall where all Venetian patricians gathered to participate in the running of the city - up to 2,500 at any one time. There you will find the Doge's throne and the world's longest canvas painting in the world, Tintoretto's Il Paradiso.