Top 10 reason to travel with your alumni association:

1. Travel with fellow alums
2. Exciting itinerary especially designed for young alumni
3. Superior or first class hotels at great rates
4. Reward for your hard work
5. Reliable quality programs with many great experiences included
6. Network and bond with former classmates and young alums - make friends for a lifetime!
7. Save 40% on cost over 'do-it-yourself packages'
8. Perfect balance between arranged itinerary and free time
9. Experiences that will broaden your world view and provide and advantage in today's global job market
10. Once-in-a lifetime experience!

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Day 1: Travel to Venice, Italy

Your Italy-bound jet heads for Venice, the “sinking city.” [In-flight meals]
Meals: In-flight

Day 2: Venice

Upon arrival transfer to your hotel. Leisure time before this evening’s welcome orientation and introductory tour of Venice with your local host and professional art historian. Prepare for the exciting days to follow and celebrate your arrival in Venice at our Welcome Dinner at a local tavern.
Meals: Breakfast, welcome dinner

Day 3: Venice - Excursion to Murano Island

Venice is built on one hundred and seventeen small islands with hundreds of canals connected by over four hundred bridges. This morning, after breakfast we will take a private boat to Murano Island. This tiny Venetian island is the home of Venice's glassmaking industry. Glass production was moved to Murano Island from the main part of Venice because its production posed quite a fire hazard. At the Murano glass-blowing workshop we will watch how intricate glass sculptures are produced using  historic methods of the old masters. Afterwards, we return to the elegant St. Mark’s Square. The afternoon is free for you to explore and walk along the narrow maze of back streets and bridges, see the famous Campanile Bell Tower, Doge’s Palace and feed the flocks of friendly pigeons. Tonight consider a gondola ride, glide through the intricate maze of canals beneath arched bridges passing 12th and 18th-century marble palaces.
Meals: Breakfast

Day 4: Venice - Ravenna - Florence

This morning we journey southwards on our private motor coach and arrive in Ravenna to discover its 1,500-year-old churches, decorated with best-in-the-West Byzantine mosaics in the Basilica di San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Lunch will be in the heart of the old city at the Ca' de Ven, an old vaulted wine cellar, that is very popular with the locals. You'll sit at long tables along with fellow diners and feast on platters of delicious cold cuts, Piadine (griddle breads), accompanied by divine local wines. We continue to Florence, Golden City of the Renaissance and birthplace of Michelangelo. Check in to our hotel, settle in and relax, or start exploring Florence by night. Discover why Florence is considered the art capital of the world.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 5: Florence - Tuscany Excursion

Meet our Florence art historian this morning for an art walking tour that includes, among others, the Gates of Paradise, the marble Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, Giotto’s Bell Tower and Santa Croce Cathedral. We end our sightseeing at Mercato di San Lorenzo and have free time to sample delicious foods in local taverns full of character. Located between the Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Medici Chapel, this colorful market offers great shopping bargains too. Later this afternoon consider a visit to the Uffizi Galleries to see the works of Giotto, Botticelli, Raphael and da Vinci or walk over the historic Ponte Vecchio spanning the Arno River. Join our Chianti Vineyards Excursion including wine, cheese and olive oil tasting at the Castello da Verrazzano in Greve this afternoon, one of the area's most picturesque towns.
Meals: Breakfast

Day 6: Florence - Assisi - Rome

This morning we journey past Chianti vineyards to Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order in the town in 1208. Enjoy a private guided tour of Assisi including the Basilica di San Francesco. Then free time for lunch and exploring on your own with a visit to the Basilica di Santa Chiara or climbing the Rocca Maggiore. We continue by private motor coach to the eternal city of Rome. Check in to your hotel in the late afternoon. You will receive a ROMA pass tonight. This pass includes a ticket for public transportation, as well as your admission to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum for the next day and reduced admission to several museums of your choice.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 7: Rome - Vatican City

After breakfast, today’s city tour takes us to the Colosseum, where gladiators were thrown to the lions and the historical ruins of Caesar’s Forum. We will then make our way into Vatican City, the world’s smallest state, where we will tour St. Peter’s Basilica. The tour ends around noon and you may want to visit the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel or simply return to the hotel to relax.  Get ready for our mouth-watering dinner in Trastevere tonight complete with Italian specialties and music. On the way back we drive by the illuminated monuments hailing from over 20 centuries ago.
Meals: Breakfast, Traditonal Roman Banquet dinner

Day 8: Rome

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast at our hotel. Today is a free day to enjoy Rome. Use your ROMA Pass and visit the Castello Sant’Angelo or Ara Pacis. Continue to the Pantheon and don’t forget to throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain. Discover the “Eternal City’s” posh shops on the Via Condotti, sip espresso on Piazza Navona or visit famous art galleries. Then enjoy “Cucina Italiana” at one of the fabulous ristorantes.
Meals: Breakfast

Day 9: Rome - Pompeii - Sorrento

This morning we travel through sunny olive groves, lining the way south to Pompeii, the city buried in 79 A.D. by 20 feet of ashes and lava after Mt. Vesuvius’ volcanic eruption. Once in Pompeii, a local guide will entertain us with historic tales while walking you through the archaeological excavation site. Lunch will be included in Pompeii. Then continue to Sorrento which lies perched on the cliffs above the blue gulf of Naples, where Ulysses resisted the call of the Sirens in Homer’s “Odyssey.” The afternoon and evening is free to settle in and explore Sorrento on your own.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 10: Sorrento - Capri Excursion (weather permitting)

After breakfast, we board a ferry boat in Sorrento to the famed Isle of Capri, once the playground of Roman Emperors. Your tour director will provide information on how to explore the island: Visit the Blue Grotto, Capri & Anacapri and the Villa San Michele.  In the late afternoon we return to Sorrento by ferry boat. Tonight enjoy free time in Sorrento. Consider attending a Tarantella Show which dramatizes some of the region’s most important stories and historical moments. The show is an incredible journey through the ages from medieval times until today and is great fun to watch.
Meals: Breakfast

Day 11: Sorrento - Positano & Amalfi Coast Optional Excursion

Today, join our optional excursion. The Amalfi Coast offers one of the world's great bus rides! As we drive along the narrow coastal roads, notice how the Mediterranean, a sheer 500-foot drop below, glistens in the sun. We stop in breathtaking Positano whose town hangs precariously on the cliffs along one the most spectacular stretches of coastline. Enjoy the beach, check out the sites or just window-shop at chic boutiques. Return to Sorrento in the early afternoon. Enjoy our special farewell dinner at a local restaurant in Sorrento.

Meals: Breakfast, Farewell dinner
Optional Excursion: Positano & Amalfi Coast

Day 12: Travel Home

After breakfast say farewell to Sorrento and new found friends and transfer to the airport in Naples. (Transfers are included for those taking AESU flights on regular group dates.)
Meals: Breakfast, In-flight

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