Italian Treasures, Tuscany, Cinque Terre
(250 Reviews)
99% Recommended
Ann Castagna Morin
Southampton, MA
Luxury River Cruise & European travel specialist
I have had a sense of wanderlust since I was a child, always yearning to go off and explore the world.
I will take my own personal passion for travel and use it to craft an extraordinary luxury experience for you.
Europe is my specia...
I have had a sense of wanderlust since I was a child, always yearning to go off and explore the world.
I will take my own personal passion for travel and use it to craft an extraordinary luxury experience for you.
Europe is my specialty, I have dual citizenship holding both Italian and US passports. I have personally traveled to over 3/4 of the countries in Europe and have visited Italy more times than I can count.
The first-hand knowledge I gain from my own adventures I will utilize to create your inspiring journey.
I work with many tour providers, whether you wish a private custom excursion, a rail package with a local concierge in each city, or a group tour, I not only can arrange it, I have personally experienced the product.
As much as I enjoy land tours, I have become enamored with luxury river cruises and small ship/yacht cruising.
After my first glide down the Danube I was hooked!
I have sailed 20 different small ship itineraries in both Europe and Asia and have two more currently booked. I make it a point to cruise at least once a year so that I can keep up with new ships, and offerings.
It is one thing to read about a product, to fully understand all the nuances of a journey, and how it will fit their client's personality, one needs to experience it first-hand, and more than once!
On a river cruise luxury abounds with high end bath products, indulgent linens, and extraordinary service all along your journey. River cruising is such a delightful experience, similar to staying in a high-end boutique hotel, except that it travels along with you.
No detail is overlooked for your comfort, but you can leave your fancy clothes at home, I call it "laid-back luxury".
A small ship/yacht cruise on Ponant, Scenic, Windstar, Azamara or Seabourn is a journey filled with pure indulgence. These small ships can visit ports the large vessels must bypass and are able to stay late into the evening. With guest capacity ranging from 189-700 there are no crowds or lines like the large ocean vessels.
Wading through all of the choices in ships and itineraries can be overwhelming. I will answer all your questions and show you photos and videos from my own journeys to narrow down the perfect cruise for you.
As one of the top selling Key Partners in the world for both Globus Tours and Avalon Waterways I have the unparalleled experience and skills to ask the right questions to match you up with the perfect itinerary for your interests and budget.
I look forward to working with you!
Can Be Reached At
1-413-552-8941
The one and only Cinque Terre
Italy is my favorite place in the world!
Each year I visit, exploring new areas and returning to others I especially enjoyed.I like the ease of escorted tours as it allows me to sit back and enjoy the scenery rather than having to navigate traffic or look at maps.
The first escorted tour I ever took was called "Italian Treasures" it is a great package. It not only covers the "big three", Rome, Florence, and Venice, but also some special places like the Cinque Terre. The ease of having VIP skip the line tickets and tours is great for places like the Vatican.
The tour began in Rome and the group enjoyed VIP skip the line tours of the Vatican, St. Peters, and the Sistine Chapel as well as an overview of the city and then the Colosseum. My husband and I "played hooky" from the activities and went to Lake Bracciano for the day with my dear friend Stefano who lives in the area. It is perfectly fine to skip group activities when you are on a tour, nothing is compulsory it is your vacation. It is important be polite and let the tour director know what is going on, but, if you would prefer to go shopping than visit a church go for it!
I treat tours like a buffet, I take what I want and leave the rest, they are a great value getting me where I want to go with great hotels and inclusions.
After Rome, the tour headed north to the walled city of Lucca, you HAVE to get up and walk on the walls it is like a park up there!Plus, from the ramparts you can see that there are three versions of the walls, the one you are walking on and two other inner ones dating back to the Middle Ages. The city itself is in fantastic shape, look for the statue of the Archangel Michael on top of the basilica. Because of the walls the city is fantastically preserved and one of the best examples of Medieval architecture in Italy. The walls also create a natural amphitheater and many famous bands from around the world travel to this small comune to perform, the Rolling Stones were slated to arrive a week after my trip.
From Lucca we headed to La Spezia to for one of the highlights of the tour, a boat trip to the Cinque Terre. The colorful houses clinging to the cliffs are something you are not likely to see many other places. We stopped at three of the towns ending in Monterosso al Mare. The group was going to have lunch after free time, I opted to go swimming instead which was a great choice. (I wore my bathing suit under my clothes.) When you Monterosso, walk towards the rocky formations at the end of the beach.You will come across "il Gigante" a massive statue of Neptune carved into the mountain created back in 1910.He is missing his clamshell and his arms, a casualty of the war, but is still an impressive sight to behold.
Exploring Tuscany we stopped in Siena and my favorite hilltop Tuscan town San Gimignano followed by a wine tasting at a castle in Greve in Chianti.The castle is owned by the Verranazzo family, the same people responsible for the bridge in New York. In Florence, the group did the VIP tour circuit seeing David etc. and I went shopping as I have been to Florence many times, you can get great deals on leather and gold in Florence. I highly recommend you try some Chianina beef while in Florence, which is famous for a cut called bistecca fiorentina which is immensely huge, you can get something smaller and still be having the same cow.
We headed toward Venice with a stop in Verona on the way, it is a lovely town with a great opera theater that looks like a mini colosseum.I get a kick out of people who get so excited to see "Juliet's balcony" in Verona, Juliet is not a real person, Shakespeare made her up.The central piazza is very special with frescos and a fountain that has a ancient statue as a centerpiece.
We entered Venice in style via private water taxi, I have been to Venice many times before so I skipped the included tours opting to get a Vaporetto pass instead. With a Vaporetto pass you are free to travel to travel all through the lagoon, we went to Murano, Burano, and to some lesser known areas.Venice does not have to be touristy if you know where to go.
After two nights we were off on our way to Assisi. Our hotel in Assisi had sweeping views over the Umbrian countryside it was just breathtaking. The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi is quite interesting, it is three churches stacked on top of each other.It has been hit by several earthquakes but never destroyed, the frescoes are quite impressive. We stopped in Orvieto on our way back to Rome and had a great farewell dinner at an opera restaurant that night. The opera dinner was quite funny and not dry or boring, everyone would enjoy it even if opera is not your thing.
This is a great all-around tour of Italy, it has an extension available to Sorrento, or you can do like I did and fly over to Sicily after to relax, give me a call and we can chat about your options!