THE HEART OF ITALY

The tour starts at 6.00pm on Tuesday 15 April, at the Hotel Cesari, Rome.

The tour ends after breakfast on Sunday 27 April, at the Palazzo San Lorenzo Hotel & Spa, Colle di Val d’Elsa, followed by a transfer to Florence train station or airport for your onward journey.

A transfer from Rome Fiumicino airport to the hotel will be organised by Academy Travel, please note however that rooms may not be available until early afternoon. This evening the group will meet in the hotel bar for a welcome drink, followed by a welcome dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight Rome (D)

This morning we gather for a talk on the Etruscans before a coach transfer to the Villa Giulia. Built by Pope Julius III in the 16th century, this magnificent palace is now home to Italy’s most comprehensive collection of Etruscan artefacts, assembled in the years after Italian unification as an expression of newly found patriotism and pride. After a break for lunch in the heart of the city, we make our way up to the Capitoline Museums – an impressive assemblage of art and archaeological museums holding one of Italy’s finest collections of classical sculpture. Our day concludes with a guided tour of the Roman Forum, where the imposing ruins of temples and public buildings attest to its place at the centre of public life in ancient Rome. Overnight Rome (B)

Departing Rome this morning we make our way north to Orvieto via the UNESCO World Heritage sites at Cerveteri and Tarquinia. In Cerveteri, an Etruscan city known to the Romans as Caere, we explore the “Banditaccia” necropolis, a mini-city of the dead with remarkable cylindrical tomb monuments. We also visit the town’s museum, whose notable collection includes two exceptional ceramic works, forcibly returned to Italy from the Getty and Metropolitan Museums in 2015, by the Athenian painter Euphronio. After free time for lunch we continue to Tarquinia, once one of the wealthiest and most important Etruscan cities. Here we visit the ancient necropolis at Monterozzi, where vivid frescoes and carved sarcophagi bring the Etruscan daily world dramatically to life. We also view the archaeological collection in the Tarquinia Museum, which includes an exceptional pair of Etruscan high-relief winged terracotta horses that once decorated the nearby Ara della Regina temple. Arriving in Orvieto in the early evening, there is time to relax before we meet for dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight Orvieto (B, D)

The old town of Orvieto sits high on a volcanic outcrop offering spectacular views across the Umbrian plains. Roman sources suggests the Fanum Voltumnae – the meeting place for the Etruscan’s principal religious festival – was held nearby the ancient city, and our guided visit includes the archaeological museum which holds a fine collection of Etruscan artefacts. We also visit Orvieto’s magnificent Duomo, elegantly balancing Romanesque and Gothic elements and considered one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Italy. After a break for lunch, we venture below the streets to discover an astonishing maze of hand-dug caves and underground passages, some dating back to the Etruscan era. The spaces were once used for pressing olive oil, sheltering animals and firing pottery. The afternoon and evening are free to stroll the cobbled lanes of this lovely town and enjoy dinner at leisure. Overnight Orvieto (B)

Our first destination this morning is the well preserved Necropoli del Tufo site on the outskirts of Orvieto. Here our guided tour includes the 5th-century BCE Etruscan family tombs, arranged along sepulchral “streets” and bearing a striking similarity to modern Italian funerary architecture. From here we head to Bomarzo where we visit the Sacro Bosco, an extraordinary park of stone monsters, commissioned in the late 16th century by Pier Francesco Orsini, Duke of Bomarzo. According to an inscription on an obelisk in the park, the apparently random choice of subject is designed “sol per sfogare il Core” (just to set the heart free). After lunch together nearby, we make our way to Bagnaia where we visit the Villa Lante, another exceptional 16th-century estate where perfectly proportioned and richly detailed gardens are complemented by a harmonious choreography of cascading water. This evening we enjoy a glass of wine and a talk from our tour leader in our hotel. Overnight Orvieto (B, L)

An early departure this morning takes us south to the town of Caprarola. Here we visit the massive five-sided Villa Farnese which dominates the town, built on a site acquired by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (later Pope Paul III) in 1504. Completed by his grandson, another Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the villa is a fine example of Renaissance and Mannerist architecture, whose five floors of rooms are famous for their frescoes, many celebrating the Farnese family themselves and completed by some of the leading artists of the time. The villa is complemented by equally impressive gardens complete with moat and drawbridges, inspired by Villa d’Este in Tivoli. Rejoining our coach we continue to Viterbo, where there is time for lunch in this lovely town of Etruscan origin whose historic heart is surrounded by medieval walls and towers. We then gather for a guided tour which takes us through the historic centre, visiting the Priori Palace, the Popes’ Palace, Cathedral of San Lorenzo and the beautifully preserved medieval area of San Pellegrino. Returning to Orvieto, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Orvieto (B)

Departing Orvieto this morning, we make our way to Sovana via Lake Bolsena – an impressive crater lake formed over 600,000 years ago when a series of volcanic eruptions gave central west Italy its characteristic geomorphology. We stop at Civita di Bagnoregio, a beautiful village perched high on a slowly eroding hilltop, accessible only via footbridge from nearby Bagnoregio. Rejoining our coach we continue to Montefiascone. Perched high on the Volsini Hills and known as the “Belvedere della Tuscia”, the town is famous for the exceptional views it offers over the lake and surrounding countryside. Arriving in Sovana in the afternoon, we check-in to our hotel with time to freshen up before a relaxed stroll through the town’s piazza and dinner in a nearby restaurant. Overnight Sovana (B, D)

Our day begins with a guided tour of Sovana, enjoying the medieval architecture of the Piazza del Pretorio then strolling down the main street to the Duomo, one of the best-preserved Romanesque churches in Tuscany. We then join our coach and head to the Parco Archeologico Città del Tufo, where we follow the “Via Etrusche”, a fascinating network of ancient pathways cut deep into the tufa stone, winding through the forest. We also visit the impressive temple shaped “Tomb of Hildebrand”. Dating back to the 2nd century BCE, and named somewhat incongruously for Pope Gregory VII (born Hildebrand of Sovana), this Etruscan tomb is considered one of the most significant monuments in the region. Making our way to Pitigliano there is free time for lunch before our tour of the synagogue and subterranean Jewish ritual baths, a testament to the town’s Jewish population which was established here as early as the 16th century. Returning to Sovana, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Sovana (B)

Travelling to Vulci this morning we visit the town’s ancient remains, which now lie in a picturesque natural park surrounded by the Fiora river. Our tour includes the extraordinary Necropoli dell’Osteria with its elaborate Etruscan tombs and the associated archaeological museum, housed in a former medieval abbey accessible via a spectacular bridge of Etrusco-Roman origin which spans the gorge below. After lunch together at the nearby Casale dell’Osteria, we move town and century to the wonderful Giardino dei Tarocchi at Capalbio. Here the surrealist creations of French-American artist Niki di Saint Phalle, inspired by Gaudi’s Parc Guell and based on exotic tarot imagery, can be seen as a 20th-century version of the Sacro Bosco we’ve seen in Bomarzo. We return to the hotel in the late afternoon. Overnight Sovana (B, L)

We leave Sovana today and make our way to Colle di Val d’Elsa, the ideal base for our explorations over the next few days. We stop en route at Sorano, making our way up the labyrinth of narrow streets to the Orsini fortress, built on a spur above the village and offering beautiful views across the landscape. We then continue to Bagno Vignoni, renowned for the hot springs which bubble up into a pool which serves as the town’s main square. These springs were once a place for healing and refreshment for tired pilgrims on the Via Francigena but today bathing is encouraged in more salubrious spas elsewhere in town. There is time for a relaxed stroll and lunch before we rejoin our coach and continue to the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, a large Benedictine monastery set amongst woodlands, founded by Sienese aristocrat Giovanni de’ Tolomei in 1313. Here our guided tour takes us through the beautifully frescoed cloisters, church, hall, pharmacy and library, which houses over 40,000 volumes and incunabula. Checking into our hotel in Colle di Val d’Elsa, there is time to relax before meeting for dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight Colle di Val d’Elsa (B, D)

A short drive west of Colle di Val d’Elsa is Volterra, a walled medieval town with an even older Etruscan heart. This morning our guided tour takes us through the historic centre of town, visiting the well preserved ancient remains and medieval town square. We also visit the Museo Etrusco Guarnacci, one of the first public museums in Italy, founded in 1761 by aristocratic abbot Mario Guarnacci with his vast collection of antiquities, many fossicked from the surrounding countryside. There is free time for lunch and to explore this town which has been famous for the mining, processing and carving of alabaster since ancient times. Rejoining our coach after lunch we continue to San Gimignano, renowned for the soaring towers which dominate its skyline, according it a reputation as a ‘medieval Manhattan’. We visit the Duomo, lavishly frescoed by Gozzoli, Ghirlandaio and others, and the handsome medieval city hall. There is also the option to climb the ‘Torre Grossa’, the great civic tower affording more spectacular views across the countryside. Returning to our hotel, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Colle di Val d’Elsa (B)

The pink-hued city of Siena was built to reflect the concept that an earthly city should be a mirror of the heavenly city of Jerusalem, an idea which informed the construction of the city’s civic and sacred buildings. Our guided visit here will include the monumental white and green striped Duomo with its lavish mosaics and great art including statues by Bernini, Michelangelo and Nicola Pisani; the Piccolomini Library, illustrated with an outstanding fresco cycle by Pinturicchio; the Palazzo Pubblico, a potent symbol of political power whose interior includes Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s frescoed Allegories of Good and Bad Government and the majestic Piazza del Campo. There is free time for lunch and individual sightseeing after our tour. Weather permitting, we’ll also meet for drinks in the Piazza del Campo before rejoining our coach to return to our hotel. Tonight we enjoy a farewell meal in a local restaurant. Overnight Colle di Val d’Elsa (B, D)

This morning we transfer by coach to Florence main railway station or airport where the tour officially ends in time to accommodate onward travel plans. (B)

Throughout the tour we stay in four-star hotels. Where possible we have selected hotels that preserve the history and traditions of the region.

• Rome, 9Hotel Cesàri (2 nights)

• Orvieto, Hotel Palazzo Piccolomini (4 nights)

• Sovana, Sovana Hotel & Resort (3 nights)

• Colle di Val d’Elsa, Palazzo San Lorenzo Hotel & Spa (3 nights)