8-Day Italy Tour: Rome, Florence, Venice with 4-Star Hotels
Three Italian cities, eight days, no logistics to arrange
An 8-day escorted coach tour from Rome visiting Florence and Venice, with seven nights in 4-star centrally located hotels, professional guides, and curated meals included. Days split between guided tours (Vatican Museums with skip-the-line entry, evening walking tours in Rome, local guides in each city), and free time to explore on your own. The itinerary moves through medieval Assisi and Siena, includes a spritz and cicchetti tasting in Venice, and ends with a wine region stop in Montepulciano on the return to Rome.
Options for this experience
4 optionsStep-by-step itinerary
Day 1: Arrival and Rome city tour
- Arrive and transfer to hotel
- Evening guided walking tour
- Explore city with hop on hop off bus
Day 2: Rome to Florence via Assisi and Siena
- Visit Assisi and St. Francis Basilica
- Free time for lunch in Assisi
- Travel to Siena and explore Piazza del Campo
- Check in at Florence hotel
- Dinner and overnight in Florence
Day 3: Florence and optional Pisa visit
- Breakfast in Florence
- Explore Florence city
- Lunch at Tuscan restaurant
- Optional: visit Pisa and Piazza dei Miracoli
- Evening at leisure and overnight in Florence
Day 4: Florence to Venice via Bologna
- Breakfast in Florence
- Discover Bologna city centre
- Enjoy local food experience in Bologna
- Travel to Venice and check in hotel
- Overnight in Venice
Day 5: Venice highlights and leisure
- Breakfast in Venice
- Private water-taxi to Piazza San Marco
- Visit Palazzo dei Dogi and Bridge of Sighs
- Enjoy spritz and cicchetti with tour leader
- Afternoon free time in Venice
- Return to hotel and overnight
Day 6: Venice to Rome via Tuscany wine region
- Breakfast in Venice
- Depart Venice for Tuscany wine region
- Stop and lunch in Montepulciano
- Free time in Montepulciano
- Travel to Rome and check in hotel
Day 7: Vatican Museums tour in Rome
- Breakfast in Rome
- Tour Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
- Visit Galleries of Tapestries and Maps
- Admire Raphael’s Rooms
- Tour ends at St. Peter’s Square
- Afternoon at leisure in Rome
Day 8: Departure from Rome
- Breakfast at hotel
- Transfer to airport
What’s included
- Seven nights in 4-star centrally located hotels (Rome, Florence, Venice).
- professional guide and local guides in each city.
- air-conditioned coach with onboard WiFi.
- Rome Hop On Hop Off panoramic bus ticket valid for a full day.
- dinner most nights.
- spritz and cicchetti tasting in Venice.
- skip-the-line Vatican Museums tour with guide.
- airport transfers to and from Rome.
- breakfast daily.
- Sunday No fixed time
Information
Eight-day escorted tour from Rome through Florence to Venice, staying in 4-star central hotels with expert guides and skip-the-line Vatican Museums access throughout.
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The experience
The tour starts with an evening guided walk through Rome's center (Jewish Ghetto, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps), then gives you a full day with a Hop On Hop Off bus ticket to explore at your own pace. From there the coach carries you north through Assisi, where you visit the Basilica of St. Francis on your own time, and Siena, a UNESCO World Heritage town built around the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo. Breakfast and dinner are included most nights. Lunch is your choice except in Montepulciano and Assisi (as of March 30th).
Florence gets a full day. You'll have lunch in a typical Tuscan restaurant near Piazza Santa Croce, then the afternoon free to walk the cobblestone streets or take an optional trip to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and Piazza dei Miracoli. Bologna appears as a brief stop on the way to Venice, with a local food experience added from March 30th onward. In Venice itself, a private water-taxi takes you to Piazza San Marco, where the tour leader offers you a spritz or prosecco and cicchetti, Venetian tapas, while you sit and take in the Palazzo dei Dogi and Bridge of Sighs. The rest of the afternoon is yours to wander the canals.
The return journey breaks in Montepulciano, a medieval wine town in Tuscany's Val di Chiana, where lunch is included and you have free time to explore or visit local wine houses before heading back to Rome. On your final full day, you enter the Vatican Museums with skip-the-line access and a guide who walks you through the Galleries of Tapestries, Geographical Maps, Raphael's Rooms, and the Sistine Chapel. The tour ends at St. Peter's Square. The basilica itself is not included. An airport transfer bookends the trip: arrival transfer on day one, departure transfer on day eight.
Top questions
What languages is the tour guided in?
Live guide in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
What's included in meals across the eight days?
Breakfast is included every morning. Dinner is included most nights in your hotel. Lunch varies: it's your choice in Rome and Florence, but included in Assisi (from March 30th), Montepulciano, and Venice. The spritz and cicchetti tasting in Venice counts as a light lunch included on that day.
Do I need to book the Pisa side trip in advance, or can I decide when I arrive in Florence?
The Pisa visit is optional and arranged on the day itself in Florence. You decide in the afternoon whether to join the short trip to see the Leaning Tower and Piazza dei Miracoli, or stay in the city.
What does skip-the-line access to the Vatican Museums actually mean?
Skip-the-line means you bypass the queue at the entrance and go straight in with your guide, who leads you through the Galleries of Tapestries and Maps, Raphael's Rooms, and the Sistine Chapel. The tour ends in St. Peter's Square but does not include entry to the basilica itself.
How much walking is involved each day?
The itinerary involves extensive walking at a fast pace, particularly in the city centers and during guided tours. The operator notes this is not suitable for travelers with mobility issues. They recommend booking a private or FIT package instead if you have mobility concerns.
Are Rome airport transfers included, or do I arrange my own transport?
Both arrival and departure transfers between Rome airport and your hotel are included in the tour price. You'll be met on arrival and transferred to your centrally located 4-star hotel. On day eight, a transfer takes you back to the airport after breakfast.
Operated by Gray Line I Love Rome by Carrani Tours. Explorevia does not run this tour: we compare it with similar options, and you book it with our booking partner.
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8-Day Italy Tour: Rome, Florence, Venice with 4-Star Hotels
8d · EN · ES · FR · PT · at your hotel
from € 1,789 per person
≈ US$ 2,010 in your currency
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