Excursions
Excursions programme, description and conditions are indicated below. To sign up for excursions, please tick corresponding boxes on the online registration.
- All tours will be conducted in English but most of the guides
speak several languages - Full day excursion includes lunch
- The entrance into churches requires appropriate attire (no shorts, miniskirts or uncovered shoulders)
- For all excursions it is recommended to wear comfortable shoes
- Meeting point for all excursions: Piazza della Republica 47 (just outside Hotel Exedra) except the Vatican Museums and Borghese Gallery
Excursions will be confirmed if a minimum of 20 participants is achieved. Full refunds will be made if an activity is cancelled due to lack of participants.
Half-Day Excursions
Classic Rome
An itinerary by coach and on foot to visit the classic monuments of Rome. Stops: Trevi Fountain - Pantheon - Navona Square - St. Peter's Basilica
Crossing Piazza della Repubblica with the fountain of the Nayads, our local guide will take on a pleasant stroll through the historical centre, where you can admire the Trevi Fountain, the column of Marcus Aurelius, Palazzo di Montecitorio, designed by Bernini, the Pantheon (visit inside), Palazzo Madama - seat of the Italian Senate - and Navona square.
Passing alongside Castel Sant' Angelo our coach will take us to the Basilica of Sant' Peter (visit inside except when there are religious celebrations) where you can admire one of Michelangelo's magnificent works of art , "la Pietà".
Wednesday, 16 June 2010, 14:00-18:00
Thursday, 17 June 2010, 09:30-13:30
Price: EUR 30
(included in the accompanying person's registration fee)
Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
An itinerary on foot to discover the treasures of one of the richest museums in the world.
Meeting Point: entrance gate of the Vatican Museums 8.15 am
Our guide will take you inside the Vatican Museums before the official opening-time: in this way you will skip the long lines and you will have the chance to admire the impressive beauty of the place.
Passing through the Court of the Pigna, designed by Bramante in the 16th century, you will enter inside the Belvedere Palace of the late 15th century; in the first room is housed the Apoxyomenos by Lisippo, the only Roman copy still existing of this Greek masterpiece. You are now in the heart of the museum, the Belvedere Courtyard. It was here that were placed the first masterpieces of Greek and Roman art exhibited in the Renaissance: the Apollo Belvedere, one of the most famous works of antiquity, and the Laocoon Group, defined by Pline the Elder "the biggest sculpture known at that time".
Continuing the visit you will quickly pass the secondary galleries to reach the room of the Belvedere Torso, work of the 1st century B.C., much admired by the Renaissance artists, especially Michelangelo. Passing through the Round Room, with a monumental basin in porphyry in the centre, you will go into the Greek Cross Room where the splendid Sarcophagi of St. Helene and St. Constance are housed. Walking through the Galleries of the Candelabra, of the Maps and of the Tapestries you will reach the Apostolic Palace, the oldest section of the complex of the Vatican Palaces.
Your guide will show you the Apartments of Julius II, splendidly decorated by Raphael and his assistants, and then the Sistine Chapel, where you will admire one of the highest masterpieces of art: the Genesis and the Last Judgment by Michelangelo, which have been recently restored and recovered their original
splendor. Leaving the Sistine Chapel and going down the Royal Stairway, projected by Bernini, the guide will conduct you to the Basilica of St. Peter, the most important temple of Christianity, which gathers inside 2000 years of history and famous works of art as the Pietà by Michelangelo.
The visit ends at St. Peter Square, destination of Catholics coming from all over the world, embraced by the Colonnade, architectural masterpiece by Bernini, under the symbolic protection of the "Cuppolone", as the Romans call Michelangelo's dome.
Thursday, 17 June 2010, 08:15-12:15
Meeting Point: entrance gate of the Vatican Museums 8.15 am
Price: EUR 66
Imperial Rome
An itinerary on foot and by coaches to discover the Rome of the Caesars
Stops: Capitole Hill - Panoramic tour of Circus Maximus, St. Paul's gate and Pyramid of Caius Cestius - Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls - Colosseum.
We drive along the Street of the Imperial Forum arriving at Piazza Venezia with its impressive monument dedicated to King Victor Emmanuel II and to the Unknown Soldier, we then continue on foot to the famous Piazza del Campidoglio designed by Michelangelo from where you have a fantastic view over the Roman Forum. Our coach will continue to view the Circus Maximus and the Pyramid of Caius Cestius before arriving at the Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls (visit inside). The tour is completed with a stop at the imposing Colosseum.
Thursday, 17 June 2010, 09:00-13:00
Price: EUR 43
Christian Rome and the Catacombs
Stops: Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore - Basilica of San Giovanni - The Ancient Appian Way - The Catacombs
The first stop will be on the Esquiline Hill where our guide will show you the treasure of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Then the coach will stop at the Holy Staircase, the Lateran Palace and the Basilica of San Giovanni - the cathedral of Rome (visit inside). Going along the Ancient Via Appia, we will pass by the Chapel of "Domine Quo Vadis" before arriving at the Catacombs, the ancient underground cemeteries and first hiding places for the Christians. A visit will be made to either the Catacombs of S. Callisto, Santa Domitilla or San Sebastiano depending upon seasonal conditions. The tour will end with a spectacular view of the Baths of the Emperor Caracalla.
Please pay attention before choosing this excursion, as a part of the visit follows underground passages.
Friday, 18 June 2010, 09:30-13:30
Price: EUR 50
Borghese Gallery and Park
The most precious collection of paintings and sculptures from the Roman to the Baroque time in Rome
Stops: Borghese Gallery, Villa Borghese, Via Veneto
The most beautiful residence of Rome was built in 1613 by the Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of the pope Paul V, to receive the Roman society and to delight his friends with a splendid collection of precious works of art, ancient pieces discovered in Rome or modern ones commissioned to famous artists of the time.
The guide will take you through the splendid fresco-painted galleries showing you the masterpieces of the collection of sculpture: "Apollo & Dafne" sculpted by adolescent G.L. Bernini, whose genius was immediately perceived by the cardinal, "David" sculpted when the artist was 21, "The Rape of Proserpina" another of Bernini's youthful works, "Ermaphrodite", a copy from a Hellenic original, "Aeneas and Anchises" sculpted by Bernini with his father's help and one sculpture of his maturity "Truth". You will then see Canova's masterpiece
"Victorious Venus", sensual portrait of Pauline Borghese, wife of Camillo Borghese and sister of Napoleon.
The picture Gallery houses a collection of great paintings of the early and late Renaissance, belonging to the Borghese family and which were once inside the main residence in town. The second part of the guided tour will be outdoors, walking through the delightful Borghese Park, the Pincio Terrazza with its breath-taking view, the panoramic Pincio promenade and the Spanish Steps from the top.
Meeting point: main entrance of the Borghese Gallery at 14:00.
Friday, 18 June 2010, 14:00-17:00
Price: EUR 66
Full-Day Excursions
Visit of Rome
An itinerary by coach and on foot through the city highlights.
The tour is a trip through the memory of Rome, amongst historical buildings and classical monuments, ancient courtyards and shops. Our visit of the city of the 16th century starts from the Tiber, big artery of the town. In the heart of Rome, a little island on the river: the Isola Tiberina, which was the original landing-place for the city and its centre. Its characteristic shape (the form of a ship's bow) and the legend of its foundation are just two of its attractions that fascinate visitors. On the little island we will find the Church of San Bartolomeo and be fascinated by the legend of the ship of Esculapius and the sanctuary dedicated to him.
On the left riverside, the Ghetto: established in Rome by order of Pope Paul Carafa in 1555 and dismantled in the middle of the 19th century under Pope Pius IX. With a little walk we will reach Piazza Mattei, characterized by the Turtle Fountain, worked by Giacomo della Porta and completed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Not far from this square is Campo de' Fiori: the oldest fruit and vegetable market in Rome. Campo de' Fiori with its flower stalls and cries of its vendors is a Roman square par excellence.
At the end of this excursion Piazza Farnese: this elegant square of immense proportions welcomes the visitor, between the stage wings of the fountains and the majestic architectural back-drop of the Farnese Palace.
Break and lunch in a typical Italian restaurant.
In the afternoon: Two centuries of the history of Rome, starting with the visit of Piazza Navona the "living room" of Baroque Rome, court of the Pamphilj family and setting for the artistic wonders of two great protagonists of the 17th century: Bernini and Borromini.
Conserved in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi we can admire the probably most well-known works by Caravaggio. After this church we will visit the Pantheon: a perfect round temple and model for generations of architects from ancient times until modern. The Pantheon amazes visitors due to the perfection of its forms and the dimensions of its vast internal spaces.
Going on with our tour we will reach the Church of Sant'Ignazio di Loyola: the second Jesuit church in Rome conserves a frescoed vault of a rare and perfect plan of perspective which gives the visitor the impression of an optical illusion. Not far from Sant'Ignazio, Piazza Colonna: in this square we find the column
(colonna) of Marcus Aurelius which some Romans call Antonine and the Chigi Palace, headquarters of the President's Council of Ministers located next to the Italian Parliament.
Now, the Trevi Fountain: the most famous Roman fountain still astonishes the visitor with the scenographic impact it has on those who arrive in the square from the many streets which converge there. At the end of the tour the Quirinal Hill: on this hill and square there was the summer residence for the popes, which is today the residence of the President of the Republic. In the centre of the square the imposing obelisk that stands between the two statues of the Dioscuri.
Friday, 18 June 2010, 09:00-17:30
Price: EUR 105 (lunch included)
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