10-day NORTH ITALIAN TOUR

Passengers are picked up at the Amerigo Vespucci Airport in Florence and then transferred by coach to the city of Lucca, to their hotel. After an orientation dinner, the first day is spent exploring the charming medieval town of Lucca on a walking tour, followed by an afternoon visit to the Florence American Cemetery to pay tribute to those American soldiers who paid the ultimate price for the liberation of Italy. In the following days, we will visit several important points of the former Gothic line, Borgo a Mozzano with its iconic medieval bridge Ponte del Diavolo, plus Giogo Pass and Futa Pass. Here, you will have the opportunity to see the remains of this extensive defensive line: bunkers, trenches, anti-tank obstacles and museums dedicated to educating about the operations in this area. Beyond that, you'll also have time to explore the most impressive and beautiful cities of the European Renaissance: Florence with its abundant museums and fine art treasures, and Pisa with its famous Leaning Tower.

After arriving in Milan, the next day we will stroll around the sites of Milan that were significant in the rise and fall of fascism, including Piazzale Loreto, where the corpses of Mussolini, his mistress and his followers were hung by partisans, a symbolic act and scene of the cruelty of fascism and the civil war. We learn also about the liberation of Milan, which marked the eventual liberation of entire Italy. The next day we visit Lake Como, on the shores of which lies the town of Dongo, where Mussolini was captured and executed slightly south along the lakeshore at Giulino de Mezzegra. In the town of Como, we take a ferry to the picturesque town of Bellagio, a scenic place greatly admired by President J. F. Kennedy. After returning to Milan, the next day we take a tour of the historical-cultural center of the city, the former medieval fortification, the Sforza Castle; then, we visit the Santa Maria delle Grazie to see the famous Last Supper mural. The afternoon is spent at the Leonardo da Vinci Museum, where everyone can learn more about the Renaissance master and his inventions. The tour ends with a farewell dinner. On the last day, our guests are taken to the Malpensa International Airport for their return flights.