Lake Region State College is offering its fourth Travel with the President trip for community members 21 and older in May of 2024 with Journey through Italy: Milan to the Amalfi Coast. From the floating city of Venice to the splendors of the Sistine Chapel and the beauty of southern Italy’s shores, this trip is packed with iconic images, exciting adventures, and cultural cuisine—all within the borders of Italy. Check out the travel website and details here.
Trip Overview
The trip begins with the flight to Milan. You will have the option to see The Last Supper by Da Vinci after a tour of the largest cathedral in Italy. You can explore more on your own or take a boat ride on Como Lake. After a quick stop in Verona to see Romeo and Juliet’s balcony, continue to Venice. During your two days here, glide down a canal in a gondola and slip under the bridges that connect Venice’s historic buildings, then explore the shops looking for the glass for which the city is famous.
On Day 7, travel to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower, an infamous architectural blunder. Arrive in Florence, the birthplace of the Italian language, the Renaissance, and opera. Shop the famous Ponte Vecchio, a medieval bridge where many of Florence’s famed leather and gold artisan shops are set up. Take your picture in front of Michelangelo’s famous David and visit the Uffizzi where you’ll see a timeline of the Renaissance in art and statues, and the witness influence of the famous Medici family. No visit to Florence would be complete without a visit to its crown jewel, the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, better known as the Duomo, which dominates the skyline. Across is the Baptistry, where the famous door competition “kicked off” the Renaissance. While in the heart of the Renaissance, you will visit three world-famous museums and witness first-hand the Renaissance unfolding in front of you.
After three days in Florence, your journey to Rome, once the middle of the ancient world, but with a stop at Assisi. During the stop, you’ll visit the Basilica of St. Francis which also entombs St. Francis. Once in Rome, there is so much to see. In the world’s most famous arena, the Colosseum, you can almost still hear the stamping feet of the crowd gathered for a gladiatorial combat. Explore the ruins of the Roman Forum, the heart of the Roman Empire, and the spot where Julius Caesar gave his great political speeches. No trip to Rome would be complete without a visit to Vatican City. Start with the amazing museums where art covers almost every inch of the walls and ceilings. Marvel at the wonder of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and take in the beauty of his Pieta statue. From the Vatican to St. Peter’s Piazza to the Fountain of the Four Rivers, find the many contributions of Bernini to the Baroque, just in this city alone.
En route to the Sorrento Peninsula, make a short visit to Pompeii, where a volcano “froze” this town in time with ash and debris. View the excavated Roman ruins of theaters, villas, temples, and baths. Make a round trip to Sorrento traveling through the beautiful Amalfi Coast.
On the last day in Italy, you can explore Sorrento on your own or spend the day on the Island of Capri, the home of the famous sirens of Greek mythology. Day 15, you depart from Naples for home, filled with memories from your tour of Italy and a strong sense of the “grandeur that was Rome” in art, architecture, landscape, language, and cuisine.