Our program allows you plenty of time to discover your new country, culture and customs. Below are some of our recommended highlights. Some tours and packages can be organized when booking your program, please see the program price page for more information.

city tour

Most visitors are overwhelmed by the artistic minefield of Florence. They spend their time dashing from one masterpiece to the next - with their nose stuck in a guidebook.

The cultural heritage of Florence cannot be ignored, the cradle of the Renaissance and home of the Medici family - Italy's most progressive art patrons - it houses some of the world's greatest treasures.

Piazza della Signoria, once the hub of Florence's political machinations, remains a central reference point for visitors and a good place to start your tour. Linger over a coffee in one of the square's gilded cafés and admire the powerful hulk of Michelangelo's David (a copy) guarding the city's Palazzo Vecchio.

galleria degli uffizi (uffizi gallery)
The most important art collection in Italy and one of the richest in the world is usually heralded by the burr of foreign tongues as queues of tourists snake across the courtyard. Located in Vasari's majestic Uffizi Palace, it houses the Medici art collection bequeathed to Florence in 1737, on the condition that it never leaves the city.

The impressive resumé of Italian and in particular Florentine art is arranged to illustrate how evolving techniques and ideas influenced the artists. The huge collection is really too big to master at one sitting but visitors with limited time should ensure they take a peek at rooms 7-18, which include some of the city's biggest draws: Botticelli's mythological masterpieces, The Birth of Venus and Primavera (Spring) and Leonardo Da Vinci's Annunciation. Early rooms concentrate on medieval art with a particular bent towards the Sienese school, exemplified by Duccio, Martini and Giotto. The latter end of the gallery features work from the Umbrian and Venetian schools, including Titian, Tintoretto and Raphael.

piazza del duomo (cathedral square)
Brunelleschi's gravity-defying dome dominates the Florence skyline and defines the city. The double-skinned dome that sits atop the city's candy-colored Duomo (cathedral) was an architectural breakthrough, since Brunelleschi invented an entirely new way of counteracting the weight of the dome, thus building the largest self-supporting dome since classical times.

The cathedral, built under the proviso that it be the largest house of worship in Christendom (a feat eventually claimed by St Peters Cathedral in Rome) took 150 years to complete. Its original façade was pulled down on the orders of Ferdinand I in 1587 and the Duomo remained faceless for nearly 300 years, until 1887. Tall, slender and straight-backed the Campanile (bell tower) is the graceful sidekick to Brunelleschi's stout Duomo. Built according to Giotto's designs in 1334, it was completed after his death by Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti.

galleria dell'accademia
While Florence offers a panoply of artworks, most people associate the city with just one masterpiece, Michelangelo's David. The huge statue occupies pride of place in the city's Academia Gallery, dwarfing the multitude of chattering tourists who stand in awe before him.

The statue was carved from one block of marble in 1502 when the artist was just 29 years old. Its exaggerated size and musculature is a symbol of the new-born Republic that briefly cast out the Medici - the city's 'Goliath'. Also in the gallery are Michelangelo's unfinished Slaves, which stand captive in blocks of marble from which their forms seem to struggle to escape.

ponte vecchio
Even the dogs of war could not bring themselves to destroy the Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge to survive the Nazi bombing of Florence during World War II.

These days the famous 14th-century bridge is literally paved with gold - home to Florence's gold and silversmiths - and is a prime shopping trap for the city's affluent tourists. It was Cosimo de Medici who first created the mood for change when he ordered the previous occupants, a motley crew of butchers accustomed to throwing their bloody leftovers into the River Arno, to make room for a more genteel trade.

High above the shops a secret passageway known as the Corrodoio Vasariano links the Uffizi Gallery to the Pitti Palace. Built by Vasari, it was intended to shield the powerful Medici family from the Florentine riff-raff as they journeyed from one palace to the other. Lined with portraits of the city's greatest artists, it reopened to the public in 1997 but opening times are erratic due to staffing problems.

museo nazionale del bargello
The grim façade of the Palazzo del Bargello, formerly the city's jail and torture chamber, is a daunting introduction to Tuscany's most impressive collection of Renaissance sculpture. Masterpieces by Cellini, Donatello and Michelangelo are arranged over three floors and overflow into the Palace's handsome courtyard - where many a Florentine lost his head.

santa croce
The elegant Franciscan church of Santa Croce has tended to overwhelm the visitor and is held responsible for the little-known disease, Stendhal's Condition. When the French writer Stendhal visited the church, he suffered a fainting fit brought on by its beauty and apparently it continues to afflict up to 12 visitors a year. Lord Byron reported himself 'drunk with Beauty' at the sight of the church, which is attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect responsible for the Duomo.

santa maria novella
The zebra-striped façade of Santa Maria Novella, completed by Leon Battista Alberti in 1470, is the starting point of many visitors' tour of Florence. Situated near the city's train station to which it lends its name, the graceful scrolls, Gothic arches and classical pediments combine to form one of Florence's most dramatic façades. Alongside Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella - home to the Dominican order - was the most important church in the city.

museo di san marco
Rebuilt at the behest of Cosimo de Medici, this Dominican convent was home to Fra Angelico, as well as the fanatical Girolamo Savonarola. Savonarola famously preached damnation upon the Florentines and exhorted them to burn their books and paintings on the Bonfire of the Vanities.

excursions

pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Torre Pendente) is a famous world landmark. Designed by Bonnano Pisano, this eight-story tower is a magnificent example of Romanesque architecture. The Cathedral is located next to the Tower and we recommend a horse drawn carriage around the old City.

volterra
Visit the Tuscan village of Volterra, and its Piazza di Priori, a palace designed by Maestro Riccardo. See the house-towers, such as Buonaguidi and Buonpuresti, which are connected by a brick archway. You'll also enjoy the village's Renaissance cathedrals, Roman Theater and acropolis.

fiesole
Visitors in search of those 'cool uplands' should head for the lush olive groves and valleys of Fiesole. Situated eight kilometres from Florence. Formerly an Etruscan settlement founded in the seventh century BC, Fiesole grew in importance under the Romans who left behind a 3000-seat amphitheater that is still used for outdoors concerts in the summer. The Archaeological Park also features Roman baths, a Roman temple and an Etruscan temple, set against Etruscan city walls. In the town, it is difficult for any man-made attraction to compete with the glorious views over Florence.

siena
Medieval Siena is often seen as the female counterfoil to Renaissance Florence. At her heart lies the magnificent shell-like piazza, Il Campo, scene of the famous bareback horse race, Il Palio, which whips the town into a frenzy twice a year. One day is not long enough to appreciate all that the tiny walled city has to offer. Must-sees include the humbug-striped Cathedral decried by Ruskin as 'a piece of costly confectionery' and the majestic Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) topped by the soaring Torre del Mangia. Named after the medieval bell-ringer, the tower should be climbed for magnificent views of the city and hills.