A Week in... The Amalfi Coast, Capri & Rome

Tour begins: 6:00 PM, Le Agavi Hotel, Positano. A transfer is included from Naples Airport to Le Agavi Hotel in Positano, built into a cliff overlooking the bay. Join us for a welcome reception and dinner tonight at the hotel amidst stunning views.

Drive along the Amalfi Coast, one of Europe's most dramatic shorelines. See the brightly colored houses set on towering cliffs above the sea, and the houses in the town of Amalfi built between the 10th and 13th centuries. Then it's on to Ravello to visit the exquisite gardens of Villa Rufolo, the former residence of several popes, offering perhaps the best view on the coast. Lunch today is at a family-owned restaurant overlooking the Gulf of Salerno – a favorite of locals and celebrities alike – where you'll get a real taste of Italy with delightful homemade dishes. Return to Positano, and enjoy the afternoon and evening as you please.

Ride aboard a high-speed ferryboat to the Isle of Capri, once a second home to Europe's emperors and today a favorite destination for celebrities and jet setters. Travel by convertible taxi to one of the most celebrated hotels in Europe, set on exclusive Via Camerelle in the heart of Capri. After lunch, the rest of the day is at your leisure.

You'll really feel like a jet setter today when you explore the history and natural attractions of the Isle of Capri in a convertible car. Visit the town of Anacapri, then beautiful Villa San Michele, built in the late 19th century atop Roman palace ruins. The views of Capri and its harbor are stunning – and you'll have an opportunity to enjoy them from the water on a cruise around the island. Then spend the rest of the day as you please on Capri – enjoying the pleasures of a less-crowded island after the day-trippers have departed.

Depart Capri by high-speed ferryboat this morning to Naples – capital of the Campania region and one of Italy's most important cities. Board a coach to Herculaneum for a guided tour of the archaeological site. What was once an affluent Roman resort town was buried in volcanic ash by the same eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the nearby city of Pompeii in 79 AD. As you'll see during your visit, studies of Herculaneum's remains have enabled archaeologists to create a picture of daily life in the Roman Empire in the 1st century. Travel by high-speed train from Naples to Rome, to conclude your trip with a three-night stay at a historic hotel in the heart of the city.

Today's city sightseeing begins with a guided walking tour of Rome's magnificent piazzas – including the Piazza di Spagna, the Piazza del Pantheon and the Piazza Navona, featuring the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers), created by the 17th-century Italian sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini. After lunch at a local restaurant, you have an opportunity to join us for additional sightseeing in Rome; alternatively, the remainder of the day is free to spend time exploring Rome as you please.

Begin the day with a guided visit through the Vatican Museums, a remarkable collection spanning centuries of art, history, and devotion. Your guide leads you through galleries of classical sculpture, Renaissance masterworks, and treasures gathered by generations of popes. The experience culminates in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, where the ceiling frescoes and Last Judgment reveal the artist's genius on a monumental scale. From there, step into Rome's magnificent St. Peter's Square, designed in the seventeenth century by Bernini with its perfectly symmetrical, elliptical colonnades defining one of the world's great architectural spaces. Continue inside St. Peter's Basilica – the largest Christian church in the world – where your guide introduces Bernini's soaring canopy and Michelangelo's Pietà. The afternoon is free to explore more of Rome on your own before gathering this evening for a farewell reception and dinner.

Tours ends: Rome. Fly home anytime. A transfer is included from Aleph Rome Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton to Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino or Ciampino Airport in Rome. Please allow 3 hours for flight check-in.