Take a scenic drive through the countryside to the magnificent city of Florence. Pause in the Piazza del Duomo to admire the exterior of the Cathedral (Duomo) of Santa Maria del Fiore, its elaborate Gothic façade is covered in a mix of pink and green marble.

View the statues in the Piazza della Signoria on your way to the Ponte Vecchio, the medieval stone bridge was the first bridge built across the River Arno, and has been well known for its goldsmiths and jewelers since the 16th century. Lunch is included at a local restaurant, and after the meal you’ll have free time to explore on your own or to shop, before your tour continues to the historic town of Pisa. Here, you’ll have free time in Miracle Square for a look at the exterior of that famous Leaning Tower. Built in the 12th century, it began to lean soon afterwards, but has now been stabilized.

Enjoy extra time to unwind and savor the ship at your own pace – no rushing, no waiting at the airport, just more time to relax and soak in the experience.

• Relaxed, stress-free departure.
• Enjoy the ship at your own pace with leisurely lunch and extra time onboard.
• Complete with the added convenience of included shuttle transfer to airport.

Visit Cefalu, a quaint fishing village where little has changed through the centuries, preserving its typical Sicilian charm and the atmosphere of a traditional fishing port. Syracusians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and Normans have left their traces here. It’s one of the most visited destinations in Sicily and during summer months, the tourist population outnumbers the locals. Though little is known of its origins, the name "Cefalu" may date back from the Greek "Kephaloidion," a word referring to the rock overlooking the town. Your guide will share some of the legends with you. Drive through the main streets of Palermo to reach the highway.

As you travel to Cefalu, the verdant Sicilian countryside unfolds in front of you. Once in the village, visit the Gothic-Norman style Cathedral, founded in 1131 at the request of the Norman kings, and realized by Norman architects and Islamic craftsmen. Stop at the medieval wash house and imagine cool running water and the voices of the women doing the laundry as you walk among these ancient archways. You’ll stop for a taste of some Sicilian specialties at a local gourmet shop. Enjoy free time to take in your activity of choice. There are lots of good restaurants serving the freshest seafood and shops of all sorts around the cathedral and harbor.

Enjoy extra time to unwind and savor the ship at your own pace – no rushing, no waiting at the airport, just more time to relax and soak in the experience.

• Relaxed, stress-free departure.
• Enjoy the ship at your own pace with leisurely lunch and extra time onboard.
• Complete with the added convenience of included shuttle transfer to airport.

Enjoy a combination of Slovenia’s best known sites the capital city of Ljubljana and Lake Bled. Both are a wonderful gateway to Slovenian heritage. After a guided tour, you’ll have free time to explore on your own. Following your approximate two hour drive to the Alpine town of Lake Bled, you’ll have different options to enjoy from a walk around the picturesque lake to visiting a medieval castle visit, all during your free time and at your own expense. After World War II, this was one of the most appealing state residences and drew many people who were attracted by the beauty of this town. Today new pilgrims have been discovering this tranquil and lovely place.

After a guided walk through Ljubljana, a medium sized European city, you’ll have time to explore your own pace. It offers all the friendliness of a small town and at the same time has everything that a capital should. This city of culture boasts one of the oldest philharmonic halls in the world. Every year it hosts more than 10,000 cultural events ranging from prestigious concerts, theater performances and fine art exhibitions.

Meander through a fragrant herb garden in a 19th-century farm and then savor a delightful lunch of traditional Slovenian dishes. As an introduction to the country’s limestone karst region, you will pause to take in the sweeping views from a castle that overlooks the Gulf of Trieste. The culinary experience unfolds at a charming local family homestead, where a husband and wife grow and prepare herbs and dishes themselves. You'll discover the herbs they cultivate for culinary and medicinal purposes, such as sage, fennel, and balm mint. The karst terrain also nurtures the growth of fragrant lavender, adding to the region's aromatic allure. As you will discover during the lunch that follows, many of the herbs have been used in the dishes. To complement the meal, you will be served Teran wine, a dark-ruby wine sometimes called King of the Karst.

OVERVIEW

Settle in for a panoramic driving tour through Florence with occasional stops for closer views of the must-see landmarks. You will ride around the city in a double-decker bus that offers 360º from the top. As an alternative, you can sit in the shaded lower deck. Either way, commentary will describe the points of interest and give you a clear understanding of their significance. UNESCO deemed the historic center of Florence a World Heritage site because of its artistic and cultural importance over the centuries, so there is plenty to see. The bus will stop at the shop-lined Ponte Vecchio bridge that spans the Arno River, the museum within the Palazzo Strozzi and Santa Maria Maggiore, which is among the oldest and most beautiful churches in Florence. For the ultimate view of the city, you will pause at Piazzale Michelangelo, a hilltop terrace with a bronze replica of Michaelangelo’s David.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Ride around Florence on the top of a double-decker bus or in the shaded lower deck.
• Hear enlightening commentary that describes the upcoming landmarks.
• Take the opportunity to stop at the most intriguing attractions for a closer look.
• See landmarks as diverse as the Ponte Vecchio bridge and the museum in Palazzo Strozzi.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.

Mingle with the workers in the Carrara quarry where Michelangelo chose the marble for his masterpieces Pietà and David and discover how marble is used locally to age lard.

After departing from the pier, you will drive inland towards the Apuan Alps, which gleam year-round as if cloaked in snow. The color comes from the exposed bright-white marble on the quarried faces of the mountains. The amount of marble found here is staggering, even though it has been quarried for more than 2,000 years.

Upon arriving, you will meet the some of the workers that quarry the famed Carrara marble using enormous bulldozers and metal cables with diamond cutting edges. It is a fascinating process that the workers will describe in detail while recounting the history of this extraordinary quarry. As you will discover, it is a dangerous, physically demanding profession, but one that the workers take great pride in.

The raw marble is transported throughout the world for a variety of purposes. In the nearby village of Colonnata, the marble is fashioned into vats used to produce lard. The quarry workers once consumed the lard for its high-energy content, but today the pork fatback is thinly sliced and served raw as an antipasto.

While visiting Colonnata, you will see how the lard is seasoned with garlic, rosemary and other herbs and aged up to a year in the marble vats. As you will discover by tasting, the creamy white lard is melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Behold dormant craters atop Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano and one of Earth’s most astonishing natural wonders. You’ll agree the vista-filled ascent to Etna’s summit along circuitous roads past charming mountain villages and through barren, rocky landscapes is almost as remarkable as the volcano itself. Learn that Etna has had a profound impact on the region through the ages, from the Greek’s belief that it was the workshop of Hephaestus, god of fire, to the catastrophe of 1669, when several villages and part of Catania were subsumed by lava. Arriving at the inactive Silvestri craters, more than 6,000 feet above sea level, you’ll discern numerous remnants of lava streams from previous eruptions coating the craters’ slopes. From your fabulous perch, you’ll revel in seemingly endless vistas of the shimmering Gulf of Catania and the surrounding fertile, volcanic landscape, today protected as the island’s first national park. As you stand atop one of nature’s most powerful agents of change, contemplate the indelible impact of Mount Etna’s wrath on the civilizations of the Mediterranean.

If you want to explore these fascinating places on your own, we are pleased to provide a motorcoach transfer to Florence and Pisa, complete with an English speaking escort. You’ll visit Pisa first, to avoid the heavy traffic entering Florence in the morning. Arriving in Pisa, your escort will walk you to the famous Miracle Square to enjoy some free time to take pictures of the Leaning Tower. Continue to Florence, where in the early afternoon, you’ll be dropped off at a central location in Florence and have approximately 3 hours to explore the city at your leisure.

Cruise to the village of Amalfi along the beautiful coastline. Author John Steinbeck once described it as “a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.” UNESCO agreed and declared the Amalfi coast a World Heritage site for its great physical beauty and natural diversity. The boat will afford you the ultimate up-close, front-row seat to observe the spectacular coastline. During free time in town, be sure to see the Cathedral of St. Andrew. Built in the early 1200s, it contains the relics of St. Andrew, which are kept in a subterranean crypt decorated with Baroque murals. The cathedral was constructed alongside an earlier one from the 9th century, and they are now joined into one, six-nave building. Also, leave time for shopping and a quick snack. Fried seafood in a hand-held cone makes a good choice for street food.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Cruise to the village of Amalfi along the staggeringly beautiful Amalfi coast.
• Spend free time exploring Amalfi’s boutiques and grab a snack, if you wish.
• Peruse the architectural splendor of Amalfi’s extraordinary 13th-century cathedral.

Despite its small size, Slovenia is quite varied in terms of landscape. Between the Alps and the sea, you’ll find the broad belt of the Slovenian Karst, which is part of the great Dinaric mountain range. This is a mainly limestone area notable for a special karstic phenomena, both visible in its topography and underground. Take an approximately one hour drive from Koper to discover the unique underworld beneath this beautiful landscape. Board an electric train that will take you to Postojna Cave for a 1 1/2 hour visit. Well-kept paths comprise the greater part of the cave so it does not present any difficulties for most visitors.

Your trail begins at the cave’s railway station and will take you to the first natural passage, known as the “Upturned Ship”. Visit Gothic Hall rich in stalactite decoration, where the remains of Ice Age animals have been found and the Conference Hall, previously known as the Ballroom, has been the venue for dances and concerts for 180 years. While you admire these natural sculptures, the train takes you to Great Mountain where the tour of the caves continues on foot in groups led by guides. This trail takes you you past very unique and charactertisic formations that have been named!

At the Predjama Castle photo stop, a former hideout for the brazen knight named Erazem of Predjama, evidence indicates that this steep and imposing cliff has been fortified since at least the 13th century. Reboard your train by the Conference Hall to return to the surface and to your waiting ship in Koper.