A Private Journey to Italy

~11:30 AM

Passport Control, Bags & the Ride into Prati ↗

Allow up to an hour for passport control and bags. Then the white taxi rank outside arrivals: fixed €55 to Prati, about 45 minutes.

Say "tariffa fissa" before setting off; a few drivers meter it (capped at €80). The Leonardo Express only reaches Termini, so with luggage the taxi is simpler.

~1:00 PM

Arrive at Le Méridien Visconti Rome ↗ Confirmed

Check in; ask for early check-in, and the concierge holds bags if the room isn't ready. One night.

3:00 PM

First Stroll — Prati & the Tiber ↗

Flat 10–15 minute walk from the hotel to the river and Castel Sant'Angelo. Coffee stop on the way if needed.

4:00 PM

Castel Sant'Angelo — Inside ↗ Pre-book

Tickets booked from home: €18, official site or +39 06 399 671 00. Allow an hour.

Gentle ramp up; a lift reaches the papal apartments and middle terraces; only the top terrace is stairs. Then the river walk — sunset is 5:03.

7:30 PM

Dinner in Prati

All within a 17-minute flat walk of the hotel.

7:00 AM

Taxi to the Vatican ↗

The hotel calls a taxi: ten minutes to Viale Vaticano 100. Walking is 1.5 km, too far before a three-hour tour. Leave by 7:00.

7:30 AM

Private Vatican Early-Entry Tour — LIV Tours ↗ Confirmed

Meet our guide at Viale Vaticano 100, in front of Caffè Vaticano, opposite the museums entrance. 7:30–10:30.

Museums, Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel before the public. St Peter's is closed Wednesday mornings for the Papal Audience.

10:45 AM

Coffee in Prati

Sit down first: three hours on museum floors. Coffee bars line the streets outside the Vatican walls.

12:00 PM

Lunch in Prati

Three sit-down options near the museums, plus pizza by the slice.

~1:30 PM

Back to Le Méridien · Collect Luggage ↗

Collect the bags from the concierge.

2:00 PM

Taxi to Roma Termini

The hotel calls a taxi to Termini: 15–25 minutes on a weekday afternoon, at the station an hour before the train. FrecciaLounge while we wait.

5:01 PM

Arrive at Firenze Santa Maria Novella

Central Florence. Taxi rank outside if the bags are heavy.

5:05 PM

Walk to Sina Villa Medici ↗

Seven to ten minutes with bags: out to Piazza della Stazione, west along Via Alamanni into Via Il Prato. Flat, cobbled.

5:10 PM

Arrive at Sina Villa Medici ↗ Confirmed

Check in. Five nights. Breakfast 7–11 in the garden conservatory.

6:00 PM

First Stroll & Aperitivo

Santa Maria Novella is two minutes from the hotel; all four bars are on or beside the piazza. Aperitivo starts at 6.

8:00 PM

Dinner Book Before We Leave

Reservations essential, even midweek. Book for 8:00–8:30.

8:15 AM

Leave the Hotel · Taxi to Piazza della Signoria ↗

The hotel calls a taxi: fifteen minutes in morning traffic. The piazza is pedestrian, so the driver stops on the nearest street, a minute or two on foot. LivTours asks for 15 minutes early; we aim to be at Rivoire by 8:45.

9:00 AM

Private Walking Tour of Florence — LIV Tours ↗ Confirmed

Meet in front of Caffè Rivoire; the guide holds a LivTours sign. Tours start on time, rain or shine.

Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Repubblica, then the Duomo, Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile from the outside. It finishes inside the Accademia with the David; entry is reserved and included.

Closed-toe shoes are required. ID for everyone. Knees and shoulders covered. The Accademia has a metal detector and no cloakroom: bags no bigger than 40 × 30 × 18 cm, water only in plastic bottles of 0.5 L or less.

11:30 AM

Mercato Centrale ↗

Five minutes from the Accademia exit. Sit down first after two and a half hours on foot: coffee, then lunch in the upstairs food hall.

Ground-floor stalls open until 3: fresh pasta, truffles, pecorino. Things to bring home: olive oil, biscotti, dried porcini.

1:30 PM

Taxi to Piazza Santo Spirito ↗

Fifteen minutes across the river. Call Radio Taxi +39 055 4242; the walk is 2 km, too far after the morning.

2:00 PM

Oltrarno Artisan Shopping

Leather, bookbinders and jewellers around Piazza Santo Spirito. Ninety minutes, no route; benches on the piazza.

7:30 PM

Dinner Book Before We Leave

All within an 8-minute walk of the hotel.

8:25 AM

Leave for Santa Maria Novella ↗

Ten minutes to the station. Regional trains use the far platforms, so go straight through; at the platform by 8:40, half an hour before the train.

10:45 AM

Arrive in Lucca — Coffee at Taddeucci ↗

Through Porta San Pietro to Piazza San Michele: 15–20 minutes, flat. A quick coffee and buccellato at Taddeucci; the wine starts at 11:15.

11:15 AM

Enoteca Vanni · Cellar Tasting ↗ Book Before We Leave

Piazza del Salvatore 7, three minutes from San Michele. Lucca's oldest wine shop (1965), with an underground cellar. Sommelier-led tasting: three Tuscan wines with Lucca focaccia, about an hour, €38 each.

The cellar is down a stair; ask about a handrail and seats when booking. If it doesn't suit, a glass upstairs at the bar.

12:20 PM

Piazza dell'Anfiteatro ↗

An oval piazza built on a Roman amphitheatre. Five minutes to stand in it.

12:45 PM

Lunch at Giglio Book Before We Leave

Piazza del Giglio 2. Michelin-listed, with a 700-label list: Tuscany, Italy, France. Friday lunch 12:30–2:30.

Drink local: a Colline Lucchesi Rosso (Sangiovese, bright cherry; good with tordelli) or a Montecarlo Bianco.

2:30 PM

Cathedral of San Martino ↗

€5 with Ilaria del Carretto's tomb, or €10 combined with campanile and museum. 30–40 minutes. Open to 6; a service can close it briefly.

2:30 PM

Torre Guinigi ↗ Optional · Steep climb

Optional, for the climbers while the others see San Martino: 230 steps, no lift. €8, pre-booked at cultura.comune.lucca.it or +39 0583 48090. Closes at 4 on Fridays.

Oak trees grow on top; view over the rooftops.

3:15 PM

The Walls & Via Fillungo

Up the earthen ramp for fifteen flat minutes on the walls, then down into Via Fillungo ↗: leather, olive oil, ceramics.

4:15 PM

A Last Glass at Enoteca Calasto ↗

Piazza San Giovanni, beside the cathedral. A small bar with 150-plus wines, Garfagnana producers among them; cheese and salumi.

Hours unconfirmed; if it's shut, Enoteca Vanni reopens at 4.

4:55 PM

Walk to Lucca Station

Ten minutes to Lucca station, just outside the walls. At the platform by 5:05, with time to spare.

8:00 PM

Dinner near the Hotel

Osteria Pastella, four minutes from the hotel, open every evening, books online. Or Harry's Bar at the hotel, 7–11.

7:25 AM

Leave for Santa Maria Novella ↗

Ten minutes to the station. Regional trains use the far platforms, so go straight through; at the platform by 7:40, half an hour before the train.

9:40 AM

Taxi up to the Centre ↗

The station is 90 m below the town. Taxi rank at the exit: about €15, ten minutes. Radio Taxi +39 0577 49222. (The escalators end at Porta Camollia, still 15–20 minutes uphill.)

10:00 AM · Tickets

Torre del Mangia Buy Tickets First Optional · Steep climb

Optional: about 400 steps, no lift. Tickets in person only at the Palazzo Pubblico box office, €10 — buy on arrival and take the 12:15 climb, before lunch.

Winter climbs every 45 minutes, 10:00–3:15, 25 people, half an hour at the top. Whoever stays down: a café on the Campo.

10:15 AM

Piazza del Campo ↗

Coffee at a café on the edge of the Campo. The piazza slopes down to the Palazzo Pubblico and the tower. Sit, rest, no agenda.

10:45 AM

The Duomo ↗

Opa Si Pass booked online. Saturday hours 10:30–5:30. Allow 45–60 minutes.

The inlaid marble floor is uncovered until 15 November, a short window each year. The Piccolomini Library is included.

1:00 PM

Lunch Book Before We Leave

Booked from home; all three open Saturday lunch. Finish by 2:15 for the driver.

2:30 PM

Driver to Montalcino ↗ Book Before We Leave

Pick-up at Piazza Indipendenza, two minutes from Via delle Terme, eight from Piazza del Mercato (or wherever the driver confirms). Forty-five to fifty minutes through the Crete Senesi.

Private driver booked through the Villa Medici concierge; Siena → Montalcino → hotel.

3:20 PM

Enoteca La Fortezza · Brunello Tasting ↗ Call Ahead

Inside the 14th-century fortress at the top of town; the driver drops us beside it. Seated flights: Rosso and Brunello with cheese and salumi (€25), or three Brunellos from different parts of the hill (€30).

Saturday hours to confirm: +39 0577 849211.

4:20 PM

Down Through Montalcino

A gentle walk downhill from the fortress to Piazza del Popolo, ten minutes; the driver collects us at the bottom, so no climbing back. Sunset 4:59.

4:45 PM

Driver Back to the Hotel ↗

About an hour and fifty minutes; at the hotel by 6:45.

8:00 PM

Dinner near the Hotel

Osteria Pastella, four minutes from the hotel, open every evening, books online. Or Harry's Bar at the hotel, 7–11.

10:25 AM

Leave the Hotel · Taxi to San Lorenzo ↗

Ten minutes by taxi. The walk is about a kilometre, but today is a full day on foot.

10:45 AM

San Lorenzo Market

Outdoor leather market in the streets around the basilica: bags, scarves, jackets. An hour. Open Sundays in winter. The Mercato Centrale's ground floor is closed today; the upstairs food hall is open.

12:30 PM

Farewell Florentine Lunch

Near the market.

2:30 PM

Piazza del Duomo ↗

Seen on Thursday's tour; today we just pass through on the way to Panerai.

3:00 PM

Panerai Boutique — The Original

The original boutique, Piazza San Giovanni 14R ↗, beside the Duomo. Sunday hours may be afternoon only, from 3; confirm on +39 055 215795.

4:00 PM

Vivoli Gelato ↗

Via dell'Isola delle Stinche 7, a ten-minute walk from the Duomo toward Santa Croce. Order the affogato.

Since 1929. Bowls, no cones. The affogato is gelato drowned in espresso.

4:40 PM

The Arno at Dusk

Sunset 4:57. A slow walk along the river from Vivoli, a glass of Chianti as the lights come on.

Or a 10-minute taxi from Vivoli to the hotel; rank at Piazza Santa Croce.

8:00 PM

Dinner near the Hotel

Osteria Pastella, four minutes from the hotel, open every evening, books online. Or Harry's Bar at the hotel, 7–11.

Morning

Breakfast by the Garden

No alarm. Breakfast 7–11 in the garden conservatory.

10:10 AM

Check Out of Villa Medici

Checkout is at noon. Collect bags, settle the bill.

10:15 AM

Walk to Santa Maria Novella ↗

Seven to ten minutes, flat. At the station by 10:25, 45 minutes before the train; FrecciaLounge while we wait.

2:20 PM

Arrive at Torino Porta Nuova

Torino Porta Nuova: city-centre station. Taxi rank outside.

2:25 PM

Taxi to Principi di Piemonte ↗

Five minutes by taxi (500 m; a level walk without bags).

~2:30 PM

Arrive at Principi di Piemonte ↗ Confirmed

Check in. Two nights. Piazza San Carlo is 300 m.

5:00 PM

First Aperitivo in Turin

Vermouth di Torino under the arcades of Piazza San Carlo: Caffè Torino (daily from 8) or Caffè San Carlo (to 8:30). Dusk by 5:10.

7:30 PM

Dinner — Ristorante Solferino ↗ Book Ahead

Open Mondays, when most of Turin's classic tables close. Nine-minute level walk to Piazza Solferino; from 7:30. Tajarin, vitello tonnato, brasato al Barolo. Book by phone: +39 011 535851

9:00 AM

Alessio Picks Us Up — Barolo Tour Begins ↗ Confirmed

Pick-up in the lobby. About an hour's drive south into the Langhe; valley fog early, usually gone by late morning.

10:30 AM

First Winery Visit — Barolo

Cellar tour and tasting at a Barolo estate. Cellars are underground: ask for the step-free route and a seated tasting.

1:00 PM

Truffle Lunch in Alba

Booked with Alessio for 1:00. White truffle shaved over tajarin.

3:00 PM

Second Winery Visit — Barolo

A second estate, a different style. Same request: step-free, seated.

~5:00 PM

Drive Back to Turin

Back at the hotel around 6:00. Light dinner near the hotel.

9:00 AM

Baratti & Milano ↗

Caffè Al Bicerin is closed on Wednesdays, so the bicerin (espresso, chocolate, cream) is at Baratti & Milano, Piazza Castello, open from 9. Four minutes from Piazza San Carlo.

9:30 AM

Piazza Castello & the Royal Palaces

Palazzo Madama and the Royal Palace from the piazza. The palace museums are closed on Wednesdays.

10:15 AM

Piazza San Carlo ↗

Last espresso under the porticoes, then upstairs to pack. 300 m from the hotel.

12:00 PM

Check Out & Transfer to Station ↗

Bags down, then a taxi or a 7-minute level walk to Porta Nuova. At the station by 12:40, an hour before the train; FrecciaClub while we wait.