Venice combines romance and lively charm in its grand canals and winding streets. It’s renowned for its delicious seafood, iconic bridges and stunning sunsets, making it one of Europe’s favourite cities.
On a guided walking tour, you’ll visit Venice’s main sights, such as the Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco with its basilica, Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. Enjoy a ride in a traditional gondola to explore the city’s picturesque canals.
Gondola ride
Leave Venice after breakfast and head to Verona, known as the home of Romeo and Juliet. Enjoy a guided walking tour covering Verona’s highlights such as the Verona Arena, Piazza delle Erbe, and the houses linked to Shakespeare’s young romantics.
Next, continue your journey to La Spezia, a historic port city close to the picturesque Cinque Terre coast. Explore La Spezia at your own pace, discovering its hidden gems including maritime and archaeological museums.
Travel time: Driving – approx. four hours
After breakfast, travel by coach to La Spezia, where you’ll catch a train to explore the timeless seaside villages of Cinque Terre. Start your journey in Manarola, then continue by train to Vernazza and Monterosso before returning to La Spezia.
This UNESCO World Heritage site offers coastal views and colourful cliffside houses. Explore the rugged charm of Cinque Terre National Park, Italy’s smallest at just over 38 square kilometres. Wander along scenic trails and terraced vineyards. End your day with a sunset view from a medieval castle or enjoy local wine by the sea before returning to your hotel.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 1.5 hours
Today, journey to Pisa for a walking tour of the city, including photo opportunities at the Leaning Tower. Explore the city’s rich history, visit the Baptistery of Saint John and its medieval cathedral. Afterward, bid farewell to Pisa and travel to Lucca, a historic city in Tuscany known for its terracotta walls and cobblestone streets.
Continue your journey to Florence, Tuscany’s capital and birthplace of the Renaissance. Relax at your hotel in the evening, and if you wish, venture out to explore Florence’s lively streets under the night sky.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 2.5 hours
Enjoy breakfast and then join a guided walking tour through Florence. Visit the Piazza della Signoria, Florence Cathedral with its red dome and soaring bell tower, the unique Battistero, and the medieval Ponte Vecchio bridge over the Arno River.
In the afternoon, explore the city at your leisure, perhaps opting for a wine tasting tour to delve into Tuscan wines, accompanied by light snacks (additional charges apply)
After breakfast, enjoy a day at leisure. Choose to wander the cobbled streets in search of delicious dishes or step into the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze to see the statue of David, Michelangelo’s masterpiece (surcharges apply).
Start your morning on a journey to Siena, a historic hilltop city surrounded by medieval brick walls and Chianti vineyards. The Chianti region is renowned for its red Sangiovese wines, celebrated for their vibrant fruity and herbal flavours. Enjoy a lunch and wine tasting at one of the region’s top vineyards.
In the afternoon, continue your travels to Rome and check into your hotel. Spend the remainder of the day exploring the Eternal City at your leisure.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 3.5 hours
Wine tasting at a Chianti vineyard
Rome is renowned for its romantic atmosphere, blending contemporary culture with rich history. Begin your morning with a discovery tour starting at the vast Saint Peter’s Square, right by Vatican City. Skip the line with your Vatican tour fast pass and explore Saint Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel, admiring Michelangelo’s iconic ceiling fresco.
Later, wander through the cobbled streets and visit landmarks like the Spanish Steps and Colosseum. Don’t forget to toss a coin into the famous Trevi Fountain for good luck.
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel and set about on a leisurely day of exploration. Perhaps consider joining a food tour in the evening, sampling diverse cuisine at seven different eateries while discovering the secrets of Italy’s capital city (additional charges may apply).
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel, then relax as you watch the Italian countryside roll by on your way to historic Pompeii, and the adjacent modern town that shares its name.
Mark your arrival with a walking tour of the ruins and learn about their history. Wander the bones of this long-dormant city, eerily preserved in volcanic ash during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Spend the evening as you desire.
Travel time: Driving – approx. three hours
Fill up with breakfast at your hotel, then spend your day freely exploring. Stop at one of Pompeii’s many cafes and restaurants for fresh seafood or perhaps some ragu, or choose to take an optional six-hour boat trip visiting the colourful seaside villages of the Amalfi Coast – all while sipping limoncello (surcharges apply).
After breakfast, ferry to the island of Capri. Spend a full day sailing through the waters and past steep cliffs, enjoying brief stops at historic ports along the way.
Capri Island day trip
Today, enjoy more time in Rome, exploring its archaeological sites and discovering the works of Italy’s historic artists. Indulge in pasta and antipasti, and wander through the romantic streets.
In the evening, gather with your fellow travellers for a farewell dinner at 8pm in a local restaurant.
Travel time: Driving – approx. three hours
After breakfast, say farewell to Rome as you’re transferred to Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO) for your bonus flight (valued up to A$350 per person) to Istanbul Airport (IST).
Your Turkish adventure starts today. Welcome to Istanbul, the largest city in Turkiye, born from a blend of European and Asian influences. Upon arrival at the airport, you’ll be transferred to your hotel. Check in and enjoy the rest of your day at leisure.
At 8pm, meet your tour director and fellow travellers for dinner.
Greet the day with breakfast at your hotel, then join a guided tour of Istanbul. See the 17th-century Blue Mosque, delve beneath Sultanahmet – the Old City, formerly known as Constantinople – to visit the Basilica Cistern, dating back almost 1,500 years.
Wander the Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, and peruse more than 3,000 stalls. Then, take a trip to the renowned Spice Market..
Later, embark on a cruise along the Bosphorus Strait, gliding through the waters that separate Europe and Asia.
Following breakfast at your hotel, travel four hours southwest to Canakkale, a gateway to the World War I battlefields of Gallipoli. Arrive at the Gallipoli Peninsula, the famed site where ANZAC troops fought for nine months during the Great War. Here, take the time to wander ANZAC Cove, where soldiers landed on 25 April 1915. Pause for a moment of silence to pay your respects at the Lone Pine Memorial, commemorating the Australians and New Zealanders who lost their lives in battle.
Continue on to a nearby local winery for a Turkish wine tasting with cheese pairing. Cross the Dardanelles Strait to check in at your Canakkale hotel, where you’ll enjoy dinner before turning in for the evening.
Travel time: Driving – approx. four hours
Set off this morning on a 30-minute drive to the historic city of Troy, immortalised in the tales of the Trojan War. Follow your guide as you visit the Troy Museum to learn about the siege of Troy, detailed in the Iliad.
Next, pay a visit to Pergamon (an approximately three-hour drive), a once-mighty Greek city boasting the Asklepion hospital. In ancient times, patients would enter the Asklepion temple via a sacred pathway believed to mark their journey back to good health.
Later, travel 90 minutes further on to Izmir, where you can check in and freshen up at your hotel before sitting down to dinner.
Travel time: Driving – approx. five hours
This morning, enjoy breakfast at your hotel before departing for one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Follow your guide through the Greco-Roman ruins of Ephesus. A century’s worth of excavation has uncovered rich architectural history here, including the ruins of the imposing Temple of Artemis and the restored Library of Celsius.
Travel to the nearby village of Sirince, a traditional Greek-Ottoman village known for its olive oil and fruity wine production. Sit down for lunch, then head to Pamukkale, famed for its thermal springs and travertines. Pay a visit to a local workshop for leather production, a practice with a centuries-old legacy.
This evening, savour dinner at your hotel and free time to explore its health facilities.
Travel time: Driving – approx. three hours
Ephesus ancient city visit
Rise and shine for a day exploring Pamukkale, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site. Tour the travertine pools, admiring their glacial appearance.
Visit Hierapolis, the ancient city founded by the King of Pergamon atop the thermal terraces in 130 BCE. Make your way to the Cleopatra Antique Pools within its ruins, a famous spa rumoured to have once been visited by the Queen of the Nile herself.
Spend time soaking in the thermal waters before travelling onward to Konya across the next five hours. Upon arrival, check-in and sit down for a well-earned dinner at your hotel.
Travel time: Driving – approx. five hours
Pamukkale hot springs
Your day begins with a guided tour of Konya, renowned for the Sufi whirling dervishes. Explore the Mevlana Museum, dedicated to the 13th-century poet and religious figure. Visit a dervish hat workshop and learn about the practice and origins of felt making, and the significance of the ‘tombstone’ hats to Sufism.
Continue to Cappadocia, a landscape of caves and ‘fairy chimneys’ – unique formations of eroded volcanic rocks – and attend a ritual of the dervish dancers.
Arrive in Goreme village in the heart of Cappadocia, characterised by terraces and skies often dotted with hot air balloons. Check into your cave lodgings and get settled before heading to dinner.
Travel time: Driving – approx. three hours
Cappadocia cave stay
Rise early and make your way to the rooftop of your Goreme accommodation to watch hot air balloons make their ascent over Cappadocia at sunrise. You may even choose to take a hot air balloon flight over the fairy chimneys themselves (surcharges apply). Otherwise, gather your energy over breakfast and set your sights on the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Goreme Open Air Museum.
Move on to a Turkish carpet factory to learn about the artistry of traditional carpet-weaving. Savour a traditional lunch at the charming Old Greek House, located in the village of Mustafapasa.
On return to Goreme, you will have the rest of the afternoon at leisure.
Cappadocia cave stay
Following breakfast, depart for an exploration of the broader area surrounding Cappadocia’. Begin at the Three Beauties, prominent fairy chimneys with boulders resting at their tops, believed to represent a family immortalised in stone. Then, explore the Valley of Love and the hills of the Red Valley.
Descend into the underground avenues of either Ozkonak or Mazi, subterranean cities dating back to the early Roman and Byzantine periods. Join a traditional pottery demonstration to discover the skilled process and local techniques in shaping clay. Then, return to your cave stay for one last evening while watching a Turkish dance performance over dinner at the hotel, paired with an open bar featuring local drinks.
Cappadocia cave stay
This morning, head to the airport for your economy class flight to Istanbul Airport (IST), departing at approximately 10am. Once you’ve arrived, visit the Dolmabahce Palace, coated in 14 tonnes of gold, then the rest of the day is at your leisure.
In the evening, join your fellow travellers for a farewell dinner.
Travel time: Flight – approximately 90 minutes
After one last breakfast at your hotel, it’s time to bid farewell to your fellow travellers and check out. You’ll be transferred to Istanbul Airport (IST) or Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW) for your onward journey.