Hamilton & Chase Tours
Epic Italy — Private Package 11-day Italy tour: Rome, Florence, Tuscany & Venice

11-Day Private Package Journey

Epic Italy

Rome, Florence, Tuscany & Venice

Available as Private Semi-Private Self-Guided
From €4,490 per person 11 days / 10 nights
View Itinerary

Tour Overview

11 days across Italy.

Italy in eleven days is not an itinerary — it is an immersion. This private journey is our most complete Italy offering, moving from the shimmering canals of Venice through Renaissance Florence and the Tuscan countryside to ancient Rome, then south to the dramatic cliffs of the Amalfi Coast. Every city gets the time it deserves, every transfer includes private drivers and train tickets, and every day is shaped around your pace and curiosity. This is the trip for travellers who want to see Italy properly — not in a rush, but with the depth and breathing room that makes the difference between visiting a country and experiencing it.

Detailed Itinerary

Your journey, day by day.

Every day is designed with breathing room. Sleep in, take a detour, linger at lunch — the itinerary flexes around you, not the other way around.

Day 1 — Arrival in Venice
Day 1
1

Day 1

Arrival in Venice

The floating city welcomes you by water.

Your private driver meets you at Venice Marco Polo Airport and escorts you by water taxi across the lagoon to your hotel — through the back channels first, then into the Grand Canal where the palazzi lean over the water and the Rialto Bridge frames the view ahead. After settling in, the afternoon is yours: walk across the Rialto Bridge, find a bacaro in San Polo for cicchetti and a glass of local Prosecco, or simply watch the boats on the Grand Canal from your room. We'll have a curated list of our favourite restaurants waiting — the kind of tucked-away osterias where the locals outnumber the tourists and the seafood was in the lagoon this morning.

  • Private water taxi arrival across the lagoon
  • Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge at leisure
  • Curated restaurant recommendations for your first evening
4–5★ hotel near Grand Canal, Venice
Day 2 — Venice Highlights
Day 2
2

Day 2

Venice Highlights

A Byzantine basilica, a maritime empire, and canals that defy belief.

Your Venetian art historian meets you after breakfast for a morning in the city's most spectacular spaces. St. Mark's Basilica before the crowds: the golden mosaic ceiling represents a thousand years of accumulated treasure, each military campaign bringing its plunder back to be built into the church. The Doge's Palace — seat of a republic that controlled Mediterranean trade for centuries — follows: the Great Council Chamber, Tintoretto's Paradise, the Bridge of Sighs. The afternoon opens into the quieter Venice: Dorsoduro's Zattere promenade, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco with its extraordinary Tintoretto ceiling, and the back streets of Cannaregio where the real Venice still breathes. An optional gondola ride at dusk is the way Venice has always been experienced best.

  • St. Mark's Basilica — Byzantine gold mosaics
  • Doge's Palace and Bridge of Sighs
  • Dorsoduro and Scuola Grande di San Rocco
  • Optional gondola ride at golden hour
Meals: Breakfast 4–5★ hotel near Grand Canal, Venice
Day 3 — Venice to Florence
Day 3
3

Day 3

Venice to Florence

Trading the lagoon for the Renaissance.

A leisurely morning in Venice — perhaps the fish market at Rialto, a final vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal, or a walk through the quiet streets of Castello. Your private driver transfers you by water taxi to Venice Santa Lucia station for the high-speed train south — two hours through the Veneto plains and across the Apennines, with the dome of Brunelleschi visible as the train approaches Florence. At Firenze Santa Maria Novella, another private driver is waiting to deliver you to your hotel. The afternoon is yours to discover the Oltrarno: the artisan quarter south of the Arno that feels like a village within the city, where leather workshops and bookbinders line Via Maggio and the Ponte Vecchio glows gold in the late afternoon light.

  • Private driver and water taxi transfers
  • High-speed train Venice to Florence
  • Private driver pickup at Florence station
  • Oltrarno neighbourhood and Ponte Vecchio
Meals: Breakfast 4–5★ centrally located hotel, Florence
Day 4 — Florence Renaissance Highlights
Day 4
4

Day 4

Florence Renaissance Highlights

The century when genius was not a figure of speech.

Your private guide — an art historian who specialises in Florentine painting — meets you after breakfast. The morning begins at the Baptistery of San Giovanni, whose bronze doors Ghiberti spent twenty-seven years making, and continues through Piazza della Signoria and its outdoor sculpture collection to the Ponte Vecchio. The Uffizi Gallery or the Accademia follows: the Uffizi for Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Caravaggio's Medusa, and forty rooms of Renaissance painting; the Accademia for Michelangelo's David, larger and more physically present than any photograph suggests. The afternoon is free: the Medici Chapels, the San Lorenzo market, the climb to the top of Brunelleschi's dome for panoramic views, or simply the pleasure of getting lost in streets where every corner reveals something beautiful.

  • Baptistery, Duomo, and Piazza della Signoria
  • Uffizi Gallery — Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael
  • Accademia Gallery with Michelangelo's David
  • Free afternoon to explore Florence at your pace
Meals: Breakfast 4–5★ centrally located hotel, Florence
Day 5 — Tuscan Countryside
Day 5
5

Day 5

Tuscan Countryside

The day everyone talks about when they get home.

Your private driver collects you after breakfast for a full day in the Tuscan countryside — the kind of day that makes you understand why people fall in love with Italy. The road south enters the heartland of Chianti, where cypress-lined roads wind between medieval hill towns and the vineyards that fill the valleys between them. San Gimignano arrives first: fourteen medieval towers still standing above a town whose walls are intact and whose views stretch to the horizon. After exploring the town, continue to a family-run Chianti estate for a private wine tasting with the winemaker — working through the estate's range from young Chianti Classico to aged Riserva. Siena is the afternoon reward: the fan-shaped Piazza del Campo, the extraordinary marble-floored Duomo, and the narrow contrade neighbourhoods that still compete fiercely in the biannual Palio horse race. Your driver returns you to Florence in the early evening.

  • San Gimignano medieval towers and hilltop views
  • Private Chianti estate wine tasting
  • Siena's Piazza del Campo and Duomo
  • Val d'Orcia scenic drive
Meals: Breakfast 4–5★ centrally located hotel, Florence
Day 6 — Florence to Rome
Day 6
6

Day 6

Florence to Rome

From the Renaissance to the Eternal City.

One last Florentine morning — use it well. The Boboli Gardens, the Brancacci Chapel frescoes, the Mercato Centrale, or simply a final espresso at your favourite neighbourhood bar. Your private driver transfers you to the station for the high-speed train to Rome — just ninety minutes through the soft green hills of Tuscany. At Roma Termini, your driver is waiting to take you to your hotel near the historic centre. The afternoon begins with a guided twilight walk: the Pantheon's dome open to the sky, Piazza Navona with Bernini's theatrical fountains, and the Trevi Fountain turning gold in the evening light. Afterwards, explore our curated restaurant recommendations — the neighbourhood trattorias and rooftop terraces that make Roman evenings unforgettable.

  • High-speed train Florence to Rome with private driver transfers
  • Guided twilight walk — Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain
  • First Roman evening at your pace
Meals: Breakfast 4–5★ centrally located hotel, Rome
Day 7 — Ancient Rome
Day 7
7

Day 7

Ancient Rome

Walk the same stones the emperors walked.

Morning begins with a private tour of the Colosseum — not just the arena floor, but the underground hypogeum where gladiators waited before stepping into the light. Your guide is an archaeologist who makes two-thousand-year-old history feel immediate. From the Colosseum, walk through the Roman Forum — the collapsed heart of an empire — and up to Palatine Hill, where the views over the ruins reward the climb. The afternoon is yours: the Capitoline Museums, a walk through the Monti neighbourhood for its excellent trattorias and quiet cobblestoned streets, or the Aventine Hill keyhole with its perfect framed view of St. Peter's dome. We'll share our favourite dining spots in Trastevere and Testaccio — the real Roman kitchen.

  • Colosseum with underground hypogeum access
  • Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with archaeologist guide
  • Free afternoon — Capitoline Museums or neighbourhood exploration
Meals: Breakfast 4–5★ centrally located hotel, Rome
Day 8 — Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel
Day 8
8

Day 8

Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo's ceiling — and then the rest of the Vatican.

The Vatican deserves a full morning. Your art historian guide leads you through the essential galleries in the sequence that makes sense: the Gallery of Maps, the Raphael Rooms whose ceiling frescoes would be the highlight of any other building, and then the Sistine Chapel — Michelangelo's ceiling arriving as a culmination rather than a destination, with the Last Judgement on the altar wall as the powerful finale. A private passage leads directly into St. Peter's Basilica, skipping the outdoor queue. Your guide walks you through the basilica's treasures, including Michelangelo's Pietà, before you emerge into the vast piazza. The rest of the day is yours — the Borghese Gardens, Trastevere's winding streets, a final gelato crawl. For your last Roman evening, we'll recommend a neighbourhood restaurant that matches your mood.

  • Vatican Museums — Gallery of Maps, Raphael Rooms
  • Sistine Chapel — Michelangelo's ceiling and Last Judgement
  • St. Peter's Basilica via private passage
  • Free afternoon and evening in Rome
Meals: Breakfast 4–5★ centrally located hotel, Rome
Day 9 — Rome to Amalfi Coast
Day 9
9

Day 9

Rome to Amalfi Coast

South to the sea — where the cliffs drop into impossibly blue water.

After breakfast, your private driver transfers you south along the coast to the Amalfi peninsula — approximately three hours through the Campanian countryside, with the landscape becoming more volcanic and the sea appearing intermittently through the hills. Arrive in Sorrento or Positano by early afternoon and check into your hotel above the Bay of Naples, where the views from the terrace set the tone for the next two days. The remainder of the day is yours to settle in: the clifftop lanes of Sorrento with their lemon groves and inlaid wood workshops, or simply a chair on the terrace with a limoncello and the bay changing colours in the late afternoon light.

  • Private driver transfer Rome to Amalfi Coast
  • Bay of Naples arrival and first sea views
  • Sorrento or Positano at leisure
Meals: Breakfast 4–5★ hotel with sea views, Amalfi Coast
Day 10 — Amalfi Coast & Positano
Day 10
10

Day 10

Amalfi Coast & Positano

The most beautiful road in Europe — taken slowly.

The SS163 Amalfitana is not a road so much as a decision by engineers to follow the coast regardless of what it was doing — cutting a single-lane path into vertical limestone cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea. Your private driver takes it at the pace the road demands: slowly, with stops. Positano first — pastel-coloured buildings spilling down a ravine to a pebble beach, its lanes so steep that donkeys are still the practical alternative to steps. Amalfi itself was a medieval maritime republic whose nautical tables set the standard for Mediterranean navigation — its Duomo, part Romanesque, part Arab-Norman, faces the sea. Ravello is the final stop: a hilltop village whose Villa Cimbrone gardens offer the famous 'infinity terrace' above the coast, where Greta Garbo once hid from the world. Return to your hotel as the sun sets over the bay.

  • Positano — painted village above the sea
  • Amalfi town and its maritime republic Duomo
  • Ravello's Villa Cimbrone infinity terrace
  • Amalfitana coastal road scenic drive
Meals: Breakfast 4–5★ hotel with sea views, Amalfi Coast
Day 11 — Departure
Day 11
11

Day 11

Departure

Italy does not release you — it sends you home with plans to return.

Your last Italian morning: a final breakfast above the Bay of Naples, a last walk through the lemon-scented lanes, perhaps a final limoncello at the bar at the end of the street. At the agreed time, your private driver transfers you to Naples International Airport for your departure. Your travel specialist is reachable until you're home — and a few days later will be in touch to hear which city, which coastline, or which moment of impossible beauty is still the one you keep talking about.

  • Final morning on the Amalfi Coast
  • Private transfer to Naples airport
Meals: Breakfast

Where You'll Stay

Hand-picked hotels, every night.

We choose properties for character, location, and the kind of service that makes you feel looked after — not just checked in. Every hotel can be swapped for an alternative if you prefer.

4–5★ hotel near the Grand Canal, Venice

Venice

2 nights

4–5★ hotel near the Grand Canal

San Marco or Cannaregio

Canal view rooms available; proximity to the Grand Canal allows easy boat access to all areas

4–5★ centrally located hotel, Florence

Florence

3 nights

4–5★ centrally located hotel

Historic centre or Oltrarno

Three nights allows a proper Tuscany day without sacrificing Florence time

4–5★ centrally located hotel, Rome

Rome

3 nights

4–5★ centrally located hotel

Historic centre

Walking distance to the Forum, Vatican, Pantheon, and best restaurants

4–5★ hotel with sea views, Amalfi Coast

Amalfi Coast

2 nights

4–5★ hotel with sea views

Sorrento or Positano

Sea-view rooms above the Bay of Naples; the perfect finale after the northern cities

Hotels shown are indicative of the standard we book. Upon request, we will provide a detailed itinerary with specific hotel options tailored to your preferences and budget.

What's in the Price

Included

  • 10 nights in 4–5★ centrally located hotels (double occupancy)
  • Daily breakfast at each hotel
  • Airport meet & greet on arrival
  • Private airport transfers in Venice and Naples
  • Private driver transfers to and from train stations
  • High-speed train tickets (Venice–Florence, Florence–Rome)
  • Private driver transfer Rome to Amalfi Coast
  • Private water taxi in Venice
  • Luggage handling (1 suitcase per person)
  • Private expert guides in Venice, Florence, Tuscany, and Rome
  • Chianti estate wine tasting
  • Amalfi Coast scenic drive with private driver
  • Skip-the-line access at Colosseum, Vatican, and Forum
  • All entrance fees included in guided visits
  • All scheduled tours and transport as per itinerary
  • 24/7 local support throughout your trip
  • Hamilton & Chase digital travel booklet with restaurant and local recommendations

Not Included

  • International flights to Venice / from Naples
  • Travel insurance (required — we can arrange coverage on request)
  • Lunches and dinners
  • Personal expenses (shopping, additional tastings, gondola rides)
  • Gratuities for guides and drivers (optional but appreciated)
  • City tax (collected directly by hotels, typically €3–6 per person per night)

Good to Know

  • This itinerary is a starting point — days can be reordered, extended, or exchanged for alternatives.
  • Eleven days allows genuinely unhurried time in each city — guests consistently report that this is the best-paced of our Italy itineraries.
  • Fly into Venice and out of Naples for the most natural routing — most major carriers offer this open-jaw option.
  • All guides and experiences are arranged exclusively for your group — never shared with other travellers.
  • Flexible booking: adjust or postpone your dates up to 60 days before departure at no charge.

Make It Yours

Optional add-ons & upgrades.

Every trip is different. These extras can be woven into your itinerary — just let your travel specialist know what catches your eye.

Venice lagoon islands

Private boat to Murano for glassblowing demonstrations and Burano for the painted fishing houses — the lagoon world beyond Venice proper

From €120 pp

Florence cooking class

Morning at a family cooking school: market visit, pasta making, and a proper sit-down meal with the wine that goes with each dish

From €130 pp

Capri island day trip

Ferry to Capri from Sorrento — the Blue Grotto, Augustus Gardens, and the Faraglioni rocks from the most glamorous island in the Mediterranean

From €120 pp

Sunset boat tour on the Amalfi Coast

A private motorboat along the coast at golden hour — the cliffs turning gold, a swim in a hidden cove, prosecco on the water

From €180 pp

Professional photo session

Portrait sessions at the Colosseum, Ponte Vecchio, or Amalfi cliffs with a local photographer

From €350

"Eleven days and we never once felt rushed. Venice to start, the Amalfi Coast to finish, and every city in between was extraordinary. The guides in every city were outstanding. Best trip we've ever taken."

Robert & Linda A.

Boston, MA · Epic Italy, October 2025

Common Questions

Questions about this trip.

Can I extend the Amalfi Coast section?

Yes — adding a third night on the coast allows a Capri day trip or a visit to Pompeii. We can also add Ravello as an overnight for a more peaceful coastal experience. Your specialist will advise on the best extension.

Is 3 nights in Florence enough?

Three nights gives you a full day in Florence plus a full Tuscany day, which most guests find ideal. The free afternoon on the Florence city day allows you to revisit favourites or explore independently. Guests who want more can add a night.

Private Package Journey

Epic Italy

11 days / 10 nights

From €4,490

per person

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