London, Paris and Rome (Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri)....Brief Itinerary

Day 1 Flight       Overnight flight to Great Britain

Day 2 London     Walking tour of through the heart of London includes the banks of the River Thames, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Covent Garden

Day 3 London     Guided sightseeing of London takes you past Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, Whitehall, Downing Street, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and visit St. Paul’s Cathedral

Day 4 Canterbury * Paris         Visit Canterbury’s cathedral, the seat of the Church of England.
English Channel crossing
   See the White Cliffs of Dover                    
Arrival in Paris

Day 5 Paris
Guided sightseeing of Paris
      Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, Conciergerie
Optional to Versailles
              Dreamhouse of Louis XIV

Day 6 Paris              Walking tour through the opera district and the Place de la Concorde
Visit to the Louvre   See masterpieces including the Mona Lisa
Night train to Pisa

Day 7 Pisa * Florence        See the Leaning Tower of Pisa        
Transfer to Florence
           The birthplace of the Italian language, the Renaissance and opera

Guided tour of Florence    Giotto’s Bell Tower, Piazza del Duomo, Piazza della Signoroa, Santa Croce

 Day 8 Florence * Rome
Transfer via Assisi
             Stop in Assisi, birthplace of St. Francis and St. Clare
Arrival in Rome
                 Walking tour of the Spanish Steps area and Piazza Navona

 Day 9 Rome                      Guided excursion Vatican City, tour St. Peter’s Basilica & Sistine Chapel
                                           Guided sightseeing of Rome includes the Colosseum, the Forum, Piazza Venezia,
                                           the Vittoriano monument, Trevi Fountain

 Day 10 Home or
Extension
                        Guided sightseeing Pompeii Visit ruins of villas, ancient temples and Stabian Baths
Arrival in Sorrento
          Experience Italy’s favorite resort, which overlooks the bay of Naples

 Day 11 Sorrento*Rome   Journey by rowboat (weather permitting) into the shimmering Blue Grotto
                                           Guided sightseeing of Capri***Transfer to Rome***Spend the night in Rome

Day 12 Home                     Return flight home    


Requested tour:
                           London, Paris and Rome (12 days)
Optional 2 day extension:
           Sorrento and Capri (price includes extension)
Requested tour date:
                   July of 2003
Requested departure city:
          Baton Rouge

                  Registration Fee               $95     Accepting registration payments now
              
 
Program Fee                 $2055
                 
Departure Fees*             $108*             
(*Subject to change.)                                                                               ____             
               
Total for Students           $2258


       Adult Supplement            $305
                                                 ____                   
           Total for Adults            $2563                    

Optional Insurance is available.  Please consult the registration booklet.  Additional insurance information will follow.  It is not necessary to include insurance payments at this time.

Optional Excursions   (Travelers are responsible for selected optional fees.)

          Versailles                                           $40 (estimated)
         
  

*Airport fees are subject to change.  Refer to the Booking Conditions in the EF program brochure for payment plans and deadlines.  Please be aware that EF reserves the right to make changes in the itinerary as well as make price adjustments if deemed necessary.

**A supplement will be added for any flight leaving on Friday, Saturday or Sunday in either direction

***It is important to note that if there are not enough travelers for our requested itinerary, EF may opt to schedule a similar but different itinerary.  Prices will be adjusted accordingly.  Please note that there must be enough registered participants who request the extension to Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri for the extension to run.  If the extension does not run, monetary compensation will be made or we may opt to run it as a small group with an additional fee. 

****Since we do not have a large enough group to make it financially feasible to travel on our own, it is likely that we will be combined with another group which may include students.  

*****Please note that I have requested to travel at the end of July.  EF cannot confirm the exact departure date at this time.  Please let me know if there is a date in July that I must avoid in order for you to travel with us.

******Our tour director can arrange some night options that are not included in the tour.  These options will involve an added expense on tour if you choose to participate.  Some “extras” may include but are not limited to…top of the Eiffel Tower, Seine River Boat Ride, Moulin Rouge or other night entertainment.


London, Paris and Rome 2003 Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 Flight

Overnight flight to Great Britain*Enjoy jet accommodations as you fly across the Atlantic.

Day 2 London * Arrival in London

Touch down in London., Europe’s largest city.  After clearing customs you are greeted by your EF Tour Director, who will remain with you throughout your stay.  A private motorcoach takes you to your comfortable hotel for check-in.

EF walking tour of London* Stroll through the heart of London on our EF walking tour, which begins along the banks of the River Thames.  As you walk along the ancient embankment, note that these shadowy waters gave the city its name, which derives from Llyn-Dyn, Celtic for “city of the lake.”  Pass the fomer home of writer Rudyard Kipling, walk along the Strand, and see the spot from which all distances to London are measured.  Enter Trafalgar Square (stepping amidst the world’s most famous pigeons and pause at the Nelson monument, a symbol of Britain’s once unrivaled naval power.  Continue on to Leicester Square, where duelists once fought to the death.  Then saunter through London’s tiny Chinatown, in colorful, cosmopolitan Soho.  Your walk ends at chic Covent Garden, where street performers (or “buskers”) and stylish passers-by amuse the lively crowds.

Day 3  Guided sightseeing of London

Your guided tour takes you past the major landmarks of England’s regal capital.  Enjoy a photo stop at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  Pass Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Downing Street (home of Britain’s Prime Minister), and Hyde Park, the “lungs of London.”  You will also see the changing of the guard at the gates of Buckingham Palace (seasonal).  If the Royal Standard flag is flown at full mast, the queen is in residence.  On your tour through the City of London, the metropolis’ one-square-mile core, you will learn about London’s Great Fire of 1666 and visit St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Day 4 London * Paris

Visit to Canterbury*Journey through the Garden of England (the hop fields of Kent) to Canterbury, the destination city of Chaucer’s pilgrims in the legendary Canterbury Tales.  Make a brief visit to the town’s magnificent cathedral (the seat of the Church of England) and see where four of the king’s knights murdered Archbishop Thomas a Becket in 1170 as part of a long-running debate over the powers of church and state.

English Channel crossing * Transfer to Dover, where you will board a fast ferry to cross the English Channel.  Look for the famous White Cliffs of Dover as you leave the English shore—they inspired the cliff scene in Shakespeare’s King Lear.  Four hundred years later, Churchill utilized a vast network of secret tunnels hidden within the rock to hide Allied troops during WWII.

Arrival in Paris * Upon arrival in Calais, continue on to Paris, cosmopolitan City of Light.

Day 5 * Paris

Guided sightseeing of Paris*Discover the city on the Seine:  from the imposing Arc de Triomphe, commemorating Napoleon’s Grande Armee to the Ile de la Cite, birthplace of Paris.  Take a drive down the elegant Champs-Elysees.  Pass the Conciergerie, where prisoners of the Revolution spent their final days, and see Les Invalides, Luis XIV’s grand retirement home for wounded soldiers.  You will also see the Ecole Militaire, where Napoleon graduated to Lieutenant and was told he’d go far if circumstances allowed.  Next, make a photo stop at the Eiffel Tower to marvel at the 6,000-ton centerpiece for the 1889 World’s Fair.  Learn why this impressive, yet controversial, symbol of Paris was spared the wrecking ball in 1909.

Visit to the Notre Dame Cathedral * Victor Hugo once described the sculptured façade of Notre Dame as “a vast symphony in stone.”  However, had it not been for the creation of his famous hunchback, Quasimodo, the cathedral might never have returned to her former glory.  Hugo’s novel. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831), helped inspire a 23-year restoration of the cathedral that began in 1841.  Step inside to admire her stained-glass rose windows and seemingly weightless vaulted ceilings.  Built between 1163-1361 over the remains of an ancient Roman temple, it was here that Joan of Arc was tried in 1455, and Napoleon crowned himself emperor in 1804.

Optional excursion to Versailles * Join an optional excursion to Versailles, dreamhouse of Louis XIV.  Here the Sun King held court in the most lavish style imaginable.  At one point, 1,000 nobles were attended by 4,000 servants inside the palace, while 15,000 soldiers and servants inhabited the annexes.  Tour the Royal Apartments, walk through the historic Hall of Mirrors, and stroll through the elegantly landscaped gardens, designed by Andre Le Notre.  (Please note:  Because of the extreme popularity of Versailles, guided visits of the interior cannot be guaranteed during peak seasons.  In this case, your group will hear a presentation from your guide before entering the palace.)  On occasions when Versailles is closed (as in every Monday) you will instead take in the regal splendor of Chateau de Fontainebleau, a 12th-century royal residence that was a favored hunting palace for Napoleon and other rulers of France.

Day 6 Paris * Night Train

EF walking tour of Paris * Join our walking tour of the chic Opera district and the haute couture boutiques of Rue du Faubourg St. Honore.  Stroll past the official residence of the president of France and through Place de la Concorde, the city’s largest public square, built to  honor Louis XV.  The next Louis was not so lucky—he was beheaded here during the Revolution, along with Marie Antoinette.  Continue through the geometric gardens of theTuileries as you make your way to Place Vendome, a vast square wrapped in 17th-century facades.  Pass the Ritz hotel at no. 15, a favorite haunt of Hemingway.

Visit to the Louvre * Built to defend the city in the 13th century, the Louvre safeguards one of the world’s greatest art collections.  Enter the museum through world-renowned architect I.M. Pei’s 1989 modernist glass pyramid.  Inside, discover priceless antiquities from Asia, Greece, and Rome.  You will also see precious objects from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as well as paintings by European masters, including the Mona Lisa.

Night train to Italy * Tonight, enjoy
couchette accommodations aboard your overnight train bound for Italy.

 Day 7  * Arrival in Pisa

In the city’s Field of Miracles, you will see the six stories of white marble comprising the 12th century Leaning Tower of Pisa, aslant ever since the third floor was built.  This is where Galileo developed his laws of gravity.  Be sure to visit the adjacent marble cathedral and baptistery, which contain exquisite marble pulpits, carved in the Gothic style by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano.

 Transfer to Florence * Birthplace of the Italian language, the Renaissance, and opera.

Guided walking tour of Florence * Fall under the spell of the powerful Medici family on your guided tour.  See Giotto’s Bell Tower and the imposing marble cathedral in the Piazza del Duomo.  Stand before Ghiberti’s legendary Gates of Paradise (so dubbed by Michelangelo), and pass the classical statues of the Piazza della Sinoria—here you can see where Michelangelo’s David originally stood.  You will also visit Santa Croce, final resting place of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo.  Later, watch local artisans at work in an authentic leather workshop.

 Day 8 Assisi * Rome

Stop in Assisi,birthplace of both St. Francis and St. Clare.  On your visit to the basilica of  St. Francis, follow the life of one of Italy’s most beloved saints through Giotto’s artful frescoes. 

 Arrival in Rome * (The Eternal City)  Here Charlemagne was crowned by the pope in A.D. 800.

EF walking tour of Rome*Your tour director leads you through colorful, narrow streets to see the bustling Spanish Steps, a popular hang-out for foreigners and Italians alike.  Step inside the Pantheon, one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome, commissioned by the Emperor Hadrian around A.D. 120.  This temple to “all the gods” sports the second widest dome in Rome and the tomb of Raphael.  Then conjure up images of chariot races as you cross Piazza Navona, site of an ancient Roman hippodome.

 Day 9 Rome

Guided excursion to Vatican City*  The world’s largest dome is located in the world’s smallest country.  See both as you tour St. Peter’s Basilica, erected in Vatican City on the site where the saint was martyred.  Enter the basilica under the watchful eyes of the brightly dressed Swiss Guard.  Inside, admire Michelangelo’s Pieta and try to find the artist’s signature (it is the only sculpture he ever signed).  Then continue on to the Vatican Museum, where elaborate galleries where one artistic masterpiece after another lead you directly to the Sistine Chapel.  Between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo painted some of the world’s finest pictorial images on the Chapel’s ceiling.  This was his first attempt at working in fresco, which he did by standing up and craning backwards from a scaffold.

 Guided sightseeing of Rome*See the mighty Colosseum, where as many as 50,000 cheering spectators would flock to watch gladiator battle unfold inside.  Then stroll through the grassy ruins of the ancient Forum Roman, once the heart of the Roman Empire, and admire the enduring fragments of Rome’s glorious past.  It was here, on March 15 (the Ides of March), 44 B.C., that Julius Caesar was assassinated.  You will also see Piazza Venezia, where the Vittoriano monument marks the center of contemporary Rome, and the legendary Trevi Fountain—toss a coin in to assure your return to Rome.

 Day 10 Home or Extension

Return home * Your tour director assists with the transfer to the airport, where you will check in for your return flight home.

 Extension  Day 10 Rome*Sorrento

Guided sightseeing of Pompeii*Alternatively, your group can plan to extend its stay two days.  Learn how wealthy Romans lived 2,000 years ago on an excursion to Pompeii, one the richest archaeological sites in the world.  When neighboring Mt. Vesuvius erupted in

A. D. 79, volcanic ash completely buried the Roman resort.  Now it is fully excavated, and you can see the ruins of villas, ancient temples, and Stabian Baths.  Nearby is the beautiful Bay of Naples, known for its magnificent views of the3 surrounding islands. Capes, and mountains.  You will also attend a local woodworking demonstration.

**Arrival in Sorrento*Experience the unparalleled beauty of Italy’s favorite resort, overlooking the Bay of Naples.

 Day 11 Sorrento * Rome

Guided sightseeing of Capri*Cross the Bay of Naples to the captivating Isle of Capri.  You will visit the villages of Capri by funicular and journey by rowboat (weather permitting into the shimmering Blue Grotto, where you can admire the luminous and translucent waters of this ancient Roman meeting place.

Transfer to Rome*Return to Rome, where you will spend the night.

 Day 12 * Return home*Your tour director assists with the transfer to the airport, where you will check in for your return flight home.  

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