Four cities, one inbox.
The full Heart of Italy itinerary, day by day. Rome with three nights, Assisi with one, Florence with two, Venice with two, every hotel, every basilica and museum, breakfast every morning and the listed dinners, and all four fall 2026 departures from $3,115 per person, land only.
No spam. One email with your itinerary PDF, sent from info@flocktours.com.
Overview
Italy cannot be done in nine days, and Heart of Italy does not try. It chooses four cities and lets each one breathe. Rome gets three nights, enough for the Vatican one morning and ancient Rome the next, with an afternoon free in between. Assisi gets a slow night on its hilltop, with Giotto's Saint Francis at dusk. Florence gets two, enough for the Duomo and the David and a long walk along the Arno. Venice gets two, because the city only reveals itself once the day trippers have left. The Florence to Venice leg goes by fast train. The rest is by private air conditioned coach.
Route Map
The journey at a glance. Heart of Italy runs from Rome north through Assisi and Florence, finishing in Venice on its lagoon.
Day by Day
| Day | Where | Sites and experiences |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Arrive in Rome | Airport transfers from Rome Fiumicino are arranged for the group. By early evening you are at the central Rome hotel, gathered with the rest of the travelers for a welcome meeting with the guide and a welcome dinner together at a traditional Roman trattoria. The Vatican is across the river, the Colosseum is around a corner you will turn later, and Rome at night smells like jasmine in October. Dinner |
| Day 2 | Vatican City | A guided visit of the Vatican Museums. The Gallery of Maps, the corridors of antiquities, and into the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo's ceiling waits overhead. Out into Saint Peter's Basilica, where the Pieta sits behind glass and the dome leaves nothing to argue about. The afternoon and evening are yours, for a long lunch and a slower walk back. Breakfast |
| Day 3 | Ancient Rome | A guided morning through the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill, the stones still warm in the autumn sun. The afternoon is the Rome of postcards, the Pantheon with the light dropping through the open oculus, the Piazza Navona with its fountains, the Trevi at full theatre, and the Spanish Steps with everybody else sitting on them. Dinner together in the evening. Breakfast, Dinner |
| Day 4 | Rome to Assisi | North out of Rome into Umbria. The road climbs through olive groves and pale stone villages, and by midday the basilica at Assisi is visible from kilometres away, pink in the sun. A guide takes you through the Lower and Upper Basilicas of Saint Francis, with the Giotto frescoes that taught Europe how to paint. The Basilica of Saint Clare and the medieval streets of the town after that. Dinner is in Assisi, the hilltop quiet again once the buses have gone. Breakfast, Dinner |
| Day 5 | Assisi to Florence | A last morning in Assisi at the pace the town deserves, then north through the Tuscan countryside, with the option of a stop among the cypress and stone of the Chianti. Florence opens in the late afternoon across the bridges of the Arno. A dinner together by the river closes the day. Breakfast, Dinner |
| Day 6 | Florence | A Renaissance walking morning. The Cathedral with Brunelleschi's red tile dome that no engineer has yet improved upon, the Baptistery with its bronze doors of the Gates of Paradise, the Piazza della Signoria with its open air sculpture museum, and into the Accademia to stand before the David, who is larger than the photographs have prepared you for. The afternoon is yours: the Uffizi as an option, the Ponte Vecchio with its goldsmiths, or a long lunch with Chianti. Dinner together. Breakfast, Dinner |
| Day 7 | Florence to Venice | The fast train from Florence to Venice covers in two hours what once took two days. There are no roads on the other side, so the last leg is made by water, the city sliding past as the boat threads the lagoon. A first orientation on foot to Saint Mark's Square, with the basilica's gold mosaics catching the late sun. The evening is free, ideally somewhere small with a paper menu. Breakfast |
| Day 8 | Venice | A guided walking tour: into Saint Mark's Basilica with its gold mosaics, the Doge's Palace and the prison cells of the Bridge of Sighs, and the quiet backstreets the day trippers never find. A traditional glass blowing demonstration. The afternoon is yours, for a gondola if you want one, or simply for getting lost in a city whose only direction is water. A farewell dinner closes the trip. Breakfast, Dinner |
| Day 9 | Departure | A last breakfast, then a transfer by water to Marco Polo Airport. The last view of Venice is the one most travelers come for, the city falling behind on the lagoon as the boat picks up speed. Breakfast |
Take Italy on your own time.
The full Heart of Italy deck arrives in one email. Every hotel, every basilica and museum, the fast train between Florence and Venice, and all four fall 2026 departure prices. No follow up calls, no nudging.
No spam. One email with your itinerary PDF.
Departure Dates
Four fixed departures in fall 2026. Each runs once it is confirmed to run. Prices are per person, land only, based on two people sharing a room, and vary by date as shown below.
What Is Included
Every hotel chosen for location before anything else, so you walk to dinner. Every museum and basilica visited with a local expert who can tell you what to look at and why. Every dinner included is one worth the table. The full list, below.
Good to know before you book
For the curious walker, a notch up. The cities are explored on foot, with cobblestones underfoot in Rome and Assisi, the climb to the Florence Duomo as an option, and only footbridges and water in Venice. You should be comfortable on your feet for a few hours at a time. The pace is steady, with two free afternoons.
The trip is land only, which means you book your own flights into Rome Fiumicino and home out of Venice Marco Polo. Two different airports, the routing is worth checking before you book. Arrive a day early in Rome if you can, so the first day is yours to rest. We can book the extra night for you, and the arrival and departure transfers are already in.
Prices are based on two people sharing a room. Solo travelers can pay the single supplement for a room of their own, or we pair you with another solo of the same gender at no extra cost. About a quarter of every Flock group is traveling alone, and Italy has a way of making a stranger a friend by Florence.
Carry a passport valid for at least six months past your travel dates and check whether your nationality needs a visa or entry approval for Italy. Fall in Italy is the best season the country offers. October is warm and steady. Early November is cooler. We do not sell travel insurance and we do not bundle it. We strongly recommend you carry it from a provider you trust, and we are happy to suggest names.
Frequently asked questions
What's included in the price?
What about flights?
What's the deposit?
What's the cancellation policy?
What if I'm traveling alone?
Do I need travel insurance?
How large is the group?
Can you accommodate dietary needs?
What happens after I express interest?
What is the pace and activity level?
Deposit and cancellation
Reserving your seat costs nothing. The deposit, 15 percent of the trip price, is collected only once your trip is confirmed to run, and if a trip cannot run, every traveler is refunded in full. Once paid, the deposit is non-refundable, and the balance is due 90 days before departure. If you cancel after paying the deposit, your refund depends on how much notice you give before departure:
| Notice before departure | Refund |
|---|---|
| 90 days or more | Everything you have paid, less the deposit |
| 60 to 89 days | 50 percent of what you have paid |
| 30 to 59 days | 25 percent of what you have paid |
| Fewer than 30 days | No refund |