• 7 day private package
• 4 star hotels
• Guided tours
• Uffizi Gallery tour
• Truffle factory visit and tasting

• 3 dinners, 1 lunch
  
• Wine tasting
• Guided tours
• Winery visit with Oenologist

Day 5: Medici Villa la Pietraia, Chianti and Tuscan Dinner

Departure with your private driver/guide to discover the Medici Villa, La Pietraia. Formerly a castle of the Brunelleschi family, in 1575 it passed to Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, who had Buontalenti completely renovate the structure. Of particular note is the great entrance court: covered with a glass skylight in the nineteenth century so it could serve as a ball room, it houses a series of frescoes by Volterrano depicting the pomp of the house of Medici. Elected as his summer residence by Victor Emmanuel II, the villa still has richly furnished period rooms (a curious collection of parlor games is also on view). The building overlooks an Italian-style garden laid out by Tribolo, who also designed the famous fountain of "Fiorenza emerging from the water" sculptured by Giambologna. Nurseries, hothouses and basins are scattered throughout the "terraces," with their geometrically patterned boxwood hedges.

The spacious English park stretches between the villa of the Petraia and that of Castello, and is characterized by its dense groves of holm-oaks, cedars, pines, and plane trees, conceived by the Bohemian landscapist J. Fritsch, for the Lorraines. Following your visit of the villa you will continue the day with a visit of the celebrated Chianti Wine Region, an area as much renowned for its natural beauty as for its excellent wines. A stop at a local winery for a tour of the cellars and a wine tasting can be arranged if desired.

You will then continue on to Figline Valdarno, an arcadian oasis in the Tuscan countryside surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. Here chef Claudio and his staff at the Torre Guelfa restaurant will greet you and prepare for you a true Tuscan dinner complete with wines of the region. Your driver will return you to your hotel in Florence, after dinner CHIANTI OR VALD'ELSA.

Day 6: Arezzo and Cortona of the Renaissance

Deaprture with driver for a full-day excursion to visit the Renaissance works in Arezzo and Cortona.

You will begin in the enchanting small town of Arezzo. You'll be fascinated by the fusion of artistic styles. The Cathedral contains fine works of art such as La Maddalena by Piero della Francesca. Then, you will arrive in the central Piazza Grande and see many different styles of architecture: the medieval towers, the imposing Renaissance Loggiato Vasariano, the gothic Palazzo delle Fraternita dei Laici, a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance architecture, and the apse of the Pieve di Santa Maria. Here, you'll visit the essence of the renaissance: The Bacci Chapel in the Basilica di San Francesco, which houses the stunning Renaissance cycle of frescoes of The legend of the True Cross by Piero della Francesca.

Before you finish, you will see the newly restored Crucifix by Cimabue, in S.Domenico Church. After enjoying a typical Tuscan lunch in a local restaurant you will continue to Cortona.

This town of evocative Medieval atmosphere will show, at the north side of the town, the Renaissance Cathedral and the Museo Diocesano where you can admire the works by great local artists like Luca Signorelli and an Annunciazione by Fra Angelico. Displayed in the main hall, originally the baptistery of the former church of Gesù, are two panel paintings by Beato Angelico: an Annunciation and a Madonna and Child with Four Saints, both painted for the church of San Domenico. These two paintings, as well as a fresco which the artist painted for the lunette of the entrance door of the church, were finished between 1434-38, a few years later than the San Giovanni painting, during the artist's sojourn in the Dominican convent of Cortona. While in the earlier Annunciation the artist appears more closely linked to Masolino, the Cortona Annunciation reveals the teaching of Masaccio. VALDICHIANA. Return to Florence for overnight.

Day 7: Departure

You will be transferred to the rail station or airport for your onward journey or return home.