To view a section, please click on an option below.
Accommodations
* Click on hotel name to visit hotel web-site.
Taormina, Italy
Built on the side of a bluff overlooking the Ionian Sea and the Gulf of Naxos, Eurostars Monte Tauro provides a place to relax after a full day of touring while enjoying remarkable panoramas. Its convenient location near Taormina’s historic center enables you to discover the allure of classic antiquities that the town embraces. Take advantage of the seasonal outdoor pool for a refreshing swim. The bar and restaurant offer a delightful atmosphere where you can enjoy a drink as well as freshly prepared Mediterranean specialties and Sicilian wines. The hotel is designed so that all guest rooms are welcoming with a full array of modern amenities including complimentary WiFi. Each room has a terrace or balcony with splendid sea views.
Matera, Italy
This 32-room hostelry offers guests the opportunity to stay in cave dwellings created thousands of years ago – but updated with contemporary comforts and modern amenities. Passageways cut into the rock, external staircases, and elevators connect all four levels of the hotel. The focus of our stay will be the unique experience the hotel can offer in an area famous for this type of dwelling. While your room is clean and comfortable, it will not be as luxurious as hotels on other parts of your tour. Fresh local food is brought to the hotel for each meal because the hotel does not have a kitchen. Locanda di San Martino is in the heart of Materas “Sassi” Historical District, very close to the city center. The hotel has a bar and breakfast room; air-conditioned guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, Internet access, and TV. Please note that because of the historical nature of the hotel, room sizes and views vary.
Lecce, Italy
A former palazzo, the Patria Palace Hotel is superbly located in the heart of Lecce's historical center, opposite Santa Croce Basilica. The 63-room hotel boasts many of its original flourishes, though it has been artfully refurbished in an Art Deco style with Lecce stone and original frescoes. Hotel amenities include a restaurant and bar; rooftop garden; Internet access; laundry and dry cleaning services; wellness center with Jacuzzi, sauna, and Turkish bath; and solarium. Individually styled guest rooms with decorative paintings have private bath with hair dryer, air conditioning, in-room safe, mini-bar, TV, and phone.
Lecce, Italy
The boutique hotel Chiostro dei Domenicani is a 15th-century Dominican convent. The common areas are spacious, overlooking the Cloister. This historic property offers 18 new, large and comfortable rooms. The hotel features a seasonal outdoor swimming pool, garden and terrace. Free Wi-Fi throughout the property.
Sorrento, Italy
This historic hotel sits in the heart of Sorrento on Piazza Tasso, the main square, close to shops and restaurants. Amenities of the intimate 46-room hotel include an outdoor swimming pool, solarium, lovely gardens with a citrus grove (which supplies all of the oranges and lemons used by the hotel), lobby bar, outdoor snack bar, breakfast room, Internet access, and laundry and dry cleaning services. Art Nouveau-style guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, in-room safe, mini-bar, TV, and phone. Air conditioning is available from May through October; heat from November through April.
Activity Level
Expectations: One of our Classic Land Journeys, this comprehensive tour is, not rushed, but well-paced and finely tuned. Expectations include longer touring days with many full-day motor coach excursions and stays in four different hotels. Most full-day excursions last from four to six hours, and seven afternoons are at leisure. Expect standing and walking for long periods of time during city tours, museum visits, and outdoor activities; daily walks of up to three miles over sometimes difficult terrain that includes cobblestones and city hills (especially in hilltowns), uneven pavement (especially at archaeological sites), stairs without handrails and absence of elevators (including hotels); longer walks to get to city centers where coaches are prohibited. There are two longer coach rides of approximately four and six hours duration. This tour also features one boat trip to the isle of Capri, as well as a drive along the winding roads above the Amalfi Coast.
Appropriate for: Travelers who are physically fit and comfortable with longer days of touring (both walking tours and coach time).
Tour Extension
Optional Post-Extension to Rome — 4 Days, 3 Nights
Explore the “Eternal City” at your leisure. Your tour price includes:
- Private vehicle transportation Sorrento/Rome
- Three nights’ accommodations at Monti Palace Hotel (Superior First Class)
- Three meals: Three (3) breakfasts
- Transfer to/from airport
Monti Palace Hotel - www.montipalacehotel.com
A 19th-centiury patrician building, the Monti Palace Hotel opened in August 2016. It is a stylish, contemporary hotel and a 10-minute walk from the Colosseum. Along with two bars/lounges, this smoke-free hotel has a 24-hour fitness center and a snack bar/deli. Free Wi-Fi in public areas also provided. Other amenities include a rooftop terrace, coffee/tea in the common area and concierge services. All 55 soundproofed rooms feature free Wi-Fi. Rooms feature minibars and laptop-compatible safes. 46-inch LCD televisions come with digital channels. Bathrooms include bathtubs or showers, complimentary toiletries, and hair dryers.
Please note: the extension program is not available for the September 14-28, 2023 departure.
Testimonials
WHAT OUR TRAVELERS SAY
We loved it!! We saw things we would never have been able to see on our own. Thank you for providing us with one of our most delightful and memorable journeys.
- Katherine M.
There were so many moments to treasure. The people in our tour were all smart, friendly, great to get to know, and we all shared the joy of new experiences. We learned so much!
- Suzanne Z.
Reading List
Highly Recommended
Seeking Sicily: A Cultural Journey Through Myth and Reality in the Heart of the Mediterranean
By: Keahey, John
Greek and Roman Architecture (Classic Architecture) (Volume 1)
By: Waddell, Mr. Gene
Vesuvius: A Biography
By: Alwyn Scarth
Capricious, vibrant, and volatile, Vesuvius has been and remains one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes. In its rage, it has destroyed whole cities and buried thousands alive. In its calm, its ashes have fertilized the soil, providing for the people who have lived in its shadows. For over two millennia, the dynamic presence of this volcano has fascinated scientists, artists, writers, and thinkers, and inspired religious fervor, Roman architecture, and Western literature. In Vesuvius, Alwyn Scarth draws from the latest research, classical and eyewitness accounts, and a diverse range of other sources to tell the riveting story of this spectacular natural phenomenon. Scarth follows Vesuvius across time, examining the volcano's destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 A.D., its eruptions during the Counter-Reformation that were viewed as God's punishment of sinners, and the building of the world's first volcano observatory on Vesuvius in the 1840s. Scarth explores the volcano's current position overlooking a population of more than three million people and the complex attitudes maintained by the residents, at once reverent, protective, and fearful. He also considers the next major eruption of Vesuvius, which experts have indicated could be the most powerful since 1631. The longer Vesuvius remains dormant, the more violent its reawakening will be, and despite scientific advances for predicting when this might occur, more people are vulnerable than ever before. Exploring this celebrated wonder from scientific, historical, and cultural perspectives, Vesuvius provides a colorful portrait of a formidable force of nature.
Moon Southern Italy: Sicily, Puglia, Naples & the Amalfi Coast (Travel Guide)
By: Sarris, Linda, Thayer, Laura
Also Recommended
The Ancient Mediterranean (Meridian)
By: Michael Grant
Written by eminent classical scholar Michael Grant. The Ancient Mediterranean is a wonderfully revealing, unusually comprehensive history of all the peoples who lived around the Mediterranean from about 15,000 B.C. to the time of Constantine (306-337 A.D.). Many volumes, including Professor Grant's own previous works, trace the histories of the great civilizations of Greece and Rome. But this unique work looks at the influences and cultures of the entire region, including Egypt, Israel, Crete, Carthage, Ionia and the Eastern colonies. Syria, and the Etruscans, as well as the Greek and Roman states.Drawing on archaeology, geography, anthropology, and economics. Professor Grant shows how the great Oriental civilizations—Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia—originated attitudes and institutions ultimately passed on to the West. He describes the effect on the people and their achievements of the long, irregular coastline, the mountainous terrain surrounding small fertile plains, the typical plant life of olive and grape, and the rapidly changing weather. Further, he investigates how the demographic factors around this deep and stormy sea caused or influenced the great periods of ancient history, such as that of fifth-century Athens and of Rome in the first century A.D. Appealing and fascinating reading, this impeccably researched history brings a fresh perspective to understanding our ancient heritage.
The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, Its Regions, and Their Peoples
By: Gilmour, David
A Traveller's History of Italy
By: Lintner, Valerio
La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind
By: Severgnini, Beppe
The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found
By: Mary Beard
Pompeii is the most famous archaeological site in the world, visited by more than two million people each year. Yet it is also one of the most puzzling, with an intriguing and sometimes violent history, from the sixth century BCE to the present day. Destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 CE, the ruins of Pompeii offer the best evidence we have of life in the Roman Empire. But the eruptions are only part of the story. In The Fires of Vesuvius, acclaimed historian Mary Beard makes sense of the remains. She explores what kind of town it was―more like Calcutta or the Costa del Sol?―and what it can tell us about “ordinary” life there. From sex to politics, food to religion, slavery to literacy, Beard offers us the big picture even as she takes us close enough to the past to smell the bad breath and see the intestinal tapeworms of the inhabitants of the lost city. She resurrects the Temple of Isis as a testament to ancient multiculturalism. At the Suburban Baths we go from communal bathing to hygiene to erotica. Recently, Pompeii has been a focus of pleasure and loss: from Pink Floyd’s memorable rock concert to Primo Levi’s elegy on the victims. But Pompeii still does not give up its secrets quite as easily as it may seem. This book shows us how much more and less there is to Pompeii than a city frozen in time as it went about its business on 24 August 79.
Italy: Monuments Past and Present (Monuments Past & Present)
By: R. Staccioli, A. De Franciscis-Bragantini
This informative volume shows Italy's most important monuments as they look today and, via overlaid illustrations, as they were once upon a time. The book surveys the history and archeological highlights of Rome, Sicily and Pompeii.
The Ancient Shore: Dispatches from Naples
By: Shirley Hazzard, Francis Steegmuller
Born in Australia, Shirley Hazzard first moved to Naples as a young woman in the 1950s to take up a job with the United Nations. It was the beginning of a long love affair with the city. The Ancient Shore collects the best of Hazzard’s writings on Naples, along with a classic New Yorker essay by her late husband, Francis Steegmuller. For the pair, both insatiable readers, the Naples of Pliny, Gibbon, and Auden is constantly alive to them in the present.With Hazzard as our guide, we encounter Henry James, Oscar Wilde, and of course Goethe, but Hazzard’s concern is primarily with the Naples of our own time—often violently unforgiving to innocent tourists, but able to transport the visitor who attends patiently to its rhythms and history. A town shadowed by both the symbol and the reality of Vesuvius can never fail to acknowledge the essential precariousness of life—nor, as the lover of Naples discovers, the human compassion, generosity, and friendship that are necessary to sustain it.Beautifully illustrated by photographs from such masters as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Herbert List, The Ancient Shore is a lyrical letter to a lifelong love: honest and clear-eyed, yet still fervently, endlessly enchanted.“Much larger than all its parts, this book does full justice to a place, and a time, where ‘nothing was pristine, except the light.’”—Bookforum“Deep in the spell of Italy, Hazzard parses the difference between visiting and living and working in a foreign country. She writes with enormous eloquence and passion of the beauty of getting lost in a place.”—Susan Slater Reynolds, Los Angeles Times “The two voices join in exquisite harmony. . . . A lovely book.”—Booklist, starred review
Midnight in Sicily: On Art, Food, History, Travel and la Cosa Nostra
By: Peter Robb
A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the YearA New York Public Library Best Book of the YearFrom the author of M and A Death in Brazil comes Midnight in Sicily.South of mainland Italy lies the island of Sicily, home to an ancient culture that--with its stark landscapes, glorious coastlines, and extraordinary treasure troves of art and archeology--has seduced travelers for centuries. But at the heart of the island's rare beauty is a network of violence and corruption that reaches into every corner of Sicilian life: Cosa Nostra, the Mafia. Peter Robb lived in southern Italy for over fourteen years and recounts its sensuous pleasures, its literature, politics, art, and crimes.
The Leopard: A Novel
By: Giuseppe Di Lampedusa
Set in the 1860s, The Leopard tells the spellbinding story of a decadent, dying Sicilian aristocracy threatened by the approaching forces of democracy and revolution. The dramatic sweep and richness of observation, the seamless intertwining of public and private worlds, and the grasp of human frailty imbue The Leopard with its particular melancholy beauty and power, and place it among the greatest historical novels of our time.Although Giuseppe di Lampedusa had long had the book in mind, he began writing it only in his late fifties; he died at age sixty, soon after the manuscript was rejected as unpublishable. In his introduction, Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi, Lampedusa's nephew, gives us a detailed history of the initial publication and the various editions that followed. And he includes passages Lampedusa wrote for the book that were omitted by the original Italian editors.Here, finally, is the definitive edition of this brilliant and timeless novel.(Translated from the Italian by Archibald Colquhoun.)
Pompeii: A Novel
By: Robert Harris
BESTSELLER - "Terrific... gripping... A literally shattering climax." -- The New York Times Book Review All along the Mediterranean coast, the Roman empire’s richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas, enjoying the last days of summer. The world’s largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum, and Pompeii. But the carefree lifestyle and gorgeous weather belie an impending cataclysm, and only one man is worried. The young engineer Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay of Naples. His predecessor has disappeared. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta’ s sixty-mile main line—somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Attilius—decent, practical, and incorruptible—promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. His plan is to travel to Pompeii and put together an expedition, then head out to the place where he believes the fault lies. But Pompeii proves to be a corrupt and violent town, and Attilius soon discovers that there are powerful forces at work—both natural and man-made—threatening to destroy him. With his trademark elegance and intelligence, Robert Harris, bestselling author of Archangel and Fatherland, re-creates a world on the brink of disaster.
Canti: Poems / A Bilingual Edition (Italian Edition)
By: Giacomo Leopardi
A New York Times Notable Book for 2011 Giacomo Leopardi is Italy's greatest modern poet, the first European writer to portray and examine the self in a way that feels familiar to us today. A great classical scholar and patriot, he explored metaphysical loneliness in entirely original ways. Though he died young, his influence was enormous, and it is no exaggeration to say that all modern poetry, not only in Italian, derives in some way from his work.Leopardi's poetry is notoriously difficult to translate, and he has been less well known to English-language readers than his central significance for his own culture might suggest. Now Jonathan Galassi, whose translations of Eugenio Montale have been widely acclaimed, has produced a strong, fresh, direct version of this great poet that offers English-language readers a new approach to Leopardi. Galassi has contributed an informative introduction and notes that provide a sense of Leopardi's sources and ideas. This is an essential book for anyone who wants to understand the roots of modern lyric poetry.
Christ Stopped at Eboli: The Story of a Year (FSG Classics)
By: Levi, Carlo
The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (Oxford World's Classics)
By: Horace Walpole
'Look, my lord! See heaven itself declares against your impious intentions!' The Castle of Otranto (1764) is the first supernatural English novel and one of the most influential works of Gothic fiction. It inaugurated a literary genre that will be forever associated with the effects that Walpole pioneered. Professing to be a translation of a mysterious Italian tale from the darkest Middle Ages, the novel tells of Manfred, prince of Otranto, whose fear of an ancient prophecy sets him on a course of destruction. After the grotesque death of his only son, Conrad, on his wedding day, Manfred determines to marry the bride-to-be. The virgin Isabella flees through a castle riddled with secret passages. Chilling coincidences, ghostly visitations, arcane revelations, and violent combat combine in a heady mix that is both chilling and terrifying.In this new edition Nick Groom's wide-ranging introduction explores the novel's Gothic context in the cultural movement that affected political and religious thinking before Walpole developed it as a literary style, helping to explain the novel's impact on contemporaries, its importance, and Walpole's pioneering innovations in the horror genre.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
History of the World Map by Map (DK History Map by Map)
By: DK
*As an Amazon Associate, Smithsonian Journeys earns from qualifying purchases.
Travel Insurance
For the convenience of our travelers, Smithsonian Journeys includes a basic medical expense and evacuation plan through Trip Mate, a Generali Global Assistance & Insurance Services brand, at no additional charge. This plan provides post-departure Medical and Dental coverage of $250,000 per person and Emergency Assistance and Transportation coverage of $1,000,000 per person (U.S. Residents Only). Note: For full details regarding these coverages please review the following Plan Documents here.
In addition, we recommend that travelers purchase a travel protection plan to help protect their travel investment from unforeseen events such as cancellation due to illness, flight delays due to adverse weather, baggage loss, and more. For your convenience, Smithsonian Journeys offers an optional Travel Protection Plan administered by Trip Mate, a Generali Global Assistance & Insurance Services brand. For those interested, optional "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage is available for an additional charge. Note: Certain eligibility requirements apply and Cancel for Any Reason coverage is not available to New York residents. For full details regarding this coverage please review the following Plan Documents here.
To learn more about the Travel Protection Plan, you may visit https://www.generalipartner.com/smithsonianjourneys or call the administrator, Trip Mate, a Generali Global Assistance & Insurance Services brand at (866) 501-3252.
/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/4b/c3/4bc34e95-8999-4cf3-8449-27088a11d58c/ita_positano_ist_947783706.gif)
/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/2f/76/2f76de54-0b9b-4054-b146-cfb8432e2167/ita_sicily_taormina_greektheater_web.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/e2/7c/e27cd751-fd5f-41a6-b33c-d8fdd3bf1d1e/ita_sicily_agrigento_ist_71824721.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/47/65/47653b7f-68ad-4766-b45a-61aa92f4aab4/ita_alberobello_trullirooftops_ist_971736382.gif)
/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/96/7a/967a296b-c3ad-4e36-b3f6-24940f1cef62/ita_capri_panorama_dt_l_30056387.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/1c/6c/1c6cc96b-5272-4d78-99c2-b64e6e5b0f5f/ita_capri_port_dt_l_61219424.jpg)
:focal(992x626:993x627)/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/8b/61/8b61cad9-fed2-4333-873c-1daa49844ac7/ita_polignanoamare_ist_1033101684.jpg)
:focal(480x217:481x218)/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/2f/76/2f76de54-0b9b-4054-b146-cfb8432e2167/ita_sicily_taormina_greektheater_web.jpg)
:focal(1050x818:1051x819)/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/68/74/68740765-62c7-459b-8e19-385cbecd882c/ita_amalfic_vietrisulmaresalerno_eve_ist_602335862.jpg)
:focal(1500x1207:1501x1208)/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/00/01/000146cc-6fd8-44c9-91e2-8a136073761b/people_dinnerpartydusk_gettyrf_681893921_forweb.jpg)
:focal(1894x1082:1895x1083)/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/14/4d/144dd2b0-4a98-4611-8f61-dce48d74672b/ita_rome_forum_ist_493904826.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-journeys-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/7e/ed/7eed3037-2b92-4991-9e09-52011cad402d/ita_segesta_is_000011698670.jpg)
