If you are arriving in Italy today, You will be greeted at the Rome airport and taken to Soriano nel Cimino, where you will get settled in. If you are already in Italy, we can either meet at the Rome airport, the Orte train station (36 min north of Rome), or in Soriano if you have a car. That evening, we will all dine in Soriano’s best restaurant and talk about how the remainder of the week will unfold. At this time, if the group wishes to alter the itinerary, we can plan accordingly.

This morning we will get up and have breakfast at around 9AM.  We’ll then take the short drive to the Orte Train station and board a 1st class train* for the 36 minute ride into central Rome.  We’ll spend the morning visiting some of Rome’s highlights, such as The Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain.  All the while we will also do some Christmas shopping in Rome’s most famous shopping districts.  We will have a fantastic lunch together at our favorite pizzeria in Rome, then visit Piazza Navona, which hosts a huge traditional outdoor Christmas market, complete with Santa Claus, nativity scenes and booths that sell Christmas items, toys and sweets. Kids can visit Santa Claus and parents can take in the holiday atmosphere of the market.  In the evening, we will visit the Pantheon, have dinner in a local café’ then stroll around the beautifully lit cobblestone streets of Rome’s historical downtown.

After breakfast, we will take a drive to Assisi, the home of St. Francis and Greccio, the site where St. Francis held history’s first ever nativity scene  (Christmas Crèche)  in 1223.  We’ll spend the better part of the day soaking in the beauty and history Assisi, and experiencing the Christmas tradition of this amazing place.  We will have lunch in Assisi, explore a bit more, then proceed back to Soriano.  For the evening of Christmas Eve, you will be our guests at our villa, where you will enjoy a wonderful and traditional Italian Christmas Eve feast with our family.  At around 11:00 we will go back up to town, where those that wish to join us will attend midnight mass in one of Soriano’s beautiful churches.

On Christmas day, we will leave you to sleep in (or take a jog to shed a few pounds!).  As though you haven’t already eaten enough by now, at around 12:30 PM, we will get together and go back to the villa for the traditional Christmas Day feast with our family.  These often last upwards of 6 hours, so eat light that morning!  There will most certainly be something under our tree for you, too!

That evening, we will go to the nearby town of Bassano to visit their Living Nativity.  Bassano converts the medieval quarter of their village into a recreation of ancient Bethlehem.  Hundreds of townspeople dress up in theme and play their own role in this amazing experience.  You will truly feel as though you are walking through time two-thousand years in the past.  You will sample local wine, local cheeses and much more as you take in this magical experience.

Wednesday morning we will take it easy in the morning.  We will have lunch in Soriano’s Taverna dei Frati, then proceed to Viterbo in the afternoon, where we will visit many churches to enjoy their nativity scenes.  That evening we will visit our second living nativity.  This one is in Soriano’s suburb of Chia, and is even larger and more impressive than the one we saw in Bassano.  While the theme of this one is still ancient Bethlehem, instead of creating it in the medieval quarter, Chia creates theirs along a hillside full of ancient grottos.  You will walk down torch-lit paths past Roman soldiers guarding prisoners, you will see small shops set inside of caves, food stands that offer free samples of ancient delicacies,  and much more.  When you get to the valley below, you will be in the re-created bustling village of Bethlehem, completely re-created, and as you continue outside the village, you will find an amazing living nativity scene.  You will leave Chia in total awe over this elaborate production.

Thursday morning we will have breakfast before driving to the nearby provincial capital of Viterbo, which was the home of the Vatican centuries ago.  We will visit the ancient Papal Palace, as well as the mediaval quarter of San Pellegrino, which is considered to be the best preserved medieval quarter in Italy.  We will have lunch in Viterbo, then cross into Tuscany and visit the breathtaking Tuscan hilltown of Pitigliano.  Dinner will be at a local Soriano trattoria..

Friday morning we will get an early start as we board a first-class train for Florence.  We will have breathtaking views as we take the 1 hour and 50 minute ride through Umbria, Tuscany and its Chianti region.  We will spend the day in Florence with Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc., visiting the world-famous Uffizi gallery, the Academia gallery Ponte Vecchio, and much more.  We’ll dine in Florence before returning home for the night.

Today we will be back in Rome.  After all, you simply can’t see Rome in a day.  We’ll spend time at the Vatican, visiting St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, etc.  Then we’ll visit the Colloseum and the Roman Forum Finally, we will visit the recently re-opened Domus Aureus, which was Emporor Nero’s 400 room ‘Golden Palace’.

Sunday morning after breakfast we will go to Civita di Bagnoregio, the dying city.  This beautiful place was founded by the Etruscans over 2,500 years ago.  The village, with only 12 year-long residents,  is a sort of island on top of a cliff of volcanic rock that has been eroding over the years, making it one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world as it crumbles away.  Once we leave Civita, we will take a short drive to one of the most beloved towns in Umbria, Orvieto.  Orvieto is most famous for its stunning cathedral, underground caves, ceramics, and its world-famous white wine Orvieto Classico.  We’ll have lunch in Orvieto, tour the town, then go to a special Pizzeria in the town of Vetralla for dinner. 

After dinner, we will see our third Living Nativity production in Vetralla.  This one is quite different.  While the others recreate the Bethlehem of 2,000 years ago, Vetralla chose to convert their town to the bustling Vetralla of the early 19th century!  Again, hundreds of townspeople are in full costume, playing their individual roles.  You will see a Blacksmith, a schoolhouse, a tax collector, children playing in the streets, weavers, mills, etc.  You will watch as artisans craft, and even watch people make Ricotta cheese (which you are free to sample as it is made).  Again, this is a spectacle you have to see to believe.  You will never forget it!

Weather permitting, we will take a special light hike with those that are up to it this morning.  In the outskirts of Soriano are the precious ruins of a place called Corviano that few people know about.  Corviano was an Etruscan village that dates back 3,000 years.  You will enter the actual homes the Etruscans had carved in the cliffs.  You will walk through the village necropolis, looking at clearly defined graves carved out of rock.  You will hike through the ruins of a medieval castle, and more.  For those that visit us, Corviano is generally the highlight of their trip.  It gives you a completely different perspective, allowing you to truly feel the presence of an extinct race.
In the afternoon we will rest a bit and get ready for tonight.  We will spend New Year’s Eve attending a huge party in Soriano’s castle.  There will be tons of music, dancing, and….  Well, we are in Ital, right?  A grand feast!  At the strike of midnight, you will experience fireworks like you have never seen before.  Imagine all of the fireworks of the fourth of July happening at the same time, everywhere.  The sky lights up virtually everywhere you look with skyrockets, firecrackers, etc.  For the next 15 to 20 minutes, the sky will look as though Italy is at war.

We probably didn’t get to bed until 4 or 5 in the morning, so today we will take it very easy.    Feel free to sleep in, or come down to the villa where we will have some movies showing, and perhaps a football game from back home on the TV.  Tuesday evening we will have our farewell dinner.

Departure Day. Wednesday morning we will have breakfast and take you back to the Rome Airport, Rome City, or Civitavecchia.