Final-year school trip to Rome and Florence: the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, the Duomo, the Uffizi and the Ponte Vecchio (8 days)

Day 1: Departure from your school and overnight stop in Switzerland

• Departure from your school early in the morning, at the agreed time, and daytime drive to Switzerland via Luxembourg, Alsace and Basel (about 650 km from Brussels, 7 hours' driving excluding breaks).
• Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night; two drivers take turns at the wheel.
• Free lunch during a break on the way.
• Overnight stop in the Lucerne area, dinner and quiet evening.

Day 2: The Gotthard and arrival in Florence

• Departure after breakfast and drive to Italy through the Gotthard tunnel and via Milan (about 530 km, 6½ hours excluding breaks).
• Free lunch during a break on the way.
• Arrival in Florence in the late afternoon.
• Up to the Piazzale Michelangelo for the view over the city and the dome of the Duomo at sunset.
• Check-in at the accommodation in or around Florence for two nights, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 3: Florence, heart of the Renaissance

• The Piazza del Duomo: Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral (free admission), Giotto’s Campanile and the Baptistery.
• Climb up Brunelleschi’s Dome (on request).
• Free lunch at the Mercato Centrale, then the Piazza della Signoria and the Palazzo Vecchio (outside view).
• Visit to the Uffizi Gallery, from Botticelli to Leonardo da Vinci (on request).
• Walk across the Ponte Vecchio and through the Oltrarno, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 4: Michelangelo’s David and drive to Rome

• Rooms vacated after breakfast and visit to the Accademia Gallery and Michelangelo’s David (on request).
• Supervised free time in the San Lorenzo district and free lunch.
• Drive to Rome (about 280 km, 3¼ hours excluding breaks).
• First evening walk to the Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps.
• Check-in at the accommodation in or around Rome for three nights, dinner and supervised evening.

Day 5: Ancient and Baroque Rome

• Visit to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill (on request).
• Up the Capitoline Hill to the Piazza del Campidoglio designed by Michelangelo, then free lunch.
• Visit to the Pantheon, an ancient temple whose dome has stood intact for nearly 2,000 years (on request).
• The Piazza Navona and its fountains, then the Trevi Fountain.
• Dinner and supervised evening.

Day 6: The Vatican and Trastevere

• Visit to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel (on request).
• St Peter’s Square and St Peter’s Basilica, with Michelangelo’s Pietà (free admission).
• Free lunch, then a walk to Castel Sant’Angelo and across the Ponte Sant’Angelo.
• Late afternoon in the lanes of Trastevere.
• Dinner and last supervised evening in Rome.

Day 7: Drive to the overnight stop in Ticino

• Rooms vacated after breakfast and departure around 8 am.
• Daytime drive via Florence, Bologna and Milan (about 700 km, 8 hours excluding breaks), with two drivers taking turns.
• Free lunch during a break on the way.
• Overnight stop in Ticino, in the Bellinzona or Lugano area, dinner and quiet evening.

Day 8: Return to your school

• Departure after breakfast and daytime drive via the Gotthard, Basel and Alsace (about 800 km to Brussels, 9 hours' driving excluding breaks), with regular breaks.
• Free lunch during a break on the way.
• Arrival at your school in the evening.