National League of American Pen Women
JOIN US IN ITALY
October 23 – November 2, 2015
A Unique Exploration of the Arts in Tuscany
Italy has been an epicenter of the arts for centuries. Our explorations, exclusively created for us by Private Italy Tours LTD, will provide three unique itineraries with focus on artists, musicians and writers.
Visits to the Uffizi gallery and other museums, a concert given by member/guests whose passion is music and explorations of the worlds of writers like Machiavelli and Dante fill each day. While on some days the group will be together, each day has been structured to focus experiences within these three art’s channels.
The group will stay at a comfortable and safe hotel in Florence during this incredible tour. With easy access to the important cultural sites of the city, the tour itineraries will enrich and expand everyone’s exposure to Tuscany’s unforgettable treasures.
Private Italy Tours staff will assist those who wish to visit Rome or other parts of Italy in advance of, or following their time in Tuscany. Hotel reservations, private guides and museum entrance tickets can be arranged by our staff to make your travels less stressful and hectic.
LOGISTICS
The group will be meeting at their Florence hotel upon arrival at the start or the tour. Mark Gordon Smith and additional staff of Private Italy Tours LTD will greet and meet the guests at the hotel and will assist in getting them registered and checked in to their rooms.
Pricing
$2845.00 per person land only.
Single Supplement $400.00 per person. (The single supplement guarantees a double room for single use at our hotel in Florence)
Meals:
Breakfasts are included for each day during the tour
There are two group dinner’s included during the tour; one on the evening of arrival and one on the evening before departure from Florence.
Lunches and the remaining dinners are on your own, with recommendations from Private Italy Tours staff each day as the group travels. Focus for these meals will be fair price/inexpensive and good food. If guests on this trip plan between 30 and 40 Euros per day pp for both lunch and dinner, that is a good and fair target price for both meals, without wine, during the tour.
Transfers:
All van, bus and train transfers are included in the tour price. Please note that the train tickets for the musicians who will be visiting Cremona during the tour (if they agree that this is something they wish to do) will also be included with the tour price. Upon arrival in Florence, a representative of Private Italy Tours will be at the Florence airport to assist travelers with ground transportation to the hotel.
Entrance Tickets:
All entrance tickets for museums WITH THE EXCEPTION of individual visits to the Uffizi Gallery and Accademia in Florence are included in the tour price. For those who are joining the Uffizi tour on October 25, those entrance tickets are included with their trip.
Musician Rehearsal Space:
There may be some small additional cost for the use of rehearsal space for the musicians who wish to share a concert with our group. I will keep the performers informed about this as the final arrangements are made. I’ll do all possible to avoid any additional cost.
Itinerary
Note: Expert guides will be with each of the groups and/or the full group throughout the tour. There will also be a special concert given by members of the group at a small performance venue in Florence during the tour.
ITINERARY
This custom itinerary for the National League of American Pen Women has been structured so that most days provide for specific visits to places which focus on art, literature or music. As you read through the itinerary you will note that some days the entire group is together and on other days the group is divided so that special tours can be conducted within those three cultural channels. During large group tours, Private Italy Tours will provide sufficient guides so that no more than ten (10) guests are together in a group, making the tour guides much easier to hear and understand.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Group departs from the United States. For those who will be traveling to Atlanta and joining the group there for the Lufthansa Airlines Departure, you must all be at the airport no later than 2:00PM for check in for your flight. If you are connecting from another U.S. city to Atlanta, then you will already be checked in for your flights to Florence.
Friday, October 23, 2015
Group arrival in Florence. A representative of Private Italy Tours LTD will be at the airport in Florence to meet arrivals and will assist with questions and the logistics of getting to the hotel in the city. The staff representative will be at the airport between 12:00 Noon and 5:00PM today.
Upon arrival at the hotel, guests will register in their rooms. The remainder of the day is open until a group dinner at 7:30PM.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
This morning the group will have a private half day tour of the historic city center of Florence. The tour will include a visit to the David by Michelangelo in the Accademia di Bella Arti di Firenze. The entrance ticket for this visit to the Accademia is included.
Following the tour, guests are free for the remainder of the day to explore the city on their own. Private Italy Tours staff will be with the group during the private tour and will provide information to everyone about places they might wish to visit after their tour.
Guests are free for dinner this evening. (Unless otherwise noted, all lunches and dinners for guests are on their own, with recommendations made by Private Italy Tours’ staff).
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Today, the group will be exploring different areas of Florence. For the arts guests there will be a private guided tour of the Uffizi gallery. For the literature guests there will be private guided tour of the Central National Library of Italy in Florence. (In the event of unexpected closure, there will be a visit to another library in the city with a private guide, possibly the Biblioteca Medicae Laurenziana at San Lorenzo Church). For the music guests there will be visit to several small lutaio’s workshops for an opportunity to view the workshops of instrument makers in the city.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Today the arts group will have a private guided tour of the National Museum of the Bargello and the Palazzo Davanzati in the city center. The literature group will enjoy a private guided tour “On the Trail of Dante” and the music group will visit the Museum of Musical Instruments located in the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. Following that visit, in the late afternoon, there will be rehearsal for the musicians who will be performing in Florence during the tour.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The art group will have a private guided tour of the churches of San Lorenzo (the mother church of the Medici family) and Santa Maria del Carmine. The literature group will have a private guided tour to the “haunts” of Machiavelli.
The music group will depart Florence early by train and will travel to the city of Cremona. A private guide will meet the group and will lead them on a tour of the Stradivarius Museum and the Educational Museum of Instruments in the city.
Following the private tour and lunch, the musician group will return to Florence to return in time for their dinner.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
The entire group will depart the hotel by bus and will transfer directly to the stunning medieval city of Siena, about an hour and twenty minutes south of Florence. Upon arrival, the entire group will have a private guided tour of the Duomo, Piccolomini Library, Crypt and Baptistery of the Cathedral followed by a visit to the world famous Campo (main square) of Siena.
Following lunch, the art group will visit the Pinacoteca museum, the Literature group will visit various literary sites in the city and the music group will visit the Scuola Musica in Siena with a private guide.
Following the conclusion of these smaller group tours, guests are free to explore until 6:30PM when everyone will return to Florence.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Today has been set aside as an open day in Florence. Private Italy Tours’ staff will be available to assist with recommendations and ideas about places that guests might enjoy visiting. There is an endless array of art, architecture and museums in this city of the arts! 
The group will reconvene at a specific location in the city to attend a concert given by some of the musicians in the group. The location and time for the concert will be announced in advance of guest departure from the United States for the trip.
Friday, October 30, 2015
This morning the group will transfer to the city of Bologna, about thirty five minutes north of Florence by train. Upon arrival, the group will have a private guided tour of the city center.
The art group will, after lunch, have a private guided tour of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna. The literature group will visit the library of historic manuscripts at the Archiginnasio and the music group will visit the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna. The group will return to Florence by train at the conclusion of the day.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Today, the art group will visit the Casa Buonarotti, Michelangelo’s family home in Florence followed by a private guided tour of San Marco Monastery and the pantheon of Florence, Santa Croce. The literature group will have a visit to the Medici Riccardi library at the Medici Riccardi Palazzo and the music group will have an open day in the city.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
The group has an opportunity to visit the village of San Gimignano today. The bus transfer will take about an hour south of Florence. Upon arrival, the group will have a brief orientation to one of the most beautiful and popular walled medieval villages in Italy. The group will be free for explorations and shopping on their own until 3:30PM when we will return to Florence. There is a group dinner this evening at a family owned Florentine restaurant. This will be our last opportunity to share time together on this trip. We will review the arrangements for tomorrow morning’s departures during the dinner.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Guests should plan to leave the hotel no later than two hours before their scheduled flight time. The logistics of departure will all be handled by Private Italy Tours’ staff at the hotel.
BUON VIAGGIO and thank you for traveling on what we hope will be an annual trip on the National League of American Pen Women’s calendar of events!