Quality Package Villa Serena

Saturday

Arrival with private transfer
Arrival at Rome or Florence International Airport and meeting with your personal tour leader.
(On request private transfer also from other airports or location).
Private Transfer in GT coach to VILLA SERENA.
Accommodation in villa, welcome drink and time for relax.
Welcome dinner in Villa.

Sunday

Breakfast in Villa with leisure time at your disposal. Bus or minibus with driver at your disposal. During this first day we suggest that you visit the Trasimeno Lake with the nice town of Castiglione del Lago and the Polvese island.

Castiglione del Lago offers the Rocca del Leone, one of the best examples of medieval military Umbrian architecture, while the Palazzo della Corgna with its typical feudal style, is inserted in the antique house of Baglioni and the existing boundary walls. On the Polvese island, very interesting are visits to the Monastero di San Secondo, the Medieval castle and the San Giuliano church.

Light lunch and dinner in villa.

Monday – PERUGIA AND ASSISI

Breakfast in villa.

An itinerary through the verdant region of Umbria, discovering eternally fascinating cities. Perugia has one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, where we can admire the Maggiore Fountain, the Gothic Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Palazzo dei Priori, home to the Town Hall. The excursion continues to Assisi, famous all over the world as the native town of Saint Francis. Stop for lunch in a typical restaurant. After lunch, a guided tour of the Basilica of Saint Francis, frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue, the Basilica of Santa Chiara, the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli and other important sites. Perugia is a capital city in a medieval hill town - a town of Gothic palaces and jazz cafes, where ancient alleys of stone with 19th century shopping promenade.

It produced and trained some of Umbria's finest artists, including Gentile da Fabriano and Perugino (born Pietro Vannucci in nearby Città della Pieve), from whose workshop emerged Pinturicchio, Lo Spagna, and Raphael. It's a respected university city whose student population ensures a lively cultural calendar. After a long and bloody history, Perugia has settled well into its role as capital of Umbria. Assisi shows a typical medieval urban structure of the city which in great part follows that of the Roman settlement with important finds such as the pronaos (colonnade) of the Temple of Minerva; the green of the woods of Mount Subasio and of the surrounding countryside which encroach upon its ancient walls; positioned on a hillside from which a glance embraces the entire Umbrian valley.

Dinner in Villa.

Tuesday - COOKING CLASS IN VILLA:

Breakfast and light lunch in villa.

Leisure time at your disposal .

Afternoon - Cooking class in villa during which you will prepare, with the help of the chef, your own dinner enjoying the flavour of typical dishes.

Wednesday - FULL DAY AT LEISURE:

Breakfast in villa.

You can relax and enjoy your villa or choose one of the suggested wine trails or daily excursions in Tuscany or Umbria.

Check list of wine trails
List of daily excursions

These excursions should be booked as extra’s at the time of booking.

Dinner in Villa.

Thursday - CORTONA

Breakfast in villa.

This day trip will give you the possibility to get to know Cortona, a famous Tuscan centre, visited each year by numerous tourists. Its Etruscan origins along with the medieval characteristics gives this town an additional suggestive aspect, situated about 600 meters above sea level Cortona offers breath taking views over the Valdichiana countryside. With your tour guide/leader the first visit will be at the Fortezza del Girifalco (XII century) and the Basilica di Santa Margherita, after which you will be transported back in time when you visit the Convento delle Celle dating back to around 200’s, and then the Chiesa di Santa Maria Nuova, erected around the middle of the XVI century of Giorgio Vasari where prestigious pieces of art work are kept.

The morning continues with the entrance to the historical centre, where you will remain taken away by the beauty of the architecture hidden in the narrow medieval streets. Lunch will be held in a typical restaurant in the historical centre where you will be able to taste the delicious dishes of the local area. In the early afternoon you will have the possibility to visit Piazza Signorelli and the Museo Diocesano which is situated in the ex “church of Jesus” (Chiesa del Gesù), where it is possible to see paintings by Luca Signorelli and Beato Angelico. The tour continues with Palazzo Casali, with its medieval style with renascence face, and Piazza della Repubblica with the Palazzo Comunale and the Torre with the watch tower, and Piazza del Duomo. You will be enchanted whilst you go for relaxing walks in the streets of Cortona as you will also be when you arrive in Piazza Garibaldi, the true living room of this splendid town, with its breath taking views. Finally, on the way back you will stop off at the Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio, a wonderful church from the renaissance period thanks to the genius architecture of Francesco di Giorgio Martini.

Dinner in villa.

Friday - MONTEPULCIANO AND PIENZA:

This delightful down-hill walk is the perfect introduction to the artistic treasures of the charming birthplace of great Renaissance thinker and poet, Angelo Poliziano. Meet your expert authorized local guide and begin the visit at the austerely elegant Santa Maria dei Servi. Then make your way through the city gates and to the sober Duomo where you will enjoy the magnificent Gothic altar retablo and majolica works of the della Robbia brothers.

Proceed to the stately Piazza Grande where the most impressive palazzi of the town can be admired. It is the ideal and monumental centre of Montepulciano. It is one of the most beautiful squares of the minor towns which keep in silence recollections of past magnificence and high civilization. The square is boarded by important buildings: the Cathedral with its unfinished facade; on the left the unfinished Bell Tower dating back to the second half of the XV century. And The Town Hall with its beautiful mid tower dates back to the XVI Century and recalls, at large, Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. It is a simple building with Guelph merlons and solid corbels. Then saunter along the main street; located along the top of a narrow ridge, Montepulciano snakes down the slope with virtually a single street – short side streets usually terminating in vertiginous drops. As such, all of the great families located their residences along this thoroughfare which today forms a veritable parade of fine noble architecture.

Montepulciano has many buildings and churches of architectonic interest: Palazzo Cappelli with frescoes by F. Zuccari at the entrance, the large threefold arcade of Loggia del Mercato, attributed to Scalza, Palazzo Cervini desined by Antonio da Sangallo the Old; Palazzo Cagnoni attributed to Vignola; the Seminary Palace close to which there is the Church of Jesus Christ designed by Andrea Pozzo in the XVII century. Palazzo Avignonesi which is attributed to Vignola and dates back to the XVI century. Close to the building you can admire the Baroque Church of St.Bernard, wanted by the Jesuit Father Andrea Pozzo. In front of Palazzo Avignonesi there is the late-Renaissance Palazzo Tarugi. This building is also attributed to Vignola. Other Renaissance palaces board Via Roma: Palazzo Cocconi-Del Pecora, designed by Antonio da Sangallo, Palazzo Buccelli which presents at its basis frontages of Etruscan cinerary urns and tablets with Etruscan and Latin inscriptions. Palazzo Del Monte (today Contucci), Palazzo Nobili (today Tarugi) attributed to Antonio da Sangallo the Old, Palazzo Benincasa with the bust of Gian Gastone dei Medici in the portal. During the walk in the town you will have the opportunity to visit to a mosaic school/workshop and to a copper-ware manufacture. After having visited the town, you get to Madonna di San Biagio by Antonio di Francesco Giamberti, known as Antonio da Sangallo the Old. It was consacrated by Pope Clement VII in 1529. It rises in open country and was built on the remains of the ancient parish church of St. Blaise where, according to the tradition, the painting of Our Lady was seen moving her eyes. It presents a Greek-cross plan surmounted by a dome and with four equal wings. In the south wing there is a semicircular sacristy, whereas on both sides of the northern wing there are two bell towers, one of which is the beautiful well with its curved line is like the well in Piazza Grande.

In the afternoon the visit continues towards Pienza, where you will have the opportunity to taste and buy the delicious Pecorino cheese, very well know in Pienza. If interested you can stop in a factory in the area where Pecorino cheese is made.

Dinner in villa.

Saturday – DEPARTURE WITH PRIVATE TRANSFER:

Breakfast and private transfer to Rome or Florence International Airport.

(On request private transfer also to other airports or final destination).

Price List Per Person

PRICE INCLUDES:

• Private transfer from airport to the villa by GT coach
• Private transfer from villa to airport by GT coach
• Bus or minibus at your disposal for your entire stay with private driver
• Tour leader at your disposal for your entire stay
• 7 breakfasts in villa
• 1 welcome drink and 1 welcome dinner
• 6 in house chef for lunch and dinner in villa as started in the program
• 1 cooking lesson with dinner
• 1 farewell dinner
• 3 lunches in restaurant during excursions as stated in your program
• Wine tasting in wineries as stated in the program
• Accommodation in villa in double or twin bedrooms, respecting the typology of the villa
• Linen and towel change twice a week
• 4 hours of cleaning twice a week
• All taxes, VAT and fees

PRICE NOT INCLUDES:

All the extras, drinks and what is not stated above or is described as free.

Extra cleaning or extra linen, if required, should be paid directly to the owner at the villa as well as heating if necessary.

* Ask for personalized services.

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