Tour Spotlight: Monet and Michelangelo
Visit three of Europe’s greatest art cities – Paris, Florence and Rome – on a tour perfect for lovers of art, culture and history.
First stop, Paris!
Visit the Musée du Louvre to explore its restored galleries and their ancient treasures, as well as the modernistic underground galleria beneath I. M. Pei's glass pyramid. You will see Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and the Vénus de Milo, among countless other masterpieces.
Claude Monet lived in Giverny from 1883 until his death in 1926. Stroll through his carefully-designed gardens (which include the waterlily pond and the Japanese bridge often featured in his paintings) as well as the artist's famous pink house, a mecca for devotees of Impressionist art.
A Firenze!
A short flight takes you to Italy and first to the city of Pisa. You'll discover the Campo dei Miracoli and its trio of remarkable Moorish-style religious buildings, the most famous of which is the Leaning Tower (now tilting nearly 13 feet from its vertical axis).
Proceed to Firenze, the "Jewel of the Renaissance." Never in the history of mankind has so much genius, in all its forms, been concentrated in one place as it was in Florence during the fifteenth century.
You’ll see a wealth of artwork from the 15th and 16th centuries at the Galleria della Accademia, including the best known of all Florentine treasures, Michelangelo's monumental David.
Visit the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, better known as the Duomo. It's one of the largest cathedrals in the Christian world, consecrated in 1436. Marvel at its sumptuous exterior marble decoration and at the works of art it houses, including Domenico di Michelino's 1320 painting Dante and the Divine Comedy.
Next up, the Galleria degli Uffizi, which is home to the world's most impressive private collection of Italian Renaissance art. See masterpieces by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Lippi, Giotto, Raphael and Tintoretto.
Finalmente, Roma!
Discover outstanding masterpieces collected for the Vatican Museums since the early 1500s. You will see exceptional statues from antiquity, such as Laocoön and His Sons and the Apollo Belvedere, and stunning Renaissance paintings, notably in the Raphael Rooms, where the best-known of the frescoes is The School of Athens.
Marvel at Michelangelo's Last Judgment and brightly-colored ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. A visit is included to St. Peter's Basilica, which houses priceless works of art, in particular Michelangelo's Pietà and Bernini's Dove of the Holy Spirit.
Did we mention you’ll also ascend the Eiffel Tower and walk along the ancient roads that Julius Caesar did more than 2,000 years ago? And that’s not all.
View the full Monet and Michelangelo itinerary here.