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15-21 November, 2005
 
Rome is one of the world's major tourist destinations, visited last year by nearly nine million people. For anyone interested in the history, the art and the architecture of the Western world, to know something of this wonderful and fascinating city is a necessity. The issue is when and how best to accomplish this.
 
We have chosen November as the most suitable time to organise our first Learn Italy trip to the Eternal City. The weather will be cool, and in this month there is a slight lull in the number of visitors. We will stay in a three-star hotel in a quiet residential area not far from Rome's most famous landmark, the Colosseum. The hotel offers an evening meal, but there are also many restaurants close by. As usual on our city trips, some group meals will be organised at cost price.
 
There is plenty of interest to see within walking distance of our hotel. Nearby, behind its eighteenth-century façade is the twelfth-century church of San Clemente, decorated with beautiful mosaics. Below the nave is an early Christian basilica, and yet further below that is a Mithraic temple. Seventeen centuries of sacred architecture are contained in one building. Within quarter of an hour's walk is San Giovanni in Laterano, seat of the papacy until the fifteenth century and still Rome's cathedral. In the other direction is the Colosseum, from where Mussolini's Via dei Fori Imperiali divides the main public areas of ancient Rome and leads to the Capitoline hill and Michelangelo's architectural masterpiece, the Campidoglio.
 
Rome is not a city of one compact historic area, but of many districts each with its own centre. To facilitate our visit we will have a mini-bus to take us from place to place on four of our five full days in Rome. With transport at our disposal, we can see the famous tourist sights - St Peter's, the Vatican Museums, and the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps and the Villa Borghese - and also visit less well known parts of town where there are buildings or works of art of particular and special interest - the mosaics of Santa Maria in Trastevere, for example, or Bernini's masterpiece, the ecstasy of St Teresa in the Cornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria.
 
Our art history tutor will be Alice Foster, who has already led successful trips to Florence, Venice, Amsterdam, Montalcino and Siena. Martin Gray will be the tour organiser.
 

The use of this mini-bus makes this study holiday more expensive than our former city trips. In addition to the costs of hiring the vehicle and driver, we will also have to restrict our group to about sixteen persons. However, we are sure the resulting convenience will be well worth the extra cost.
 
 
Guideline prices, excluding flights:
Per person, single room (only a few available):   £955
Per person, single use of double room:   £1,065
Per person, sharing a double room:   £860
 
 
These prices include:
six nights bed and breakfast in a three-star hotel in Rome;
lectures on the art and architecture of Rome;
entrance fees to museums and churches;
four days of travel by minibus to chosen sites in and around Rome;
coach transfers between Rome Fiumicino airport and the hotel;
coach travel between the Cotswolds and Oxford, and Heathrow (if enough people are departing from the area).
 
These prices do not include the flight to Italy. Flights from Heathrow to Rome in November cost from about £100. Tickets on a chosen flight can be bought from a designated travel agent; the price will depend on when the traveller chooses to make their purchase, as prices are likely to rise steadily. Further information about these arrangements will be supplied on receipt of your booking form.
 

Please note that this is an archived holiday which has now passed. For our current holidays, please click here.

To return to Archived Holidays, please click here.

To register your interest for a future Learn Italy holiday similar holiday to this, please contact us here.
 
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