Classic Italy: Rome, Florence and Venice by fast train

The direct flight from Dubai lands at Rome Fiumicino after about 6 hours. Your private driver meets you in arrivals for the 45 to 60 minute drive into the historic centre. After check-in, walk to the Pantheon, then cross the Tiber to Trastevere, a maze of ivy-covered lanes that comes alive at dusk. Have dinner at a trattoria on a small piazza: try cacio e pepe or carciofi alla giudia, Roman fried artichokes. Overnight in Rome.

Meet your guide at 9 am at the Colosseum for a three-hour visit with timed entry, walking through the arena, then the Roman Forum and up the Palatine Hill, where emperors had their palaces. After lunch, wander through the heart of the city at your own pace: Piazza Venezia, the Trevi Fountain, where a coin over the shoulder means you will return, the Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona with its Bernini fountains. Gelato is mandatory. Overnight in Rome.

Your guided visit starts at the Vatican Museums' opening time, about 8.30 am, taking in the Raphael Rooms, the Gallery of Maps and the Sistine Chapel, followed by St Peter's Basilica with Michelangelo's Pietà. Cover knees and shoulders. The tour lasts around three and a half hours. In the afternoon, rest or visit the Borghese Gallery, booked separately on request, and stroll through the gardens of Villa Borghese to the Pincio terrace for sunset over the rooftops. Overnight in Rome.

Take a taxi to Roma Termini for the fast train to Florence, about 1 hour 35 minutes in reserved seats. Leave bags at the hotel and set out on foot: the Duomo with Brunelleschi's dome, the baptistery doors, Piazza della Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio lined with goldsmiths. In the late afternoon, cross the Arno and climb about 20 minutes to Piazzale Michelangelo for the sunset over the city. Dinner on bistecca alla fiorentina or ribollita. Overnight in Florence.

With an art historian guide, visit the Uffizi Gallery in the morning, home to Botticelli's Birth of Venus and works by Leonardo and Caravaggio, then the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David, both with timed entry and about four hours in total. In the afternoon, explore the Oltrarno district across the river, where leather workers, bookbinders and goldsmiths keep their workshops, and visit the Pitti Palace or the Boboli Gardens if you have the energy. Overnight in Florence.

A small-group minibus collects you at 8 am for a day in the Tuscan hills. In Siena, your guide shows you the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo and the striped marble cathedral. After lunch, continue to San Gimignano, a hilltop town of medieval towers, for the famous gelato and the views over vineyards and cypress trees. Some departures include a farm stop with olive oil tasting. Return to Florence by about 7 pm. Overnight in Florence.

The fast train to Venice Santa Lucia takes about 2 hours 15 minutes. Step out of the station onto the Grand Canal, activate your water bus pass and ride line 1 slowly along the canal past palaces, under the Rialto Bridge and down to your hotel. In the afternoon, walk to the Rialto market area and get lost in the lanes of Cannaregio. For dinner, try a bacaro, a Venetian wine bar serving small snacks called cicchetti. Overnight in Venice.

Your morning guided visit covers St Mark's Basilica, with its golden mosaics, and the Doge's Palace, crossing the Bridge of Sighs into the old prisons, about three hours with timed entry. In the afternoon, use your water bus pass for Murano, where glassblowers give demonstrations, and Burano, with its brightly painted fishermen's houses and lace shops, about 45 minutes further. Return to Venice for sunset and, if you wish, a gondola ride. Overnight in Venice.

After breakfast, take the airport water bus from the stop nearest your hotel to Venice Marco Polo airport, about an hour across the lagoon, a beautiful last journey. For heavy luggage or early flights, a private water taxi can be booked from about AED 520. Allow two hours at the airport. The flight home to Dubai is about 6 hours direct, or longer with one stop depending on the season. Our operations team tracks your journey throughout.