Italian Breeze

So lately we've been on this Italy kick and can't seem to get the lovely country off our minds. Whether it's the romantic and majestic streets of Rome, dripping of history and intrigue, or the quiet and quaint streets of Tuscany, full of whimsy and relaxation. Have you ever wanted to see where Juliet stood awaiting her Romeo? Or taken a trip down the Venetian canals?

Well, there's a way to do all that flawlessly and easily. At Sceptre Tours we offer these great escorted Italy tours that will take you all across beautiful Italy and you won't have to worry about a thing. Check out our Italy Great Cities package. Rates start at $1,549 for an 8-day tour, including all accommodations, private motorcoach travel all throughout the country and transfers to and from the airport.

You can sit back and let someone else worry about the planning with this trip. Sightseeing programs will be arranged for you. And you will love the itinerary - Rome, Pisa, Florence, Verona and Venice. All the top cities of Italy. All at your fingertips. All arranged for you. It makes taking a vacation, really be a breeze.

Antique Shopping in Tuscany

One of the many wonderful things about Tuscany is the abundance of fantastic antique markets and street fairs. They are an incredible, not-to-be-missed activity while you’re on your Italian vacation. Tuscany in fact, is Italy’s biggest region for antiques and street fairs and many famous markets host millions of visitors every year.

Perhaps Tuscany’s best known and most prestigious market is the one held in Arezzo on the first Saturday and Sunday of every month. Over the course of one weekend it is said to host nearly 30,000 visitors from all across Italy and the world.

Lucca plays host to Tuscany’s second busiest antique market. Taking place over the third weekend of every month, you can find an ample display of tables, armoirs and chairs as well as antique china and World War I memorabilia.

Florence hosts another market, in the Piazza dei Ciompi which runs Mondays through Saturdays and on the last Sunday of every month. Stalls are set up in the shadow of Vasari's Loggia del Pesce, but on the last Sunday of the month they extend out to the surrounding streets with vendors coming from outside Florence.

Pisa has another great flea market on the second weekend of the month in the historic center, Livorno on the first weekend in Piazza Cavour, and Prato and Pistoia on the fourth and second weekends in the Piazza San Francesco.

Whichever one you choose to attend, you are bound to find great little relics that will add history and character to your home as well as make wonderful souvenirs and gifts. You won’t want to miss these!

Under the Tuscan Sun

Beautiful, scenic Tuscany, with it’s rolling hills lined with vineyards and lemon groves. Italy, a place of romance and wonder. Sceptre Tours has a lovely new Italian vacation package just for you. For only $899, enjoy 6 nights in a private villa at the magestic and historic 4-star Fattoria degli Usignoli, a mid size rental car, plus roundtrip airfare to Florence. If you were to put this package together on your own, you would pay over $1,399.

La Fattoria degli Usignoli is a 14^th Century Italian estate, set high in the hills of Tuscany. It is surrounded by a magical landscape of olive groves, vineyards, and cypress trees. Located only 25 minutes from Florence and close to many other famous Italian cities, such as Siena, Pisa, Lucca and Arezzo, this little piece of paradise will allow you to sit back, relax and marvel at your surroundings. There are a vast array of cultural, artistic and historical sites nearby, not to mention the most famous of them all, Florence’s Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo. One of the Renaissance’s most beautiful masterpieces, this cathedral, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi was completed in 1436 and is now known as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We encourage you to check out Sceptre Tours for more information about this incredible Italian vacation package. And act quick, because we expect it to sell out!

Etiquette in Italy

Everyday Etiquette: Italy

Meeting People
When traveling to Italy and meeting people for the first time it is appropriate to wait to be introduced. You will generally be introduced to the oldest person first followed by the women.

The exchange of business cards is a common practice when first meeting someone. Status is important in the Italian culture and it is common to list any titles and/or education degrees you hold on your business cards.

Physical Greetings
When greeting someone a handshake accompanied by a “Pleased to meet you” is appropriate. When departing be sure to shake everyone’s hand, a general group wave as is often done in the United States is not looked on favorably.

An “air kiss” is an appropriate greeting once you have established a relationship with someone.

Physical Space on Your Italian Vacation
Italians stand much closer to one another than Americans do and it is common for men to walk down the street arm and arm and also women to walk down the street arm and arm.

Eye Contact
Intense direct eye contact is common, looking away is a sign of disinterest and/or that you are behaving rude.

Best of Italy & Sicily

This traditional grand vacation of 16 days is perfect for those who wish to see all of Italy, including Sicily. In the cities of Rome, Florence and Venice, highlight visits are included to St. Peter’s, the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum, Michelangelo’s David, St. Mark’s Basilica, and the Doges’ Palace with the Bridge of Sighs. Admire the Leaning Tower of Pisa and St. Francis’ Basilica in Assisi. After visiting Pompeii, board the overnight ferry to Sicily for four nights where visits to Palermo’s Palatine Chapel and the Norman Cathedral in Monreale, the spectacular Valley of Temples and the 4th-century Roman Villa of Casale await you.

A ferry brings you across the Strait of Messina to Calabria. Two nights in Sorrento include a visit to the Isle of Capri with a visit to Villa San Michele in Anacapri. On the way back to Rome, stop at the medieval Abbey of Montecassino.

Why is a vacation pacakge to italy and sicily worth it? It's more than an island! Discover Sicily and discover the world. The world's first multicultural society, the island is Italy's (and Europe's) most historically cosmopolitan region, having been ruled by Asians, Africans and Europeans. Sicily is black and white and a million shades of gray. There's no other place on Earth like it.

By using a vacation package to Italy and Sicily you will see it is a unique place full of art, archeology, history, folklore and breathtaking scenery. And, of course, great food. It's almost a nation unto itself. The enchanting land where Archimedes taught and Saint Paul preached was a Greek colony, a Roman province, an Arab emirate and a Norman kingdom.

The Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese and Jews made this unique island their own, leaving behind an eclectic history that you can still touch today. And Sicily will touch you. Sicily is Europe, Africa and Asia on one island. Greek tyrants, Arab emirs, Norman knights, Byzantine bishops and Holy Roman Emperors made it the place it is. Experience their eternal legacy in Phoenician settlements, Punic cities, Greek temples, Roman amphitheatres, Norman-Arab castles and Aragonese churches.