For centuries Italy has drawn visitors in search of culture and romance with few countries comparing with its enormous Classical origins: its art, architecture, music, design, scenery, food or wine. Indeed Tuscany alone has more classified historical monuments than any other country, let alone province, on earth. Italy’s contribution to European painting and sculpture far surpasses that of any other nation being home to the most extensive ancient civilisation, the Renaissance, the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican. Blend this with the striking natural beauty of the Tuscan countryside, the vitality of Rome, the effervescence inside every Italian and you have an unbeatable destination for a tour. First of all we visit Tuscany and its two great cities of Florence and Siena, then Umbria and Assisi and finally, the Eternal City of Rome.

Florence defies description. Birthplace of Dante and the Renaissance, it has been described, since its ‘rediscovery’ early in the last century, as the most beautiful city in Italy. Browning sighed over its idyllic charms, E.M. Forster described it in ‘A Room With a View’ as the perfect antidote to Anglo-Saxon life. It owes its wealth to the explosion of commerce emerging after the Dark Ages. Principally wool and other textile industries, backed by powerful banks turned Florence into one of the richest cities in the world. Political control soon moved to the nobility, especially the Medici who then married into the leading royal families of Europe, including our own. The city thus became the cultural and intellectual heart of Europe for 300 years. Artists and sculptors flocking to the city hoping to divert some of this new wealth in their own direction, were soon at work filling the palaces and churches to bursting point with some of the world’s most outstanding works. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian plus many more created many of the masterpieces now on display in the Uffizi gallery, an absolute must. Another struggling but brilliant thinker found finance here too, Galileo, inventor of the telescope who, on discovering the first four moons of Jupiter named one of them Medici in honour of his patron.

We also visit Siena, the other great city of Tuscany. Beautifully medieval and enclosed behind vast defensive walls, it has rural parts even within the city creating a unique atmosphere. Indeed it is more a collection of cities being split into a series of parishes whose rivalries are still in evidence during the twice yearly Palio, the famous horse race where anything goes including bribery and interfering with competitors mounts! However the city is quite outstanding and has arguably the most gracious square in the world, the Campo, and, to be fair, when you see it, backed by the soaring Campanile, it is hard to disagree.

Next we have Assisi, principally famous as the birthplace and burial place of Francis, Patron Saint of animals, and one of the most famous figures in Christian history. A delightful city in its own right, it is full of tiny alleyways and streets so narrow you can touch both sides at once and now full of high quality shops. Every house seems to be adorned with window boxes crammed with geraniums adding a splash of colour to the centuries old walls. The basilica of St. Francis is, as you would expect, outstanding in all its breathtaking detail.