Traveling Well Includes… • Private Tauck Shore Excursions – $1,025 Value! • All gratuities to Tauck Director, ship staff and local guides • Walking tour of Valletta, Malta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site • Exclusive after-hours visit to the Vatican Museums & the Sistine Chapel – without crowds • Nighttime sailing by the continuously erupting volcanic island of Stromboli • Bar & restaurant beverages throughout the day aboard ship, including house wines & spirits • Airport transfer upon arrival; airport or train station transfer upon departure • 27 meals, service charges, applicable fuel surcharges, taxes and porterage
Splendid islands & a sparkling sea... are reason enough to embark on Tauck’s gracious Le Ponant, a three-masted schooner with no more than 60 guests aboard, but there’s also... Valletta, a walkable UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ortigia’s 6th-century Temple of Apollo, meandering along Corso Umberto from one ancient Taormina gateway to the next, the Doric columns of Tempio di Segesta, the splendor of Villa Rufolo... and two nights in Rome – a city of domes and works of genius.
1. ARRIVE MALTA Tour begins: 6:00 PM, the Phoenicia Hotel. A transfer is included from Malta International Airport to the Phoenicia Hotel, surrounded by gardens and decorated with paintings by Maltese artists. Join us this evening for a welcome cocktail reception and dinner to meet your fellow cruisers. Meals D
2. EXPLORE MALTA / EMBARK LE PONANT Get to know Malta beginning with a drive around colorful St. Julian’s Bay and a walking tour among the medieval and Baroque palaces in ancient Mdina, once home to the city’s nobility. After lunch, a guide joins you for a walking tour of Valletta, Malta’s capital, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world. Check out St. John’s Co-Cathedral, a Baroque gem with an impressive art collection that includes some of Caravaggio’s most famous works. Board Le Ponant this afternoon. Meals BLD
3. SIRACUSA, SICILY Le Ponant docks at Porta Marina on Ortigia Island this morning for a visit to Siracusa, on the Sicilian mainland. From here a drive to Parco Archeologico della Neapolis brings you to visit its 16,000-seat Greek Theatre and the Latomia del Paradiso, an
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ancient limestone quarry that is resplendent today with gardens of orange and olive trees. Back on Ortigia, take a walking tour of a Baroque duomo and the 6th-century Temple of Apollo, which has been transformed over the centuries as a Byzantine church, a Muslim mosque, and a Norman church. Enjoy lunch back onboard, or perhaps on your own along the seaside promenade Passeggio Adorno, before cruising continues later this afternoon. Join the captain for a welcome dinner this evening. Meals BLD
4. EXPLORE TAORMINA Views of mighty Mt. Etna astound as Le Ponant approaches the town of Taormina, set on a rocky promontory above the Ionian Sea. Ride to shore on a Zodiac for a visit to the town’s Greco-Roman theatre, then stroll along the main thoroughfare, Corso Umberto, before cruising continues. Meals BLD
Visit garden-graced Villa Rufolo in Ravello overlooking the Mediterranean Sea
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