Our route will bring us in the discovery of the Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, small province situated in the High Adriatic sharing borders with Austria, Slovenia and the Adriatic Sea and which preserved as a treasure the ancient artistic traditions.   It is beautiful and severe;   almost every locality possesses a museum and is able of surprising with the plurality of the architectonic styles and the cultural interests.

We find there an atmosphere of melancholy which provokes however an agreeable sensation as a prelude to a more intimate and intense aesthetic pleasure.

DAY 1 :
We start the tour in Venice with a private bus and specialized guide.   In case of arrival in the morning we can plan a visit in the city of Trevise.

To visit TREVISE is a lovely surprise: two rivers which interrupt the city with their canals creating suggestive and romantic sites.  Our route will begin with the surrounding walls, the Venetian doors, and we will then visit the Dome and the monumental church of San Nicolò.
After a quiet walk through the picturesque streets of this attractive city, we shall stop  in a local restaurant to taste the gastronomic products and the typical wines of the region.

Transfer by bus to the reserved hotel.  Accommodation

DAY 2 :
Transfer by panoramic bus to Cividale del Friuli.

Before reaching Cividale we stop in PALMANOVA to discover the reason of its particular shape. It was a fortress in the shape of star with nine branches built by Venetians at the end of the XVIth century to face the terrible invasions of the Turks and the wishes of hegemony of the Austria-Hungary Empire.


Our tour continues to CIVIDALE DEL FRIULI  where we have lunch.
The afternoon is dedicated to the visit of the city.

Cividale is a Roman citadel called Forum Julii, where  the name " Frioul " came from.    It started to grow from 565, when it became the settlement place of the Lombard Duchy in Italy and capital of the Region;    A period of splendor during which were built magnificent constructions.    Later  it went under the domination of Francs (Charlemagne also lived there); of the Patriarches of Aquileia, of Venice and of the Family of Habsbourg.
The most important sites to visit are:   the Cathedral, the Museum of the Christian art and archaeology,   and the Small Temple, the masterpiece of the Lombard art.

Dinner in hotel and accommodation.

DAY 3 :
Transfer by bus and visit of the VILLA MANIN in Passariano.
The last Doge of the Republic of Venice, Ludovico Manin, was originating from Frioul and this is where his family build this impressive villa having frontage on a big square  in the shape of hemicircle surrounded with arches.    In 1797 it was occupied by Napoleon during the treaty of Campo Formio.
Today the central part is used as cultural center and for important exhibitions.  It can only be visited during these exhibitions.   However,  the museum, the carosserie, the park and the chapel are open to visitors.

Lunch and continuation of our tour to Spilimbergo.
Spilimbergo is renown  as the Town of Mosaic.   From 1600 quarries and unskilled road workers worked in the construction sites of Venice. Today it shelters the school of "Mosaicisti" that  we shall visit.

To be visited : the Dome with its exceptional frescoes dating back to 1300.   The Castle built  in the XIth century on the bases of a Roman fortress.
Dinner in the hotel and accommodation.

DAY 4 :
We leave the hotel to continue our tour  towards the coast of High Adriatic.  Luggage shall travel with the group by bus until Grado.
First stop  is planned in the village of AQUILEIA located in the heart of the region of High Adriatic in the northeast part of Italy. 
Aquileia was in the Roman times, capital of the " Xth region Venetia and Istria " and still today remains one of the most important archaeological sites of Northern Italy with the ruins of Roman villas, the port  and its Forum.
After the Edict of Constantin,  Aquileia became the propellant center of the Christianity. The Basilica of Aquileia with its magnificent mosaics is a monument of Romanesque art Gothic recognized as world heritage by UNESCO.

We leave Aquileia and our journey continues up to the village of GRADO, formerly the outer harbor of Aquileia, situated at the edge of lagoons and of the sea.

In a typical restaurant along one of the numerous canals,  a typical lunch will be served.
After lunch,  we will board a typical old-time “gozzo”  :  motor-trailer which will follow the rocky coast in the white cliffs till Trieste.   (in case bad weather forecasts the journey will be made by bus)

We shall sail approximately 1 hr and 30 min and the boat will stop  in the Duino Bay for a visit of the Castle of Thurn und Taxis, where the poet Rainer Maria Rilke lived before first world war.   Then the boat trip continues to the city of Trieste (after 1 hr and 30 min).    An aperitif will be offered to the participants during this last route.
Accommodation in hotel in Trieste.

Trieste appears in the magnificent frame of Carsik Hills and the boat stops at the Scala Reale in "Piazza dell' Unità"  in the center of the city and a few steps away from the reserved hotel where your luggage is waiting in your rooms. 

Have dinner in a good restaurant in the center of Trieste (for example at Harry Steakhouse belonging to  famous Arrigo Cipriani)

DAY 5 :
Guided visit of Trieste which is even today the most important port of the North Adriatic.
After the visit of the most representative monuments of the city,   continue on boat to reach MUGGIA, small sinners' town which opposed to the regime of Habsbourgs by remaining faithful to Venice, of which it kept the typical aspects.
Have lunch in one of the best restaurants of Muggia and then visit of the Roman and medieval partof the old district " Muggia Vecchia ".
Back in Trieste by boat by the end of the afternoon,  the program plans some spare time to explore the city center.
Have dinner with typical dishes in the Giuseppino district.

DAY 6:
Short sail out of the  Scala Reale Quay until the Bay of Grignano where is located the famous Castle of Miramare, built from the year 1856 as a house for the Archduke Maximilian of Austria.   Visit  the castle and its park with its very beautiful and exotic vegetation.

Continue by bus through Carsik Hills up to the village of Prepotto for the visit of a wine cellar. Then stop in Gradisca for tasting its D.O.C. wines served with the famous San Daniele Ham and Montasio Cheese.
We can organize a visit  to a producer of the famous "grappa".

Dinner in Trieste in a restaurant with a panoramic terrace.  Dine in the sound of the accordion

DAY 7 :
Free morning till transfer to the airport, according to schedule of departing flights.

Contact :  BASSANI DMC