12 Day Italy & France Private Tour

After arriving in Rome, your private guide will meet you at the airport and transfer you into the city to begin your trip through Italy and France. Once checked into your accommodation, spend the afternoon exploring Rome’s historic center on foot.

Walk through areas around Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, and surrounding streets while your guide introduces the layout and atmosphere of the city. Along the way, stop for coffee, wine, or gelato while passing fountains, churches, piazzas, and busy local streets.

The first day is intentionally kept fairly relaxed after your flight, allowing time to settle in before longer sightseeing days begin.

Your private guide will take you into the center of Ancient Rome for a guided visit to the Colosseum. Exploring with a guide helps bring the history of the amphitheater and the Roman Empire to life while making the experience easier to navigate.

After visiting the Colosseum, continue around the surrounding ruins with views across the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill before heading back toward the city center.

The afternoon stays flexible depending on your pace, with time for lunch, smaller walking routes, cafés, or more time to explore Rome’s neighborhoods before dinner.

This morning, visit Vatican City with your private guide starting at St Peter’s Basilica before continuing into the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. Your guide will help manage the route through the museums while pointing out major highlights and artwork along the way.

Later in the afternoon, continue across the Tiber River into Trastevere. The neighborhood feels very different from central Rome, with narrow streets, local bakeries, ivy-covered buildings, and smaller piazzas lined with restaurants and cafés.

Spend the evening enjoying dinner in Trastevere before returning to your accommodation.

On day 4, you’ll say goodbye to Rome, as your driver drops you off at the train station. Travel north to Florence using Italy’s high-speed train network before meeting your new private guide on arrival. After checking into your accommodation, begin exploring Florence’s compact historic center on foot.

After arriving in Florence, head into the historic center with your guide to explore areas around Florence Cathedral, Piazza della Signoria, and Ponte Vecchio. 

Later in the day, head into the Chianti countryside where vineyard roads, olive groves, and smaller villages begin replacing busy city streets. Finish the evening with dinner in the Tuscan countryside before returning to your accommodation.

Leave Florence behind for the day as your private guide takes you deeper into the Tuscan countryside. The drive passes vineyards, cypress-lined roads, olive groves, and smaller villages before arriving in Siena.

Spend time exploring Siena’s historic center on foot, including Piazza del Campo and the surrounding medieval streets filled with cafés, local shops, and bakeries. Compared to Florence, Siena feels quieter and more traditional, making it a good change of pace.

After lunch, continue onward to San Gimignano, where medieval towers rise above the surrounding countryside. Before returning to Florence, stop at a local winery for wine tasting and regional food in the middle of the Tuscan hills.

As you leave Tuscany behind, you’ll begin your journey towards the beautiful Italian Riviera. As you travel in your luxury vehicle, you’ll notice the scenery change from Italian countryside to stunning views of the Mediterranean.

Spend time exploring parts of Cinque Terre, where colorful villages sit directly above the sea, connected by train lines, walking routes, and boats. Depending on timing and weather conditions, your guide will help organize the best way to experience the different villages throughout the day.

The pace becomes slower along the coast, with time for waterfront lunches, seafood restaurants, harbor walks, and time beside the sea before settling into your accommodation for the evening.

Leave the Italian Riviera behind and continue west along the Mediterranean coast toward France. The route follows sections of coastal road with marinas, beaches, hillside towns, and sea views appearing throughout the drive.

Before continuing to Nice, stop in Monaco for a few hours to explore around Monte Carlo, the marina, and the older part of the city above the harbor. The country itself is small, so it’s easy to move between different areas on foot, with short walks leading between the waterfront, gardens, cafés, and viewpoints across the coastline. 

Later in the afternoon, continue into Nice and settle into the French Riviera pace. Spend time walking through the Old Town, where narrow streets open into busy squares filled with restaurants, cafés, bakeries, and local markets. The evening is left relaxed, so you can enjoy dinner near the waterfront or spend time walking along the Promenade des Anglais before returning to your accommodation.

Your private guide will take you along more of the French Riviera coastline beginning in Cannes. Spend time around La Croisette and the marina before continuing through quieter streets and waterfront cafés away from the busiest areas.

Later, continue to Antibes, where the old town sits beside the sea with stone walls looking out across the Mediterranean. Spend time walking through smaller streets lined with cafés, food shops, local markets, and restaurants before heading down toward the marina and waterfront areas. 

In the afternoon, visit Èze, one of the Riviera’s best-known hilltop villages. Narrow stone streets climb toward panoramic views across the coastline before returning to Nice for the evening.

Leaving the Riviera behind, travel inland into Provence where the scenery changes again into vineyards, lavender fields, olive groves, and smaller countryside villages.

Spend part of the day in Avignon exploring the historic center around the Palais des Papes and surrounding squares filled with cafés and local markets. The atmosphere here feels much quieter and more traditional than that of the Riviera coastline.

The afternoon focuses on smaller countryside roads and villages throughout Provence before settling into your accommodation for the evening.

Travel north toward Paris using France’s high-speed rail network before meeting your private guide on arrival in the capital.

After checking into your accommodation, head out for a relaxed first evening exploring areas around the Seine and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Paris immediately feels different from Southern France, with wide boulevards, apartment-lined streets, cafés, and busy neighborhoods spread across the city.

The evening is left open so you can have dinner near the Seine, explore a few nearby neighborhoods, or take things slowly after arriving in Paris. 

Spend the day exploring central Paris with your private guide, beginning around the Eiffel Tower before continuing through some of the city’s best-known neighborhoods and landmarks.

Spend time exploring areas around the Champs-Élysées, the Louvre, and the Seine with your guide, moving between major landmarks, smaller side streets, local cafés, bookstores, and some of the city’s quieter neighborhoods along the way. 

The final evening of the trip is left open for dinner and time enjoying Paris at your own pace before departure the following day.

Depending on your departure schedule, spend your final morning exploring Montmartre with your private guide. The neighborhood’s smaller streets, cafés, apartment buildings, and views across Paris give a different feel from the larger boulevards in the center of the city.

There may also be time for a final coffee stop or relaxed walk before your private airport transfer brings the trip to an end.