Grand Tour 2025

Itinerary for 2025 Grand tour (see previous ones from 2023, from 2019, and from 2016).

Participants: Remy Baylor, Olivia Hardy, Yarisbel Lopez Nolasco, Allie Purgason, Kiarra Riley, Maddy Robeson, Rebecca Snyder, and LeAnn Van Buskirk.

We are all grateful for support from the UNCG Green Fund, the School of Music, the GES Department, Allison Sermarini, and the Environment & Sustainability Program.

Transatlantic flight: June 19-20

MILANO (Milan): 20-22 June

June 20

• Arrival at Milano Linate airport
• Check in: Ostello Bello Milan Duomo
• Set up phones at TIM , Via Torino
• Gelato at Ciacco
• Dinner at Trattoria da Abele

June 21

• Breakfast at Ostello Bello
• Visit Duomo

• Walk in Via della Spiga (fashion district)
• lunch at Un Posto A Milano
• Visit Museo Teatrale alla Scala
• Teatro alla Scala: Wagner, Siegfried (light dinner at opera)

June 22

• Checkout (breakfast on train)
• Train (Frecciarossa 8703) from Milano Centrale to Rovereto

ROVERETO (Rovereto): 22-25 June

June 22

• Check in at Ostello della citta’ di Rovereto
• Visit MART
• Lunch at Osteria del Pettirosso
• Visit Castello di Rovereto (M/ITA/G)
• Dinner at La Mangiona

June 23

• Breakfast at Ostello
• Visit Riva del Garda
• Lunch at Bastione

• Aperitivi at Caffe Gambrinus / Pasticceria Zaffiro

June 24

• Breakfast at Ostello
• Hike to Cascata Zambel del Rio Cavallo and then up to visit Castello Beseno

• Dinner at Ristorante La Terrazza sul Leno

June 25

• Breakfast at Ostello / Check out
• Lunch takeout pizza al taglio from La Torretta
• Train (EC 81) from Rovereto to Padova

PADOVA (Padua): 25-27 June

25 June

• Arrival, bus to check-in at Best Western Plus Hotel Galileo
• Gelato at Portello 20
• Cicchetti at Corte Sconta

26 June

• Visit Cappella degli Scrovegni and Museo degli Eremitani

• Snack at Caffè Pedrocchi
• Visit Lo Stizzeri (shop for picnic)
• Visit Basilica di Sant Antonio
• Gelato at Gelateria Giotto
• Tour of Palazzo Bo
• Dinner at Al Porteo

27 June

• Check out and depart for Venice on Il Burchiello
• Lunch picnic with food from Lo Stizzeri

VENEZIA (Venice) 27-29 June

27 June

• Arrive in Venice, vaporetto orientation
• Check in to Airbnb on Calle dei Botteri
• Dinner at Anice Stellato

28 June

•  Breakfast goods from Panificio Albonico
• Walking/Vaporetto tour of Venice (Ospedali, etc.)
• Lunch at Osteria al Ponte
• Teatro la Fenice: Poulenc, Dialogues des carmélites

• Dinner at Birraria alla Corte

29 June

• Mass at San Marco
• Check out / deposit bags /freetime
• Lunch at Al Gobbo di Rialto

• Depart for Bologna on Trenitalia 9421

BOLOGNA 29 June – 13-July

29 June

• Check in at Camplus Bononia
• Dinner at Da Vito

30 June

• Orientation to transit system
• Snack at Vittoria Pasticceria Modicana
• Coffee at Caffe Terzi
• Lunch at Centro Natura
• Gelato at Galliera 49
• Walking Tour of central Bologna

Wed, 1 July

• Gelato at Gelatauro
• Visit Archiginnasio (Teatro Anatomico, Aula Magna)

• Lunch at Tamburini
• Visit Salaborsa
• Visit San Petronio (and Cassini’s Meridian)

2 July

• Visit Orto Botanico
• Visit Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica
• Lunch at Drogheria della Rosa

3 July: free day

4 July

• Day trip to Modena
• Visit Duomo/Piazza Grande

• Visit Mercato Storico Albinelli
• Visit Galleria Estense
• Lunch at Trattoria Ermes

5 July

• Day trip to Cervia
• Beach and lunch at Bagno Aurora

6 July: free day

7 July

• Day trip to Florence: visit Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, Piazza del Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, and Ponte Vecchio

• Lunch at Osteria Nuvoli

• Assignment to go to Gelateria La Carraia, visit a place in Florence, & return to Bologna on your own
• Opera at Teatro Comunale di Bologna: Bernstein, Candide

8 July: free day (train strike!)

9 July

• Day trip to Ravenna: visit Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Mausoleo di Galla Placidia, Basilica di San Vitale, Battistero Neoniano, Archiepiscopal Museum

• Lunch at Ca’ de Ven

10 July

• Visit DISTAL (greenhouses, vertical farm) at UniBo

11 July: independent day trips

12 July: free day

13 July

• Check out and depart for Rome on Trenitalia 9411

ROMA (Rome) 13-25 July

13 July

• Arrival/check in at Camplus Roma San Pietro
• Orientation to public transit
• Visit St. Peter’s Square
• Walk in Trastevere (Piazza Trilussa, Ponte Sisto, etc.)
• Dinner at Trapizzino
• Gelato at Fior di Luna

14 July

• Breakfast treats (“Pizza Ebraica”) at Boccione
• Walk: Largo di Torre Argentina, Nymphaeum, Fontana delle Tartarughe, Portico d’Ottavia (Ghetto), Teatro di Marcello, Campidoglio, Imperial Fora
• Visit  Le domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini
• Walk: Piazza Navona (Stadio di Domiziano), Sant’Andrea dell’Valle, Teatro di Pompeo (note: Ibiz and Dolciumi Onorati)
• Lunch at Trattoria del Pallaro

15 July

• Visit American Academy in Rome
• Lunch (and work with) the Rome Sustainable Food Project: See more pictures here!
• Gelato at Otaleg

16-17 July

NAPOLI (Naples): overnight trip from Rome

• 16 July
  • Depart for Naples on Trenitalia 9601
  • Lunch sandwiches to go from Cafe Ginevra
  • Visit Ercolano
  • Check in: Ostello Bello Napoli
  • Fried pizza at Sorbillo
  • Pastries from La Sfogliatella di Mary
  • Teatro di San Carlo Donizetti, Roberto Devereux

• 17 July
  • Breakfast at a random bar
  • Visit MANN
  • Lunch at La Cantina di Via Sapienza
  • Pastries from Pasticceria Capparelli
  • Granita di limone from a street vendor
  • Pastries from Sfogliatelle Attanasio
  • Depart for Rome on Trenitalia 9430

18 July: free day

19 July

POMPEI: day trip from Rome

• Depart for Pompei on Trenitalia 9503 (+bus transfer via Napoli Afragola)
• Lunch at Casina dell’Aquila (Pompei Archeological Park)
• Return to Rome on Trenitalia 9660
• Dinner at Gino Sorbillo – Roma Termini

20 July: free day

21 July

• Walking tour: Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, Acquedotto di Nerone, Circus Maximus, Foro Boario, Santa Maria in Cosmedin / Hadrian’s Crypt, Bocca della Verita’, Aventine Hill (Giardino degli Aranci, Santa Sabina, Piazza of the Knights of Malta), Pyramide di Caio Cestio
• Lunch at Flavio al Velavevodetto (inside Monte dei Cocci)

22 July

• Walking Tour: Piazza Venezia, Piazza Barberini, French Academy, Spanish Steps, via del Corso, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain
• Coffee at Tazza d’Oro
• Lunch at Forno di Campo dei Fiori
• Gelato at Fatamorgana 
• Opera di Roma (at Basilica di Massenzio): Mozart, Don Giovanni

23 July

• Visit Catacombs of Priscilla 
• Lunch at Squisito Vescovio

24 July: (last day in Rome / of class)

• Lunch at Osteria Poerio

25 July: end of class

• Students depart Rome and return to the USA