Join us in the scenic Dolomites for a festive holiday on which you'll discover the delightful Christmas Markets at Bolzano and Merano, and discover a part-Italian, part-Austrian land where you'll find pizzerias and bier-kellers side by side, where hearty food is accompanied by local wine and where desert is as likely to be apfel strudel as ice cream.
Itinerary
Day One - Outward travel from your selected airport to Italy, and onward transfer to your hotel.
Day Two - Today's included excursion is to two wonderful Christmas markets. At the spa town of Merano, along the bank of the Passirio River, the aroma of gluehwein and strudel, and the sounds of Christmas music waft through the air as you wander between stalls laden with traditional handicrafts and regional delicacies like smoked raw pork, Schlossbeck (traditional country-style bread), Meraner Lebkuchenmilch and apple schnapps.
Bolzano is known as "the Italian capital of Christmas", and the wonderful Christmas Market on the Piazza Walther lives up to this reputation. Local craftsfolk ply their wares, while the foodstuffs on offer fuse the flavours of the north with the tastes of the Mediterranean south. Sample the excellent local vintages, and perhaps take back a bottle or two for your own Christmas table.
Day Three - Venice is quite simply one of the world's most beautiful cities. Discover its mysterious labyrinth of alleys and waterways, spectacular St Mark's Square and Cathedral, the clock tower, the Doge's Palace, the Rialto Bridge and the mystique of the Palace of Prisons and the Bridge of Sighs, on our fascinating optional excursion.
Day Four - Our final optional excursion is to the Imperial city of Innsbruck, capital of the Tyrol, and to the magical Christmas market at the border town of Vipiteno.
Innsbruck is a festive delight complete with Christmas Market held beneath the famous copper-tiled 'Golden Roof' built for Emperor Maximillian I at the start of the 16th Century. See the city's onion-domed churches, historic old town and elegant Maria-Theresien-Strasse, and stop for 'coffee and cake' at one of the countless cafes in the Old Town, before we continue to Vipiteno. Here the town's historic Christmas market is set up in the central square, in the shadow of the Tower of the Twelve, the town's most famous landmark.
Day Five - Transfer back to the airport for check-in and your flight home.
