Leonardo da Vinci’s Way: France and Italy

You will arrive in the beautiful city of Paris and have a day full of walking around this historic city. Make this an even more sustainable educational trip by shopping and consuming in places that are zero waste and eco-friendly like The Naked Shop, WE ARE Paris, La Maison du Zéro Déchet and many more. There you can pick up tips and tricks about how to adopt more ways to live with less waste. Tour the Eiffel Tower, the gardens and experience the Parisian way of life. After a day of walking and exploring the city, you will enjoy a delicious dinner and have the opportunity to explore the nightlife or turn in for an early night. 

After a delicious breakfast at a French bistro, your group will head to the Louvre Museum, to witness the paintings that the Renaissance master left in the hands of King François I upon his death in 1519. Arguably his most famous painting, “Mona Lisa” resides here, along with other paintings from the master. Here you will receive a guided tour, where you will able to learn about da Vinci, as well as other prominent renaissance painters. After a day full of learning, you will have a delicious dinner, and an early night, as a day full of activities and travel await you. 

An early breakfast awaits you, so that you may begin your adventure to your next destination. After a short plane ride, you will arrive in the northern Italian city of Milan. After arriving at your hotel to drop off your belongings and have lunch, you will be taken to a guided tour of the church Santa Maria delle Grazie, the place where da Vinci’s fresco “The Last Supper” was painted. Having survived through the centuries, it has remained here since the artist finished it in 1498. After, your group will go on another guided tour to the aptly-named Leonardo da Vinci Science and Technology Museum, where you will be able to marvel at the artist’s scientific prowess, and see recreations of his inventions, original drawings and the Codex Atlanticus, one of da Vinci’s notebooks. Having concluded a day full of learning, you will be taken to enjoy dinner, as well as taken around the city, as to appreciate historical monuments like the Duomo di Milano and the Teatro alla Scala.  

After breakfast, you and your group will travel to the city of Venice, through the beautiful landscape of northern Italy. Once you arrive at your hotel, you will be taken to a guided tour the Galleria del’Academia, where “The Vitruvian Man” is kept, as well as an amazing collection of art. After a delicious lunch, what’s a visit to Venice without a ride on the gondolas? To make this excursion more meaningful, you will become acquainted with the Save Venice Foundation, where a member from the team will guide you through current and future efforts to save the city from rising sea leaves and climatic change. A delicious dinner and a walk around the city will end your exciting day in Venice, after which you will head back to your hotel to rest up for the next day of travel. 

In the morning your group will be taken through beautiful Florence to arrive at the small town of Vinci, birthplace of the artist. There, you will receive a guided tour through the Leonardiano di Vinci museum, which houses the largest collection of replicas of da Vinci’s drawings and designs. From there, you will head over to the medieval church of Santa Croce, the place where Leonardo was baptized, where you will also find paintings by the artist. After a delicious lunch of traditional Tuscan cuisine, you will finally go to the “Casa Natale di Leonardo.” As the name suggests, this was the home where da Vinci was born in 1452. You and your group will then have dinner, to then return to Florence and rest for the next day ahead.

Up bright and early, you will be exploring the city of Florence, the place where Leonardo received his formal education in Andrea del Verrocchio art studio. Firstly, you will go on a guided tour to the Leonardo da Vinci Museum. After a wonderful lunch, you will be taken for a guided tour to the Palazzo Vecchio, where the great lost Leonardo, “the Battle of Anghiari” is thought to be hidden in the walls of the Salone ​dei Cinquecento. A short 2-minute walk will take you to your final destination of the day, the Galleria Uffizi, where another guided tour awaits. Some of the prominent pieces residing here are the “Annunciation,” as well as the “Adoration of the Magi.” Also here is “David,” created by Michelangelo, who was a friend of Leonardo and a Renaissance master in his own right. Once done, your group will head to dinner and to explore the city at night and wind down for the last part of your Renaissance trip abroad.

On the final leg of your trip, your group will visit Vatican City, where lunch and a tour guide await you. The guide will take your group through the main attractions of the city-state, including the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, where you will be able to marvel at Leonardo’s work, as well as that of many other influential Renaissance and Baroque artists. The tour finally concluded, you will be able to roam the Vatican, have dinner and rest up for your return home.

After a delicious breakfast, you will stroll around the city before your group is taken to the airport to commence the voyage home. With minds full of knowledge, you will be able to teach those back home on ways to be kinder to the environment. You’ll also have a more profound understanding of the life and work of the quintessential Renaissance master himself, Leonardo da Vinci.