Мандрівні Стежки Культури

PLAST Ukrainian Scouting Organization
Плем’я Перші Стежі організує
Maндрівні Стежки Культури
June 19 – July 1, 2025

13 Day Escorted Тоur
for PLAST members only
Ages 18 – 28

Христина Сілецька
(Комендaнт)
Тарас Сілецький
(Заступник)

5 seats left

Rome – Florence- Venice – Graz – Vienna
plus: Pisa, Verona, Villach

Tour Highlights Included:

·        Selected 3* hotels

·        Rooming: Double or triple occupancy

·        Daily breakfast and dinner

·        Bottle of water daily

·        Farewell dinner

·        Private AC bus from Rome to Vienna

·        Airport transfers

·        Licensed English  speaking Tour Director

·        Licensed English speaking local guides

·        Guided tours in Rome, Pisa, Florence, Venice and Vienna

·        Entrance fees to sites listed below:

o   ROOM: Sisteen Chapel, Colosseum

o   PISA: Cathedral and Leaning Tower

o   FLORENCE: Palazzo Vecchio, Galleria degli Uffizi

o   VENICE: Doge’s Palace

o   VILLACH: Ski lift ride

o   VIENNA: Hofburg, Schoenbrunn Palace, Spanish Riding School

NOT INCLUDED:

• • Hotel tax payable upon check-in 2-3 Euro per person per night
  • Airfare (we can assist you in purchasing your airline tickets)
  • All rates are subject to Euro/USD currency fluctuation exchange and fuel surcharge. Tour price is based on exchange rates for land cost as of May 2024.  Itinerary and price is subject to change without prior notice.

Detailed day by day itinerary

Please be at departure Airport 3 hrs prior to flight time.

Check baggage to ROME.  Check in with group leader

Rome, the capital of Italy, is situated along the shores of the Tiber River. A population of almost 5 million makes Rome the most populous metropolitan city in Italy.  Vatican City (the smallest country in the world) is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome.  Rome is often referred to as the City of Seven Hills due to its geographic location and also as the “Eternal City.“ Rome is  considered to be the cradle of western civilization and  the center of the Catholic Church.

Upon arrival at Rome Inter Airport (FIUMICINO), pass through passport and customs control.  You will be met by your Tour Director, who will direct you to your bus for transfer to group hotel.  Dinner at hotel.  Time permitting, an evening tour of the seven hills of Rome by night!

After breakfast –  first full day of sightseeing.   Projected program:

St. Peters Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, or simply Saint Peter’s Basilica, is a church of the Italian High Renaissance.  St. Peter’s is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. Construction began in 1506 and was completed by 1626.  Styles are Renaissance and Baroque.  Architects were Michelangelo, Lorenzo Bernini and Donato Benzoin. Here you will see the most famous statue Madonna della Pieta, and for Ukrainians the crypt of Ukrainian Bishop martyr Josaphat Kuntsevych. Bishop Kuntsevych was canonized in 1867 by Pope Pius IX.

 Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope’s official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magna, it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and 1481. Since that time, it has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. The Sistine Chapel ceiling, a series of frescoes painted by  Michelangelo, stands as one of the greatest works of art in world history. It is here where the papal conclave is held – the process of selecting a new pope.

 Lunch in the city under own arrangements.

Trevi Fountain The Trevi Fountain, built in the 1700s, is perhaps one of Rome’s most iconic structures. Erected on the site of an ancient Roman water source, the fountain is made of the same material as the Colosseum (travertine stone).  Designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762. Learn the myth of three coins in a fountain!!!

 Return to hotel for dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at hotel.   We join our tourist bus to discover “Ukrainian Rome.”

Santa Sofia a Via Boccea, also known as the Basilica of St. Sophia, is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church in Rome, Italy. It is a place of worship and gathering for Ukrainian immigrants in Italy.  The church’s interior is decorated with mosaics that reflect the style of Ukrainian churches The Divine Liturgy is celebrated according to the Byzantine-Ukrainian rite, while still in full communion with the Catholic Church.

Authorized by Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, the Major Archbishop of Lviv, the church was built in 1967-1968. The church was modeled after the cathedral of the same name in Kyiv, Ukraine. Cardinal Slipyj spent 18 years in a Soviet gulag, until his release in 1963. He was not allowed to return to Ukraine. During Soviet rule in Ukraine, Santa Sofia served as the mother church for Ukrainian Greek Catholics.

We proceed to our bus to Piazza dei Monti.  Lunch under own arrangements.

 Santi Sergio e Bacco is a Catholic church of the Byzantine Rite located on Piazza Madonna dei Monti in the Monti division of Rome. Sergius and Bacchus were 4^th century Syrian Christian soldiers who were tortured for refusing to give up their faith.

Since 1970, it has been the national church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholics and is known officially as the “Parish of Ukrainian Catholics.”

 Our final destination today is the COLOSSEUM, located one block from Santi Sergio e Bacco Church.

The Colosseum is an elliptical amphitheater (72-80AD) located in the center of Rome, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheater ever built. Despite its age, the Colosseum is still the largest standing amphitheater in the world. Thousands of hand-to-hand combats between gladiators and other public spectacles were held in this arena. It is one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions.

Breakfast at hotel.  Today we leave Rome and proceed north to Pisa.

Pisa is a city in Italy’s Tuscany region, best known for its iconic Leaning Tower. Already tilting when it was completed in 1372, the 56m white-marble cylinder is the bell tower of the Romanesque, striped-marble cathedral that stands next to it. Also located here is the Baptistry, whose renowned acoustics are demonstrated by amateur singers daily, as well as the Caposanto Monumentale cemetery. 

Lunch break, followed by a tour of the Cathedral. Volunteers are welcome to walk up the tower!   We continue to hotel for dinner and overnight.

Montecatini Terme – The largest and most famous of Tuscany’s spa towns, Montecatini Terme has been revered for its curative waters since at least the 16th century.  Our stop for 2 nights at a lovely hotel to rest before and after Florence.

Florence, capital of Italy’s Tuscany region, is home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture. One of its most iconic sights is the Duomo, a cathedral with a terracotta-tiled dome engineered by Brunelleschi and a bell tower by Giotto. The Galleria dell’Accademia displays Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture. The Uffizi Gallery exhibits Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and da Vinci’s “Annunciation.” 

Shop at the Ponte Vecchio bridge – a medieval stone closed arch bridge over the Arno River. It is the only bridge in Florence spared from destruction during World War II. Known for the shops (jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers) built along it.

We return to Montecatini for dinner and overnight.

VERONA is a city in northern Italy’s Veneto region, with a medieval old town built between the winding Adige River. It’s famous for being the setting of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” A 14th-century residence with a tiny balcony overlooking a courtyard is said to be “Juliet’s House.” The Verona Arena is a huge 1st-century Roman amphitheater, which currently hosts concerts and large-scale opera performances.

Guided city tour and free time for lunch.  In the afternoon, we travel to Lido for dinner and overnight. Here we stay 2 nights while visiting Venice.

Early after breakfast, we take our bus to the boat loading dock for transfer to Venice.

VENICE , the capital of northern Italy’s Veneto region, is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals – including the Grand Canal thoroughfare, which is lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco,  features St. Mark’s Basilica, tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower, offering views of the city’s red roofs. City tour will include Doge’s Palace built in 1340, in Venetian Gothic style. It was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice.

Return to hotel in Lido for dinner and overnight.

VILLACH  Today, marvel at the spectacular natural setting of this famous ski area in Austria.  Enjoy a ski lift ride up the mountain and free time on “top” for lunch.             In the afternoon, we rejoin our bus for the ride to GRAZ – a lovely Austrian village for dinner and overnight.

 GRAZ is the second largest city in Austria and the capital city of the   province of Styria. At its center is Hauptplatz, the medieval old town’s main square. Shops and restaurants line the narrow streets, which blend Renaissance and baroque architecture.  Graz has preserved its historic center and boasts wonderful food, beer and wine. Good shopping for ski outfits – in off season rates!

Vienna.  Austria’s capital, lies on the Danube River. Its artistic and intellectual legacy was shaped by residents including Mozart, Beethoven and Sigmund Freud. The city is also known for its Imperial palaces, including Schönbrunn, the Habsburgs’ summer residence. The Museums Quartier district displays works by Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and other artists. Modern architecture by Hundertwasser is also a draw.

Stefans Kirche  (1578) – St. Stephen’s Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. 

Hofburg Spanish Riding School   This school is an Austrian institution dedicated to the preservation of classical training of Lipizzaner horses, based in Vienna. Performances in the Hofburg are a big tourist attraction.

Return to hotel for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, transfer to the Ukrainian Catholic Church

 (time TBA)  8-12 Postgasse, Vienna

St. Barbara’s Greek Catholic Church (Barbarakirche) is the first Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish in Vienna.  Built by the Jesuits in 1652, it was later granted to the Greek Catholics by Empress Maria Theresa in 1775. The parish became an important center of Ukrainian community life in Vienna. The Barbareum seminary and a boarding school were located at the church. 

Free time for lunch.

Schoenbrunn Palace is one of Europe’s most beautiful Baroque complexes and has been in the possession of the Habsburgs since 1569. It was the main summer residence of the Habsburgs rulers. The palace is one of the most important architectural, cultural and historic monuments in Austria.  

Enjoy this day in Vienna on your own.

Enjoy a delicious treat at one of Vienna’s famous coffeehouses!

 Shopping streets in Vienna: Grabenstrasse, Kaertnerstrasse, Marihilferstrasse Return to hotel for farewell dinner  (time and location TBA) and overnight.

Breakfast at hotel.

Transfer to Schwechat Airport in Vienna for your flight/s home.