La Dolce
Vita

Land at Rome Fiumicino and meet your private chauffeur for the transfer to Hotel de la Ville, an 18th-century palazzo perched directly above the Spanish Steps. Check in, and let the Eternal City introduce itself gently.

A late-afternoon walk takes in Piazza Navona, built over the Stadium of Domitian and centred on Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers, then the Pantheon — still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world, with its oculus open to the sky nineteen centuries on.

At dusk, the Trevi Fountain is lit. Throw a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand, which is the only way it counts. Welcome dinner follows at a Roman trattoria: cacio e pepe, or carbonara, done properly.

A full private morning inside the Roman Empire. The Colosseum first — the largest amphitheatre ever built, and your guide will explain the pulley systems and underground tunnels that lifted animals and gladiators onto the sand in front of fifty thousand people.

Then the Roman Forum: the Temple of Saturn, the House of the Vestals, the Arch of Titus, and the ground where emperors, senators and citizens actually stood. Palatine Hill follows, the legendary birthplace of Romulus and Remus and the address every emperor eventually wanted, looking down over the Circus Maximus.

The afternoon walks the Via dei Fori Imperiali past the Arch of Constantine — the largest surviving Roman triumphal arch — and the Circus Maximus, which held up to 250,000 for the chariot races. The evening is yours: Trastevere, or a courtyard dinner somewhere quiet.

Vatican City in the morning — the smallest sovereign state in the world and one of the greatest art collections in it. Your guide leads you through the Gallery of Maps, the Gallery of Tapestries and the Raphael Rooms before the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo’s ceiling and The Last Judgement need no introduction and repay a long look.

St Peter’s Basilica follows, built over the tomb of the first pope: the Pietà, Bernini’s Baldacchino, and the dome that fixes Rome’s skyline. You finish in St Peter’s Square, inside Bernini’s colonnade.

The afternoon crosses the Tiber to Castel Sant’Angelo, Hadrian’s mausoleum turned fortress, and the covered passage popes used to escape along. Then the Spanish Steps and Via Condotti. Shoulders and knees must be covered for the Vatican — bring a light layer even in August.

The Roman finale is a private cooking lesson with a local chef — hands in the flour, proper technique, and then dinner of everything you have made. It is the evening most guests say they did not expect to enjoy as much as they did.

High-speed rail from Roma Termini to Florence, roughly ninety minutes. Your driver meets you at Santa Maria Novella for the short transfer to Hotel Savoy on the Piazza della Repubblica.

The afternoon is the city’s greatest hits, walked: the Piazza del Duomo and Brunelleschi’s dome, the Baptistery’s Gates of Paradise, the open-air sculpture of the Piazza della Signoria, the Palazzo Vecchio, and the Ponte Vecchio with its jewellers.

Dinner is Tuscan and unapologetic — bistecca alla fiorentina served rare, as it should be.

One of the signature days: a private chauffeured excursion through the heart of Tuscany. Siena first, and the Piazza del Campo, where the Palio is run twice a summer; then the Duomo, extravagantly decorated with an inlaid marble floor and work by Bernini, Donatello and Pinturicchio.

Midday is Chianti — a traditional winery, a tasting of Chianti Classico and Super Tuscans with aged balsamic and truffled oil, and lunch at a family-owned estate.

San Gimignano in the afternoon, where fourteen medieval towers still stand over the vineyards. Back to Florence in the evening.

South after breakfast. Your private chauffeur drives Florence to Naples — roughly three hours — then continues onto the coastal road that climbs to Ravello.

Check in to Caruso, an 11th-century palace on a clifftop with original frescoes, vaulted ceilings and archaeological fragments still in the walls, and gardens layered down the slope beneath it.

The evening belongs to the infinity pool, which appears to hang between the sky and the sea, or to the Belvedere terrace. It is one of the most photographed views on the coast, and it earns it.

A private chauffeured day along the Costiera Amalfitana, a UNESCO World Heritage landscape and one of the great coastal drives anywhere.

Amalfi first, the town that named the coast: the Romanesque cathedral with its strong oriental influence, and a historic centre of narrow streets running down to the water.

Then Positano, the vertical village that pours down the cliff to the sea — the Spiaggia Grande, the cliffside boutiques, and the views from the upper town. Lunch is Mediterranean, overlooking the water, with fish landed that morning.

A private boat across the Tyrrhenian to Capri, which has been an exclusive address since Roman emperors built holiday villas here two thousand years ago.

The Blue Grotto first, conditions allowing. Sunlight enters through a second underwater opening and the whole cave glows sapphire. The entrance is about a metre high, so you lie flat in the boat going in — and it is worth it. If the swell is up, an island circuit replaces it.

Then Anacapri, the quieter high half of the island: the chairlift to Monte Solaro for views across the Bay of Naples, and the Gardens of Augustus above the Faraglioni. A long Mediterranean lunch, and back to the coast in the evening.

The morning is Ravello itself. Villa Cimbrone’s Terrace of Infinity is arguably the single finest viewpoint on the coast; Villa Rufolo’s gardens are the other one.

The afternoon splits. Option A is a guided hike along the Path of the Gods, following ancient mule tracks from Nocelle above Positano towards Bomerano in Agerola — terraced slopes, abandoned farmhouses, Mediterranean scrub, kestrels and peregrines overhead, wild orchids in spring, and the Tyrrhenian the whole way down. Roughly 7 km, 350 m of climb, moderate.

Option B is a private boat along the coast instead, into hidden coves and clear water. Both parties meet again for a farewell dinner over the Mediterranean.

A final breakfast over the sea, then a private chauffeur from Ravello to Naples International Airport for your flight home.