Need one good reason to travel to Italy? Pasta. No – friendly people. Wait! a vibrant artistic culture. Or! beautiful landscapes. Or historic performance venues. Or gelato. Or weather. Or shopping. Are you catching on? Let the joy of Italy rub off on your ensemble: fascinating history, stunning vistas, unrivaled performance venues with generous audiences, or the Rome New Year’s Parade – there is no good reason not to schedule your tour through Italia. Brush up on your noodle-twirling skills and prepare to be welcomed like an old friend on a once-in-a-lifetime performance tour through a country with a serious soft spot for the arts.

St. Mark’s Basilica: You think you know bling because you’ve watched MTV, but until you’ve been to St. Mark’s Basilica, you haven’t seen the half of it. The “Church of Gold” in Venice boasts mosaics and ornamentation that will make your head spin, all to honor the relics of St. Mark himself, housed in the basilica.

Colosseum Tour: Visit the site where tens of thousands of Roman spectators watched battle ships, gladiators, and exotic animals duke it out. If the Colosseum had a slogan, it would be “Putting Big-Ten Football Stadiums to Shame Since 70 A.D.”