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Corsica, France
Day 1: Arrival Bastia, Corsica
Upon arrival, your driver will meet you and transfer to your hotel. Rest of day is independent.
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Day 2: Tour to Cap Corse
The regions beauty takes ones’ breath away with abundant jagged coastlines, mountains crashing into the sea, hidden coves, and spectacular beaches. We enjoy stops at the charming Miomo, Lavasina, and Erbalunga villages, and the Genoese Tower of Losse and quaint villages of PIno and Nonza.
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Day 3: Bastia- La Balagna – L'île Rousse - Calvi
The Balagna region is known for its olive groves and its countless churches.
Next is L'Île-Rousse, a pretty 18th-century town founded by the Corsican statesman and military leader Pasquale Paoli who fought against Genoese and French control of the island.
Continue to Calvi for a visit to its citadel and voyage back to medieval Corsica.
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Day 4: Gulf of Porto and the Scandola Nature Reserve – Ajaccio
Discover the Scandola Nature Reserve and the Gulf of Porto, a natural wonder and UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Calanche de Piana evokes Norwegian fjords if they were found in warmer Mediterranean waters. It offers an outstanding landscape of pink granite rocks shaped over the centuries.
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Day 5: Tour of Ajaccio
Surrounded by a fantastic mountain range, Ajaccio is an elegant city. From the top of its citadel, it has preserved its bay which is one of the most beautiful in the world.
We wander the narrow streets around the citadel; visit the Bonaparte House, the birthplace of Napoleon and now a national museum. Appreciate Italian Baroque art in the Fesch Museum. The musée Fesch is the central museum of fine arts in Ajaccio on Corsica.
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Day 6: Full Day Tour en-route to Bonifacio
Bonifacio is medieval city of more than a thousand years of history, a World Heritage UNESCO town, installed on a natural promontory overlooking the Bouches de Bonifacio.
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Sardinia, Italy
Day: 7 Bonifacio- Santa Theresa- Alghero
Santa Theresa di Gallura is a small seaside village on the north coast of Sardinia, one of the most colorful and authentic. It is a historic town with medieval churches and Nuragic ruins scattered around the village.
Alghero is one of Sardinia’s most beautiful medieval cities, encircled by ancient walls. It is known for its cobblestoned old center. Its’ Catalan Gothic buildings include the Cattedrale di Santa Maria, with an imposing bell tower, Palazzo Guillot and Chiesa di San Francesco, a 14th-century church.
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Day 8: Alghero - Nuraghe Palmavera - Tharros-Oristano
Depart at 8:30 am this morning to visit the beautiful Nuraghe Palmavera, dating the Nuraghic civilization, 1500 BC that built more than 10,000 of these monuments in Sardinia.
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Day 9: Oristano - Su Nuraxi di Barumini - Giara Natural Park - Cagliari
We also visit the nearby Casa Zapata, a noble Spanish mansion of the XVI century, built on the top of a nuraghe, is impressive for the excavation and the small Ethnographic Museum with a section dedicated to the "launeddas," the wind instrument typical of Sardinia.
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Day 10: Cagliari: Explore Nora and visit the capital Cagliari
Founded in the VIII century B. C: by the Phoenicians in a beautiful bay, Nora became an important town under the Romans.
The capital Cagliari, the "City of Sun" takes its nickname from its mild and sunny climate. After a panoramic drive, with some photo stops at Basilica of Our Lady of Bonaria and Monte Urpinu, enjoy a walking tour of the historical district of Castello.
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Day 11: Cagliari-Attend festival of San Efisio - Fly to Malta APRIL TOUR ONLY
Day at leisure to attend the festival of San Efisio - street music performances and folk dances. The grand procession begins at 10 am, opened by the tracas, followed by the devoted people in their traditional dresses and the riders, the Miliziani and the Guardiania. The Saint’s coach sets out at noon, and proceeds through the city center passing in front of the City Hall. The pilgrimage then proceeds with a series of stops and reaches Sarroch, where it stops for the night. https://strictlysardinia.com/sant-efisio-festival-sardinia
Late night flight to Malta (only option)
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Malta
Day 11: Sep Tour Fly to Malta
Afternoon flight to Malta. Arrive Valletta, capital of Malta (UNESCO Heritage Site). Transfer to hotel.
Rest of afternoon/evening at leisure.
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Day 12/13: Full Day Tour: Valletta
Visit St. John’s Cathedral, a historical gem which houses famous tapestries by the artist Caravaggio.
Then the Grand Master’s Palace & Armory, National Museum of Archaeology followed by a visit to the Upper Barracca Gardens.
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Day 13/14: Full Day Tour Senglea, Cospicua and Vittoriosa
The Three Cities offer an intriguing insight into Malta and its history. Left largely unvisited, these cities are a slice of authentic life as well as a glimpse into Malta's maritime fortunes. The Three Cities can rightly claim to be the cradle of Maltese history, as Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicuahave provided a home and fortress to almost every people who settled on the Islands.
Visit the Inquisitor’s Palace.
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Day 14/15: Blue Grotto Caves, Marsaxlokk, Tarxien, The Hypogeum
Visit Mnajdra (UNESCO World Heritage Site), a megalithic temple complex found in an isolated location on the southern coast. Visit the Ħaġar Qim megalithic complex.
The Megalithic Temples of Malta are among the most ancient religious sites on Earth, described by the World Heritage Sites committee as "unique architectural masterpieces."
Afterwards, continue to one of Malta’s natural wonders: the Blue Grotto, the largest cave and the Arch.
Visit the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum of Paola, a subterranean structure dating to the Saflieni phase (3000-2500 BC) in Maltese prehistory.
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Day 15/16: Gozo Island
The island has been associated with Ogygia, home of the nymph Calypso in Homer's Odyssey. Visit the temples of Ggantija (Palace of the Giants), which consist of two megalithic temples surrounded by a massive common boundary wall, that date to 3600-3200 BC.
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Day 16/17: Central Malta: Mosta, Mdina, Rabat & the Domus Romana, Dingli
A full day tour of the central part of the island visiting Mdina the old capital city of the island, Rabat its suburb town and surrounding areas.
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Day 17/18: Depart
Transfer to airport
