Private World Heritage Royal Palace Of Caserta
Private World Heritage Royal Palace of Caserta
After meeting your professionally-trained guide on the tender pier in Sorrento, if you are in a group of 7 or less, you will board your transportation and drive up the narrow road from the pier up to the town of Sorrento, perched on the cliffs above. Groups of 8 or more will board a minibus to reach your larger vehicle parked above in Sorrento. From here, you will drive around the bay of Naples and into the provincial center of Campania, and the Royal Palace of Caserta.
The palace is a former royal residence that was constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It was the largest palace and probably the largest building erected in Europe in the eighteenth century. Due to its spectacular art of the Baroque, it was listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The construction of the palace was begun in 1752 for Charles VII of Naples. He never slept a night there as he resigned from the throne in 1759 to become King of Spain. The project was carried to completion for his third son and successor, Ferdinand IV of Naples.
The model for architect Vanvitelli's palace was Versailles, which, though different in its variety and disposition, solves similar problems of providing for king, court and government in a massive building with the social structure of a small city. The reason for building the palace was to have a new administrative capital that could be protected from attacks by the sea. During World War II, the soldiers of the US Fifth Army recovered in a rest center built within the palace grounds. In 1945 the palace was the site of the signing of the unconditional German surrender of forces in Italy, the first surrender of German forces of the war.
In more recent times, the palace interior has served as the location for Queen Amidala's Royal Palace on Naboo and as Queen Jamilla's palace in the Star Wars Episodes I and II. The palace was also used in Mission Impossible III as Vatican City. The square where the Lamborghini is blown up is actually the square inside the palace. The palace also appeared as the Vatican in director Ron Howard's Angels and Demons. The palace has some 1,200 rooms, connected by 34 staircases and illuminated by 1,970 windows. There are two dozen state apartments, and a royal theater modeled after the Teatro San Carlo of Naples. Your guided tour will visit some of the most important rooms.
Afterwards, you will be transferred by shuttle for a visit to the palace park, which begins from the back facade of the palace, flanking a long alley with artificial fountains and cascades. The park is a typical example of the baroque extension of formal vistas, and covers nearly 300 acres, partly on hilly terrain. It is inspired by the park of Versailles, and is often regarded as superior in beauty. The fountains and cascades, with architecture and hydraulics by Vanvitelli, rivaled those at Peterhof outside St. Petersburg in Russia.
The short shuttle ride will then take you back to your transportation for the return drive to the pier.
On your return to Sorrento, those guests wishing to end their tour above in the town of Sorrento may do so. They will then be responsible for getting down to the tender pier via either a taxi or walking.
Shore Excursions Group was created with one goal in mind: to provide exceptional travel experiences to cruise passengers in the ports they visit around the world. To accomplish this, we have compiled an exceptional array of tours delivered by local experts with decades of experience serving travelers and delivering excellent tours. Our owners and management team are comprised of seasoned travel industry executives who leverage their considerable experience to deliver memories of a lifetime.
We are experts in providing exceptional shore excursions. We understand that in today's fast paced world, vacations have become an increasingly important way to relax, reconnect with family and friends, and experience new and interesting places. With this in mind, we provide the highest quality tours by performing extensive research, and detailed reviews. While other companies also offer excursions, we strongly believe our expertise and approach set us apart. The large cruise lines sell shore excursions - typically in very large groups visiting high traffic sites. We focus on smaller groups visiting more interesting and authentic locations using more personalized local operators. While the cruise lines are experts in delivering cruises, we are experts in delivering shore excursions.
Our Approach
We believe quality service is not only highly valued by customers, but ultimately leads to better experiences and higher satisfaction. Unlike the cruise lines and other tour companies that rely almost entirely on websites, we encourage customers to call us. We want to invest our time answering your questions, providing input, and selecting the excursions that best meet your needs.
Our Tours
Our goal is to provide customers a wide array of exciting, appealing, and enriching tours. For those customers who prefer to travel in smaller groups with more personalized service, we offer a wide variety of small group tours around the world. These tours generally range in size from 2-12 people compared to larger tours which can number up to 50 people. While exploring the destinations and ports on this website, feel free to search for these "Small Group Tours". For those customers interested in private tours, we offer many outstanding excursions that allow you to travel with your party alone and, in many cases, to fully customize your tour. Search for "Private Tours" if you are interested in this experience. Our "Scenic" tours provide up close and personal access to some of the most spectacular natural environments on Earth from majestic glaciers in Alaska to spectacular reefs in the Caribbean. Our "Cultural" tours allow customers to experience local customs, entertainment and culinary delights ranging from tribal dances in Alaska to an outstanding local meal in Santorini, Greece. Our "Active" tours offer a multitude of exciting and adventurous ways to experience our destinations. Our customers can kayak the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, hike to a spectacular waterfall in Hawaii, or bicycle through quaint villages in France. Our "City" tours allow travelers to see the highlights of great cities around the world with unique insights provided by our expert tour guides.
Our People
In our experience, exceptional travel experiences are almost always delivered by exceptional people. With that in mind, we utilize a comprehensive approach to select and employ the leading tour guides and tour providers around the globe. We hold our people to very high standards which we measure by our comprehensive Quality Control process and, most importantly, by our customer feedback, which we will actively seek from each of our customers.
Our Owners
Shore Excursions Group is owned by seasoned travel executives possessing extensive experience across many sectors within the travel industry.
Bradford J. Miller
Mr. Miller is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer for Abercrombie & Kent, the World's leading luxury travel company. In that role, Mr. Miller was responsible for contributing to Abercrombie & Kent's international growth through the development and acquisition of tour products and travel experiences around the world with a specific focus on cruising and land based experiences. Prior to joining Abercrombie & Kent, Mr. Miller held a variety of executive positions with Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises for more than a decade. These positions included Vice President of Guest Sales & Service, Vice President of Brand Development, and Vice President of Onboard Revenue (which included shore excursions). Mr. Miller also led Celebrity Expeditions, a collection of outstanding and unique tours around the World.
Michael Bonner
Mr. Bonner has over a decade of experience working in the cruise industry in a variety of roles for both Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Viking River Cruises. Most recently, Mr. Bonner was the Chief Operating Officer for The Scholar Ship, a Royal Caribbean program aimed at providing college students onboard educational programs in conjunction with enriching shore excursions around the world. Mr. Bonner also helped co-manage Viking River Cruises U.S. Operations, and he ran the corporate, strategic, and deployment planning functions at Royal Caribbean. While at Royal Caribbean, Mr. Bonner was responsible for forming Royal Celebrity Tours, Royal Caribbean's land-based tour operation in Alaska, which takes cruise passengers on multiple day tours through the interior of Alaska either before or after their cruises. Prior to working at Royal Caribbean, Mr. Bonner was a consultant for Booz Allen & Hamilton.
$75.00 USD
7618749
|