Imagine hearing Shylock on Venice’s Rialto Bridge. Romeo whispering in your ear inside Verona’s walls. Mark Antony pleading with you, "Lend me your ears!" in the Roman Forum...

Front Row Tours is very proud to offer these extraordinary tours to Italy. Our years of research have been focused on developing a comfortable, affordable and, above all, culturally exciting way to visit this most romantic country. Our goal is to guide our guests through the great Italian cities where Shakespeare set many of his plays, so their storied histories come alive. Patrons of Front Row Tours enjoy the cities of Italy at a leisurely pace, while experiencing a little of the majesty, power and humor of Shakespeare’s plays.

Front Row Tours offers a unique travel experience: tours led by a classical actor who brings characters to life in the very streets where they would have walked! Shakespearean actor/director Joe Vincent personally leads our tours to Shakespeare's Italy, performing speeches, singing songs, and telling stories about Shakespeare's Italian plays in the sites where they would have taken place. Mr. Vincent also takes the opportunity of this tour to entertain his "captive" audiences by performing songs and pieces from many other plays, as well.

Shakespeare set fifteen of his thirty-seven plays in and around Italy. He apparently had a deep love for the country. Some scholars believe that Shakespeare may have traveled to Italy and become infatuated with the culture during the plague years of 1591-2, at which time the theatres in London were closed down. On this tour, patrons will discover whether there is proof of Shakespeare’s Italian journeys.

Patrons of the Shakespeare’s Italy Tour also visit many important museums and monuments, lodge in award-winning 3-star hotels, eat in hand-picked local ristorante and trattorie, travel on private luxurious buses and/or First Class Trains -- and enjoy plenty of time to explore and relax on their own in the most enchanting country on the planet!