CLASSICAL MILAN

The tour includes the visit to the most representative monuments of Milan:

CASTELLO SFORZESCO
First a defensive fortress, then a ducal palace, later a military barracks and today the home of museums and cultural institutes. With its 200-meter sides, three courtyards, crenellated roof and underground passages together with the infinite number of masterpieces help within, it is a continuous source of surprises.

DUOMO
This famous example of Italian Ghotic architecture is one of Italy's most striking attractions. Huge and pinnacled and gleaming white, it dominates the heart of Milan.

Time: Wednesday 26 March 2008 – h. 14.00-17.00
Cost per person: 42,00 Euro

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BELLAGIO – TREMEZZO – MENAGGIO

Bellagio, well known already in the Roman times, takes advantage of a picturesque and strategic position and has always been a renowned place for tourists, thanks to its typical landscape, made precious by its neo-classic villas.
Villa Carlotta is the most relevant example, as you would be able to learn during the guided tour through the villa and its beautiful gardens, famous for the huge variety of azaleas.
Menaggio keeps its roman origins in the city walls, still untouched and it’s another international touristic town.
Lunch will be served at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo Palace, where the refined atmosphere will convey you directly to old time life.
 
 

Time: Thursday 27 March 2008 – h. 09.00-17.00
Cost per person: 126,00 Euro

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CLASSICAL MILAN + LAST SUPPER

The tour includes the visit to the most representative monuments of Milan:

THE LAST SUPPER
After being recently restored, the most famous fresco in the world by Leonardo da Vinci, can now once again be visited by the public. It was painted between 1495 and 1497 on the walls of the refectory at the Santa Maria delle Grazie Monastery.

CASTELLO SFORZESCO
First a defensive fortress, then a ducal palace, later a military barracks and today the home of museums and cultural institutes. With its 200-meter sides, three courtyards, crenellated roof and underground passages together with the infinite number of masterpieces help within, it is a continuous source of surprises.

DUOMO
This famous example of Italian Ghotic architecture is one of Italy's most striking attractions. Huge and pinnacled and gleaming white, it dominates the heart of Milan. Snack lunch in a nice cafeteria.
In the afternoon an insight into “Creative Milan”: showrooms and fashionable business areas

Time: Thursday 27 March 2008 – h. 10.00-17.00
Cost per person: 106,00 Euro

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BERGAMO

Bergamo is one of the seven artistic cities in the Lombard region. The splendid old town of Città Alta, which can be reached by bus a/o funicular railway, fascinates both Italian and foreign tourists alike.
Around Piazza Vecchia, the heart of the old town, the morning can be set aside for a trip to the most significant historical monuments of Bergamo’s political and religious life: Palazzo della Ragione, Palazzo Nuovo, the Biblioteca Civica, the Torre dei Comune, the Battistero, the Duomo, the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and the Cappella dei Colleoni.

Time: Thursday 27 March 2008 – h. 14.00-18.00
Cost per person: 42,00 Euro

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MEDIEVAL MILAN

One of the most interesting periods in the history of Milan is the Middle Ages. It was in this period that many of its majour monuments were built, destroyed and rebuilt. The tour will feature three of these monuments, the most important in terms of age and artistic value.

BASILICA DI SAN LORENZO
In the popular district of Porta Ticinese, there is the most outstanding testimony of Mediolanum, the capital of the Roman Emperor of the West: the columns and the Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore.
Roman the first and early Christian the second, they form a group that is just as suggestive as it is monumental.
A visit to the Museo Diocesano, a museum which collects the artistic treasures of the Milan Church is included.

BASILICA OF SANT’AMBROGIO
Considered to be the queen and mother of Lombard churches where sixteen centuries of history are reflected, the Basilica, whose construction began in 379 AD., was consecrated in 387 by Saint Ambrogio; over the centuries it underwent many extensions, manumissions, damage and was bombarded during the last war. However, it maintains its solemnity and its austerity so much so that it is still considered as a Lombard-Romanic style masterpiece. Inside there are monuments, antiques relics and works of art covering 1600 years of Milanese history.

SANT’EUSTORGIO
Of early Christian origin, the Church of Sant'Eustorgio was built in 1220 by Dominican monks. It was later rebuilt in the 9th century and once again in the 12th and 13th century.
Conserved there are the supposed relics of the Three Wise Men, stolen in 1100 by Frederik Barbarossa but partially given back a few decades ago. From behind the greater alter it is possible to gain access to the magnificent Cappella Portinari. A structurally autonomous building compared to the real church, a testimony of the Florentine Renaissance imported here by its exponents (in Milan Pigello Portinari represented the Medici family of bankers). Piazza dei Mercanti, once the centre of town, concludes the tour.

Time: Friday 28 March 2008 – h. 09.00-13.00
Cost per person: 36,00 Euro

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CERTOSA, VIGEVANO AND PAVIA: THE LOMELLINA

Lomellina, a region of the Po plains surrounded by the Po, Sesia and Ticino Rivers, offers visitors the charm of a millenary culture and the temptations of the natural environment suspended between land and sea. First off along the way is a trip to the Certosa in Pavia, one of the emblematic monuments of the Renaissance style. Moving on to Vigevano, a city which welcomes visitors with its extraordinary monuments such as Piazza Ducale, one of the most beautiful squares in Italy.
Lunch will be organised.
In the afternoon, a trip to Pavia, one of the few Italian cities which has been able to preserve its Mediaeval charm: the covered bridge over the Ticino River, the legendary Roman Church of San Michele, the Duomo and the impressive courtyards of the ancient University.

Time: Friday 28 March 2008 – h. 09.00-17.00
Cost per person: 102,00 Euro

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BRERA GALLERY

The Brera Pinacoteca is internationally renowned for the quality and quantity of its art collection. The gallery is located in the 17th century Palazzo di Brera, a former Jesuit college, which has become an artistic and scientific cultural epicentre in the heart of Milan thanks to the numerous institutes it hosts. The Pinacoteca's extraordinary collection of over 400 works on display traces Lombard and Italian painting from the 14th century to the avant-garde movements of the 20th century. Among its many masterpieces, the choice of which to cite is difficult. Some of the great works of art include Mantegna's "Cristo Morto," Giovanni Bellini's "Pietà," Raphael's "Sposalizio della Vergine," Piero della Francesca's "Pala Montefeltro," Bramante's "Cristo alla Colonna," Tintoretto's "Ritrovamento del corpo di S. Marco," Caravaggio's "Cena in Emaus," Hayez's "Bacio" and sculptures by Medardo Rosso from the Jesi collection.
At the end of the visit the guests will enjoy the happy-hour at the Colony Lounge Bar, located in the Brera area, the artists district of the city.

Time: Friday 28 March 2008 - h. 14.00-18.00
Cost per person: 54,00 Euro

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STRESA AND THE BORROMEO ISLANDS
 
ISOLA BELLA
The past splendours of Palazzo Borromeo are still evident today throughout the building filled with priceless works of art; tapestries, paintings and furniture. The ornate terraced gardens are a unique example of the celebrated “Italian Garden” of that period.

ISOLA DEI PESCATORI
It is the smallest of the Borromean Islands. Here participants will be given the opportunities to taste some of the local specialities in one of the characteristics restaurants along its shores.
 


ISOLA MADRE
It is the largest of the island group and it has the greatest appeal. The 16th century palace is well worth a visit, to see its finely restored interiors and the collection of marionettes, dolls and ceramics and its abundant Botanical Garden.
 

Time: Saturday 29 March 2008 – h. 09.00-17.00
Cost per person: 144,00 Euro