• 4 Dinner (D)
• 9 Breakfast (B)

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star stays

• Milan: A local historian brings Milan’s history to life, including the contributions of Leonardo da Vinci, during a guided walking tour.  See the impressive facade of the Milan Cathedral and the world-famous La Scala Theatre.

• Milan: Get to know your fellow travellers over a special dinner with wine.
• Conegliano: Visit a local winery to taste regional prosecco and meet the vignerons who guide its production. Learn how this distinctive style has developed its own identity alongside France’s well-known counterpart and enjoy the shared experience of discovering a craft rooted in the Veneto. 
• Baveno: Choose your dining experience from a selection of hand-picked local restaurants, each offering their own unique cuisine and ambience on your Dine-Around Evening.
• Lake Maggiore: Gather on the shores of Lake Maggiore to toast your journey, sharing a farm-to-table dinner and local wines in a relaxed final evening. 

• Verona: See the statue of Dante and the Gothic tombs of the Scala family on a walking tour through grand piazzas.
• Verona: Embark on a Shakespeare-themed walk to recount famous moments from Romeo and Juliet’s story, ending in Piazza dei Signori, the main square where the star-crossed lovers tragedy took place.

Embark on a Shakespeare-themed walk tracing scenes and settings from Romeo and Juliet through lanes, courtyards and storied facades. Hear how Renaissance Verona’s rival clans and civic pride echo through the drama’s famous lines.

Conclude amid the statues and loggias of Piazza dei Signori, where scholarly calm meets urban life. Literary insight, graceful architecture and atmospheric streets combine to illuminate why Verona became the stage for a timeless tale of love and fate.

Walk Trento’s pristine center on an orientation walk taking in frescoed palazzi around Piazza Duomo and views of the Castello del Buonconsiglio from the outside. Alpine clarity meets Italian elegance in streets lined with arcades and stone facades.

Gain context on the Council of Trent (1545–63) and the city’s role at the crossroads of Italian and Tyrolean cultures. It’s a compact introduction to Trento’s civility, scholarship and mountain-framed beauty.

Visit a local winery in the UNESCO-listed hills between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene to taste regional Prosecco at its source. Meet the vignerons, stroll among steep, terraced vines and compare styles from brut to extra dry.

Discover how the Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG uses the Charmat-Martinotti (tank) method, distinct from Champagne’s bottle fermentation. Alpine shelter and Adriatic breezes shape crisp, floral wines—think green apple, pear and white blossom in the glass.

Cruise the Giudecca Canal by private boat as your Travel Director offers an orientation to Venice’s waterways. Glide past 13th–18th-century palazzi and gleaming domes before arriving at the drama of St Mark’s Square.

See the lacy Gothic frontage of the Doge’s Palace and the melancholic span of the Bridge of Sighs set against lagoon light. The city’s maritime power and pageantry unfold in stone, water and bell-towers.

Witness the art of glassblowing as Murano masters shape molten glass into elegant forms with time-honed movements. Learn about intricate techniques and the guild traditions that protected this craft for centuries.

The workshop atmosphere—furnaces roaring, glass glowing—evokes a lineage that flourished from the 15th century onward. Each piece reflects Venice’s ingenuity, where sand, fire and breath become shimmering color and light.

Glide on an iconic gondola along tranquil rii and beneath historic bridges while a musician offers a gentle serenade. Palaces rise at water level, their facades mirrored in shifting reflections.

From this waterline perspective, Venice’s rhythm slows to the dip of an oar and the echo of song. It’s a romantic vantage onto courtyards, campi and silent back-canals few visitors ever see.

Visit Sirmione, perched on a slender peninsula, to admire the crenellated Rocca Scaligera and pause for photos and reflection over Lake Garda’s shimmering expanse. Lemon trees, stone lanes and a breeze off the water frame the scene.

Echoes of Roman poets and thermal springs linger here, with Mediterranean flora softening medieval walls. It’s a picturesque interlude that captures the lake district’s easy glamour and historic depth.

Enjoy an orientation of Como, tracing the elegant lakeside promenade, chic streets and the cathedral’s marble grandeur. Boutique windows, bobbing boats and mountain silhouettes create a refined Alpine-lakes mood.

Hear how Como became renowned for silk weaving since Renaissance times, its craftsmen supplying Europe’s courts and ateliers. The city blends artisanal heritage with waterside leisure in effortless Italian style.

Select from hand-picked local restaurants for a Dine-Around evening, each with its own ambiance and menu. Choose lakeside elegance or cozy trattoria charm as you sample regional wines and seasonal Piedmontese flavors.

Expect market-fresh ingredients, from lake fish to alpine cheeses, paired with labels such as Nebbiolo or crisp Gavi. It’s a relaxed way to savor Baveno’s culinary scene with friends old and new.

Gather on Isola dei Pescatori for a lakeside Farm-to-Table dinner featuring fresh-caught fish, garden produce and local wines. Lantern-lit terraces and lapping water set an intimate, celebratory tone.

This centuries-old fishing community, with narrow lanes and stone houses, offers views across the Borromean Gulf. Sustainable ingredients and regional recipes provide a fitting finale to your time in the Italian Lakes.

Stroll cobbled lanes to Baveno’s 16th-century square, framed by parish church buildings and shaded porticoes. The calm of Lake Maggiore and mountain air invite you to soak in the lakeside atmosphere.

Learn about the town’s pink granite heritage and grand villas scattered along the shore. It’s a gentle introduction that reveals Baveno’s understated elegance and historic character.

Ascend by cable car from Cortina to panoramic terraces overlooking Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage peaks and misty mountain passes. Jagged limestone spires, flowered meadows and winding valleys unfold in a sweeping alpine tableau.

Guides highlight geology and local lore, while distant WWI frontlines add historical resonance to the scenery. This experience is at additional cost, bookable on tour and weather-dependent.

Cruise Lake Como to view aristocratic shoreside estates, including the storied Villa del Balbianello, and step ashore to wander the Villa Carlotta gardens. Marble sculptures, citrus terraces and camellia-lined paths meet dazzling lake vistas.

Hear tales of explorers, patrons and film sets that made these villas famous. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Cruise to the Borromean Islands and explore Isola Bella’s lavish Baroque palace and terraced gardens. Ornate salons, lakeside loggias and sculpted parterres showcase centuries of noble patronage.

From water-level views to hill-tiered gardens, this outing reveals the theatrical spirit of Lake Maggiore’s most celebrated isle. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Join a guided walking tour with a local historian to see the soaring facade of the Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano), the legendary La Scala Opera House and the elegant Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Marvel at marble spires, glittering mosaics and iron-and-glass arcades in one of Europe’s capitals of fashion and design.

Hear how Milan evolved from Roman Mediolanum through the Renaissance to a modern powerhouse of creativity. Stately piazzas, café-lined arcades and refined storefronts reveal a city where history and contemporary style coexist at every turn.

Meet your Travel Director and fellow guests over a convivial evening of regional cuisine and wine. This special dinner with wine introduces the warm hospitality and culinary soul of Lombardy, served in a stylish local setting.

Expect seasonal dishes, polished service and the relaxed hum of a true Milanese night out. It’s an ideal moment to toast the journey ahead and share first impressions of Italy’s northern heartland.

Explore Verona’s grand spaces on a curated stroll through Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori, pausing at the solemn statue of Dante and the ornate Scaligeri (Scala) family tombs. Your guide connects medieval pomp with today’s café culture in this harmonious city of pink marble and arches.

Learn how Verona’s merchant power shaped its squares and palaces, and admire the stone arcades framing the Roman Arena from the outside. Architectural layers reveal a city that has traded, ruled and serenaded for centuries.

Insight Vacations