• Opportunity to stay on Lake Garda in late summer & visit ‘undiscovered’ Lake Iseo

• Discover Brescia, one of northern Italy’s most handsome towns

• Fine Romanesque, Renaissance & Baroque art & architecture, including several private visits to art collections & vineyards

• Enjoy excellent food & the renowned wines of Franciacorta

• 4* lakeside hotel on Lake Garda at the small resort town of Desenzano

Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, is glacial and book-ended by the Po plain to the south and the pre-Alps to the north. Fertile and blessed by a Mediterranean climate, all those who came through along the early Roman communication routes have left their mark from Rome’s settlements and pleasure villas to the grand villas of the Belle Epoque. To its west is Lake Iseo - smaller and entirely lesser visited with charm and striking scenery equal to that of its larger neighbour.

Between the two is the small and wealthy city of Brescia, situated at the eastern edge of Lombardy. Celtic in origin, intensive growth occurred under the Romans and as Rome faded and Christianity set strong roots in nearby Milan, the Po Valley saw waves of invaders. Huns, Vandals, Goths, Lombards and Franks arrived from beyond the Alps with their sights set on the Italian peninsula. Many put down roots as the wealth of this region was irresistible, made possible and indeed still maintained by the industrial energy of towns such as Brescia, coming to prominence as part of the rise of the free independent cities of High Middle Age northern Italy. The endless struggles between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy distilled into more localized struggles between the emerging Duchy of Milan and the rise of the Republic of Venice - the latter re-organizing Brescia at the western edge of its Stato da Terra. Under Venice’s governance, trade, civic and artistic life flourished, reflected in the marvellous ensemble of medieval and renaissance architecture and superb Lombard and Venetian pictures we shall discover in both Brescia and in a remarkable private collection outside of it.  

In contrast, nearby Franciacorta is a compact wine region to the west of the city. Long associated with viticulture, it was in recent decades that the méthode champenoise, or traditional method of sparkling wine production, come to be developed with the industrial great-and-good of Brescia investing heavily in this exciting development in wine making. Today, Franciacorta produces the best sparkling wine in Italy – an element of our visit we shall not overlook in our wine-tastings and organised lunches and dinners. Indeed, we conclude our week in one of the region’s best restaurants.

We end our week at a privately-owned island close to Garda’s western shore dominated by a striking neogothic villa. Nearby is Salo’, the former headquarters of the Republic of Salo’, the Mussolini-led Axis puppet state at the end of World War II. In the previous decade, the Italian playwright, poet and ‘hero of derring-do’, Gabriele D’Annunzio lived his final years at a hillside estate close to Salo’; his priory and gardens an artistic manifesto for his convictions and tastes.

Our visit at the end of the summer is unhurried and based at the lakeside 4* superior Villa Rosa located at charming Desenzano at the south-western corner of Lake Garda. Its facilities include a swimming pool, a first-rate restaurant and a cocktail bar. The resort town’s shops, bars and restaurants are all within a flat and easy distance along the lakeside.

Day 1: Sunday 12 September – We fly from Heathrow to Milan’s Linate arriving mid-afternoon and drive eastwards to Desenzano on the south-western shores of Lake Garda. After check-in at the 4* superior Villa Rosa, our first group dinner takes place in our hotel’s restaurant - wine, water and coffee are included with all lunches and dinners.

Day 2: Monday 13 September – We spend the first of two days exploring the Franciacorta wine region of eastern Lombardy just to the west of Brescia. We begin at the privately-owned Castello di Bornato. Situated atop a gentle knoll overlooking a valley, this medieval castle was softened into a renaissance villa in the late sixteenth century. The owning family has been making sparkling wine for decades and so after a private visit, we shall taste its wines and have our group lunch in the estate’s restaurant in the village of Bornato. In the afternoon, we travel the short distance to Lake Iseo. Garlanded by mountains, Iseo is largely un-visited and so we shall travel by private vessel from the lakeside village of Iseo for a panoramic boat trip of the lake and its three islands. We return to Lake Garda where the evening will be free.   

Day 3: Tuesday 14 September – We drive to nearby Brescia. Celtic in origin, it was urbanised by the Romans who quickly developed its trading potential. After Rome, the Lombards who brought stability and prosperity. However, tensions between successive foreign lordships and the now free commune were followed by the arrival of the Venetians, under whose rule the town experienced fundamental administrative and architectural changes. These are reflected in the fine urban spaces surrounded by civic and private buildings. We begin with the Roman era and a visit to the striking Capitoline Temple, complete with its intact cella and the adjoining Theatre. After coffee, we visit the Santa Giulia Museum. Housed in a restored Benedictine convent, the best displays chart the city’s origins up to the early modern era with an emphasis on the Roman and Lombard periods. We pause for lunch (not included) in the cathedral square garlanded with buildings of great charm. In the afternoon we visit both the Romanesque Old Duomo, and its neighbour, the Baroque New Duomo and conclude our day at the city’s small picture gallery, the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo. The gallery naturally focuses on Lombard painters predominately from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with some added gems by Raphael, Lotto and Canova. We return to Desenzano after which the evening will be free.       

Day 4: Wednesday 15 September – We travel to the north and west of Brescia for a half day of activities visiting one of northern Italy’s great private art collections. We drive to the village of Cellatica to the north-west of Brescia to visit the Paolo & Carolina Zani Foundation. The late Brescian industrialist collected on a remarkable level and has bequeathed an art collection of great taste and refinement rooted in eighteenth century Venetian painting and baroque and rococo French, Venetian and Florentine furniture. It is an extraordinary achievement. We continue into Franciacorta hills for a group lunch at a renowned restaurant. In mid-afternoon, we return to our hotel where the remainder of the afternoon and evening will be free for leisurely passeggiate along Desenzano’s lake front. 

Day 5: Thursday 16 September – We spend today on the western shore on and off Lake Garda.  Driving northwards to Salo’, we travel by private vessel to the former Franciscan island retreat which today is the privately-owned Isola di Garda. A member of the Cavazza-Borghese-Talbot family will host our visit as we walk around the fine terraced gardens which garland a striking neo-Gothic villa dominating one end of the little island. After refreshments on site, we return to Salo’ where we pause for lunch (not included). In the afternoon, we travel the short distance to Gardone Riviera and the enigmatic villa and gardens, the Vittoriale degli Italiani. The last home of poet, playwright, army officer and journalist Gabrielle D’Annunzio from 1921 until his death in 1938, the hillside estate is an architectural and artistic manifesto of the era. We shall visit his richly adorned house, known as the Priory, and explore the park and gardens dotted with objects and folly representing his achievements and often controversial acts during this momentous time in Italy’s modern history. Later in the evening, our final dinner will be held nearby in an excellent lakeside restaurant.    

Day 6: Friday 17 September – On our final morning, we return to Franciacorta to wine-taste and visit the region’s most distinguished vineyard, Ca del Bosco. Our final, festive lunch takes place nearby in a Michelin-starred restaurant, after which we travel the short distance to Milan’s Linate airport and our early evening flight to London’s Heathrow.        

Price £3345         Without Flights £3145          Deposit £470  

Single Supplement: £770 in a standard room with balcony 

Hotel: 5 nights with breakfast at the 4* superior Villa Rosa, Desenzano – Lake Garda (superior room with balcony)

Flights British Airways

            Outward:          BA574 Departs London Heathrow (Terminal 5) 1155 arrive Milan Linate 1500

            Return:             BA577 Departs Milan Linate 1830 arrive London Heathrow (Terminal 5) 1925

Price includes 2 dinners & 3 lunches with wine, water & coffee, all local transfers, tourist tax, entry fees & gratuities, services of James Hill and local in-house guides

Not included Travel to/from Heathrow, 3 dinners & 2 lunches

Please note our tours generally involve a significant amount of standing and walking, sometimes across uneven ground, or over cobbled streets, or up and down steps and inclines. We do not have an upper age limit for participants, but we require you to have a level of fitness which does not affect other participants' enjoyment of the tour. Please also note that many palaces, gardens, villas, museums and galleries have limited seating and perhaps do not have lifts. You should be able to walk at a reasonable pace and/or stand for at least twenty minutes without aid or requiring a rest. If you are in any doubt, please do contact us for advice on the tour’s suitability for you.