Tours & Study Days With

James Hill

This is a remarkable opportunity to explore a Rome normally concealed behind closed doors. From our hotel located directly next to the Pantheon. you will be taken to visit the city's most important palaces and art collections. There will be an evening private visit to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, and many lesser-known jewels in the city. There is no other visit to Rome of this quality.

This is a remarkable opportunity to explore a Rome normally concealed behind closed doors. From our hotel located directly next to the Pantheon. you will be taken to visit the city's most important palaces and art collections. There will be an evening private visit to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, and many lesser-known jewels in the city. There is no other visit to Rome of this quality.

Be you a novice or seasoned visitor to Venice, we offer a privileged introduction to this magical city: palaces that are not open to the public; St Mark’s and its mosaics, seen privately at night; magical Torcello, “a positive ecstasy of melancholia” as Jan Morris described it; art galleries for the connoisseur – all seen at a time when the city is at its most quiet and serene.

Sicily has been a strategic prize fought over for millennia by competing cultures, all attracted by its location and natural resources. Their marks have been left via amazing Greek temples, Roman villas, Norman churches and mosaics and baroque palaces - all complemented by the excellent cuisine and wines.

Garlanded with princely villas, pretty villages and stunning alpine scenery, Lakes Como, Maggiore and Orta have long drawn artists, poets and gardeners to their shores. We too shall bask in the Arcadian dreamscape of these Lakes with visits to many privately-owned gardens and villas throughout our gently-paced spring week, with on occasion, generous hospitality from their owners.

Slovenia has truly come of age! It is a small nation of unspoilt beauty, superb food and wine with one of the most handsome capitals in central Europe - Ljubljana. Over the course of a week we shall explore many of the country’s most atmospheric places from the ‘mini-Venice’ at coastal Piran and handsome Lake Bled to the elegant buildings of Ljubljana.

The Veneto was the rich agricultural hinterland of the newly land-focused Venetian Republic. Ambitious noble families used patronage of the arts to create a glittering patchwork of palaces, villas and collections: Palladio and Veronese were just two of the great names much employed who will be the focus of our visit.

The House of Savoy was one of the most celebrated and well-connected dynasties in Europe. Turin, its capital, was upgraded in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to reflect its new status as a kingdom and power broker in the diplomatic affairs of Europe. Turin just before Christmas is a most handsome city. Masterpieces of fine art and architecture in both the urban palaces and country hunting villas of the Savoy family we will visit will be complemented by superb food and wine during our stay.

The twin musical traditions of opera and violin-making meet in Cremona, the birthplace of Monteverdi and Stradivarius. Here is an ideal opportunity to discover these remarkable figures from musical history as we explore Cremona, one of Northern Italy’s most delightful small cities. Equally lovely are nearby Mantua so handsomely enriched by the ducal Gonzaga family and Parma, once dominated by the Farnese Dukes.

A warm July evening in Verona’s Roman great amphitheatre, enveloped by opera, is always memorable. Equally, our visit will embrace the summer delights of the country villas and gardens of the Valpolicella wine region and nearby Lake Garda, all tantalisingly close to the civic magnificence of one of northern Italy’s most delightful cities, Verona.

Cradled between the Julian Alps, Austria and the pastures of Slovenia, this lovely part of Italy is a veritable 'horn of plenty' rich in artistic treasures, complemented by marvellous food and wine. Based in handsome Udine, we shall discover the Roman site of Aquileia, the Lombard settlement of Cividale and the Habsburg port city of Trieste.