THE TOUR INCLUDES: - Top category seats for all performances as listed - 7 nights accommodations at 4-star hotels in the city centres (Venice: Hotel Londra Palace; Milan: Hotel Cavour; Camogli: Hotel Cenobio Dei Dogi) - Full breakfast daily, 3 lunches and 3 dinners - 3 custom (private) city tours, including the most important historical and architectural sites, galleries and museums - private Airport-Hotel transfers - tour direction by an Aria Tours director - a comprehensive tour handbook containing travel info, performance synopses and a detailed daily itinerary Cost: $4845 US Single Supplement: $700 US Deposit: $2500 Balance due: March 1, 2007

OPTIONS FLIGHTS We will be happy to make any flight arrangements, including reward travel with your preferred carrier, for $75 per person. Inbound flight should be booked to Venice, outbound either from Genoa or Milan (2 hours by car). TOUR ADDITIONS The itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and desires. Please call us to discuss any changes or amendments you wish to make. INSURANCE We strongly recommend that all tour members purchase cancellation insurance upon registration. We can assist you with this, though you are welcome to purchase a policy at your own discretion. If you would like information on the policies offered by our supplier, please contact us for details, or click HERE for an insurance brochure and application.

It is impossible to think of travelling to Italy for opera without attending a performance at either La Fenice or La Scala, and this tour affords an opportunity to visit both. In addition, a performance at Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice and a relaxing stay on the sublimely beautiful Ligurian Coast make this a unique opera travel opportunity.

Venice is one of the world's most thoroughly unique destinations; a city that inspires even the most worldly of travellers. Quite simply, "La Serenissima" is unlike anywhere else on the planet, with a collage of 116 islands connected by 409 bridges, where cars are banned and everyone, including postmen and the police, goes by boat. History is writ large in this northeastern Italian city, and when visitors ease through the morning mists on empty canals or study the grandiose buildings rising up on all sides, it is easy to slip back through the centuries, to the time of the Doges - the omnipotent rulers whose influence spread well beyond the Venetian Lagoon.

From the beginning of the 19th century, La Fenice acquired a European reputation. Rossini mounted two major productions in the theatre and Bellini had two operas premiered there. Donizetti, fresh from his triumphs in Milan and Naples, returned to Venice in 1836, after an absence of seventeen years. Giuseppe Verdi's association with La Fenice began in 1844, with a performance of Ernani during the Carnival season. Over the next thirteen years, the premieres of Attila, Rigoletto, La Traviata and Simon Boccanegra took place there. A fire savaged La Fenice in 1996, but after various delays, reconstruction began in earnest in 2001. In 650 days, a team of two hundred plasterers, artists, woodworkers, and other craftsman succeeded in recreating the ambience of the old theatre's 19th century style at a cost of some €90 million.

Three times in its history, Milan had to rebuild after being conquered. The Milan we visit today thoroughly enjoys its hard earned role as Italy's richest and second largest city. Wealthy and cosmopolitan, the Milanesi enjoy a reputation as successful businesspeople, embracing tradition, sophistication and ambition in equal measure.

Teatro alla Scala, the Grand Dame of Italy's opera houses, re-opened after a restoration in December, 2004 and is once again the cultural highlight of the city. It now boasts a dazzling auditorium and a brand-new technologically advanced stage to match its enchanting atmosphere. Originally built between 1776 and 1778, "La Scala" was to become in the 19th century a symbol of the Risorgimento, the struggle for Italian unification, largely through its link with the life of the great composer Giuseppe Verdi. His stirring arias, often not-so-veiled references to yearnings of the oppressed, became patriotic calls-to-arms. La Scala is now one of the meeting points for Milan's élite. Seats are coveted internationally, and the repertoire is distinct in that, even though it often programs the Italian opera classics, it also champions unusual gems.

Liguria is a garden overlooking the sea, a landscape painted of palms, blooming seafronts, fishing boats and colorful houses. Liguria also means historical cities and small medieval towns, places of international fame with names which recall the notes and colors of the Dolce Vita. The entire arch of the Ligurian coast is a stretch of sand and pebble beaches alternating with cliffs overhanging the sea, enclosing small coves. The Alps and Apennines stand behind the coast with their great mountain environments. The capital of the Region is Genoa, which boasts the largest historic centre of any European city. It was one of the leading maritime republics of medieval Italy (with Marseilles it remains the largest port in the Mediterranean. The city has a glorious past (Christopher Columbus was born here), the great sights of which still remain and with a particular charm all their own. The Teatro Carlo Felice, the principal opera hall of Genoa, is named for Duke Carlo Felice, and dates to December 24, 1824. The house boasts particularly excellent acoustics.

THE ITINERARY

Friday, April 27...Departures
Individual departures for Italy.

Saturday, April 28...Venice
Upon arrival in Venice, you will by met at the airport and transferred to the deluxe Hotel Londra Palace, near Piazza San Marco, walking distance from La Fenice. After check-in, the afternoon is at leisure. This evening, we gather for introductions and enjoy a Welcome Dinner at the stellar restaurant Do Leoni in our hotel.

Sunday, April 29...Venice
Enjoy the morning at leisure in Venice. Afternoon: Walk to our matinée performance of La traviata at La Fenice. The cast features Norah Amsellem, Dario Schmunck, Vladimir Stoyanov, Silvia Pasini and Luca Favaron. Paolo Arrivabeni conducts. Following the performance, the evening is at leisure.

Monday, April 30...Venice
Morning: We meet for a guided city tour (private), featuring St. Mark's Square, the Basilica, the Doge's Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. The discussion will focus on Venice's mythic past, its relation to Constantinople and the Eastern world, and the rise and fall of "La Serenissima"—the "Most Serene Venetian Republic."

Tuesday, May 1...Venice-Milan
Day: Depart by private coach for Milan (4 hrs.). Check in to the family-owned Hotel Cavour, a very short walk away from La Scala. Afternoon at leisure. An unforgettable dinner this evening is included at the ristorante Don Carlos.

Wednesday, May 2...Milan
Morning: We meet for a guided city tour (private), featuring amongst other sites the magnificent Duomo, the Casa di Riposo, and the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie to view da Vinci's The Last Supper. Lunch is included. Evening: Walk to Jenufa at Teatro alla Scala. Lothar Koenigs conducts a Stéphane Braunschweig production, with a cast that features Mette Ejsing, Miro Dvorski, Ian Storey, Anja Silja/Agnes Zwierko, Emily Magee/Andrea Dankova and Annely Peebo.

Thursday, May 3...Milan-Camogli
Day: Depart by private coach for the Ligurian Coast (2 hrs.) and our historic and elegant 4-star Hotel Cenobio Dei Dogi in Camogli. The hotel overlooks the aptly named Paradise Gulf to the west. Upon arrival, the afternoon is at leisure to absorb the magnificent setting in your own way. In the evening, we dine under the stars while looking out to the Ligurian Sea.

Friday, May 4...Camogli
Enjoy the morning at leisure. In the afternoon, we depart by private coach for nearby Genoa. After stopping for late lunch (included) we enjoy a brief city tour (Palazzo Reale, Piazza San Matteo, Via Garibaldi, Palazzo Ducale) prior to our performance of La Forza del Destino at Teatro Carlo Felice. Daniel Oren conducts a Nicolas Joël production, with a cast that includes Cesare Lana, Susan Neves, Marco Vratogna, Franco Farina and Carlo Bosi. Coach return to Camogli following.

Saturday, May 5...Departures
Departures. Transfers to the airport in Genoa (20 minutes) or Milan (2 hrs) are included.