THE TOUR INCLUDES: - Top category seats for all performances as listed - 9 nights accommodations at 5 star Deluxe hotels in the city centres (Venice: Hotel Luna Baglioni; Milan: Grand Hotel et de Milan; Florence: Hotel Montebello Splendid) - Full breakfast daily, 3 lunches and 4 dinners - 5 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: $7645 US Single Supplement: $1450 US Deposit: $2500 Balance due: February 15, 2008

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 from Milan. AIRPORT-HOTEL TRANSFERS We include airport-hotel transfers (group) on the published tour dates. Transfers are not included for early arrivals or extended stays, although we can easily make these arrangements for you. 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.

Any trip to Italy for opera that does not include performances at La Fenice and La Scala would seem like unfinished business. This tour affords an opportunity to hear Italian opera in these two great Italian houses, to attend Maggio Musicale in Florence with a performance of Wagner's Götterdämmerung and a recital by Lang Lang, and to enjoy private tours in the greatest galleries and historical monuments that Northern Italy has to offer. If you are craving an elegant survey of the very best of Italian opera, art, scenery and cuisine, this is it.

Everything you've heard about Venice is wrong, except for the volume of tourists in the Piazza San Marco. We will not be wading in ankle-deep water, or holding our noses in response to the city's supposed malodour. Venice is spectacular in every sense. A glance along any canal or at any point across The Lagoon is a postcard waiting to be printed; the hidden piazzas and neighbourhoods found in the heart of this bustling city are breaths of fresh air, well worth getting lost for; the city's opera house, La Fenice, may not have the aura that its Milanese counterpart has, but it outdoes its revered cousin in terms of sheer, ornate beauty. There is no other city on the planet with such an all-encompassing and constant beauty than La Serenissima. Venice is an ever-evolving masterpiece.

In his book Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio, the famous 19th century French author Stendhal (nom-de-plume of Henri-Marie Beyle), described his experience with dizziness and fainting whilst taking in the surfeit of Florentine art during his 1817 visit to the city. This has since become known as Stendhal's Syndrome, and it is not difficult to imagine how one can become afflicted. Florence is quite literally a dense maze of artistic treasures, from the city's countless and well-know landmarks (Brunelleschi's Dome, the Baptistry and Campanile, Ponte Vecchio, the Pitti Palace et al) to the timeless treasures of the Uffizi and Accademia, not to mention the many churches which are themselves both essential galleries and works of art.

Milan is often mentioned in the same breath as New York, London and Berlin, and one almost has to wonder why. It is a small city that has only in recent decades become a major one, and it maintains the feeling of its former stature. Though its residents are busy (and well-dressed, of course), the historic heart of the city is surprisingly devoid of late night buzz. The concentration of tourist traffic witnessed in Venice is not equalled here, though essential sights abound. From the monolithic Duomo to Da Vinci's The Last Supper (which we properly decode) and the Holy Shrine that is Teatro alla Scala, we see them all.

THE ITINERARY

Monday, April 27 Departures
Tuesday, April 28 Arrivals in Venice Upon arrival in Venice, you are met and transferred by private water taxi along the Grand Canal directly to the 5-star Deluxe Hotel Luna Baglioni, perfectly situated in the heart of the city but away from the tourist horde. Gather early evening to enjoy a Welcome Dinner in the hotel's excellent Ristorante Canova.

Wednesday, April 29...Venice
Today we avoid the tourist throng in St. Mark's Square and instead enjoy an informative walk in the sestieri of Dorsoduro and San Polo. The baroque Ca' Rezzonico opens a dramatic window on the lifestyle of 18th-century Venice; the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, famous for a series of more than 60 paintings by Tintoretto that some have referred to as Venice's Sistine Chapel. Following the tour, you can remain in lovely San Polo to visit the Frari Church, one of the most important in Venice, with its rich patrimony of masterpieces (Titian, Bellini, Donatello). This evening we make the short walk to the gloriously restored Teatro La Fenice for a performance of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda.

Thursday, April 30...Venice
Enjoy the day at leisure in Venice. We will also offer an optional late morning gourmet discovery tour around the bustling Rialto market area. We'll drink wine and eat cicheti (fingerfood) at the local baccari (winebars). We will stop here and there to read the nizioleti (street signs) that tell much about the story and people of old Venice. In the evening, we gather to at one of our hidden gem restaurants to say farewell to Venice over a sumptuous dinner.

Friday, May 1...Venice - Florence
After breakfast, check out and depart by water taxis to our private coach. Our first stop is in nearby Padua, an important medieval city, to see the Scrovegni Chapel and its famous Giotto frescoes. After an excellent lunch at our favourite restaurant in Padua, we cross from the Veneto into Emilia-Romagna, passing through Bologna and then into the verdant hills of Tuscany before arriving in Florence, the majestic "cradle of the Renaissance". We check in at the 5-Star Deluxe Hotel Montebello Splendid and then enjoy our first evening in Florence at leisure.

Saturday, May 2...Florence
After breakfast we gather in the hotel lobby and depart on a private guided walking tour of Florence. In the morning, we visit the important sites in the city centre: Ponte Vecchio, Orsanmichele, Piazza della Signoria, the Piazza Duomo, the Baptistery and the Giotto Bell Tower. We will also visit the Franciscan Church of Santa Croce, where the tombs of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and Rossini are located. Lunch is included at another of our hidden favourites, featuring Tuscan specialties. This evening we make the very short walk to the Teatro Comunale for a recital by one of the world's most revered pianists, Lang Lang (programme tba; 20:30 start).

Sunday, May 3...Florence
This morning we visit the Accademia di Belle Arti, where Michelangelo's David towers tallest amongst the countless masterpieces. We then visit the Uffizi Gallery, home of the largest collection of Italian and Florentine art in the world, and doubtless one of the great art experiences anywhere. Botticelli, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Giotto and Lippi are but a few of many represented here. Following lunch at leisure, we make the short walk to Teatro Comunale yet again for a matinee performance of Wagner's Götterdämmerung, conducted by Zubin Mehta (cast includes Leonid Zakhozhaev, Jennifer Wilson, Bernadette Flaitz, Catherine Wyn Rogers; 15:30 curtain).

Monday, May 4...Florence - Milan
After breakfast, we depart by private coach for Milan, stopping en route in Parma for an exquisite lunch and a brief walk in the city core to stretch our legs. We continue to Milan, arriving late afternoon at the elegant Grand Hotel et de Milan, Verdi's city home until his death in 1901. This evening we make the short pilgrimage to Teatro alla Scala for a performance by the Filarmonica della Scala, conducted by Georges Prêtre.

Tuesday, May 5...Milan
Enjoy the morning at leisure in Milan. In the afternoon we depart on a guided coach and walking tour featuring the magnificent Duomo, the Casa di Riposo (the final resting place of Verdi), and the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie to view da Vinci's The Last Supper. This evening we gather for an unforgettable dinner at the hotel's Ristorante Don Carlos.

Wednesday, May 6...Milan
Enjoy the final day at leisure in Milan. Late afternoon we say farewell at a special lunch in a small and superb restaurant, after which we attend a performance of Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims at La Scala.

Thursday, May 7...Departures
Transfers to Malpensa or Linate are included.