New York

We return to The Met this season for a programme of carefully selected operas with several important debuts by impressive young singers, including the high-flying tenor Jack Swanson, as well as appearances by the Russian soprano Aigul Akhmetshina who thrilled Glyndebourne audiences in 2024.

6 nights price from £4778 per person

Held every summer in Pesaro, where the composer was born in 1792, the Rossini Festival has always attracted the world’s greatest bel canto singers. Marilyn Horne, Montserrat Caballe, June Anderson, Rockwell Blake, Chris Merrit and Juan Diego Florez are just a few of those who have sung in Rossini’s hometown.

5 nights price from £3397 per person

Founded by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears in 1948, the Aldeburgh Festival presents world-class musicians in The Maltings concert hall, a spectacularly located venue overlooking the reed beds of this stretch of the Suffolk coast.

5 nights price from £2198 per person

Milan

La Scala, Milan is, for most opera lovers, the world’s most revered and important opera house. The theatre opened in 1778 with a performance of an opera by Salieri and since then many of the greatest Italian operas have received their first performance on its hallowed stage.

Verona

Performances of the world’s favourite operas have been given in the magnificent Roman arena on Verona’s elegant Piazza Bra for more than 100 years. 'Aida' was first performed here in 1913 to mark the centenary of Verdi’s birth and has been performed almost every year ever since.

4 nights price from £3546 per person

Budapest

Following on the heels of the first Spectator Club tour to Hungary in 2024, we will return with The Spectator’s drinks editor Jonathan Ray in June 2025, for a five-night itinerary which combines the grand capital Budapest with the vineyards of Tokaji.

4 nights price from £3888 per person

Lucca

Giacomo Puccini was born into a musical family in Lucca on 22 December 1858. As a boy Puccini sang in the choir of the Cathedral of San Martino and later received his musical education at the conservatory in Milan.

4 nights price from £2998 per person

Berlin

At the heart of European history and culture, Berlin is a fascinating, dynamic and vibrant capital city, offering a unique range of museums, galleries and concert halls.

5 nights price from £3378 per person

Born in Hämeenlinna on 8 December 1865, Jean Sibelius went on to become a national hero. Instilling a Finnish nationalistic fervour through his music, Sibelius is credited as one of the driving forces behind the country winning its independence from Russia.

4 nights price from £2998 per person

Vienna

Our new Vienna holiday offers a fascinating and unique insight into the city’s cultural highlights in the company of two worldclass experts. Wine guru Jonathan Ray will introduce some of Austria’s increasingly varied and well-respected wines, and celebrated baritone Christopher Maltman will join us for dinner at one of the city’s best restaurants before his performance as Escamillo in Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ at the Vienna State Opera – one of two operas which we see during our stay.

4 nights price from £3289 per person