Parma, Cremona & Mantua

Itinerary

• Day 1 - Arrive Parma

  We fly from London and transfer to Parma where we stay for the duration of the holiday at our centrally located 4 star Hotel Mercure Parma Stendhal.

• Day 2 - Parma

  Parma was once the seat of the influential Farnese family, whose patronage allowed art and music to flourish. Together with a gastronomic reputation that’s renowned around the world, this makes Parma the most perfect of Italian cultural experiences. At the city’s art gallery and former Farnese residence, the Palazzo della Pilotta, we will see works by Correggio and Parmigianino, before continuing to the Teatro Farnese, the wooden theatre of 1628, the first to be constructed with a proscenium arch. We will also see the city’s exquisite opera house, the Teatro Regio, and the frescoes by Correggio at the cathedral.

• Day 3 - Mantua

  Nearby Mantua was the base of the rival Gonzaga family, patrons of Mantegna and Romano. We will see works by both artists during our day in the city, as well as the family residence, the Palazzo Ducale, and the elegant Palazzo Te on the outskirts. In the evening we drive to the banks of the River Po for dinner at the magnificent Antico Corte Pallavicino, a distinguished restaurant, which was once a farmhouse on the Pallavicino estate.

• Day 4 - Cremona

  In Cremona, birthplace of Stradivarius and where members of the Stradivari family created the world’s finest string instruments, we will see the Museum of the Violin. This museum has one of the world’s most important collections of historic musical instruments. Dozens of craftsmen still continue this tradition today and we will visit a working luthier’s atelier in the afternoon to see the craft in practice.

• Day 5 - Giuseppe Verdi

  Today is devoted to the life and work of Giuseppe Verdi, who was born in rural Roncole and who lived most of his life not far away in Busseto. Here we will visit the Villa Verdi where the composer lived for many years. Lunch is included at I due Foscari, a hotel once owned by the son of the great tenor, Carlo Bergonzi. The day ends at the Museo Nazionale di Giuseppe Verdi where the composer’s creative genius and his importance in the world of opera can be appreciated to the full.

• Day 6 - Flight back

  We return to Bologna airport for the flight back to London.