Grand Hotel Victoria, Menaggio

Every region of Italy has a distinct and fiercely proud local cuisine, but none is such an abundant source of fresh produce as Puglia – from the freshly caught fish of the Adriatic and Ionian seas, to durum wheat for the celebrated local pasta, sun-ripened vegetables and specialities including caciocavallo cheese and the famous burrata.

Our new tour to The Eternal City, led by art historian and adopted-Roman Caroline Howard, will showcase the city’s rich and varied cultural history from the perspective of a local expert.

5 nights price from £2849 per person

Italy not only has many of the greatest 16th and 17th century gardens in Europe, it also has some which have been extensively restored and indeed created in the 20th century. We visit two of these at Ninfa and La Landriana.

5 nights price from £2645 per person

One has to go far to find a more perfect and peaceful landscape than the shores of Lake Como, where this tour is based. Tranquil, serene and timeless, the mountains that fringe the crystal waters provide a dramatic backdrop, as do the countless pristine villas that stretch up the hillsides from the lake shores.

Chef, writer and broadcaster Valentina Harris grew up and learned her cooking skills in Rome, a city which has an extraordinary culinary tradition dating back two millennia. This carefully-crafted new itinerary will take you...

5 nights price from £3198 per person

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.

4 nights price from £2445 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.

The mountains that fringe the crystal waters of Lake Como provide a dramatic backdrop to elegant villas and some of the world’s finest gardens.

Marking the 150th anniversary of its premiere, Milan’s La Scala will stage two full cycles of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, the first in a decade.

The second of our two weeks in Venice with Charlie Hall will take you beyond La Serenissima itself, to the islands of the lagoon, Giotto's magnificent frescoes in Padua and the Palladian villas of the Veneto. A series of world-class experts will give lectures on Venetian cuisine, opera and modern art.