Discover picturesque natural wonders and historic palaces that reveal Italy’s rich artistic history and royal legacies on an unforgettable adventure.
Led by Frank Dabell, a Rome-based art historian and former Fellow of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, you’ll explore Northern Italy’s distinct art, architecture, and gastronomy. Centuries of royal ambition come to life in Turin, where you’ll tour Baroque architectural masterpieces, such as the Church of San Lorenzo and Palazzo Granieri della Roccia. Marvel at Flemish and Dutch paintings at the Galleria Sabauda, home to the art collection of the famous House of Savoy. Enjoy a curator-led tour of Teatro Carignano, Turin’s only surviving 18th-century theater, then continue through the UNESCO-recognized Langhe wine region, where you’ll explore the vineyard of Barolo and enjoy a wine tasting led by an expert sommelier. Visit Lake Maggiore, then board a private boat for a day trip to the Borromean Islands, where the Borromeo family established grand palaces and gardens centuries ago.
Highlights
- Travel with art historian Frank Dabell through Northern Italy’s sophisticated cultural landscape, from Turin’s Savoy treasures to the Baroque palaces of the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore.
- Enjoy expert-led tours of Turin’s architectural masterpieces, including the Church of San Lorenzo, where Guarino Guarini’s revolutionary dome fuses advanced mathematics with spiritual symbolism.
- Go behind the scenes at the UNESCO-listed Royal Museums of Turin, featuring the Galleria Sabauda, with its exceptional Flemish masters.
- Discover Palazzo Madama with a curator, charting Turin’s 2,000-year history in this structure adorned with Filippo Juvarra’s spectacular Baroque façade and monumental staircase.
- Experience an exclusive tour of the gilded Teatro Carignano, Turin’s only surviving 18th-century theater with its original architectural character intact, where Alfieri and Pirandello premiered works.
- Learn about the origins of the Slow Food movement on a guided excursion through the UNESCO-recognized Langhe wine region, including a stop at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, the world’s first university dedicated to gastronomy.
- Join a curator at the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Italy’s first contemporary art museum, housed in Filippo Juvarra’s deliberately unfinished Baroque palace.
- Walk the devotional path at the UNESCO-listed Sacred Mount of Oropa, home to the venerated 13th-century Black Madonna and 12 chapels with life-sized terracotta tableaux narrating the life of the Virgin Mary.
- Delight in exclusive after-hours access to Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella, exploring the spectacular Teatro Massimo garden and the Baroque “mosaic” style paintings of Galleria Berthier.
- Take a ferry to Isola San Giulio to visit the Basilica of San Giulio, with its Renaissance frescoes and 12th-century pulpit.
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