EJIG's The Gardens & Lakes of Northern Italy – 9 days

Lake Como • Tremezzo • Bellagio • Lake Maggiore • Lake Garda • Verona • Merano • Vicenza • Padua

DAY 1: Lake Como

Arrival at Malpensa (Milan) Airport.

A representative from Exotic Journeys will meet you at the arrival lounge and transfer to Lake Como. Lake Como is also called Lario and is one of the favorite destinations in northern Italy because of its beautiful landscapes and its natural environment.

Balance of the day at leisure.

Overnight at:
Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Lake Como / Palazzo Albricci Peregrini, Lake Como

DAY 2: Tremezzo - Bellagio

Breakfast in hotel.

Visit of Villa Carlotta at Tremezzo. Villa Carlotta welcomes visitors with its magnificent botanic garden and art masterpieces in over 70.000 square meters of gardens and museum. The beautiful Villa was built at the end of XVII century by the Milanese marquis Giorgio Clerici in a natural basin between lake and mountains, facing the dolomite Grignas and the peninsula of Bellagio. The architect created for the Clericis an important but sober building, with an Italian garden decorated with sculptures, stairs and fountains.

In the afternoon, boat excursion to Bellagio. Few places are as romantic as Lake Como, and even fewer resorts as beautiful as Bellagio. Called the “Pearl of the Lake”, Bellagio's world class hotels and restaurants provide the perfect place to soak up the lake's famous panorama. The village is characterized by century-old buildings, stone lanes and picturesque cobbled stairways filled with shops showcasing the finest Italian wares.

Overnight at: Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Lake Como / Palazzo Albricci Peregrini, Lake Como

DAY 3: Lake Maggiore

Breakfast in hotel.

Transfer to Lake Maggiore. Boat excursion to Isola Bella and Isola dei Pescatori. Isola Bella is a place of splendor thanks to the recurrent blooming and the priceless architectural treasures that blend into a wonderful microcosm. Visit Palazzo Borromeo: a baroque chest of wonders floating on the water. The marvelous outdoor Italian gardens and succession of richly furnished rooms inside make it an irresistible tourist attraction. Continue on to Pallanza and arrive at Villa Taranto. Visit the Botanical garden of Villa Taranto. The Garden includes about 1,000 non-native plants and about 20,000 varieties and species of particular botanical importance. Travel back to Como.

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Lake Como / Palazzo Albricci Peregrini, Lake Como

DAY 4: Lake Como - Verona

Breakfast in hotel.

Depart for Verona with stop at Lake Garda. Visit of Sirmione, a walled city in a peninsula of Lake Garda. The beauty of the place, the mild climate and thermal waters were popular with ancient Romans. Sirmione is situated on a narrow peninsula and it is now an internationally renowned spa center.

Visit of Giardini Giusti, which for the last three and a half centuries has been one of the show case gardens of Italy, and a ‘must-see’ on garden tours. The garden is approached through the palazzo built by the Giusti family, along an avenue of pencil-thin cypresses. On the ground level there is a maze that is said to be one of the oldest in Europe and parterres which are believed to be the oldest in Italy. The garden extends up the hillside on a series of terraces and from the pavilion half-way up and from the top level there are stunning views over the garden and beyond to the city of Verona.

Overnight:
Due Torri Hotel, Verona / Byblos Art Hotel, Verona

DAY 5: Verona

Breakfast in hotel.

Morning at leisure. The city shows its alternation of various dominations through its architecture: from the settlement of the Romans, to the age of commons, to the era of the Signoria of the Scaliger family until its Venetian and Habsburg dominations. Verona is the city of lovers and the place where Shakespeare set his most famous romantic drama of all time: Romeo and Juliet.

In the afternoon, visit Valpolicella and Gardens of Villa Pojega-Rizzardi. The estate of Pojega was purchased in 1649 by the Rizzardi family, who were at that time living in Verona. Count Antonio Rizzardi commissioned the gardens from the famous architect Luigi Trezza in 1783. It is one of the last remaining examples of an “Italian-style garden” and is renowned for its outdoor green amphitheater and the spectacular surrounding views. The garden features include a temple, a green amphitheater, stone walls, sculptures, tree tunnels and a belvedere. Many of these features were created by the technique of bending the trees and the hedges. The resulting landscape, together with the fountains and ponds, has produced a unique and impressive garden.

Overnight:
Due Torri Hotel, Verona / Byblos Art Hotel, Verona

DAY 6: Verona – Merano - Verona

Breakfast in hotel.

Transfer to Merano. Visit Trauttmansdorff Garden. The garden covers an area of twelve hectares and it presents plants from all over the world. The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle is a total sensory experience for visitors and botanical experts. Trauttmansdorff was named Italy’s Most Beautiful Gardens. Tyrolean lunch in a Brewery.

Afternoon at leisure Merano, a charming town with mild climate and Mediterranean vegetation situated in the heart of the Alps. This thermal town has been popular with guests like Empress Elisabeth (Sissi), writer Franz Kafka, composer Richard Strauss, poet Rainer Maria Rilke & others.

Overnight:
Due Torri Hotel, Verona / Byblos Art Hotel, Verona

DAY 7: Verona – Vicenza - Padua

Breakfast in hotel.

Transfer to Vicenza. Visit Villa Valmarana and its Garden, is an outstanding architectural and artistic site. The Villa’s surroundings are designed for tastes and functional needs, ranging from an Italian garden with the dovecote and the well, the walk through the hornbeam and the pagoda in the woods. Villa Valmarana is widely considered the best work of Tiepolo. Visit the Vicenza historic city center, a World Heritage site. Vicenza is a work of art by Andrea Palladio, architectural genius. You will visit Palladian Basilica, Loggia of the Capitan, Corso Palladio, Palazzo Thiene, Palazzo Chiericati, the Duomo and Teatro Olimpico.

Transfer to your hotel in Padua.

Overnight: Hotel Collezione Belludi, Padua / Hotel NH Padova, Padua

DAY 8: Padua

Breakfast in hotel.

Transfer to the Euganean Hills. Guided tour of Valsanzibio Garden. The most fascinating garden of Italy was created for Antonio Barbarigo during 1665-69. One of the most striking features is a series of ascending pools decorated with statues and fountains, a graceful Watergate which has Diana, goddess of hunting sitting astride the pediment with her dogs. There is a large maze, a charming rabbit island and various giochi d’acqui (water tricks).

Leisure time at Arquà Petrarca. Wine tasting with light lunch near Arquà Petrarca.

In the afternoon, visit of the private garden of Le Paradis des Papillons, near Padua. Created by a young garden designer, this unusual & naturalistic garden supports not just the butterflies but a wide range of other animals including ducks, peacocks and rabbits. “Giotto By Night” an evening guided excursion to the Ghetto of Padua and the Scrovegni Chapel. It contains a rich and elaborate fresco that is universally considered Giotto di Bondone’s masterpiece. Completed in 1305, Giotto and his assistants painted the complex and emotional narrative on the lives of Mary and Jesus. The interior is a vibrant feast of color, vaulted by a starry sky with the two centers of Christ and Mary, the Last Judgment in the West and the Annunciation in the East, witnessed by God, frame the nave of the chapel.

Overnight:
Hotel Collezione Belludi, Padua / Hotel NH Padova, Padua http://www.collezionebelludi.it/

DAY 9: Padua – Stra

Breakfast in hotel.

Transfer to Stra. Visit of Villa Pisani. When Alvise Pisani was elected Doge of Venice in 1735 he commissioned a grand villa to reflect his powerful status and originally the area behind the villa was filled with French parterres. These were replaced by a long pool of water which now dominates the garden, with the palace at one end and an ornate pavilion, converted into luxurious stables, at the other. Avenues provide further views along the length of the garden while a hexagonal belvedere overlooks the avenues in all directions. High walls enclose Pisani’s impressive array of greenhouses. Guided visit of the Orto Botanico di Padova (Padua Botanic Garden), which was established in 1545, making it the oldest university botanical garden in the world. During the 19th century a series of greenhouses were built, and one of them now contains the garden’s most famous possessions, a dwarf fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) from 1781. The garden is surrounded by a circular wall.

Farewell dinner in a restaurant.

Overnight:
Hotel Villa Giulietta, Stra, Stra http://www.villagiulietta.com/

DAY 10:Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer to Venice airport.

Depart on your onward journey.