Luxury holidays in Italy
Wake to church bells over a Tuscan valley and lunch on a lemon terrace above the sea. Name the regions you love, and we arrange the trains, drivers and hotels between them.
It comes off your final price, and is refunded in full if you don't go ahead.
Most travellers arrive in Italy tired and leave wishing they had booked another week. The cure is to start small, with an espresso standing at the bar, a walk to the nearest piazza and a long table in the shade by one o'clock. Each region cooks, pours and dresses for the evening passeggiata in its own way, so two or three regions given real time beat a dash across the map.
Choose by what you want to wake up to. Lake Como gives you villa gardens and boats at the jetty. Tuscany gives you vineyards and stone farmhouses, and the Amalfi Coast gives you lemon terraces above the sea. Further south, Puglia's whitewashed masserie and Sicily's baroque towns feel quieter, and Matera's cave city in Basilicata is unlike anywhere else in Europe. In winter the Dolomites turn to skiing, and Venice is at its most beautiful in the mist.
Italy
8 days · 7 nights
Rome → Florence → Venice → Milan
Two nights each in Rome, Florence and Venice, then a last night in Milan. A private driver links Rome to Florence by way of Siena and Florence to Venice by way of Verona, a boat takes you out to Murano and Burano, and a first class train carries you on to Milan.
Italy
4 days · 3 nights
Bologna
A short stay in Bologna built around its table. You make lasagna and gelato on your first evening, walk the historic centre with a guide on the second day, and taste three local wines at one of the city's oldest inns on the third, with free time around each.
Italy
3 days · 2 nights
Bolzano
A short, relaxed stay in Bolzano, where Italian and Austrian traditions meet at the table. You taste your way through the old centre on your first evening, have a free morning on the second day, then walk the city with a sommelier to learn about South Tyrol's wines.
Italy
9 days · 8 nights
Naples → Sorrento → Maiori → Naples
Stop at Pompeii on the way to three nights in Sorrento, with a day on Capri and a day to yourselves. Drive the Amalfi Coast through Positano, Amalfi and Ravello to Maiori for three more nights, then finish in Naples with a guided walk and a pizza class.
Italy
4 days · 3 nights
Bari
A short stay in Bari, the white city on the Adriatic, with three nights in one hotel. An evening walk introduces the old town, a day in a local cook's kitchen teaches you its dishes, and an archaeological tour shows you the city beneath the city.
Italy
4 days · 3 nights
Milan
A short stay based in one Milan hotel. Your first evening is a private walk past Sforza Castle to the Duomo, the next day brings The Last Supper and an aperitivo tour of the canal district, and the third is a day out to Lake Como and across the Swiss border to Lugano.
Italy
4 days · 3 nights
Naples
Four days based in one Naples hotel. An evening tour along the waterfront ends with pizza in the old centre, a full day takes in both Pompeii and Herculaneum, and on your last full day you learn to make pizza yourself.
Italy
4 days · 3 nights
Sorrento
Four days based in Sorrento, with a day out each day. Cross to Capri for a boat trip around the island and an evening in town, spend a day among the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, then follow the Amalfi Coast to Positano, Amalfi and Ravello.
Italy
8 days · 7 nights
Sorrento → Rome
Spend four nights in Sorrento with days out to Capri, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast, then take the fast train to Rome for three nights. In the city you learn to make tiramisu, see the treasures of the Museo Nazionale Romano and walk through the Vatican Museums to the Sistine Chapel.
Italy
8 days · 7 nights
Naples → Amalfi Coast → Sorrento → Naples
A private walking journey that starts with three nights on the Amalfi Coast, hiking Monte Tre Calli, the Valley of the Mills and the Path of the Gods. Three nights in Sorrento follow, with a free day and a crossing to Capri for the Path of the Forts, before you climb Vesuvius, walk through Pompeii and finish in Naples.
Italy
8 days · 7 nights
Spoleto → Perugia → Todi
Pick up a car in Rome or Perugia and drive yourselves through Umbria, with two nights in Spoleto, three in Perugia and two in Todi. Each day comes with a suggested route, from Orvieto's cathedral and a Sagrantino tasting in Montefalco to the islands of Lake Trasimeno and the ceramic workshops of Deruta.
Italy
6 days · 5 nights
Florence → Rome → Naples
A private journey for lovers of painting, travelling south by first-class train. Start with the Uffizi in Florence, see Caravaggio's work in the churches of Rome and the Galleria Borghese, and end in Naples, where his late paintings hang in Palazzo Zevallos and the Pio Monte della Misericordia.
Italy
7 days · 6 nights
Florence → Rome
A private art journey with four nights in Florence and two in Rome. Guided days take you to Michelangelo's work in the Medici Chapels, the Uffizi, the Accademia and the Duomo, before a first-class train to Rome for the Moses, Santa Maria degli Angeli and a day in the Vatican.
Italy
7 days · 6 nights
Naples → Ischia → Naples
A night in Naples, then a hydrofoil across the bay to Ischia for four nights. Your driver takes you to the Negombo and Poseidon thermal gardens and to a vineyard tasting near Forio, before the ferry back to Naples for a last evening.
Italy
8 days · 7 nights
Naples → Ischia → Capri → Naples
Cross from Naples to Ischia for three nights of thermal pools and gardens, then ferry on to Capri for a private boat trip and a day on Procida. You finish with a night in Naples and a guided afternoon of its street food.
Italy
7 days · 6 nights
Rome → Florence → Venice
Two nights in each of Italy’s three best-loved cities, linked by high-speed train. Hotels are central and nothing is scheduled, so you shape each day around the sights, galleries and long lunches you care about most.
Italy
11 days · 10 nights
Milan → Lake Como → Turin → Sestri Levante → Cinque Terre → Parma → Bologna → Venice
You start in Milan, with a private boat on Lake Como and The Last Supper. Turin and Barolo lead to the Ligurian coast for pesto and the villages of the Cinque Terre. Parma, Modena and Bologna feed you well before three nights in Venice and its lagoon.
Italy
4 days · 3 nights
Lake Garda
A short stay on Italy's largest lake, centred on the old town of Sirmione. After a free first day, you cruise around the peninsula and walk through the castle gate into the town with a guide, then explore the ruins of a great Roman villa on the third day, with your evenings free.
Italy
12 days · 11 nights
Palermo → Agrigento → Taormina → Matera → Alberobello → Naples → Positano
You begin in Palermo and cross Sicily by way of Corleone, Agrigento's temples, Roman mosaics and the slopes of Mount Etna to Taormina. A ferry takes you to the mainland for Matera's cave city and the trulli of Alberobello. You end around Naples with Paestum, Sorrento's lemons and the drive to Positano.
Italy
8 days · 7 nights
Bari → Alberobello → Otranto → Lecce → Bari
Collect a car at Bari or Brindisi and base yourselves for four nights in Alberobello, with day drives to the Castellana Caves, Polignano a Mare, Trani, Castel del Monte, Bari and Matera. Then move south through Martina Franca and Ostuni to Otranto for two nights, and finish with a night in baroque Lecce.
Italy
7 days · 6 nights
Bari → Alberobello → Otranto → Lecce → Brindisi
Three bases, two nights each, with a private driver between them. Start among the trulli of Alberobello, move down to the old harbour town of Otranto on the Adriatic, and finish in Lecce, the baroque city of the south, with a private guided walk in each.
Italy
8 days · 7 nights
Rome → Montalcino → Florence → Venice
You spend three nights in Rome, with early entry to the Vatican Museums and a pizza class in a local pizzeria. A drive through Tuscany with a Brunello tasting brings you to Florence for the Accademia and a cooking lesson. An express train then carries you to Venice for the Grand Canal, a gondola and St Mark's.
Italy
8 days · 7 nights
Catania → Agrigento → Palermo → Letojanni → Catania
A guided loop of Sicily with a tour leader from start to finish. Begin near Catania with Siracusa and Ortigia, cross the island to Piazza Armerina and the Valley of the Temples, spend two nights in Palermo, then follow the north coast through Cefalù and Savoca back towards Taormina for a free day.
Italy
8 days · 7 nights
Venice → Cortina d'Ampezzo → Bolzano → Treviso → Venice
Collect a car at Venice Airport and drive into the Dolomites for three nights in Cortina d'Ampezzo, with days at Lake Braies and on the Tre Cime trail. Then three nights in Bolzano for Merano and the South Tyrol wine road, and a final night in Treviso, a short drive from the airport.
Italy
8 days · 7 nights
Florence → Lucca → Siena → Florence
A private driver meets you at Florence Airport and takes you to walled Lucca for two nights, with a guided morning in Pisa. Then three nights in Siena, with a guided day in the Chianti hills, before two nights in Florence for the Uffizi and the Accademia.
Italy
7 days · 6 nights
Palermo → Trapani → Marsala → Palermo
Collect a car at Palermo Airport and take western Sicily at your own pace. Two nights in Palermo with a day on the beach at Cefalù, two in Trapani for Segesta and Erice, then two in Marsala for its wineries, the Stagnone salt pans and a ferry day on Favignana.
Some of the moments that make an Italian trip, each one arranged around your days.
Set off by kayak from Pescallo with a guide, round the tip of Bellagio and paddle past the gardens of Villa Serbelloni and Villa Melzi with the mountains behind.
Stand before Leonardo's mural in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie with a guide who explains how it was painted, damaged and saved.
Follow lantern-lit lanes through Sasso Caveoso and Civita as the light fades, then look across the Gravina ravine to the prehistoric caves on the far side.
Visit the Badia di Passignano to see Ghirlandaio's Last Supper fresco and its 10th-century cellars, then sit down to a long Tuscan lunch nearby.
Head into the Barbagia hills to Mamoiada's mask museum and a local winery, then walk among the Bronze Age tombs left by the Nuragic people.
The lakes suit gardens and boat days, while the Amalfi Coast suits swimming and long dinners above the sea.
The Colosseum, the Forum and the Vatican, with long lunches in Trastevere and piazzas that come alive in the evening.
Renaissance art in the Uffizi, the Duomo above the rooftops and the vineyards of Chianti a short drive away.
Canals instead of roads, the Grand Canal by water taxi and quiet early mornings in St Mark's Square before the day begins.
Pizza in its home city, Pompeii's streets and the cliff roads of the Amalfi Coast, with Capri across the bay.
The trulli houses of Alberobello, the old port of Bari and the white town of Otranto on the Adriatic in Italy's heel.
Palermo's markets and chapels, Mount Etna above Catania and Greek temples standing in the countryside.
Travel Italy with a small group or a private guide, drive yourself through the countryside, or choose a canal barge, an expedition cruise or a private jet journey.
A private guide in each region, with timed entry to the Vatican and the Uffizi already booked.
Travel Rome, Tuscany and the coast with a few others and a guide who knows each town.
Drive the Tuscan back roads between wine estates, with every farmhouse night booked ahead.
Sail the Italian coast and its islands, seeing Sicily and the Amalfi shore from the water.
Book the Amalfi Coast and Lake Como well ahead, as the best rooms go first.
Cold in the north, quiet museums in Rome and Florence, skiing in the Dolomites.
Carnival in Venice, mild days in Sicily, most coastal hotels closed.
Spring arrives in Rome and the south, with fewer visitors at the big sites.
Mild and green across the country, Easter brings processions.
Warm, long days, the Amalfi Coast and Puglia open for the season.
Sunny across the country, the coast is warm enough for swimming.
Hot in the cities, ideal for the coast, Sicily and the Dolomites.
The hottest month, many Italians on holiday and the coast at its busiest.
Warm seas, the grape harvest begins and city heat eases.
Mild in Rome and the south, autumn colour and truffles in the north.
Cooler and wetter, a quiet month for art cities and long lunches.
Christmas markets and lights, cold in Venice and the north.
Rome and Milan have direct flights from across Europe, the Gulf and North America, and we match the arrival city to your first region.
Switzerland and Austria lie just over the Alps, and the Riviera carries on into France.
Slow canal journeys through Burgundy, the Midi and Provence.
Lucerne, the Jungfrau and Lake Geneva by train.
Vienna and the vineyards of the Wachau on the Danube.
Tell us when you want to go, for how long and who is travelling. Your travel expert replies in writing with a trip shaped around you.
