Excursion

1° day: Pick up from Milan airport and droop off in Hotel in Milan area; wait and departure for the tour. *** 1° day: 4 hrs. half day tour departure from Milan and return to Milan. Sightseeing tour: Piazza Duomo - Vittorio Emanuele II open gallery. – Sforza castle The wide rectangle square of Duomo (the cathedral square) is the real centre of the town. The Gothic cathedral took five centuries to be completed and is the fourth-largest church in the world. Milan Cathedral is 157 meters long and 40,000 people can fit comfortably within. It has become very popular thanks to it’s a true Gothic style façade and its openwork pinnacles that are punctuated by a grove of spires, topped with statues that overlook the city. The huge building is made of brick faced with marble from the Candoglia quarries, on the Lake Maggiore. From the Northern arcades it is possible to see the well-known Vittorio Emanuele II open gallery. Your 2nd leg of the tour will be the "Sforzesco" castle, in front of the Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo), at the opposite side of the avenue which joins them. It was the main residence of the Dukes of Milan built starting from 1360. Today the castle hosts some civic museums and some permanent exhibitions, as a picture gallery with 230 masterpieces of Italian paintings with special attention to the Lombard and Venetian artistic production. Within a stone's throw from there you will be absorbed in the windows-shops of the Milan fashion area, having a look to the most exclusive and elegant streets of the town, going shopping or just drinking a coffee in one of the famous locals, situated along Via Monte Napoleone, Via della Spiga and Via Manzoni. *** 2° day 8 hrs. full day tour departure from Milan and return to Milan You will be collected at the hotel by one of our private chauffeurs. The first stop is Arona. Arona is the "doorway" of Lake Maggiore. Villa Ponti of Arona hosts art shows with works of the greatest artists of the world, as well as many events and meetings along the year. This Villa was built on the rocky ramp (Rocca) conceived on around 1760 by Bartolomeo Pertossi, a rich merchant and one of the Napoleon supporters. Stresa It is defined the Lake Verbano's pearl, and it is the most prestigious and renowned tourist center of Lake Maggiore. This small village turned from a rural town in an elegan tourist place, first for patricians and nobles, and then for worldwide guests. During the XII and XIV centuries in Stresa there was a castle, whose walls are still visible at the city entrance. After some decades of Austrian domination, Stresa and the whole West bank of Lake Maggiore had been destined to the Savoia family. The Napoleon street dates back to the XIX century, the Sempione tunnel and the railway have been basic elements for the touristic development of Stresa. The reputation of Stresa begun to widespread thanks to the descripion of some eminent travellers as Stendhal, Chateaubriand, Dumas, Lord Byron. Today Stresa hosts conventions, meetings and events of international interest, as well as the celebrated "Stresa and Lake Maggiore music week". Around Stresa it is possible to visit the most beautiful isles of Lake Maggiore: isola Madre, isola Pescatori, isola Bella. *** 3° day 8 hrs. full day tour departure from Milan and return to Milan It rises at the southern extremity of the west part of the Lario lake, in a small basin that was created during the tertiary age from the storage of alluvium material. Como is considered a province town, known all over the world for its beauty and the silk working. Como Lake is the deepest lake in Italy and one of the deepest in Europe. The weather is meek and its position attracts many tourists at any month of the year. In Como you will visit Villa Saporiti (La Rotonda), Palazzo Volpi, that was built between 1610 and 1630 by the bishop Vulpiano Volpi, Torre di Porta Vittoria or porta Torre, the most ancient and imposing of the Medieval towers that Como still can be proud of. It was put up on 1192 together with other works that had a defensive function. You will visit il Broletto, building with a Gothic façade and white, grey and red marbles, whose construction begun on 1396 over the ancient Romanesque basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The two lateral doors are generally considered the masterpiece of the brothers Tommaso and Jacopo Rodari, although an intervention of Bramante is supposed for the elegant Medieval door. Along the shores of the promontory of Bellagio there are many ancient aristocratic houses, each one surrounded by parks and green trees. Some of them - as in the case of Villa Melzi and Villa Serbelloni - are open to the public. Villa Serbelloni. This villa dominates the historic town's center. Can be reached from Via Garibaldi, and is presently owned by the Rockefeller Foundation in New York. It was built in the XV century on the site of an old castle razed in 1375 (according to some sources, in ancient times there stood one of the two villas of Lake Como, Pliny the Younger, the Tragoedia). Villa Serbelloni was revised several times. Today you can visit only the gardens, a maze of picturesque alleys surrounded by vegetation groves with trees and other exotic plants, roses, and cultivation of flowers. The paths, in addition to the house, lead you to the Capuchin Monastery and to the Sfondrata, a residence on the Lecco lake branch , built by the Sfondrati’s family. The villa is now home of international conferences, often held by American scholars/reserchers, housed in the residence. Villa Melzi lies instead on the west lakefront on the coast road that runs from Bellagio to Como city. Its park is embellished with ancient artifacts, such as the third century BC Etruscan urn and two Egyptian sculptures of the XIII and XIV centuries BC. The house is still inhabited and can not be visited, but the small museum is accessible – the museum is located in a nearby pavilion, with archaeological collections, paintings and sculptures (including a text attributed to Michelangelo) - and the neo-classical chapel, in the southern end of the park. Note there a “gondola” from Venice brought to Bellagio for the will of Napoleon and the statue of Dante and Beatrice, who inspired a famous sonata to Franz Liszt. In Villa Melzi among others stayed there Stendhal. Then we will take the ferry and we across the lake and reach Tremezzo. Tremezzo is a town of 1.288 inhabitants located in the province of Como. Be reported here is Villa Carlotta built in the XVIII century, now belong to Gian Battista Sommariva who collected important works of Antonio Canova and Luigi Acquisti *** 4° day 9 hrs. full day tour departure from Milan and return to Milan Starting in Milan, after one hour and a half of trip we arrive in Alto Monferrato, in the deep south east of the Piedmont, region of production of wines such as Barbera, Dolcetto di Gavi and Ovada. Our first tasting is in the area of Ovada, an ancient town surrounded by hills and vineyards. The image that the area give us is relaxing. Dolcetto tasting in Ovada, Barbera and Cortese tasting in a historic winery in the tranquility of Ovada’s hills. Lunch in a typical restaurant where you can taste the specialities of a real border’s kitchen between Piedmont and Liguria regions. You will delight by trofie with pesto, ravioli with vegetables or noodles with melted butter, and fried cod accommodated , and Piedmont stir-fry mixed, the bunet, and the ice cream with Dolcetto di Ovada. Second wine tasting is in the typical area of Gavi, 40 minutes away from Ovada. You will taste Gavi di Gavi, Cortese and Barbera in a historic winery in the area *** 5° day 8 hrs. full day tour departure from Milan and return to Milan Characterized by a division of the urban structure on two levels, the “Lower town” (Città bassa), modern and dynamic and the famous “Upper town” (Città alta), a truly historic and artistic jewel, Bergamo is certainly an important point of reference for the tourism. It’s in fact become a stable part of the recommended destinations by the main international travel operators, that propose it as a fascinating discovery; an unique reality in Lombardy and among the most interesting in Italy , especially for the capacity to connect the human ingenuity with the beauties of the nature Piazza Vecchia is the symbol of the city

The price included: English speaking driver Luxury car/van/minivan with climate control Bottled water Head office assistence Insurance "RC car" the price not included: Restaurant reservation (we can recommend some excellent) Hotel reservation Professional Guide Boat tickes Musuem ticket Other unspecified

Tour available every day of the year Comfortable walking shoes are suggested for this tour Make sure your cameras are charged or load up on batteries!