Parma, Cremona & Mantua

FIVE NIGHT HOLIDAYS | 8 MAY & 23 SEPTEMBER 2023

Celebrate the very best of Italian culture – art, music and delicious cuisine – in the company of popular Kirker lecturer, Andrew Allen. Based in Parma, a city synonymous with the best of Italian culinary ingredients and with a key role in the history of Italian music, we will also explore the nearby cities of Cremona and Mantua. We will learn more about the lives and work of some of the region’s many famous sons, from Stradivarius, Verdi and Toscanini, to the artists Mantegna, Correggio and Parmigianino, and of course the two specialities for which the region is world famous, ‘parmigiano e prosciutto’, which we will have ample opportunity to sample at carefully-chosen local restaurants.

the itinerary

1

We fly from London to Bologna, and transfer to Parma where we stay for the duration of the holiday at our centrally located 4* Hotel Mercure Parma Stendhal.

2

Parma was once the seat of the influential Farnese family, whose patronage allowed art and music to flourish. Together with a gastronomic reputation that’s renowned around the world, this makes Parma the most perfect of Italian cultural experiences. At the city’s art gallery and former Farnese residence, the Palazzo della Pilotta, we will see works by Correggio and Parmigianino, before continuing to the Teatro Farnese, the wooden theatre of 1628, the first to be constructed with a proscenium arch. We will also see the city’s exquisite opera house, the Teatro Regio, and the frescoes by Correggio at the cathedral.

3

Nearby Mantua was the base of the rival Gonzaga family, patrons of Mantegna and Romano. We will see works by both artists during our day in the city, as well as the family residence, the Palazzo Ducale, and the elegant Palazzo Te on the outskirts. In the evening we drive to the banks of the River Po for dinner at the magnificent Antico Corte Pallavicino, a distinguished restaurant, which was once a farmhouse on the Pallavicino estate.

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Mantua Parma

DAY 4

In Cremona, birthplace of Stradivarius and where members of the Stradivari family created the world’s finest string instruments, we will see the Museum of the Violin. This museum has one of the world’s most important collections of historic musical instruments. Dozens of craftsmen still continue this tradition today and we will visit a working luthier’s atelier in the afternoon to see the craft in practice.

5

Today is devoted to the life and work of Giuseppe Verdi, who was born in rural Roncole and who lived most of his life not far away in Busseto. Here we will visit the Villa Verdi where the composer lived for many years. Lunch is included at I due Foscari, a hotel once owned by the son of the great tenor, Carlo Bergonzi. The day ends at the Museo Nazionale di Giuseppe Verdi where the composer’s creative genius and his importance in the world of opera can be appreciated to the full.

We return to Bologna airport for the flight back to London.

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DAY 6

TOUR INFORMATION

DEPARTURE DATE & PRICES

DATE PRICE SINGLE SUPP

8 May 23 September £2,452 £475

Our prices are per person, based on the shared occupancy of a twin/double room. Supplement for single occupancy as shown.

FLIGHT DETAILS

Flights with British Airways: Depart Heathrow 07.30, arrive Bologna 10.40 Depart Bologna 11.40, arrive Heathrow 13.00 Flight times subject to change – regional departures available on request.

WHAT WE INCLUDE

• Return flights • Five nights’ accommodation with breakfast • Two dinners and two lunches • All sightseeing, entrance fees and gratuities • Services of the Kirker Tour Lecturer

THE ART CITIES OF NORTHERN ITALY

Ravenna, Urbino & Ferrara and Parma, Cremona & Mantua run consecutively so why not book both for a 10 night tour of northern Italy’s art cities? The price to join both tours is £4,398 per person (single supp. £950).