TRASIMENO MUSIC FESTIVAL

Day 1 | Sunday 21 June
Arrive Rome - To Cortona
Our tour commences at Rome Fiumicino airport in the early afternoon, before we make our way by coach to the beautiful hilltop town of Cortona in the heart of Tuscany. After time to check in, we meet for a welcome drink in the hotel before enjoying a dinner of traditional Tuscan cuisine in a local restaurant. Overnight Cortona (D)

Day 2 | Monday 22 June
Cortona | NUME Festival Concert
Rising above the Valdichiana Aretina in the rural heart of Tuscany, with distant views towards Lake Trasimeno, Cortona is one of the region’s oldest settlements, dating to the 8th century BCE, when it was an important city of the Etruscan League. We spend the day exploring its layered history on a walking tour of the town centre, visiting the Duomo, built atop Etruscan-Roman walls, and the church of San Francesco, traditionally associated with a relic of the Holy Cross. We then visit the Diocesan Museum, home to a notable collection of sacred art and artefacts, including Fra Angelico’s Annunciation, celebrated for its luminous treatment of light. Lunch follows in a traditional Tuscan restaurant set within an elegant 16th-century dining room. In the afternoon, we visit the Etruscan Academy Museum (MAEC), housed in the historic Palazzo Casali, where collections trace Cortona’s ancient past with a particular focus on its Etruscan heritage. Highlights include the Tabula Cortonensis, a rare bronze inscription central to the study of the Etruscan language, alongside material illustrating the town’s Roman and medieval development. In the evening, we attend a chamber music concert at the Teatro Signorelli, featuring three internationally renowned performers: violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, cellist Torleif Thedéen and pianist Enrico Pace. Overnight Cortona (B, L)

Day 3 | Tuesday 23 June
Pienza
Today we travel to Pienza – often described as the ‘ideal Renaissance town’ and reshaped according to new humanist planning principles at the behest of its most famous son, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, later Pope Pius II. A short walking tour introduces the town’s harmonious layout, including a visit to the Palazzo Piccolomini, followed by time to explore at leisure. We enjoy lunch at La Terrazza del Chiostro, set within a former 15th-century convent beside the Palazzo Piccolomini, where a three-course meal is accompanied by expansive views across the Val d’Orcia. In the afternoon, we return to Cortona for an evening at leisure. Overnight Cortona (B, L)

Day 4 | Wednesday 24 June
Perugia | Gala Dinner & Trasimeno Music Festival
We leave Cortona this morning and transfer to Perugia for the next seven nights. Described by Henry James as ‘the little city of the infinite view’, Perugia is not only the capital, but also the heart of Umbria, with a history stretching back to the ancient Etruscan period. This seraphically beautiful city rises and dips across hazy hills and valleys, with expansive panoramas across the region. We begin our sojourn in the characterful ‘rione’, or neighbourhood, of the Porta Sant’Angelo, with its crenelated medieval gate and walls. There, we’ll take in the remarkable 5th-century church of St Michael the Archangel, raised on the hill just above the old gateway and built when Perugia was still a Roman city. We’ll then enjoy a private visit to the nearby Brozzetti Atelier, one of the last workshops in Italy which continues the tradition of hand-loomed fabrics, housed in a luminous 13th-century Franciscan convent. We reconvene in the early evening for a Gala Dinner offering the chance to meet pianist and festival director Angela Hewitt, followed by the opening concert of the Trasimeno Festival at the auditorium of San Francesco al Prato. Overnight Perugia (B, D)

Day 5 | Thursday 25 June
Perugia & Magione | Trasimeno Music Festival
This morning we enjoy an introductory walking tour of Perugia’s historical centre taking in the Rocca Paolina fortress, with its impressive underground vaults and passageways; the Romanesque pink-and-white marble Fontana Maggiore and the beautiful Cathedral of St Laurence. After free time for lunch, we head to the Gothic Palazzo dei Priori – home to the National Gallery of Umbria where we can enjoy works by Fra Angelico, Piero della Francesca, Perugino and Il Pinturicchio. In the evening, we go by private coach to the second concert in the Trasimeno Festival in the atmospheric setting of the Castle of the Knights of Malta in Magione. Overnight Perugia (B)

Day 6 | Friday 26 June
Gubbio & Magione | Trasimeno Music Festival
Rising up the slopes of Mount Ingino in northern Umbria, Gubbio, known as the ‘city of stone’, is a gracious labyrinth of medieval alleys and narrow streets, with a history that spans the ages. Once the capital of Umbria, the town still holds a series of bronze tablets written in the language of the ancient Umbri, who named their settlement Ikuvium. The town’s multi-layered history is written in its architectural monuments: from the imposing Roman theatre and the towering medieval Palazzo dei Consoli, to the Renaissance Ducal Palace and the precious Baroque oratory of the Misericordia. As well as these sights, our tour today will explore Gubbio’s influential and distinctive tradition of making ceramics and the colourful and popular Festa dei Ceri, one of the oldest street festivals in Italy. We’ll return to Perugia in the afternoon. After free time to rest and refresh, we’ll leave by private coach for the next concert in the Trasimeno Festival at the Castle of the Knights of Malta in Magione. Overnight Perugia (B)

Day 7 | Saturday 27 June
Perugia & Magione | Trasimeno Music Festival
We devote today to the masterpieces of Perugino and the young Raphael, encountered in the very settings for which they were created, and to a gentle exploration of Porta Sole, one of the city’s most panoramic viewpoints. For centuries the Palazzo dei Priori was home to the Arte del Cambio, the powerful guild of moneychangers whose influence shaped civic and artistic life in 15th-century Perugia. It was they who commissioned Perugino to fresco their audience hall, creating one of the most refined Renaissance interiors in central Italy. This luminous ‘jewel box’ of classical virtues, prophets and elegant portraiture forms the focus of our first visit. We then walk up to the quiet church of San Severo, which preserves the only surviving frescoes painted by Raphael during his time in Perugia – a poignant glimpse of the master at a formative moment in his career, working alongside Perugino. The afternoon is free for independent exploration, before we transfer to Magione for this evening’s concert, held in the Castle of the Knights of Malta, Magione. Overnight Perugia (B)

Day 8 | Sunday 28 June
Todi | Trasimeno Music Festival
Founded by the ancient Umbri, the Italic people of ancient Italy whose history predates the Etruscan civilisation (and after whom the region is named), the medieval town of Todi is a ruggedly handsome example of an Umbrian hill town, with sweeping views of the Tiber Valley and the majestic Martani and Sibillini Mountains. We spend today exploring the town of Todi, whose concentric rings of walls reveal successive stages of its historical flourishing. We begin at the Temple of St Mary of Consolation, a Renaissance sanctuary church and pilgrimage site housing a ‘miraculous’ image of the Virgin, before continuing to the Chiesa della Nunziatina, a jewel of Baroque art known as the ‘little Sistine Chapel’ of Todi. We then explore the civic buildings of the Piazza del Popolo, one of the finest surviving examples of medieval urban planning in Italy, before enjoying a lunch of traditional Umbrian dishes and returning to Perugia later in the afternoon. The concert this evening will be held in the Pavone Theatre, just a short walk from the hotel. Overnight Perugia (B, L)

Day 9 | Monday 29 June
Assisi | Trasimeno Music Festival
Our visit to Assisi explores one of the most powerful artistic and spiritual landscapes of medieval Italy. For centuries, this hill town has drawn pilgrims from across the world to the Basilica of San Francesco, built to enshrine the tomb of its most famous son and to proclaim his message through architecture and art. We examine the creation of this extraordinary double basilica, a masterful fusion of Roman solidity and emerging Gothic lightness, conceived on a monumental scale unprecedented in Italy at the time. Particular attention is given to its fresco cycles, above all the celebrated Life of Saint Francis, traditionally attributed to Giotto and his workshop, whose vivid narrative realism marks a turning point in the history of Western painting. Time is also set aside for a walking tour through Assisi’s atmospheric streets, where the fabric of the medieval town remains remarkably intact. We return in the afternoon for a performance and interview in the Pavone Theatre, Perugia.  Overnight Perugia (B)

Day 10 | Tuesday 30 June
Lake Trasimeno | Trasimeno Music Festival & Gala Dinner
We depart in the late morning to take the public ferry boat across Lake Trasimeno – Italy’s fourth largest lake. Described by Lord Byron as a “silver veil”, Trasimeno’s clear, calm waters are girdled with olive groves, vineyards, historic villages and castles. Our tour takes us to the pretty island of Isola Maggiore, beloved by Saint Francis of Assisi due to its other-worldly serenity. Throughout the 13th and 14th centuries the islands were settled by Franciscans and Olivetans, and the evocative remains of former monasteries, medieval churches and castles create a sense of spiritual peace. In the afternoon, we’ll return to Perugia to relax before the final concert of the Trasimeno Music Festival at the Basilica of San Pietro, followed by a Gala Dinner with the artists and festival director, Angela Hewitt. Overnight Perugia (B, D)

Day 11 | Wednesday 1 July
Spello and Spoleto
Departing Perugia for Spoleto today, we stop en route at the enchanting medieval town of Spello. Set in a bucolic landscape at the southern foot of Mount Subasio and forged from Subasio’s pink-hued stone, Spello is simply one of the most beautiful towns in the entire region. Centuries of history and culture will unfold as we explore its ancient Roman gateways, Roman villas and mosaics, and its maze of flower-filled medieval streets, stone houses and noble palazzi. Our tour will include the Villa dei Mosaici, which boasts ten rooms of Roman mosaic floors, and remains on of the most important archaeological discoveries of the century, and the exquisite 16th-century Baglioni Chapel, entirely frescoed by the outstanding Umbrian artist Il Pinturicchio, whose Biblical scenes play out against a verdant Umbrian landscape. After Spello, we will continue to our base for the last five nights of our tour: the ravishing and culturally rich town of Spoleto. Once settled into our hotel, we’ll enjoy dinner together to finish the day. Overnight Spoleto (B, D)

Day 12 | Thursday 2 July
Spoleto | Festival of the Two Worlds
Like many of the hill towns in Umbria, Spoleto began as a city-state of the ancient Italic people known as the Umbri, but it was subsequently conquered by the Romans who named it Spoletium. Its strategic importance – perched on a steep hill guarding the southern approach to the Vale of Umbria – has resulted in these rich layers being still visible in the ancient city walls, originally built by the Umbri. Here we encounter centuries of Roman remains, including the theatre, forum, the honorary arch of Drusus Minor and Germanicus, and the atmospheric, remarkably well-preserved Casa Romana – traditionally identified as the home of Vespasia Polla, mother of the Emperor Vespasian. We also visit Spoleto’s majestic Duomo to study Filippo Lippi’s final masterpiece, The Life and Death of the Virgin (1469), before attending our first performance at the Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto’s defining cultural event since 1958 (venue and time to be confirmed). Overnight Spoleto (B)

Day 13 | Friday 3 July
Marmore Falls and Narni | Festival of the Two Worlds
This morning we depart Spoleto for a full-day excursion into the dramatic landscapes and layered history of southern Umbria. Our first stop is the spectacular Marmore Waterfalls, where the River Velino plunges in a series of thundering cascades engineered by the Romans in the 3rd century BCE. Surrounded by lush woodland and scenic viewpoints, the falls offer a powerful reminder of ancient hydraulic ingenuity combined with one of the region’s most striking natural settings. We then continue to Narni, a finely preserved hill town with deep Roman roots. Just outside the town we pause at the monumental remains of the Ponte di Augusto, an ambitious 1st-century CE bridge whose surviving arch still dominates the gorge below, bearing witness to the scale and confidence of Roman engineering. In Narni itself there is free time to enjoy lunch and explore the compact historic centre, with its medieval streets, terraces, and quiet piazzas. We return to Spoleto in the afternoon, in good time to attend another concert in the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds. (Concert venue and time to be confirmed). Overnight Spoleto (B)

Day 14 | Saturday 4 July
Colle Del Marchese and Montefalco
| Festival of the Two Worlds
We begin our day with a convivial visit to the distinguished artist, and Academy Travel tour leader, Neil Moore. Since 1988, Neil has made his home in the historic borgo of Colle del Marchese in the foothills of the Martani mountains and today he’ll recount the story of restoring his medieval tower-house.  Neil will then accompany us on an excursion to the fortified medieval town of Montefalco, whose panoramic views have led to its nickname as ‘the Balcony of Umbria.’ Our tour will include a visit to the Church of San Francesco to see the captivating fresco cycle by Benozzo Gozzoli, which includes ‘snapshots’ of Montefalco - little changed since Gozzoli captured it in the mid-15th century. Neil will bring his professional insights to these works, making connections between them and the famous Magi frescoes in Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence. After a traditional Umbrian lunch, and the chance to sample the distinctive local wine made from the local Sagrantino grape, we’ll return to Spoleto in the mid-afternoon, in time to freshen up before the next festival concert (venue and time to be confirmed). Overnight Spoleto (B, L)

Day 15 | Sunday 5 July
Spoleto | Festival of the Two Worlds
After a late-morning coffee together, we’ll walk up to the top of the town to explore the impressive Castle Rocca Albornoz, which has dominated the cityscape since the 14th century. Here we’ll visit the Museum of the Duchy of Spoleto, whose exhibitions bear witness to the town’s multi-layered history. We then have time to wander to the nearby Ponte delle Torri bridge. Created from an ancient Roman aqueduct, this soaring limestone structure spans a deep ravine, from whose flanks we can enjoy the very same view which inspired St Francis to declare: ‘Never did I see anything more joyous than my Spoleto valley’. Our day will also include another concert in the Spoleto Festival (venue and time to be confirmed) followed by a farewell dinner of Umbrian cuisine in one of the town’s fine restaurants. Overnight Spoleto (B, D)

Day 16 | Monday 6 July
Depart to Rome
Our tour ends after breakfast this morning, followed by a private transfer to Rome Fiumicino airport. (B)