GREAT GARDENS OF ITALY SEPTEMBER 3-19, 2017 TOUR LEADER: MICHAEL TURNER

The Oval Fountain, Villa d'Este, Tivoli

Overview This new 17-day tour visits more than 20 of the best-known and best-loved gardens and landscapes in Italy – gardens conceived, created and maintained with passion, and all with stories to tell. From Etruscan and Roman landscapes to the stylised Mannerist gardens of the Renaissance, from the exuberance of the Baroque to the romantic giardini inglesi of the 19th and 20th centuries. There are grand gardens – Villa Pisani, host to doges, kings and emperors, there are small intimate gardens – Villa Le Balze with its distant views of Florence and its duomo. There are extraordinary gardens – the Sacro Bosco or Park of Monsters and the incomparably exotic Isola Bella, and there are private gardens – the Villa Torrigiani in the middle of Florence. There’s even Alpinia, an alpine garden high on the mountainside above Stresa with glorious views of Lake Maggiore glistening in the sunlight below.

Travel through some of the most beautiful countryside in Italy - from Frascati, in the hills above Rome, to the Etruscan hill-top town of Orvieto; from Fiesole in the hills above Florence, over the Apennines and north to Padua and the Po Valley; and finally on to the dramatic scenery of the Italian Lakes and the lakeside towns of Bellagio on Lake Como and Stresa on Lake Maggiore.

September is a beautiful month to travel through Italy looking at gardens. The heat of summer has passed giving way to the softer days of early autumn. The crowds of August are a distant memory. The roads are quieter, ensuring easy movement.

The gardens are the stars of the show, but there is so much more – magnificent palazzi and villas; superb artworks and sculpture, ancient and modern; great regional food and wines; free time to explore and shop; and above all, there is la bella figura, that indefinable sense of style that makes visiting Italy such a joy at any time of the year.

Accommodation is in superior four-star boutique hotels. Most of the time is spent in small hill towns and lakeside, rather than large cities. This allows you to enjoy the gentle pace and everyday elegance of provincial Italian life, free from noise of the tourist crush.

Your tour leader Michael Turner is a classical archaeologist, garden historian and ADFAS lecturer. The former Senior Curator of the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney, he now lives in Sussex. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in London and a member of the English Historic Gardens Society. Michael has appeared regularly on television, radio, and in the press. In 2012, he was co-presenter of the 20-part ABC series Extraordinary Curiosities and has been a featured guest on the ABC’s In

Conversation with Richard Fidler and most recently with Margaret Throsby on Classic FM – to listen again, click here.

“Michael Turner was just great, his enthusiasm about all he showed us was infectious, we were excited every day!” Feedback from Academy Travel’s Gardens of Southern England: Gardens of a passionate mind, June 2016

Enquiries and bookings

For further information and to secure a place on this tour please contact Frederick Steyn at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email frederick@academytravel.com.au

GREAT GARDENS OF ITALY Tour dates: September 3-19, 2017

Tour leader: Michael Turner

Tour Price: $8,855 per person, twin share

Single Supplement: $2,250 for sole use of double room

Booking deposit: $500 per person

Recommended airline: Emirates

Maximum places: 20

Itinerary: Frascati (3 nights), Orvieto (2 nights), Fiesole (3 nights), Padua (2 nights), Bellagio (3 nights), Stresa (3 nights)

Date published: February 16, 2017

Tour Highlights

THE TIMELESS RUINS AND ROMANTIC BEAUTY OF NINFA A private visit to La Ninfa, a romantic garden built in the ruins of a medieval village south of Rome, still owned by the Caetani family.

HADRIAN’S VILLA AND VILLA D’ESTE AT TIVOLI With its dramatic water and sculpture, Hadrian’s Villa was directly responsible for the development of the Renaissance garden. Nowhere is this more evident than at the Villa D’Este.

ETRUSCAN LANDSCAPES AT CERVETERI AND ORVIETO Visit Cerveteri, home to one of Italy’s great Etruscan treasures – the Necropoli della Banditaccia – and the striking hilltop town of Orvieto, with its impressive underground network of some 440 Etruscan caves.

HISTORY AND ROMANCE IN FLORENCE AND PADUA Spend time in Florence and Padua, cities that flourished in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance as centres of art and learning.

THE ‘UNPARALLELED, INCOMPARABLE AND TRULY WONDERFUL’ ISOLA BELLA Isola Bella is the centrepiece, the crowning glory of the Borromeo Lake Maggiore empire. The island took the name of Carlo III’s wife, the bella Isabella in the 17th century when the Palazzo Borromeo was built for the family.

Who could not love that Isola Bella is an unashamed carnival of a garden? It’s extravagant, it’s hysterical, it’s like a drag ball parading as a garden. It’s a performance, and its kitsch, and it’s brash, and, at times, yes completely barmy, but I think it’s heroic. (Monty Don, Monty Don’s Italian Gardens). In 1686, Gilbert Burnett, the dissident Bishop of Salisbury, visited Lake Maggiore. He described ‘a great and noble lake with a great bay to the westward in which are two islands. There is nothing in all Italy that can be compared to them … perhaps the whole World hath nothing like it’. One of those two islands was Isola Bella (named after Countess Donna Isabella Borromeo, wife of Carlo Borromeo III who bought land on the island in 1630). As a result of Burnett’s panegyric, tourists flocked to see the island, not it should be added to universal acclaim. In 1810, the Quaker architect Joseph Woods described it as containing ‘a magnificent villa of the Borromean family, in sublime bad taste both inside and out’ while in 1908, the author Richard Bagot called the villa’s garden ‘a triumph of bad taste’.

Isola Bella is extraordinary. Ten terraces, one on top of the other, give it the appearance of a ziggurat soaring into the clear blue sky, the whole topped by a large marble unicorn, symbol of the Borromeo family, ridden by a statue of Eros/Love. After arrival by boat from the lakeside town of Stresa, our tour begins in the Palazzo, from a window of which is a view on to a private lawn inlayed with the audaciously inappropriate Borromeo family motto, Humilitas. From the villa to the lakeside grottoes with views across the water to the mountains and the neighbouring Isola dei Pescatori, and so out to the curious Atrio di Diana with its winding double staircases, offering no view ahead or behind, as in ever increasing suspense they lead us up into the gardens - and to the amphitheatre with its white peacocks and tiered niches, fountains, obelisks, pots and flowers, and statues – shells, gods and the Muses, and of course the Borromean unicorn flanked by Apollo and Cybele. It is, as Monty Don says, ‘barmy’, yes, utterly barmy. It is also stunningly beautiful and rightly the most popular garden in Italy. By Michael Turner

WHO COULD NOT LOVE ISOLA BELLA?

The striking Teatro Massimo

Detailed itinerary Included meals are shown with the symbols B, L and D.

Sunday September 3 Arrive Frascati

Meet your tour leader, Michael Turner, at the arrivals hall of Rome Fiumicino airport to commence the tour. This will be timed to meet the Emirates flight arrival. Travel together by coach to Frascati. There are welcome drinks and a light dinner at the hotel. Overnight Hotel Flora, Frascati (D)

Monday September 4 Ninfa and Villa Aldobrandini

Today we travel south to the gardens of Ninfa, once a thriving medieval town that fell into ruin after waves of attacks and plague. The feudal property of the Caetani family, Ninfa was redeveloped in the 20th-century as a beautifully landscaped English garden. After lunch at a local restaurant we return to Frascati. The afternoon is free to relax or to enjoy an optional walk with Michael to the gardens of the Villa Aldobrandini. Overnight Frascati (B, L)

Tuesday September 5 Hadrian’s Villa and Villa d’Este

Our day begins with a guided tour of the 2nd century CE Hadrian’s Villa with its dramatic ruins, waterworks and sculpture. In the afternoon we visit the magnificent Villa d’Este, built in the mid-16th century for Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, son of Lucrezia Borgia, which is, above all else, a wonderland of water. This evening is at leisure in Frascati. Overnight Frascati (B)

Wednesday September 6 Necropoli della Banditaccia

Today we travel to Orvieto, stopping at the 6th century BCE Necropoli della Banditaccia outside Cerveteri. A World Heritage Site, the necropolis is a magically atmospheric landscape, a reminder of the genius of Etruscan culture. Following arrival in Orvieto, we explore this beautiful hilltop town with its 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside. This evening we have dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight Hotel Palazzo Piccolomini, Orvieto (B, D)

Thursday September 7 Villa Lante and the Sacro Bosco

A drive through the late summer countryside of Umbria and Lazio brings us to the small town of Bagnaia and the classic Renaissance garden of the Villa Lante. Its monumental series of terraces, fountains and carefully sculpted parterres are designed to tell the story of man’s control of nature’s greatest resource, water. After a break for lunch in Bagnaia, we continue on to Bomarzo, where a fantastical Mannerist

Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati

Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli

Villa d’Este, Tivoli

Villa Lante, Bagnaia

garden, the Sacro Bosco (also known as the Park of Monsters), was created in the 16th-century for the Orsini family. This wooded parkland is full of weird and wonderful buildings and giant creatures carved out of the living rock. Overnight Orvieto (B)

Friday September 8 To Fiesole via La Foce

After breakfast, we leave Orvieto for Fiesole, stopping in the Val d’Orcia to visit one of Italy’s most famous 20th century gardens, La Foce, (visit subject to availability) designed by Cecil Pinsent between 1927 and 1939 for the Anglo-American author and horticulturist, Iris Origo. Pickets of cypress and walls of clipped box, including the famous oblong garden, lead us through themed ‘rooms’ and past herbaceous borders in this romantic and dramatic mix of old and new. We enjoy lunch on the estate, before continuing on, through the Tuscan countryside to Fiesole, in the hills above Florence. Overnight Hotel Villa Fiesole, Fiesole (B, L)

Saturday September 9 Florence and Giardino Torrigiani

In the morning we drive down the hill to Florence for a private tour of the Giardino Torrigiani, an oasis in the middle of the bustling city, part botanical gardens, part romantic early 19th-century giardino inglese. Its seventeen acres make it the largest privately owned garden within the city walls of any European city. The afternoon and evening are at leisure to explore and enjoy Florence. Overnight Fiesole (B)

Sunday September 10 Villa Gamberaia and Villa Le Balze

Edith Wharton described Villa Gamberaia as “the most perfect example of the art of producing a great effect on a small scale”. We visit the villa at nearby Settignano. In the 19th century the gardens were substantially renovated by the eccentric Romanian princess Jeanne Ghyka, in places faithful to the 18th-century plans – the bowling green and bosco, for example – and in others playfully innovative – the box parterres substituted with water pools. The afternoon is at leisure. You may like to join Michael in an optional walk to Cecil Pinsent’s gardens at Villa Le Balze, now owned by Georgetown University. Overnight Fiesole (B)

Monday September 11 To Padua via Marzabotto

Today we head north for Padua. Our first stop, high in the Apennines, is the ruins and museum of the 6th-century BCE Etruscan site of Marzabotto. Destroyed by the Gauls in the 4th century BCE, it is one of the few Etruscan towns never to have been built over. Its layout, landscape and dramatic

The site of Marzabotto

Villa Gamberaia, Firenze

La Foce overlooking the Val d'Orcia

Sacro Bosco, Bomarzo

setting are as they were over 2,500 years ago. Following arrival in Padua we visit the Cappella degli Scrovegni home to one of Italy's great Renaissance masterpieces – a striking cycle of Giotto frescoes. Overnight Hotel Majestic Toscanelli, Padua (B, D)

Tuesday September 12 Orto Botanico and Villa Barbarigo

We begin our stay in Padua with a private tour of its famous botanic garden, the Orto Botanico. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest academic botanic gardens in the world. After lunch we drive to the nearby village of Valsanzibio and the Baroque Villa Barbarigo with its seventy statues, cascades, fountains and water features all set in a surrounding amphitheatre of hills. The private visit ends with aperitivi on the terrace before returning to Padua early evening. Overnight Padua (B)

Wednesday September 13 Villa Pisani

And so farewell to Padua as we leave for the dramatic scenery of the Italian Lakes. On the way we visit the Villa Pisani. Described as ‘the Queen of Venetian villas’, it has welcomed doges, kings and emperors and is today a national museum. We arrive in Bellagio on Lake Como mid-afternoon. After a brief stroll of this lakeside town, out on a peninsular surrounded by mountains, we enjoy dinner together at the hotel. Overnight Hotel Belvedere, Bellagio (B, D)

Thursday September 14 Villa Melzi and Villa Carlotta

This morning, a short walk from the hotel brings us to the elegant 19th-century Villa Melzi. The gardens are a botanical paradise of plants and trees; its terraced, manicured lawns, sweep down to the lake shore; sculpture, ancient and modern, surprises at every turn. After a break for lunch, we cross the lake by boat to visit the 17th-century Villa Carlotta, whose gardens were created in the early 19th century by Melzi’s rival, both politically and botanically, Gian Battista Sommariva. The villa is a treasure house of neo-classical sculpture, including works by Canova and Thorvaldsen. The gardens, as at Villa Melzi, are a garden connoisseur’s paradise. Overnight Bellagio (B)

Friday September 15 Villa Balbianello and Villa d’Este

Today we tour Lake Como by private launch, first visiting the 18th-century Villa Balbianello, occupying a beautiful site on a promontory overlooking the lake. We view the interior and the elaborately terraced gardens. We then continue along the lake, passing exquisite properties owned by some of the most prominent Italian families, until we reach the 16th-century Villa D’Este, one of the best known villas on Lake

Orto Botanico, Padua

Villa Pisani, Stra

Villa Melzi, Lake Como

Villa Balbianello, Lake Como

Como, now a luxury hotel. Here we enjoy a relaxed lunch overlooking the gardens and the lake. Overnight Bellagio (B, L)

Saturday September 16 Lake Maggiore and alpinia

Today we exchange one dramatic lake for another – Como for Maggiore. In the afternoon, from our new base in Stresa, we take the cable car to Alpinia, the Alpine Gardens created in the 1930s, half way up Mount Mottarone, from where there are dramatic views of the Borromean Islands and Lake Maggiore. In the evening we take a private boat to Isola Pescatori for a group dinner at the Belvedere Hotel. Overnight Hotel Regina Palace, Stresa (B, D)

Sunday September 17 Villa Taranto and the Giardini Botanici dell’Isola Madre

A day for the plant connoisseur. Arriving by private boat, September is the perfect month to visit Villa Taranto with its maze of over 350 varieties of dahlias in full bloom. Its bright mass bedding is in stark contrast to its specimen plants and trees. In the afternoon, we continue on to the Giardini Botanici located on Isola Madre, one of only two Italian partner gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society. Its English-style garden is renowned for its rare, exotic and aromatic plants. Overnight Stresa (B)

Monday September 18 Isola Bella

Our final morning and what more fitting way to end our trip than one of the most magnificent gardens in the world, Isola Bella. The unbelievable sumptuousness of this 17th-century Baroque villa and its extraordinary six-roomed lakeside grotto are the perfect introduction to one of the great masterpieces of garden theatre. Approaching from the villa, one can shake one’s head in disbelief at the hubris of the Borromean family motto inset in coloured pebbles into one of the lawns – Humilitas, humility. Nothing though can prepare you for the garden: the terraces, the flowers, their vibrant colours, the giant camphor tree, the white peacocks, the sculpture, the fountains, the views. On its island, it is, in the literal sense of the word, a paradise. After all that, the afternoon is free to relax and enjoy Stresa and the lake before our farewell dinner at the Charleston Restaurant in the hotel. Overnight Stresa (B, D)

Tuesday September 19 Departure

The tour ends after breakfast. A morning group transfer to Milan’s Malpensa airport is available for those joining the Emirates flight at 2pm or for later departures. (B)

Hotels Hotels have been selected principally for their central location.

Frascati, Hotel Flora (3 nights) www.hotel-flora.it/en/

Orvieto, Hotel Palazzo Piccolomini (2 nights) www.palazzopiccolomini.it/en/

Fiesole, Hotel Villa Fiesole (3 nights) www.villafiesole.it/

Padua, Hotel Majestic Toscanelli (2 nights) www.toscanelli.com/

Bellagio, Hotel Belvedere (3 nights) www.belvederebellagio.com/en

Stresa, Hotel Regina Palace (3 nights) www.reginapalace.it/en

Villa D’Este, Lake Como

Isola Madre, Lake Maggiore

Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore

Fitness Requirements of THIS tour

GRADE TWO

It is important both for you and for your fellow travellers that you are fit enough to be able to enjoy all the activities on this tour. To give you an indication of the level of physical fitness required to participate on our tours, we have given them a star grading. Academy Travel’s tours tend to feature extended walking tours and site visits, which require greater fitness than coach touring. We ask you to carefully consider your ability to meet the physical demands of the tour.

Participation criteria for this tour

This Grade Two tour is designed for people who lead active lives and can comfortably participate in up to five hours of physical activity per day on most days, including longer walking tours, challenging archaeological sites, climbing stairs, embarking and disembarking trains and/or boats, and a more demanding tour schedule with one night stops or several internal flights. You should be able to: keep up with the group at all times walk for 4-5 kilometres at a moderate pace with only

short breaks stand for a reasonable length of time in galleries and

museums tolerate uncomfortable climatic conditions such as cold,

humidity and heat walk up and down slopes negotiate steps and slopes on archaeological sites,

which are often uneven and unstable get on and off a large coach with steep stairs, train or

boat unassisted, possibly with luggage move your luggage a short distance if required

A note for older travellers

If you are more than 80 years old, or have restricted mobility, it is highly likely that you will find this itinerary challenging. You will have to miss several activities and will not get the full value of the tour. Your booking will not be accepted until after you have contacted Academy Travel to discuss your situation and the exact physical requirements of this tour. While we will do our best to reasonably accommodate the physical needs of all group members, we reserve the right to refuse bookings if we feel that the requirements of the tour are too demanding for you and/or if local conditions mean we cannot reasonably accommodate your condition.

Tour cost The tour price is $8,855 per person, twin share (land content only). The supplement for a single room is $2,250 per person. A non-refundable deposit of $500 per person is required to secure a place on the tour.

Tour Inclusions Included in the tour price

All accommodation in carefully selected four-star hotels All breakfasts Selected lunches and dinners in hotels and local

restaurants as noted in the itinerary All ground transport via private air-conditioned coach All entrance fees to sites mentioned on the itinerary Porterage of one piece of luggage into and out of hotels

only Background talks on sites and extensive tour notes Services of tour leader throughout tour/ local guides at

some sites Tips for local guides and drivers

Not included in the tour price

International airfares, taxes and surcharges (see below) Travel insurance (highly recommended) Meals not stated as included in this itinerary Items of a personal nature such as laundry

Air travel The tour price quoted is for land content only. For this tour we recommend Emirates which offers flights into Rome and out of Milano, from most Australian cities. Please contact us for the best possible prices on economy, business or first class fares. Transfers between airport and hotel are included for all passengers booking their flights through Academy Travel. These may be group or individual transfers.

Enquiries & bookings For further information and to secure a place on this tour please contact Frederick Steyn at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email frederick@academytravel.com.au

Weather on Tour September is a pleasant time to travel in Italy, the summer heat and crowds have passed and the early autumn harvests have begun. Expect average maximum temperatures of 20º-25ºC during the day, and minimums of 12º-15ºC at night. It is reasonable to expect passing showers on a few days, but not heavy rain.