Discover Milan City Center Private Tour
Milan is an amalgamation of today’s high fashion, culture, art and history dating back to 876 AD with the ruins of Santa Maria Church. At Castello Sforzesco, you can view one of the world’s masterpieces – Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” while Poldi-Pezzoli Museum offers numerous and highly-valuable collections of Renaissance art by the Masters. Milan is more recently known for its La Scala Theatre where many famous composer, singers, and orchestra conductors have made their debut. At La Scala Theatre Museum visitors can see a precious collection of historical and modern theatrical relics and objects. Another way to appreciate history is at the Church of San Fedel, a Jesuit order church reflecting the Baroque concept of inspiring religious architecture or visit The Belgioioso Palace, which dominates the square of the same name. Whether it is fashion, art or history you seek, your expert guide can take you there.
Classical Milan – Private Tour
In this modern city of beauty and art it is the classics that continue to inspire us. Your tour begins at Pinacoteca di Brera, a museum which contains one of Italy’s most important art collections featuring masterpieces by leading Italian artists from the 13th – 20th centuries. The Pinacoteca is housed in the late 16th century Jesuit – run cultural center where they established a prestigious school, library and the astronomy observatory. Other sites of interest include the famous Piazza Della Scala (with La Scala Theater), Palazzo Marino, the Leonardo de Vinci monument in the center of the square, and Piazza del Duomo where you’ll see the third largest church in the world and the equestrian statue of Vittorio Emanuele II (King of Italy). At Via Montenapoleane, Milan’s elegant thoroughfare, stroll by luxurious boutiques, antique shops, tearooms, cafes and restaurants and feel the pulse of this amazing city.
Leonardo & the Renaissance – Private Tour
This tour, which is primarily dedicated to the Renaissance movement’s most appreciated artist, Leonardo da Vinci, visits the site of the artist’s greatest masterpiece, The Last Supper. The fresco was painted in 1498 in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan and is one of the best loved religious artworks and listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. The tour then transfers to the area of the Navigli or waterways at which Leonardo applied his dock system to ensure a smooth flow of water from the rivers to La Darsena, a small lake used for loading and unloading marble and other materials. These historic canals, surrounding the city’s historic center date back to 1179. For lunch, enjoy El Brellin, one of Milan’s best restaurants on the Naviglio Grande featuring Milanese and Lombardian specialties. After lunch, visit two important Renaissance structures: the Ca’ Granda and the Bramantesque church of Santa Maria in San Satiro beside the town’s oldest Lombardian/Romanesque bell tower. Ca’ Granda was built for the Duke Francesco Sforza with the aim of uniting the city’s 30 hospitals and is now the seat of the University.
Lake Como – Private Tour
As a city imprinted by the Romans, Lake Como has long been known as a tourist destination as well as now the top silk producer in Europe. As early as the 16th century, aristocratic families came here to build their Neo-classical villas and enjoy the view. On this tour you will see examples of these as well as Romanesque religious sites on the mountain slopes and lakeshores. Inside the city walls you’ll enter the historic center with the Duomo in a Gothic-Renaissance style façade; the polychrome marble façade of the Broletto; the Piazza San Fedele with its Renaissance houses built on jutties and its church with an unusual trefoil plan. The tour continues on the Como-Brunate cable car (funicular) to the top of Mount Brunate which many call the “balconies of the Alps.” Among the lovely villas available for touring is the 1797 Villa Olmo, now the seat of the Alessandro Volta Scientific Center; The Villa Erba in Cernobbio, now an important exhibition and congress center; The Villa d’Este, built for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio in 1568 with its two opulent gardens. This estate is considered one of the finest examples of architecture and landscaping of that time period and is presently one of the top resort hotels in the world. Its colorful past includes Jesuits, generals, the estranged wife of a future king of England, European aristocracy and a Czarina of Russia.
Optional – Visit to Mantero Seta, the best silk factory in Como.