1Day 1 Milano/ Sacra di San Michele/Torino

Meals included: dinner

Meet the guide at Milano Malpensa airport. The driver is going to help you load your luggage onto the private bus and you move on to the ancient abbey of Sacra di San Michele, a grand abbey perched on a rock at the bottom of the mountains. The lookout is absolutely stunning. Finally, you will be transferred to the hotel in Turin, the elegant capital of the Piedmont region, known for its deep spiritual and historical heritage.
Accommodation in the rooms, dinner and overnight at the hotel.

2Day 2 Torino

Meals included: breakfast/dinner

After breakfast at the hotel, begin a guided tour of Turin, focusing on sites connected to Saint John Bosco, founder of the Salesian order and Superga, the grand basilica up the hill. You will also visit the Cathedral of Turin, home to the revered replica of the Shroud of Turin. Lunch at leisure. Free time in the afternoon for enjoying this great city, first capital of Italy, where you can find the second largest Egyptian museum in the world, the museum of Italian cinema and car industry, parks, gardens, piazzas, palaces, cafè, chocolate (like Nutella), and a great cuisine and wine culture.

Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

3Day 3 Torino / Santuario di Oropa / Orta San Giulio

Meals included: breakfast / dinner

Breakfast at the hotel, then move to Oropa, home to the most important Marian sanctuary in the Alps, located at 1200 m above sea level in a marvelous natural setting. Discover the Ancient Basilica, which enshrines the venerated Black Madonna, the couryards and the Museum of Treasures with the Royal Apartments of the Savoy family where you can admire the Coronation Jewels, liturgical vestments, and documents that have marked the history of the Sanctuary over the centuries. Then your coach moves to another jewel of the Alps: Orta San Giulio, a charming medieval village on the lake as you will walk through its ancient buildings, narrow cobbled streets and picturesque alleys and corners. By boat you reach to visit San Giulio Island and step back in time as you discover the small village, the abbey and the frescoed medieval church.

Back to Orta San Giulio and accommodation in the hotel, dinner and overnight.

*Some free time for lunch is planned during the visits.

4Day 4 Orta San Giulio / San Carlone di Arona / Eremo di Santa Caterina del Sasso Ballaro / Varese

Meals included: breakfast / dinner

Leave your hotel after lunch heading to Arona, where you can enjoy a guided visit inside the Sancarlone, the towering statue of Saint Charles Borromeo overlooking Maggiore Lake. Dating to the 17th century and standing over 35 meters tall, the statue features a hollow structure that permits internal access. It is a notable example of monumental engineering and a longstanding symbol in the lake’s landscape. But your experience of the lake doesn’t stop, because you move to Santa Caterina del Sasso Ballaro Hermitage, perched on a sheer cliff overlooking the lake. It’s undoubtedly one of the most evocative settings of the lake. It can be reached by a modern lift carved into the rock, which can be taken near the car park. After your visit you move to Varese for accommodation, dinner and overnight. Have free time for lunch during the visits. (or lunch at the ristoro in Eremo di Santa Caterina)

* San Carlone statue has limitations for opening time (according to the season) and for accessibility inside the statue.

5Day 5 Varese / Sacro Monte di Varese / Caravaggio

Meals included: breakfast / dinner

After breakfast a short journey to Sacro Monte di Varese, UNESCO Heritage. It is a devotional complex consisting of 14 chapels (the trail is 2 km long and it represents the mysteries of the Rosary), the sanctuary and the crypt, built on the mountain of Velate between 1604 and 1698 as a work of popular evangelization aimed at celebrating the dogmas of the Catholic Church against the spread of the Protestant Reformation. Free time for prayers and lunch. In the afternoon your coach moves on to Caravaggio where Our Lady appeared to a young girl in 1432. Where the Madonna had appeared, a spring of water gushed forth, a sign of the abundance of divine grace and the maternal intercession of the mother of the Lord.
Accommodation in the hotel, dinner and overnight.

6Day 6 Caravaggio / Sirmione / Santuario Madonna della Corona / Trento

Meals included: breakfast/dinner

After breakfast move to the last and biggest lake of the Lake District: Garda. You start your visit at Sirmione, its pearl. You can’t miss the ancient village that has Roman roots you can discover in the archeological site of the Grottoes of Catullus, in the most dramatic spot at the end of a narrow peninsula that has been enlisted in the UNESCO Heritage. The Scaligero Castle, a rare medieval stronghold provided with a harbor, completes the postcard image of this village on the lake. Free time to enjoy your visit and for lunch. Early in the afternoon drive on to Madonna della Corona Sanctuary, a shrine between heaven and earth. Hidden
in the heart of the Baldo rocks, follow your guide on a short walk along the Via Crucis before exploring the mountainside church at your own pace.
At the end of the visit you continue to Trento for accommodation in the hotel, dinner and overnight.

* Private boat for a short visit of Sirmione from the lake upon request

7Day 7 Trento

Meals included: breakfast / dinner

Full day of visit to Trento, the town where in the XVI century took place the Council of the Catholic Church, after the Protestant Reformation had pointed the finger at the abuses that the Church had overlooked for too long. You can’t miss the old town with its colorful frescoed palaces and cobblestone streets, the Buonconsiglio Castle (you can visit inside in your free time), the cathedral of Saint Vigilius and the church of Santa Maria Maggiore that actually housed the Council of Trent. After the visit free time to enjoy this vibrant town at your own pace and have lunch.
Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

8Day 8 Trento / Colline del Prosecco (santuario di Collagù) / Follina

Meals included: breakfast / lunch in agriturismo / dinner

After breakfast full day visiting the Prosecco Hills, another UNESCO site, for the incredible combination of the vineyard landscape and the local culture, built around small churches and abbeys and around the World War I events that took place here a century ago. It is shocking that such a peaceful landscape was the backdrop to one of the cruelest wars in recent history.
In the afternoon visit of Follina Abbey, a Cistercian monastery founded in the XII century.

* There is wide choice of tasting and outdoor activities in the region.
* It’s possible to move the visit of Follina in the morning and the Prosecco Hills in the afternoon according to theprogram.

9Day 9 Follina / Padua / Milano

Meals included: breakfast / dinner

After breakfast leave your hotel heading to the Venetian lowland. Stop in Padua. Make sure that you put at least an hour aside for the splendid Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua. This is a richly decorated and rather large church with countless Christian relics (including the body of Il Santo himself) and many priceless works of art. But there are other countless churches in town you should visit: Scrovegni Chapel (to be booked well in advance), the baptistry of the Duomo, abbey of Santa Giustina. Just to name a few. Italy’s second-oldest University was founded in Padua in 1222 and to this day it is a stalwart of science and
scientific discovery. Galileo taught here in his best years and today one-fifth of the local population is made up of students. Padua, therefore, is a vibrant city you can enjoy in your free time. Tempting window displays flank Padua’s central streets. From high-fashion boutiques and high-street staples to historic shops, the daily market on the historic squares of Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza della Frutta, and Piazza dei Signori as well as the regularly held bric-a-brac and vintage markets on Prato della Valle give you a chance to shop for fresh produce as well as bags, clothes, and all sorts of knick-knacks at pocket-friendly prices.
At the end of the day you move on to Milan. Accommodation in the hotel, dinner and overnight.

10Day 10 Milano

Meals included: breakfast / dinner

After breakfast at the hotel, starting a guided tour of the Duomo Cathedral, the biggest one in Italy. Its construction started in 1386 and is still ongoing. It is adorned with more than 3400 statues, 135 steeples and you will be amazed by the beauty of the golden Madonnina on the top of the building. Then you can walk around the streets nearby: Vittorio Emanuele Gallery, the Alla Scala Theatre and the shopping district. Then a sightseeing tour is planned, with photographic stops around the modern districts and recently renewed areas in town, such as City Life, the “Bosco Verticale” and Gae Aulenti Square. Conclude the sightseeing tour at the Darsena, the ancient harbor of Milan where Naviglio Grande and Naviglio Pavese meet each other. The area is nowadays one of the funniest nightlife centers of the city.
Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

11Day 11 Milano

Meals included: breakfast

After breakfast, if it’s possible according to your schedule, end your visit in town at the Sforza Castle, an imposing fortress housing museums and art collections, including works by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. You can stroll through the surrounding park, Parco Sempione, for a relaxing moment or enjoy your free time in the shopping district because Milan is one of the world’s fashion capitals.