Northern Italy by Rail

Continue south by rail today. After a private transfer to the station, you'll board the high-speed train to Milan. The seven-hour journey first heads south to Lyon and then southeast through the Alps and Turin, before reaching Milan. Your driver will meet you at the station to take you to your hotel.

This morning, your guide will meet you at your hotel for a three-hour walking tour of Milan, including a visit to Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. In the afternoon, you'll have tickets to the Pinacoteca di Brera art gallery, which houses some of Milan's finest Renaissance artwork.

After a private transfer to the station, board the one-hour train to Turin. You’ll settle into your hotel and then meet your private guide, who’ll take you around the largest food market in Europe and the city streets. As you go, you can sample local delicacies, including chocolate, bicerin (a coffee native to Turin) and wine.

Set off for your stay in the Piedmont countryside. Your driver will collect you from Turin to carry you south toward the Piedmontese countryside, to the region known as Langhe. Along the way, you’ll visit the village of Barbaresco and a family-run winery, where you can taste Barbaresco wines.

Today revolves around a privately guided tour of small-scale food producers in Piedmont. First, you’ll tour a family-run hazelnut farm, before baking a hazelnut cake and tasting a selection of the farm’s produce. Next, you’ll journey to the home of local shepherd and cheese producer Silvio. He’ll guide you through the art of cheese making, with a tasting at the end. Your last stop is a Barolo winery, where a tasting follows a tour of the winery.

You'll take a private transfer to Lake Maggiore, journeying two hours north through Piedmont and along the lakeshore before reaching the town of Verbania. You'll have the remainder of the day to explore the lake from its largest town.

A private boat will take you to the Borromean Islands, where you’ll explore the islands' palaces and gardens with your private guide. On Isola Madre, the largest of the islands, you can admire the wonderful plants and the peacocks that strut among the gardens. Heading next to Isola Bella, you’ll visit a Baroque palace with grand formal gardens. To round off the day, you’ll wander the cobbled alleyways of Isola Superiore, also known as Isola dei Pescatori (Fishermen's Island).

A short car transfer this morning will take you to the train station to board the train for a scenic three-hour journey north to Geneva passing through the mountains. You have the rest of the day free to explore Geneva.

From Geneva, travel through Europe by train on the three-and-a-half-hour route to Paris, followed by the Eurostar back to London.