Rome in late autumn is an enchanting city - less tourists that congest it for most of the year and often having cool but bright days. The Forum can be visited at a leisurely pace, Campo dei Fiori shows its real charm with the morning market full of fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers from Calabria & Sicily while Piazza Navonna and the Spanish Steps are as beautiful as ever.
We fly direct from Manchester to Rome with Jet2 (flight times are shown below) and have been able to secure rooms at the 4 star Hotel Della Conciliazione situated to the south of the river just behind the Castel Sant'Angelo in the historic 'Borgo' and convenient for St Peters Square and the Vatican. The hotel was completely refurbished three years ago and was very popular with Maestro guests on our last visit.
Much of our sightseeing will be on foot (as there really is no other way to fully enjoy and experience the magic of the city). Although walking is mainly on the flat a reasonable level of stamina is required and the tour is not suitable for anyone with real walking difficulties. We will walk through each of the major quarters of the city seeing the main sights but also including some lesser known gems.
The two musical highlights of the weekend are:
On Friday evening central stalls seats for La Traviata at the magnificent Teatro dell’Opera. This lavish production from 2016 was by Oscar-winning director Sofia Coppola, making her opera debut and costumes by Valentino.
On Saturday evening Vasily Petrenko joins the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, one of the oldest musical institutions in the world. Officially founded in 1585, it has evolved over the centuries from an organization of largely "local" musicians to a modern academy and symphonic concert orchestra of international repute and is widely considered the finest in Italy.
The concert programme includes:
• Johannes Brahms – Variations of a theme of Haydn
• Robert Schumann – Cello Concerto in A minor Op. 129 – soloist Mario Brunello
• Felix Mendelssohn – 5th symphony “Reformation” Op. 107
We also hope to include a private 'before hours' visit to the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums. This does necessitate an early start but it is well worth the effort to have access an hour before the general public.
We include three dinners & one supper (all with wine included) and a full programme of sightseeing starting on Thursday afternoon and continuing on Friday and Sunday. We have left Saturday free to explore at your own pace.
Flights are with Jet2 including pre-reserved seats & 20kg of luggage.
Thursday 2 November Manchester Terminal 1 – Rome 0825 – 1225 (hot breakfast included)
Monday 6 November Rome – Manchester Terminal 1 1325 – 1530 (drinks & snacks available for purchase)
Flights are also available from:
Gatwick (depart 0910 return departure 1315) Easyjet No supplement
Heathrow (depart 0940 return departure 1405) BA £65 supplement
Deposit £500 per person. Balance payable not later than 15th September.
