• Visit the renaissance gardens & villas around Rome including Villa d’Este, Palazzo Farnese & Villa Lante

• Discover Hadrian’s ‘villa complex’ at Tivoli

• Visits to the modern garden wonder of Ninfa & the lesser known La Torrecchia

• A private visit & lunch at Lady Arabella Lenox-Boyd’s Italian home

• Private visit to the papal gardens at Castel Gandolfo

• Based in a comfortable 4* hotel in historic Frascati

Lazio is the largely agricultural area surrounding Rome. In pre-Roman times it was characterized by rival tribes and their strategic objectives whilst at the dawn of the Imperial Roman era it was dotted with villas used by senatorial and imperial owners as a place of retreat and contemplation. This lifestyle was characterised by Cicero as the contrast between the life of the country, otium, represented by villas built directly beyond Rome’s Campus Martius and the hills that surround Rome and that of the city, negotium, dominated by politics, business and social intrigue.

Like many aspects of antiquity, this tradition of cultured withdrawal was lost and revived during the Renaissance, first in Tuscany and then in the Roman countryside via the influence of two Medici cardinals who were elected to the papacy as Leo X and Clement VII. Those who could escape the pressures of city life did so to find solace amidst the peace of the country. To achieve this aim, the papal and aristocratic Roman families of the Renaissance and Baroque periods built lavish villas in what we call the Campagna Romana.

The villas were usually complemented by fine gardens, embellished with rare plants and statuary, awash with the play of fountains. Indeed, in the eighteenth century some of these ancient and later gardens influenced British traditions as visions of an Arcadian past came to replace the more formal layouts of earlier centuries. Indeed, iconic gardens such as Rousham, Stowe and Stourhead could not have been created without their inspiration.

Our seven-day visit will explore this varied tradition of building, artistic patronage and garden design through a series of visits to sites of special architectural, artistic and horticultural interest. Some of these are very much not open to the public. In several cases we shall be entertained to lunch or other refreshments in a number of modern gardens from the last century designed by gardening greats such as Russel Page and Lady Arabella Lenox-Boyd. No visit to this part of the world or indeed this theme can fail to omit the sheer dreamy mis-en-scene of Ninfa!   

We shall stay in the Castelli Romani south-east of the capital in the hill town of Frascati at the comfortable 4* Hotel Flora. The town’s location and importance from ancient Roman times through to medieval and Papal control is reflected in its charming assemblage of buildings, villas and gardens. Plenty of restaurants, bars and shops (and the all-important passeggiata) are within easy walking distance from our very well-located hotel. 

Day 1: Tuesday 6 May – We fly from London Heathrow arriving at Rome Fiumicino in the afternoon. We travel to the south-east of Rome to the Castelli Romani and our hotel, the 4*Hotel Flora in Frascati. Later in the evening, we have dinner in our hotel – wine, water and coffee are included with all group lunches and dinners.

Day 2: Wednesday 7 May – We begin our day with a visit to Tivoli to see two world famous villa and garden complexes. In the morning, we explore Hadrian’s Imperial Villa, one of the most remarkable sites to survive from Roman antiquity. It is the source for so much that would come later in the renaissance and also during the period of ‘The Grand Tour’. We have our group lunch in Tivoli, where in the grounds of our restaurant we shall find the spectacular ruin of the ‘Temple of Vesta’ much admired in the eighteenth century.  A short walk takes us to the sixteenth century splendours of the Villa d’Este, justly famed for the finest water features of any renaissance garden. This is the allegorical masterpiece of two remarkable people, Cardinal Ippolito d’Este and his scholarly architect-polymath, Pirro Ligorio.  Cardinal d’Este was from the famous family who ruled Ferrara and was amongst the most cultured clerics of his generation. We return to our hotel and this evening will be free.

Day 3: Thursday 8 May – Today, we drive northwards to spend the morning in the company of one of the greatest of all the papal building families, the Farnese. Of the many structures which they built, one of the finest is without doubt the truly palatial Palazzo Farnese at Caprarola, where both palace and garden are of great interest and which we shall visit. After a group lunch in the village, we continue to nearby Bagnaia to visit what is for many the finest formal garden of the Italian Renaissance, the Villa Lante. Long neglected, this is now once again magnificent after a long programme of restoration. We return to Frascati after which the evening will be free.

Day 4: Friday 9 May – This morning is based in two nearby towns in the Castelli Romani, both rooted in seventeenth century papal Rome. We begin at Arccia’s Palazzo Chigi to view the interesting palace collections connected to the Chigi family. After a pause for coffee, we travel the very short distance to Pope Urban VIII’s summer villa overlooking Lake Albano at nearby Castel Gandolfo. It has long been the official papal summer residence and in recent years Pope Francis has opened the Pontifical Villa Gardens to visits thus affording us a wonderful opportunity to visit the formal gardens built over Emperor Domitian’s villa! After lunch (not included) in the little town, we return to our hotel where the remainder of the afternoon will be free. In the evening, we shall dine as a group in Frascati.

Day 5: Saturday 10 May – We spend our morning at magical Ninfa, justly considered the most famous modern garden in Italy. Created over many years, Ninfa’s Garden grows round, through and within an abandoned medieval town, through which a variety of water sources flow. Its combination of roses, rare shrubs and magnificent trees is unforgettable and a highlight of our week. We shall have a group lunch nearby and drive the short distance to La Torrecchia, which we visit privately. In 1991 Prince and Princess Carraciolo converted an ancient barn complex into an elegant modern villa, with the surrounding five-acre garden designed by Lauro Marchetti, then curator of Ninfa. Subsequently, the development of the garden has been taken on by Dan Pearson and the result is a truly magical experience which is not much known to many. We return to Frascati where the evening will be free.

Day 6: Sunday 11 May – We drive northwards through the olive grove-filled Sabina area of northern Lazio. At the pretty hilltop village of Oliveto Sabino is Palazzo Parisi, the Italian home and garden of Lady Arabella Lenox Boyd which by special arrangement we shall visit. After a group lunch in the house, we return through the loveliest countryside via the beautifully situated Benedictine Abbey at Farfa - a rare Caroligian survival whose abbey church was updated during the Baroque period. In the evening, we have our final group dinner in Frascati.

Day 7: Monday 12 May - We make a leisurely start and drive to the south of Rome to Landriana for our final private visit. This fine garden, partly designed by Russell Page, is elegantly laid out on a gently sloping hillside, incorporating both traditional and modern elements with stylish flair. We have our final, early lunch in the garden and continue to Rome Fiumicino for the afternoon return flight to London Heathrow.

Price £2795 Price without flights £2565 Deposit £400 per person Single Supplement £222 (Double for Sole Use)

Hotel 6 nights with breakfast at the 4* Hotel Flora, Frascati in a superior room (with bath/shower)

Flights British Airways

Outward:  BA560 Depart London Heathrow (Terminal 5) 1220 arrive Rome Fiumicino Terminal 3 1555 

Return:  BA559 Depart Rome Fiumicino Terminal 3 1650 arrive London Heathrow (Terminal 5) 1825

Price includes 3 dinners & 5 lunches with water, wine & coffee, all local transfers, City Tax, entry fees & gratuities, services of James Hill and Rachel Lamb

Not included Travel to/from Heathrow, 3 dinners & 1 lunches