Fly at c.3.45pm (mx 887) or c.8.15am (my 973, my 982, my 105) from London Gatwick to Verona and drive to Vicenza where all five nights are spent. After settling into the hotel, there is a first walk around the centre of this exceptionally attractive little city.

See in Vicenza several palaces by Palladio including the Palazzo Thiene, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto and the colonnaded Palazzo Chiericati. His chief civic works here are the Basilica, the mediaeval town hall nobly encased in classical guise, and the Teatro Olimpico, the earliest theatre of modern times. The hilltop ‘La Rotonda’, a ten-minute drive away, is the most famous of Palladio’s buildings, domed and with four porticoes. Adjacent is the 17th-cent. Villa Valmarana ‘ai Nani’ with frescoes by Giambattista and Domenico Tiepolo.

The Villa Pisani at Bagnolo di Lonigo, small but of majestic proportions, is considered by many scholars to be Palladio’s first masterpiece—the Villa Badoer at Fratta Polesine, from the middle of his career, is a perfect example of Palladian hierarchy, a raised residence connected by curved colonnades to auxiliary buildings.

In the foothills of the Dolomites, Villa Godi Malinverni is an austere cuboid design with lavish frescoes inside, and at the lovely town of Bassano there is a wooden bridge by Palladio. The Villa Barbaro at Maser, built by Palladio for two highly cultivated Venetian brothers, has superb frescoes by Veronese, while the Villa Emo at Fanzolo typically and beautifully combines the utilitarian with the monumental.

Drive along a stretch of the canal between Padua and the Venetian Lagoon which is lined with the summer retreats of Venetian patricians. The Villa Foscari, ‘La Malcontenta’, is one of Palladio’s best known and most enchanting creations. Explore one of Palladio’s most evolved, most beautiful and most influential buildings, the Villa Cornaro at Piombino Dese.

The Villa Pojana, an early work, is restrained but of noble proportions and contains models of Palladio’s works. The Villa Cordellina Lombardi is a fine example of 18th-cent. Palladianism. The flight from Verona arrives at Gatwick c.8.30pm (mx 887) or c.12.45pm (my 973, my 982) or c.5.15pm (my 105).