Paris and Rome for Art Lovers Itinerary

Into the City of Light with art as a lens, six days of elegance and extravagance to come as you touch down in Paris. Check in to the hotel and relax. The city’s great artery provides your introduction, a cruise on the River Seine, and a journey through the heart of France’s capital. Disembark at Ile de la Cite and walk across the cobbles, Notre Dame rising high above you as Sant Chapelle casts a shadow from behind. Take it slow. Enter the holy shrine. Cross a graceful bridge and feel your heartbeat slow down. You can’t rush Paris. You have to see this city slowly and that’s what this first day is all about, tuning you into a rhythm that will allow for real exploration.

The Louvre and its galleries remain home to some of the greatest artistic works from the Western world. After a relaxed start, you explore these with a specialist guide. Canvases cover walls, those like the Coronation of Napoleon imposing to behold. Other paintings are small and curious, the Mona Lisa just one example. If you have specific interests, the guide can tailor the route, because the Louvre isn’t a museum where you can see everything. You must pick and choose, and that’s what an art guide is good at doing.

After croissants and coffee, you keep exploring, delving into Roman times at Musee National du Moyen Age, then through the medieval ages at a national museum that is packed with art and crafts from mostly forgotten centuries. The evening is free, and there are some wonderful restaurants in the Latin Quarter, close to where your hotel is located. This part of Paris has been home to many artists and intellectuals over the centuries, not to mention political unrest and mystery. It’s a place for walking without a map, savoring the smells and sounds, and indulging in the food.

The focus transitions to Impressionists, Musee d’Orsay the home of so many masterpieces. You glance at a painting, and you’re immediately pulled in. Layers upon layers come together, and you can easily lose yourself in a corner of the canvas. There’s more than the famous names here, the guide helping build your understanding of French art from 1848 through to World War I. Musee Rodin is today’s other stop, the artist’s residence now a place to admire his significant works and discuss icons like The Thinker and The Kiss. Most of the afternoon and evening is free, so take the chance to find what Paris means to you, from the Champs Elysees to the Eiffel Tower and everything in between.

The landscapes around Giverny will be familiar after yesterday; atmospheric clouds, flowering valleys, trees that grab the attention and country chateau that blur into everything. These are the landscapes that the Impressionists painted, and you spend a morning in Monet’s garden, familiarizing yourself with the famous water lilies. Gaze up at Chateau d’Auvers then switch to Van Gogh, separating fact and fiction at the inn where he passed away. This is rural France, and you explore all the inspiration, from medieval villages to soft landscapes that are so easy on the eye. It’s a full-day tour and a nice contrast to the city, giving you some fresh air and something different.

Remember those water lilies from yesterday? They are part of the collection at Musee Marmatton-Claude Monet, along with Sunrise, the painting that gave the artistic movement its name. Keep exploring the art at Musee de l’Orangerie, traveling into post-impressionist works at a gallery that remains far off the tourist radar. The guide can also take you to private galleries today, where the collections delve into the lesser-known artists that once resided in Paris. Staying in the late 19th century you tour Opera National de Paris, its permanent gallery brightened by a crystal chandelier and Marc Chagall’s vibrant ceiling. Then spend the evening in Montmartre, the old artists’ haunt. Sip coffee on the outdoor cafe terraces. Watch people roll by and locals smoke their roll-ups. Dine on the simple yet filling fare and savor this final piece of the Impressionist jigsaw.

Marais is the oldest of the Parisian suburbs, a place of grandeur and glorious cafes, a chance to ease into a day of contemporary art. In Musee Picasso, you find six decades of the artist’s works, along with his personal collection of artworks. Keep exploring, onto the mobile sculptures by Tinguely and Saint Phalle, then into the smorgasbord of steel, glass, and pipes that is the Pompidou, France’s National Museum of Modern Art. This evening is free and you might want to be back in Montmartre, reliving the late 19th century. A few additional options include Michelin dining, walking the Latin Quarter, or taking the guide’s recommendation and a local restaurant down a cobbled lane.

Ah, the Eternal City, where Western civilization evolved along with the artistic world. This is an ancient place, proved by a glimpse of the Colosseum or Pantheon. But it’s also medieval, baroque, Renaissance and contemporary. It is a city of many faces and the only way to understand it is to be there, surrounded by the wondrous sights. Touch down and the guide takes you on a gentle orientation tour before Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica provides an overview of Italian art through the ages. This is a wonderful place to grasp the names of Lippi, Rafael, Holbein, Tintoretto, Titian, Caravaggio, and their individual styles. The highlight is not a painting but a fresco, Pietro da Cortona’s masterpiece proudly dominating this palace that was built for Pope Urban VIII. This is just a glimpse of what is to come.

Over the next four days, you travel through the ages, starting as far back as you can: the time of empire and Caesars. Triumphal arches and majestic basilicas stand at the Roman Forum, suggestive of the time of power and glory. The Colosseum baffles, with such grand size, and stature after so many years. Trajan’s Column spirals skyward then Michelangelo’s steps lead you to Piazza del Campidoglio, where Marcus Aurelius rides a statuesque horse. Ancient Rome is best understood through the monuments that man sculpted so the Capitoline Museums follow the theme of the day. They’re home to perhaps the greatest collection of classical sculpture on the planet, taking you on a journey through 1,800 years of design.

Enter the Vatican Museums as they open, jumping ahead of the crowds so you can truly appreciate the superlative works of art. Gaze upon the treasures of the Raphael Rooms, stand beneath Michelangelo’s ceiling, take in the map tapestries and venture into galleries that most people walk straight past. After Michelangelo’s Last Judgement you exit to St. Peter’s Square and St Peter’s Basilica. Another Michelangelo is inside, along with Bernini’s stupendous Baldacchino. Stay with the Renaissance this afternoon, like the marble figure of Christ at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva and the tomb of Raphael within the Pantheon. Piazza Navona is a place to unwind after a busy day, street musicians, and local artists providing vibrancy long into the evening.

The Ecstasy of St. Teresa hides in the Cornaro Chapel, Bernini’s masterpiece missed by almost everyone else who comes to Rome. Apollo and Daphne continue your local love affair with Bernini in Museo Borghese, before Caravaggio’s paintings take you into the realm of late Mannerism. His Crucifixion of St. Peter and Conversion of St. Paul can be found in the Cerasi Chapel, yet this chapel is not the main highlight of Santa Maria del Popolo. The church’s ceiling was started by Raphael and finished by Bernini, showing how Italy’s 16th and 17th-century styles blur into each other. San Luigi dei Francesi is today’s final guided stop, notably three Caravaggio paintings depicting the life of St. Matthew.

Rome is best known for its ancient architecture. But this is really the city of Borromini, the baroque architect that crafted so many of Italy’s most incredible buildings. With a specialist guide, you’ll tour Rome with Borromini’s lifetime as a lens, seeing how his style evolved and become more extravagant. The Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane was his first church, a cramped space suggestive of the opulence that was to come. Next Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza, a geometric wonder of concave and convex walls, a church that architects are still to fully understand. See the master’s altar at San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, the church where he is buried, before two works that show the beauty of master and pupil. Borromini started them, Bernini finished them, and most people who see them are lost for words: Sant’Andrea della Fratte and Sant’Agnese in Agone.

Today is relaxed. Follow the coffee smells to a local cafe. Relax on an alfresco terrace. Perhaps do some shopping. The guide will tailor the day to your energy levels and there are a few artistic icons to complete your circle in Rome such as the Church of San Pietro, the Trevi Fountain, and the picture gallery within Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. This is mainly a day for reflecting on what you have experienced, piecing together all the parts of the story, asking final questions to your guide, and soaking up the Eternal City ambiance.

This day is deliberately left free, and late check-out can be arranged before your private airport transfer.