How to create a grand journey of Europe’s most timeless art

Private mosaics. Gothic chapels. Soaring symphonies. No rush. These artsy tours take you within Europe’s soul.

Two hundred years ago, Europe’s elite would embark on what was known as the Grand Tour – an art-filled, 19th-century version of whirlwind travel. Think ruins, relics, reputation-building and a fair bit of bosom-heaving.

These days, it’s t-shirts instead of corsets, but we still make the same mistake when chasing the greats; we dash from one European wonder to the next without stopping to ask how it got there. So let’s catch our breath and take it in properly with Limelight Arts Travel.

1. Marvel at St Mark’s Basilica

Stepping off a gondola and looking up at the five domes of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice is the stuff of dreams. Built in the Byzantine style, the Doges drew inspiration from the Eastern Roman Empire, their trading partners across the sea.

Got it on your cultural hit list? No need to bump elbows. On the Limelight Arts Travel Istanbul to Venice tour you’ll take a private, after-hours tour among its golden mosaics. Italian art history specialist Dr Louise Marshall will guide you along the old Venetian trade route from the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to this skip-the-line experience in Venice.

Skip the crowds, not the splendour. (Image: Getty/alxpin)

2. Following in Mozart’s footsteps

In January, the mountains of Salzburg echo with homages to Mozart, celebrating the composer’s birthday. In 2026, performances include a new premiere of The Magic Flute, along with talks and tours exploring the composer’s life.

So grab your baton and join the party on the Mozart and the Mozart Festival tour. Limelight Magazine’s editor-at-large Clive Paget will guide guests through six performances in Salzburg, followed by three more in Vienna, including at the Vienna State Opera and the Volksoper.

Celebrate Mozart’s birthday where it all began. (Image: Getty/Slow Century)

3. Discover contemporary masterpieces in Venice

Every two years the who’s who of the art world throw down their brushes and descend on the Venice Biennale. The big-hitter venues – the Arsenale and the Giardini – house works from brilliant creatives around the world.

But Venice won’t be constrained. On the Limelight Arts Travel Venice Biennale 2026 tour, art historians Dr Nick Gordon and Dr Lachlan Warner have curated an itinerary that captures her full artistic soul, including Ca’ Pesaro, the Palazzo Fortuny, the Prada Foundation, and the Biennale itself.

Cruise through creativity. (Image: Getty/Nantonov)

4. Gothic architecture of Medieval Burgundy

The wars and rivalries of Burgundy shaped Europe, but the duchy also left a less bloody legacy: architecture. That patronage lives on at spots like the Vézelay Abbey (Basilica of Sainte Marie-Madeleine), where medieval pilgrims once travelled to see relics of Mary Magdalene. Today, it’s art pilgrims who come for the sculpted curves of its Romanesque portal and soaring Gothic arches.

On Limelight Arts Travel’s Exploring Medieval Burgundy tour, Dr Louise Marshall takes you deeper into the Burgundian influence, along with side adventures, long canal-side lunches and springtime rambles.

Walk through Burgundy’s grand legacy. (Image: Getty/Liane M)

5. Turin, Genoa and the French Riviera

Italy and France couldn’t be more different… or so it might seem. In fact, they share far more than just a love of sun, sea and slopes. Once united under the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Italian cities of Turin and Genoa and parts of what’s now the French Riviera were shaped by Roman roots, aristocratic patronage and brilliant splashes of 20th-century modernism.

Cultural historian Dr Kathleen Olive leads you through this long-disappeared realm on Limelight Arts Travel’s Turin, Genoa and the French Riviera tour, from Rubens and Rembrandt in Turin to Genoa’s Renaissance glory, and the radiant works of Matisse and Chagall on the Côte d’Azur.

Discover a kingdom lost to time. (Image: Getty/Fabio Lamanna)

6. Italian Renaissance masterpieces

Sure, Emilia-Romagna is a food lover’s dream (it’s famous for its parmigiano reggiano and prosciutto di parma for a reason). But it’s also home to some of Italy’s greatest High Renaissance art; take the brightly coloured cycles of Correggio in Parma, or the jewel-coloured frescoes by Parmigianino in Fontanellato – both were master painters of the era.

On the Emilia-Romagna: Art, Food and Landscape tour, neither eating nor gazing is ignored. Dr Kathleen Olive guides you from Renaissance to Romanesque, with plenty of time for languorous, wine-filled lunches that leave no parmesan crumbs uneaten.

See Renaissance masterpieces in Parma. (Image: Getty/ Giuliano Domenichini)

7. See medieval monasteries

Over thousands of years, empires have risen and fallen in Romania. The Romans, Ottomans and Austro-Hungarians have all had their shot, and you’ll find no shortage of their long-lost influences here, even in its religious art.

The UNESCO-listed Romanian Orthodox monasteries of Bucovina are wrapped in frescoes that project Romania’s roller-coaster history to the outside world. Picture the depiction of the Ottoman siege of Constantinople at Moldovița Monastery, or the fortress-meets-spiritual Sucevița Monastery.

It’s just the beginning of the story in a region shaped by a restless past. On the Limelight Arts Travel Romania tour, Dr Nick Gordon leads you from these Carpathian Mountain churches to the Belle Époque architecture of Bucharest.

See battles in vivid colour. (Image: Getty/Emily M Wilson)

8. Vienna to Trieste

In the Habsburg Empire, imperial splendour and awe-inspiring masterpieces were never out of vogue. In its old capital of Vienna, the royal family built the Kunsthistorisches Museum to house their vast collection. We’re not talking a few prints here – the museum still stores enough big names (Raphael, Titian, Velázquez, Dürer, for starters) to make an art historian weep.

Start at the centre of this once-sprawling empire on Limelight Arts Travel’s Vienna to Trieste tour with Dr Nick Gordon. You’ll move through Gothic island chapels on Lake Bled, Baroque and Art Nouveau beauty in Ljubljana, and Roman ruins in Friuli. It’s a 16-day deep dive – but even with 160, you’d still be scratching the surface.

Feast your eyes on imperial treasures. (Image: Getty/Rusm)

See the Limelight Arts Travel 2026 tour program and book at limelight-arts-travel.com.au.