The science of the Renaissance: Italy

7 April 2025 - 6 days for £2,529. No single supplement.

Encounter the great scientific minds and discoveries of the Renaissance, which helped cement Italy's role at the forefront of scientific endeavour – from Brunelleschi and Botticelli to polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei. 

Explore Italy's most beautiful cities of Florence, Pisa and Bologna and look at the wondrous collections, buildings and churches that demonstrate the burgeoning knowledge of the period. You will be based in Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance and seat of the House of Medici whose patronage was pivotal to academic and artistic progress. 

Accompanied by art historian and Florentine resident Jeremy Boudreau, and the writer and journalist Juliet Rix, the tour will focus on the astronomical, anatomical, medical and mathematical discoveries, as well as the achievements of Renaissance artists and architects.  

In partnership with Kirker Holidays.

DAY 1: ARRIVE INTO FLORENCE AND MEET THE EXPERTS

Arrive in Florence where you will be met by your tour leader Juliet Rix and guest lecturer Jeremy Boudreau at the four-star Degli Orafi Hotel, located just a few metres from the Uffizi Gallery, on the banks of the River Arno. We will have a welcome drink this evening and an introductory talk at the nearby British Institute of Florence during which Jeremy will set the scene with a talk on the birth of the Florentine Renaissance. After the talk we shall dine together at one of our favourite local restaurants. 

DAY 2: FLORENCE: DUOMO, BAPTISTRY AND THE PTOLEMAIC PLANETARIUM

We start today at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Cathedral Museum) includes works by Michelangelo, Brunelleschi and the stunning doors, known as the Gates of Paradise. This is followed by other sites within a short walking distance including the Baptistry with its Zodiac Floor marble slab and Brunelleschi’s magnificent Duomo itself. There will be free time for lunch before we visit the Ptolemaic Planetarium in the dome of the Old Sacristy at San Lorenzo, originally a Medici burial ground, and we conclude the day at the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella where we see Ignazio Danti’s instruments on the facade, which include an armillary sphere and an astronomical quadrant. Dinner is taken independently this evening. 

DAY 3: BOLOGNA: CATHEDRALS, THEATRES AND THE MUSEO DI SCIENZA E ARTE

A full day in Bologna, one of Italy’s most underrated but beautiful cities. After the short drive from Florence, we will visit the Cathedral of San Petronio which houses a "hidden-in-plane-sight" solar observatory. Here, you will hear the surprising story of cooperation between religion and science to record the structure and rhythm of the cosmos. There will be an included lunch in one of Bologna’s wonderful restaurants. Afterward, you will explore the Palazzo Archiginnasio with its beautifully crafted 17th-century anatomical theatre, before finishing at the Museo di Scienza e Arte. We return to Florence where dinner is taken independently this evening.

DAY 4: FLORENCE: FONDAZIONE SCIENZA, SANTA CROCE AND MUSEO GALILEO

At the Fondazione Scienza e Tecnica, you will see a rich collection over 50,000 items covering physics, natural history and astronomy. Then you will enjoy the austere Basilica di Santa Croce, the largest Franciscan church in the world, where illustrious figures such as Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli are buried, before visiting the Museo Galileo, which celebrates the studies of astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei, who did work that was in some ways centuries ahead of its time. Dinner is taken independently this evening.

DAY 5: PISA AND THE EUROPEAN GRAVITATIONAL OBSERVATORY

Today we will drive to Pisa, an hour from Florence, where we will start at the UNESCO World Heritage Piazza dei Miracoli with its Cathedral where Galileo is believed to have formulated his theory about the movement of pendulums by watching the swinging of an incense lamp. Next door, is the largest baptistry in Italy and the Campanile, also known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. There will be some free time before we visit the European Gravitational Observatory, which houses the Virgo Machine, a large interferometer designed to detect gravitational waves and the only one of its kind in Europe. We return to Florence where a farewell dinner will be served in a local restaurant.

DAY 6: FLORENCE AT LEISURE AND DEPARTURE

On the last day, there is a free morning before transferring to Florence airport for your return journey.

You are welcome to spend additional time in Florence and our operating partner Travel Editions can help you with additional nights’ accommodation, visits and alternative travel arrangements.