city: Milan

Nat Geo Day Tour: In Verdi’s Footsteps

Giuseppe Verdi is celebrated as one of the most influential opera composers of the 19th century, and his work still enjoys great popularity today. Among his best-known operas are La Traviata, Rigoletto and Aida, each telling a very different story but all offering dramatic music and emotional intensity. Taking a tour of Verdi's Milan spotlights his musical genius and reveals his fierce dedication to becoming a maestro of Italian Opera. Discover the legacy he left in Milan, a city he both loved and loathed, with a visit to the Fondazione Giuseppe Verdi, the house that the Opera maestro built to host retired artists and musicians. Here, you'll get a close up look at the life of Verdi and his wife, including their personal belongings, furnishings, art collections, and their final resting places. Next on the itinerary is an opportunity to meet the current residents of Casa Verdi, many of whom are internationally acclaimed artists, and listen to their extraordinary life stories. You are also invited to attend an exclusive performance for National Geographic travellers by one of the residents. Your penultimate stop is La Scala Theatre. Visit the museum and find out the behind-the-scenes anecdotes about Verdi's relationship with the theatre. At the end of the tour, you'll follow in Verdi's footsteps and take a break at Grand Hotel et de Milan, where Verdi lived for 27 years and in fact, where he took his last breath.