Unique, meaningful holidays, curated by humans are on trend and independent tour operator ECT Travel is leading the way with an immersive six-day, five-night tour to the Parma Verdi Festival 2026 in the company of award-winning opera critic, Charlotte Valori.

“A festival dedicated to a composer is a unique opportunity to focus on, and connect with, the work in a very personal way and this festival will bring us all a little closer to Verdi the man, as well as Verdi the artist,” says Valori. “It's incredibly special to feel you are walking the same streets, gazing at the same landscapes and breathing in the same atmosphere of the place he once did.” 

At the heart of our tour are tickets to three Verdi operas: Alzira at the Teatro Regio, Aida at the Teatro Verdi in Busseto (Verdi's birthplace) and Nabucco at the Teatro Regio. Valori will enrich guests' understanding and enjoyment of these masterpieces with engaging introductory talks ahead of each performance.

Based in the elegant city of Parma, the programme includes a guided city tour alongside visits to key Verdi sites, including Casa Natale di Giuseppe Verdi and the Casa Barezzi Museum, offering rich insight into the composer's world and inspirations.

And as an Italian, Valori is also looking forward to feasting on the white truffles that will be in season!

Tour dates: Thursday 8th - Tuesday 13th October 2026

About the operas, by Charlotte Valori

“Alzira is a rare and unusual treat, set in the world of Peruvian Incas and Spanish conquistadors: the plot is essentially a doomed love triangle skewed by two complex father-child relationships (a key theme for Verdi). Verdi wrote it inside a single month during the 'galley years', when he churned out work at a terrifying rate (and didn't always enjoy it much, either). Alzira is moving in its own way, but the sheer rarity of performance is what makes it remarkable. 

“Aida is, by contrast, one of the most famous of all operas ever written, a Romeo-and-Juliet story set in ancient Egypt, commissioned from Verdi by the Khedive of Egypt, Isma'il Pasha, to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. For what turned out to be a global blockbuster, it famously had a rocky and uncertain gestation: Verdi had to be asked twice to write it. But, as so often happened with him, persistence paid off: though he was reluctant even to begin working on it, he created something extraordinary which has stood the test of time. There will be a lot of familiar music, like 'Celeste Aida', but it's the delicate moments of exoticism in the score which will be fun to hear properly in an intimate theatre like Busseto (whereas they are easily lost on a bigger or open-air stage). 

“Nabucco is arguably the opera which created Verdi's whole career. He refused at first to write it and, indeed, had to be forced to write it. The libretto was thrust upon him (quite literally) after an intense and devastating period of grief in his life, having just lost not only his wife, but both their young children. Wracked with grief, Verdi had vowed never to compose again. The subsequent creation of Nabucco – and of the heartbreaking chorus of the Hebrew slaves, “Va, Pensiero” – is one of the most tragic and vital moments in the history of opera. To see this classic work on Verdi's true 'home turf' will be an intense experience.”

For more information and images, please contact Charlotte Abrahams

About ECT Travel

We are a team of travel professionals and passionate, curious travellers and are proud to have been creating inspiring holiday programmes all over the world since 1993. Small group sizes ensure the people who travel with us have the very best experience, with time for conversations with local experts, space to explore off the beaten track and opportunities to fully immerse themselves in every activity. We take pride in looking after the people who travel with us, and we guarantee a personal service every step of the way.