A Culinary Journey Through Tuscany – November 7 through November 15, 2023
Highlights
7 Night Stay at One Hotel in Chianti • Truffle Hunt Experience & Tasting at a Tuscan Estate • Walking tour of Florence & The Statue of David • Organic Cooking Class with a Pasta Master at Castello di Vicciomaggio • Volpaia's Castle & Winery with Vin Santo tasting & Cantucci tasting • Pecorino cheese tasting in Pienza • Music & Wine Experience with a local Sommerlier at a Farmhouse in Montalcino • Guided walking Tour of Sienna • Tuscan Farmhouse & Winery Visit with Dinner & Wine • Visits and free time in towns of San Gimignano & Volterra • Gelato Tasting by a World Famous Gelato Master • Lunch at a local Farmhouse Specializing in Saffron Production • Boat excusion on Lake Trasimeno & Visit to the Village of Touro • Lunch including Wine on the Island Maggiore • Full Day at Leisure to Relax or Explore on Your Own
Includes
7 Nights Hotel Accommodations, 17 Meals: 7 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and 7 dinners, Tour Director, Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation, Sightseeing per Itinerary, Baggage Handling
Tour Activity Level
EASY 1 2 3 4 ACTIVE
Schedule
Day 1 (November 7) - DEPART: USA
Board your overnight flight to Europe.
Day 2 (November 8) - ARRIVAL: FLORENCE ITALY - CHIANTI
Arrive in Florence, meet your Tour Director and transfer to your Tuscan Hotel in the Chianti Region for a seven night stay. This evening, enjoy a Welcome Dinner of Tuscan favorites and locally-produced wine with your fellow travelers. (D)
Day 3 (November 9) - TRUFFLE HUNT EXPERIENCE & FLORENCE SIGHTSEEING
After breakfast, travel through the surrounding hilly landscape, dotted with olive groves, cypresses, vineyards, and palaces. Arrive at a lovely Tuscan Estate, where you will be greeted with a welcome drink. Next, enjoy a Truffle Hunt with access to a protected area on the property. Following this Truffle Hunt, enjoy delicious tastings of oil and truffle butter bruschetta, salami, pecorino, and wines from the estate. Later this afternoon, we travel to Florence where a local expert guide awaits you for a walking tour of Florence. Visit the Accademia Gallery and Museum to see Michelangelo's magnificent Statue of David, an awesome sight. See the Cathedral to see Giotto's Belltower and Baptistry with its impressive 'Gates of Paradise.' These buildings demonstrate the traditions of Florentine art and architecture from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Also, see the open-air museum of Piazza Della Signoria & Santa Croce, which houses the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo. This insightful walking tour includes a stroll across the famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge. Dinner is included tonight at a local restaurant in Florence. Return to your hotel in Chianti. (B,D)
Day 4 (November 10) - ORGANIC COOKING CLASS & WINE TOUR AND TASTING
Today, enjoy an Organic Cooking & Pasta Making Class and lunch at Castello di Vicchiomaggi, located at the top of a hill overlooking the valley of Greve in Chianti. You will be greeted with a welcome drink to enjoy while the chef discusses the class and food to be made and his recipes. The restaurant staff will assist you with putting on your aprons and chef hats, and let the cooking fun begin! At the end of the cooking class, you will get to eat and enjoy what you have prepared for lunch. Later this afternoon, continue to Volpaia Castle for a Wine Tour & Tasting. The winery is organically farmed for producing extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, and Chianti Classico Wine. Enjoy the tastings of Vin Santo (holy wine) and Cantucci (Biscotti). Dinner is included this evening. (B,L,D)
Day 5 (November 11) - VAL D'ORCIA WITH PIENZA MONTALCINO & SIENA
Travel to the incredibly picturesque Val d'Orcia Region, filled with ancient villages, gorgeous farmhouses, isolated homesteads, roads lined with cypress trees, fabulous vineyards and olive groves. Stop in Pienza, a lovely medieval town overlooking the Tuscan hills to visit a local cheese producer for a delicious typical Pecorino Cheese tasting. Continue to a traditional farmhouse in Montalcino, where you will enjoy a multi-sensory experience of music and wine. Four wines will be matches with music tracks selected by a local Sommelier. You will have time for lunch on your own in Montalcino before continuing onto beautiful Siena, where a local guide awaits you for a walking tour in the Old Town. The highlight is the Piazza del Campo, the seashell-shaped square on which the famous horse race, the Palio, takes place each year. Later, just outside Siena, we will visit a local Turscan farmhouse with an opportunity to meet the owner and enjoy dinner featuring typical Tuscany dishes paired with their local wines. (B,D)
Day 6 (November 12) - SAN GIMIGNANO AND VOLTERRA
Today, we travel to San Ginmignano, the epitome of a Tuscan hill town, where nobles built more splendid towers to outdo one another and indulge in their need for status. The medieval structures of the city have largely remained intact and San Gimignano, with its large number of art treasures, is truly considered an open-air museum. Next, enjoy a delicious gelato ice cream in one of the oldest gelaterias in Italy. Taste the saffrom & pine nuts flavored gelato, a registered trademark. Continue to Volterra, another ancient and beautiful hilltop Italian city. Enjoy free time in Volterra and lunch at a family-run farmhouse that specializes in saffron production. Dinner is included at the hotel this evening. (B,L,D)
Day 7 (November 13) - DAY AT LEISURE IN CHIANTI OR OPTIONAL EXCURSION
Today is at leisure to relax at the hotel, enjoy the spa, or explore on your own. An optional tour will be available today. Dinner is included at a local restaurant later this evening. (B,D)
Day 8 (November 14) - LAKE TRASIMENO BOAT EXCURSION AND LUNCH ON THE ISLAND MAGGIORE
Begin your morning with a hearty breakfast and journey to Lake Trasimeno, located in the Umbria Region of Tuscany. The heart-shaped Lake Trasimeno is surrounded by rolling hills, olive groves, woods of oak and cypress trees, vineyards, and sunflower fields that frame castle-topped medieval towns and villages. Free time to explore and walk around the medieval town of Tuoro, considered to be one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Next, enjoy a boat cruise to the Island Maggiore, where we will have lunch at a traditional restaurant located on the lake. Tonight, a special Farewell Dinner is planned. (B,L,D)
Day 9 (November 15) - CHIANTI - FLORENCE - HOME
Todya, transfer to Florence for your flight home with wonderful memories of your Culinary Journey Through Tuscany. (B)