Day 1: Rome, Trastevere Food tour
Arrival at Rome airport. Private transfer to the hotel centrally located.
In the late afternoon, enjoy a stroll through the charming neighborhood of Trastevere, one of Rome’s most authentic and vibrant areas. Thanks to our buddy guide you will really eat local, with locals!
In our tour we will show you that Italian cuisine is more than just pizza and pasta, there is so much variation and regional differences! We will try to give you an overview of the Roman cuisine and you will learn the ‘do’ and ‘don’ts’ of Eating in Italy. Our local buddy guide will tell you interesting stories about the food, regional recipes, and will introduce you to local vendors. Everything you will taste is very simple but made with high quality and locally sourced ingredients. Some of the tasting locations include a century old cheese shop, a cookies’ factory that dates back to 1920, a traditional wine cellar. As a backdrop to our walk, Trastevere will surprise you, especially because our tour does not exclusively visit the famous squares and streets known and visited by most, but we travel the intricate alleyways and hidden corners and go off the beaten paths.
The tour includes food and wine tastings in 5 different locations.
Evening at leisure. Overnight.
Day 2: Farmers Market shopping & Cooking Class with social lunch
After breakfast, at Campo de’ Fiori in the very heart of the city, you will join a small group for a unique cooking class.
Food is a very important part of Italian life and today you will learn to cook like an Italian preparing a true Roman lunch from the pasta to the dessert.
Guests are always welcomed with drinks and antipasti, the classical “aperitivo”! This class starts in the style of any true Romans day, with a trip to the market to select fresh ingredients. The seasonal produce will help determine your menu. The chef will accompany you to make a classic Italian lunch with pasta, main course with side dish and the dessert. Then after an active morning cooking, it’s time to relax! With a glass of local wine, the class comes together in a social lunch to enjoy the prepared dishes and share experiences, like Italians do!
After lunch, free afternoon at disposal to discover Rome by your own. Possibility to book an extra excursion (Imperial Rome including Coliseum, Vatican Museums and many others…just ask us)
Dinner at leisure and overnight.
Day 3: Frascati Wine Tour
Breakfast. Departure by train to the beautiful Roman countryside. After a short ride you will reach Frascati. Here meet a local wine producer, who will take you for a stroll around Frascati. This is for sure one of the most authentic area of Roman hills, where locals go over the weekend to enjoy some genuine food far from the crowd of the city centre. Proceed with a wine tour in the cellars of an historical farmhouse, followed by a traditional lunch served in pairing with 3 different wines.
Retrun by train to Rome and rest of the day at disposal to discover Rome by your own. Dinner at leisure and overnight.
Day 4: Florence, Pizza & Gelato making
Breakfast, check out and departure by train to Florence. Arrival, accommodation in hotel 4*. Free time for lunch.
In the afternoon a culinary experience is waiting for you: Learn to make Pizza and Gelato just like the Italians do! Join our late afternoon class! Our chefs will be happy to introduce you to the history of these italian glorious creations!
Make pizza in oven with our professional pizza chef, called pizzaiolo. You will learn how to make tender, flexible yeast dough that stretches to almost paper-thinness, and even the trick for a flavorful yet light tomato sauce. Even if you bake pizza in your own oven, these techniques are universal and using them really makes a difference.
With the pizzaiolo, you’ll make your very own pizza, you’ll stretch it, sauce it, bake it, slice it. It will be the best pizza you ever tasted, and you made it yourself! The chef will tell you why gelato remains Italy’s favorite dessert while giving an insight to the ‘gelato culture’ that continues to grow. You will get to know the basic raw ingredients, how to select the best products available according to specific principles and you will have a presentation and tasting of some of the flavors used in gelato making. You will learn about the development and application of natural colors, the heating and freezing techniques and how they have different effects on ingredients. It is always a great day to discover the recipe of the world most loved dessert!
A booklet with recipes will let you cook for your friends once you get back home.
This activity is strongly recommended for families that wish to have children learn about the Italian culture, an easy and fun experience that will last forever in their memory.
Return to the hotel for the overnight.
Day 5: Chianti Wine Tour with expert Sommelier including lunch in boutique winery
Breakfast. In the morning you will be comfortably escorted in a minivan through the outskirts of Florence to three different wineries located amidst the rolling hills of the Chianti wine region.
During an intimate excursion through Tuscany, you will be immersed in the enchanting landscape of the Tuscan hills…vineyards, olive groves, noble castles and villas.
A feast for the senses as you learn to distinguish wine scents and flavors. Let us introduce you to the quintessence of Tuscan wines: the world-renowned Super tuscans.
A sommelier will guide your experience as you taste and learn about the different methods of wine production in two famous wineries plus an award winning boutique winery.
Some of the best wines ever produced have come from the hills just outside of Florence, thanks to the beautiful climate and the rich soil, allowing these wineries to become top leaders in the industry for hundreds of years. You will learn the difference between the Chianti wines, what distinguishes “Chianti Classico”, and which wines pair best with your favorite foods.
Each one of the three wineries is renowned for its Supertuscan production. You will see world famous Supertuscan vineyards and discover their production process “behind the stage”, in the most fascinating settings – from medieval castles to noble villas, to a boutique winery – and with different approaches, applying modern techniques to ancient gestures. Your sommelier will teach you how to distinguish between the acidity and the aromas, scents and flavors of the different grapes grown in the Tuscan region, as you taste various wines of these different wineries.
At the boutique winery you will then enjoy gourmet lunch in its “enoteca”. Specialties of the Tuscan cuisine and local products will be served with wine pairing.
In the afternoon return to Florence and time at disposal to explore the town by your own or by an extra activity (Vasari Corridor & Uffizi Gallery tour, cooking class).
Dinner at leisure and overnight.
Day 6: Bologna
Breakfast. Check out. Transfer by train to Bologna. Arrival and accommodation in hotel centrally located.
In the afternoon at disposal to discover the city by your own. Possibility to book an extra excursion (private walking tour, bike tour with aperitif, FICO Eeataly World Tour)
In the evening enjoy an aperitif and a typical dinner in one of the many excellent restaurant of the town (not included).
Overnight.
Day 7: Bologna Food Tour
Breakfast. In the morning meet our guide and start your day with a caffè gourmet made by the best barista of Bologna. Relax and discover why Italy is so famous for coffee.
Then move to Quadrilatero and Mercato delle Erbe – the foodie heart of Bologna. Shop like locals through different stalls and family shops. Your visit will continue with a stop to a traditional fresh pasta artisan: here learn how tortellini, tortelloni and tagliatelle are made.
Stop for lunch in one of the oldest osteria in Italy to taste a genuine lunch made with bolognese ragù, traditional cured meat, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, Balsamic vinegar Tradizionale of Modena, local bread and dessert from Emilia Romagna. Share food opinions, relax and cheer with a good glass of Pignoletto or Lambrusco!
The tour will end with a “sweet” stop to taste a mouthwatering Gelato!
Rest of the afternoon at disposal to continue exploring the city by your own. Overnight.
Day 8: Venice Bacari tour in the Jewish Ghetto
After breakfast, check out and train trasfer to Venice. Accommodation in hotel 3* centrally located. Time to relax and start discovering Venice.
In the late afternoon, join a small group tour to discover one of the most genuine and lively quarters of Venice: the Jewish Ghetto. Here thanks to our local guide you will start a gastronomic adventure through the bacari typical bars.
Along the way, your guide will describe the fascinating history of this unique neighborhood. There were times when the Jewish community used to be locked in at night and on religious holidays. This colorful jumble of buildings rises along some of the prettiest and quietest canals in Venice.
You’ll visit three bars, sampling a glass of delicious regional wine and a selection of local cicchetti at each. The charming bars you’ll visit are typical of Venice. See stone walls hung with shelves of gleaming wine bottles and locals chatting animatedly. Here, off the beaten path, Venice is a lot more relaxed and informal. Get a taste of how the locals live as you visit their local bar for drink, a bite, and some conversation.
Rest of the evining at disposal and overnight.
Day 9: Prosecco Wine Tour with wine tasting in villa & dinner
Breakfast. Day at disposal to explore Venice by your own. Possibility to book an extra excursion (St Mark’s Basilica & Doge’s Palace; Lagoon islands; Gondola Ride)
Suggested Wine & Food Experiences:
Prosecco Wine Tour : visit the enchanting Valdobbiadene wine region, where the Prosecco bubbles are made! Here visit an award-winning vineyard set in the rolling hilltops and meet a local wine producer, who will share the secrets that go into the Prosecco you’ll be sampling.
Verona & Valpolicella wine region
The Lagoon wine: this private excursion will take you to the enchanting island of Mazzorbo, where an exclusive white wine is produced. After a guided wine tasting, you can enjoy a lunch in the Michelin starred restaurant of the winery. Visit the near Burano island with its colorful houses before going back to Venice.
Overnight.
Day 10: Venice, departure
After breakfast, check out and transfer to Venice airport for departure.
Price per person: from 2260 euro in dbl room
Sgl room supplement 715 euro
