A Culinary Journey Through Incredible Italy

An arbiter of international style, Milan is Italy’s financial and industrial heart, a thoroughly modern European city with a great history not far under the surface. Whether shopping, seeing da Vinci’s Last Supper, dining or out discovering hip canal-side bars, Milan is a city with an overlooked charm hiding just beneath the chic surface.

This dynamic city is know the world over for its glamour and you'll enjoy a tour which lets you explore its gems. The cathedral is the fourth largest in the world and is a spectacular example of Gothic architecture. The Milanese are known for their style, and you'll visit the beautiful Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, one of the world's oldest shopping malls. Together with Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga, it is considered one of the most important areas for shoppers. Continue to the Piazza della Scala, home to La Scala Theatre, and the majestic Castello Sforzesco. The Dominican convent adjoining the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie houses one of the most important masterpieces in the world, Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. Only a small number of people are admitted at a time to help protect the fragile fresco.

Nestled in the north west of the country and fringed by the French and Swiss Alps, Piedmont is one of Italy's most naturally beautiful regions. Its name means 'at the foot of the mountains' and it is a patchwork of snow-capped peaks, sweeping valleys and plains dotted with vineyards, farmhouses and pretty baroque towns. It is also a region famous for its food and drink, with enough wineries and chocolate shops to ensure no visitor is ever left hungry or thirsty.

Enjoy a full day in the heart of the italian countryside hunting for truffles and enjoying typical, local delicacies.
Discover the art of truffle hunting on a private experience accompanying a 'trifolau' and his trusted dog as they search the woods for this prized tuber. Your expert guide will explain all there is to know about the elusive truffles - you’ll learn about the different varieties of
truffle plants, the truffle hunt itself, the history, myth and legend and the harvest. You’ll also get to spend time with and learn about a vital member of the team, the trusted best-friend and hunter extraordinaire; the dog.
After your hunt you will enjoy drinks and snacks in the trifolao’s restored stone hut in the middle of the woods before sitting down for a four course lunch with drinks.
Although you’ll enjoy a gourmet meal today we suggest you wear casual, comfortable clothes and walking shoes for this excursion.

Some of the finest Italian wines come from Piedmont; the rolling hills of Monferrato, Le Langhe and Roero are responsible for Barolo, Barbaresco and Barbera red wines and the white wines of Asti and Moscato. As well as the more well-known names, you will get to taste a number of indigenous grape varieties that do not make their way out of Italy, such as Dolcetto, Ruche, Grignolino and Arneis. A must for any wine lover, this tour will take you to a variety of local wineries and give you ample chance to taste these delicious drops.

Culatello di Zibello is a sort of "super ham" strictly tied to the Po River area being actually produced (handmade only in wintertime) in eight small villages of the so-called "Bassa Parmense", a strip of land running along the right side of the Po River, which includes Busseto, Parma Polesine, Zibello, Soragna, Roccabianca, San Secondo and Colorno, approximately a one-hour drive from Parma.

The tour includes the visit to the ageing rooms to a producer open and owned 230 years by the same family, that run also a nearby restaurant in which they serve in a familiar atmosphere this excellent cured meat and delicious local dishes.

Bologna is the historic capital of Emilia-Romagna, home to what's thought to be the world's oldest university, as well as stunning medieval architecture and wonderful food. When it comes to culture and cuisine, this lively and liberal city rivals any other in Italy, while its convenient location makes it a fantastic base for exploring the other highlights of this culinary-rich region. Spend your days exploring medieval markets and architecture, climbing the city's famous towers, gorging yourself on delicious hams, cheese and Bolognese, walking through the thousands of porticoes and popping into interesting museums.

Set in the historic university quarter of Bologna, you'll enjoy an insightful opportunity to learn the techniques and recipes of some of Italy's finest cuisine. Your 'Cucina Italiana' experience will be under the guidance of professional chef, Rita, a multi-generation Bolognese who is passionate about her stunning medieval town and its food. With Rita as your guide, your experience will begin by exploring the labyrinth of food stalls in the medieval markets, shopping for the day’s meal the same way the Bolognese have done since the Middle Ages. Wild asparagus, glossy eggplants, firm artichokes, ripe red tomatoes all vie for your attention as you hand-pick the freshest vegetables for your menu. Follow the scent of the bakery to choose crunchy Italian focaccia, stand under hundreds of kilos of hanging prosciutto to choose your meat; the choices are truly endless in a town as passionate about food as Bologna. The cooking class is held in Rita’s family kitchen, and once you enter her elegant, stone-floored 15th-century home, right in the centre of Bologna’s old town, you feel as if she has invited you to dinner. The twist is, you get to cook. Under her expert guidance and thankfully her excellent English, you will create fresh handmade pasta and a range of mouth-watering regional specialities that you can savour at the end of the class.

For any motor enthusiasts, this is a must for any visitor to Italy and the museum so well curated that it is interesting for non enthusiasts. The whole history of this iconic and quintessentially Italian marque is on display, including the first Ferrari car and going right through history to the current production models with a collection of priceless racing cars covering some eight decades. You will even get to see a reproduction of founder Enzo Ferrari’s office in Modena with much of the original furniture.

Surrounded by rolling Tuscan hills, the beautiful city of Florence is one of Europe's most enchanting and historically influential cities. If anywhere in the world can claim to have shaped modern Western consciousness, it is Florence's grand piazzas and palazzos. The world's greatest Renaissance artworks and sculpture can be found at every turn in the historical centre, an area that can be traversed on foot in under an hour but would infinitely longer to properly explore.

Explore Florence’s Renaissance past with this guided walking tour of the city's historic centre. The Accademia Gallery is home to Michelangelo's ‘David’, one of the finest sculptures ever created, and though there are many copies across the city, this is the real deal. You'll also admire the church of Santa Maria del Fiore – the famous Duomo - and Brunelleschi’s magnificent dome and visit the Duomo Museum; the nearby Campanile of Giotto (bell tower); and Ghiberti’s enchanting ‘Gates of Paradise’, the door to the Baptistry. Continue to the Piazza della Signoria, centre of Florentine politics and home to a captivating outdoor sculpture gallery. Shopping, architecture and history will collide as you stroll over the Ponte Vecchio.

This is an idea of what you can see during your tour of Florence but it can be tweaked to suit your interests - chat with your guide on the day and they will come up with an itinerary that's perfect for you.

This tour is all about gelato - Italian ice cream. Learn how gelato was invented, see how it is made on the premises of a gelato parlour, and naturally, lots of flavours will be tasted and compared.

A bike ride is the perfect way to see the beautiful Chianti countryside. You will be provided with 21-speed mountain bikes, helmets and water bottles and set off on your adventure, riding past rolling green hills along roads lined with cypress trees. You will also have the chance to visit some local churches and small medieval villages and visit a winery for a tasting. The tour ends with a delicious Tuscan meal.

Rome, Italy’s capital and largest city, needs little introduction. One of the most historied locations in the world, glorious reminders of Rome’s illustrious past, from ancient Roman wonders to Renaissance masterpieces, are all on show. That’s not to say that its cosmopolitan streets do not embrace the now; Rome is as exhilarating and forward thinking as ever.

No visit to Italy would be complete without tasting an authentic Italian pizza, but what better way to experience this iconic Italian dish than through making your own? You’ll be welcomed by a professional pizza maker and be taken through the process of pizza making. You'll get to knead the dough, create the topping, pop it into the oven and best of all, you'll get to eat your creation too.

Discover the great Roman Forum, for centuries the centre of civic life as the site of triumphal processions, elections, public speeches and criminal trials. Then, along the Via Sacra (Sacred Way), head to the Palatine Hill, one of the most ancient area of the city, where you’ll enjoy a breathtaking view of the Circus Maximus, an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium. Last but not least, enter the magnificent Colosseum, considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering, and capable of seating up to 50,000 spectators.

To visit Pompeii is probably as close as we can get to travelling in a time machine back to ancient Rome. In August of 79 AD, Vesuvius had been rumbling for some days and it is estimated that a large part of the population of 20,000 had been evacuated; those that were left were as if suspended in time, as the plaster casts made of the bodies that were found shows. Excavation started in the 18th century and continues to this day.

The first impression, on entering into the Forum, is just how massive Roman structures were; they really dwarf revered Medieval or later sites. You will get to walk Roman streets, look into bars, stroll into Patrician villas, complete with frescoes and mosaics, there is even a mosaic doormat, saying ‘beware of the dog’. Even graffiti (an Italian word) is written on some of the walls, reflecting a forthcoming election. When you see the baths, the central heating systems and the gentle fountains in the courtyards of the villas, you really feel it wouldn’t be too much of a hardship to live there.

Draped along the cliffs on the southern side of the Sorrento Peninsula, between Salerno and the city of Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast is one of the most dramatic and glamorous spots in Italy. Between the two, Positano, Amalfi and Ravello’s candy coloured buildings spill their way down into blue bays.

The peninsular combines affluent sophistication with a honest simplicity, where super yachts and gurgling Italian sports cars next sit amidst an unchanging rural way of life. The food gloriously reflects this and some of Europe’s finest restaurants can be found here, thriving on fresh local produce, whilst the rustic Neapolitan food found everywhere here to many epitomizes Italian cuisine. The views and food are perhaps the main draw here, but there is a rich history to explore too, hidden beaches to discover and pristine trails in the Lattari Mountains to climb.

Handcrafted pasta is definitely something the Campania region can be proud of. Today you'll enjoy a tour of a local factory that has been producing pasta since 1848. Everything they make is handmade and the pasta is extruded through bronze, a method that has been used for centuries. The resulting rough, porous surface means the pasta holds the sauce well, giving dishes a wonderful flavour. You'll also visit a local mozzarella cheese factory, the oldest on the Sorrentine peninsula, that also produces the region's famous limoncello.

Discover the spectacular Amalfi Coast, situated like an amphitheatre among the mountains and the sea. Visit Ravello and the Villas Rufolo and Cimbrone, two sites not to be missed for their splendour and decorations. Both villas have amazingly beautiful gardens. You'll also take in the wonderful Positano, considered to be one of the most picturesque of all Italy's coastal resorts.