Italian Cusine

Day 1 – Florence

We start our Italian Cuisine Tour in the city of art: Florence!

After check-in at our accommodation, we will enjoy our first dinner in a local restaurant where we will taste typical Tuscan and Florentine dishes.

Day 2 – Florence

Our first cooking course in Florence! After our breakfast at the hotel, we will have a private tour where we will visit the market with a Chef to select the best quality ingredients for our lunch.

In the afternoon our local Florentine guide will lead us on a walking tour to discover unique and secret places in Florence. He will show us these unusual corners and small hidden squares. The tour also includes visits to the Cathedral and Baptistery, Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio and the famous Accademia Gallery.

Overnight in Florence.

Did you know that…

• There is a clock going reversed at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
• Carlo Collodi wrote the children’s story “Pinocchio” in Florence.

Day 3 – Florence

After breakfast at the hotel, we will have a gastronomic tour with a Chef who will take us to the best gourmet stores in the historic center where we will taste prosciutto, Tuscan cured meats and parmigiano reggiano. Not to be missed is a visit to the best cheese store to taste their exquisite Italian cheeses!

Later, we will go to a magnificent artisan chocolate store, where the owner and master buys the best cocoa beans and makes excellent chocolate himself.

Our next stop will be at one of the most historic charcuterie in town, which represents a classic meeting place for Florentines, as well as a favorite destination for lovers of truffle specialties. Don’t miss the famous truffle pasta sandwich! The afternoon gastronomic tour will end in a historic store where a wine and olive oil tasting will be offered. The rest of the day you can enjoy at your leisure.

We will spend another night in Florence.

Day 4 – Florence – Pienza

We will have our last breakfast at our accommodation in Florence and head towards the charming villages of the Chianti region. We will have a full excursion with our driver, who will take us to an excellent cheese farm, an olive oil farm and a flagship winery with a private tour guide. We will enjoy a wine tasting, accompanied by the panoramic views offered by the Tuscan nature!

Our accommodation tonight will be in agriturismo.

Day 5 – Pienza

Today we are in the Siena region in Montalcino and Montepulciano known for Vino Nobile. First we will go to Montalcino, an ancient town, best known for its red wines called “Brunello di Montalcino” which are made from Sangiovese Grosso grapes. We will have the opportunity to visit a Brunello producer, such as the prestigious Poggio Antico estate. On the way to the winery, we can stop for a quick visit to the impressive ruins of the 9th century Sant’Antimo Abbey. At the winery we will enjoy the beautiful views, while tasting Brunello “Riserva” and Rosso di Montalcino. Lunch will be at the winery’s restaurant.

After lunch we continue to Montepulciano, a small town of Etruscan origin and one of the most beautiful mountain villages in Tuscany. The Nobile wines of Montepulciano were the first to receive the highest quality DOCG certification. We will visit a top estate such as Valdipiatta or Avignonesi and have a tasting of Nobile wines.

In the late afternoon, we will have free time in Montepulciano. Then we will move to Pienza to visit the beautiful Renaissance town of Pius II and an excellent dairy. There we will learn about the production process of the famous pecorino di Pienza. After tasting various products, we will move to our agritourism accommodation where we will have dinner. Overnight in Pienza.

Day 6 – Pienza – Siena

Breakfast at our accommodation and departure to Siena. The ancient medieval city boasts an immense cultural and artistic heritage: the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo and the place where the famous Palio deserves to be seen. Siena is famous for its desserts that are often accompanied by the classic Vin Santo, a sweet wine. During our visit to the city we will discover the Sienese tradition. We will taste different typical Sienese sweets such as Ricciarelli, Cantucci and Vin Santo – typical local sweet wine.  Afterwards we will have some free time.

In the afternoon we will move to Chiusi where we will visit a well-known company that breeds Cinta Senese (the progenitor of all Tuscan pigs, already bred in Etruscan times) and gray from the hill of Siena. The visit consists of a walking tour of about 1 hour, where guests can admire the farms, the various crops in progress, all organic, and in addition to producing gray pork salami and Cinta Senese, the company also produces flour, legumes and extra. We will taste these local products.

We will leave for Monteriggioni, a wonderful walled hilltop village, where we will enjoy some free time to take pictures. We will have dinner and return to the hotel in Siena where we will spend the night.

Day 7 – Siena – Volterra

Today our itinerary will take us to some of the most iconic villages of Tuscany. Departure to San Gimignano, the city of towers, here we will have a guided tour and a tasting of the typical “Vernaccia” wine and local cured meats and cheeses. In the afternoon our gastronomic tour will take us to Volterra. This city preserves Etruscan, Roman and medieval remains that enchant the traveler. There we will spend the night.

Day 8 – Volterra – Pisa

After breakfast we will leave in the direction of Bolgheri, a home of Sassicaia.

We will visit the Castle of Bolgheri where we will taste the Bolgheri Doc wine: a wine of excellence whose vineyards stretch between the hills and the sea. We will move to Livorno to taste one of the most popular and delicious Tuscan fish dishes: the famous Cacciucco: fish soup made of different types of fish, crustaceans and mollusks, usually octopus, cuttlefish, scorpion fish, scorpion fish and other varieties of fish called “poor” dish of the fishermen.

We will have free time to visit the canals of Livorno until we leave for Pisa. In Pisa we will visit the historical center and the famous square with the Leaning Tower and the Duomo. We will have dinner in a typical restaurant in the center and spend the night in Pisa.

Day 9 – Pisa

Today we will have a tasting in Cecina, a town on the coast of Tuscany. In the afternoon we will go to Lucca, a small town near Pisa, where we will have another tasting in a pastry shop.  This time we will try something sweet!

In the evening we will have our farewell dinner in Pisa where we will spend our last night.

Did you know that…

• Pisa has a total of 3 leaning towers, although only one is the most famous and attracts the most tourists to take the typical photo “holding it”.
• There is a small church on the banks of the Arno river. Here legend has it that a thorn from the crown of Jesus was found.
• Officially it has only 90k inhabitants, but its student population exceeds 50k. So you can imagine the atmosphere you will find.

Day 10 – Pisa 

All good things come to an end….After this tour of Italian Cuisine you can say that you are an expert in Italian gastronomy, especially Tuscany! We hope to see you at the next Euro-adventure!

Included:

• 3 nights in Florence
• 2 nights in Pienza
• 1 night in Siena
• 1 night in Volterra/Terricciola/surroundings
• 2 nights in Pisa
• Dinner in Florence
• Ticket for lunch+consumption at the central market in Florence
• Aperitif with cheese and charcuterie board in Florence
• Dinner at Dario Cecchini butcher in Florence
• Tasting and lunch at Greve in Chianti
• Dinner in Rapolano
• Dinner in Montepulciano
• Tasting and lunch in Montalcino
• Pastry tasting in Siena
• Visit and tasting cinta senese in Siena
• Tasting in Bolgheri
• Lunch in Livorno
• Cooking course (Pisa or Florence)
• Private bus during the whole tour
• Tour leader

Not Included:

• Everything that is not mentioned in “Included”.
• Flight tickets
• Transportation to the point of departure
• Other public transportation and transfer costs not mentioned
• Travel or cancellation insurance
• Optional activities
• Entrance fees to monuments, parks, attractions.
• Visa or administrative fees.
• Public transportation tickets in the cities (for group activities).

(You will be able to book your extras once you have booked your trip, through an App to which we will give you access).

Each optional activity requires a minimum of 30 participants.