THE BEST FLAVORS OF TUSCANY & UMBRIA

Private Package

9 Days / 8 Nights

DAY 1: Rome – Montefalco: Arrive at Rome Fiumicino Airport and travel by private minibus to Umbria. Check in at a 4-star farmhouse in Montefalco area, the best of the fascinating villages in the Valle of Spoleto. Get ready for a very special welcome dinner, with local dishes prepared with locally sourced, km0 products. Overnight.

DAY 2: Assisi – The Wine Route & Bevagna: Breakfast in your hotel. This morning go to Assisi, known well as St. Francis’s birth place in 1182, and where he spent most of his adult life preaching around Umbria. Assisi is the quintessentially quaint and tranquil Italian hill town, and here you will be able to visit the Basilica di San Francesco. In the afternoon, go to Torgiano, famous throughout the world for its fine wines. Here you will visit a cantina and have a wine tasting session. Then, visit Bevagna, recently voted the most beautiful village in Italy by census takers. Return to your farmhouse in Montefalco area, enjoy dinner and overnight.

DAY 3: Spoleto & Cooking Class: Breakfast in your hotel. This morning, you will visit Spoleto. Within its wooded setting, Spoleto is the loveliest of the Umbrian hill-towns. Founded by the Umbrians, Spoleto was one of central Italy’s most important colonies. You will have a free morning to explore Spoleto. In the afternoon, you will experience an interesting cooking class, learning some traditional Umbrian recipes. Along with your private chef, you will prepare local dishes you will then enjoy for dinner. Overnight.

DAY 4: Orvieto & Todi: After breakfast in your hotel, board the coach and visit more of Umbria, Italy’s green heart. You will first stop in Orvieto: perched on a 300m. Plateau, Orvieto looks down over a vineyard-spotted plain. Visitors flood into the town to admire the Duomo, among the greatest of Italy’s Romanesque-Gothic Cathedrals. In the afternoon, continue on to Todi, one of the most striking of Umbria’s famous hill-towns. Being first an ancient Etruscan, and then Roman settlement, it still preserves an uncorrupted medieval air, with several tiny churches, three austere public palaces and many sleepy corners. Return to the farmhouse in the late afternoon, dinner and overnight.

DAY 5: Montefalco – Siena – Monteriggioni – Chianti Area: Breakfast in your hotel. This morning, depart Umbria for Siena, Tuscany. Siena is one of Italy’s most enchanting cities. While Florence, its historical rival, saw its greatest flourishing during the Renaissance, Siena’s artistic glories are earlier and Gothic. The medieval center bristles with majestic buildings, such as the Palazzo Comunale on il Campo and the main square. It’s profusion of churches and small museums also harbor a wealth of artwork. At the end of the guided tour, you will have some free time before a wine tasting session in an ancient “Cantina” in Siena’s countryside. In the afternoon, transfer to Monteriggioni, a gem of a medieval hilltop town. It was built in 1203 and ten years later, became a garrison town. It is completely encircled by high walls with 14 heavily fortified towers, built to guard the northern borders of Siena’s territory against invasion by Florentine armies. You will have some time to visit Monteriggioni independently, before having dinner at a restaurant located inside the castle. Then, transfer to your farmhouse in the Chianti area.

DAY 6: Florence: After breakfast board the coach and transfer to Florence for a full day excursion. Upon arrival, meet your local guide and have a walking tour of Florence, which will take in the multi-colored marble cathedral, Piazza della Signoria, Santa Croce Basilica. In the afternoon, return to the farmhouse. You’ll have free time at your disposal for relaxing in the swimming pool or partaking in one of the several local activities we can arrange for you. Dinner and overnight at the farmhouse.

DAY 7: Local Market – Volterra & San Gimignano: Breakfast in your hotel. This morning you will go to a market for some food shopping. You will be able to choose among fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, pasta. Then, transfer to Volterra. Like many Etruscan cities, Volterra is situated on a high plateau, offering fine views over the surrounding hills. In many places, the ancient Etruscan walls still survive, and the well-preserved medieval ramparts give the town a forbidden air, while the gentle Tuscan countryside rolling out for miles around provides perfect contrast. Have lunch in a traditional trattoria inside the walls, then in the afternoon, stop in San Gimignano for a visit. The 13 towers that dominate San Gimignano’s majestic skyline were built by noble families in the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town’s position – on the main pilgrim route from northern Europe to Rome – brought it great prosperity. For a small town, San Gimignano is rich in works of art, good shops and restaurants. Before returning to your farmhouse, you will stop in a local “Tenuta” near San Gimignano for a wine tasting session of the wines produced here. Independent dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 8: Cortona & Cooking Class: Breakfast in hotel. This morning depart to Cortona: it was founded by the Etruscans and apart from being one of the oldest hill towns in Tuscany, it is also one of the most scenic. A major power in the Middle Ages, it was able to hold its own against Siena and Arezzo. Today it is a charming maze of old streets and medieval buildings, like the Palazzo Comunale on Piazza Signorelli. In the afternoon, you will transfer to a villa in the heart of Chianti, where you will enjoy a cooking class. You will prepare a seasonal menu using fresh vegetables and herbs and extra virgin olive oil. Finally, you will dine on the delicious dishes you prepared!

Return to the farmhouse and enjoy an overnight stay.

Day 9: Departure: After breakfast transfer to Rome airport for your return flight

Rate Includes:

3 nights in HB (dinner-no beverages) at a superior farmhouse in Montefalco area occupying standard rooms
1 night in BB at a superior farmhouse in Montefalco area occupying standard rooms
2 nights in HB (dinners-no beverages) at a superior farmhouse in Chianti area occupying standard rooms
1 night in BB at a superior farmhouse in Chianti area occupying standard rooms
1 cooking class at farmhouse followed by dinner in Montefalco area
1 cooking class at a local farmhouse in Spoleto area
1 cooking class at a local farmhouse in Chianti area
1 dinner at local restaurant in Monteriggioni area
1 lunch at local typical trattoria in Volterra area
1 wine tasting at Torgiano wineries area (Lacrima di Morro wines)
1 wine tasting at Siena wineries area
1 wine tasting at San Gimignano wineries area
Private English-speaking driver and car (1-2 pax), minivan (3-6 pax), minibus (7-12 pax) or coach (13-24 pax) at disposal as per indicated program
Driver’s meals and accommodation if necessary
Compulsory parking
Professional English-speaking tour escort at disposal as per indicated program
Tour escort’s meals and accommodation if necessary
Compulsory English-speaking local guides for visit to the following:
Florence (max 03 hours) – Siena (max 03 hours)
Vat

Rate Doesn’t Include:

City taxes (to be paid on the spot)
Other entrance fees
Other local guides
Tips and personal extras
Anything which is not clearly specified in “rate includes”

ACCOMMODATION OR SIMILAR

Montefalco Area: Villa Pambuffetti
Chianti Area: Mormoraia Farmhouse

**Please ask for all of our alternative accommodations or experiences