Our spring and fall tours designed especially for adult groups to visit exotic destinations. Our specialty is to offer very unique experiences by giving you those personal connections to the locals where we tour. We are not just another bunch of crazy Americans seeking to eat and drink themselves into a coma. The experiences at each destination blend the culinary training with the personality of that community. You are meeting the locals on a one to one basis. You will be making new friends along the way.

In the hands-on cooking classes, you will work with local ingredients that are seasonal and incorporated in the marvelous recipes that you will add to your files. We coordinate the various classes to avoid repetition and all classes end in a “family-style” meal enjoyed by all.

For the adult tours, we expand our product focus and include more winery tours and instruction. We do offer the same training for olive oil, cheeses, balsamic vinegar, chocolate and pasta as we do in the student tours, but the wines become more of a separate experience over and above using wine as a menu ingredient. Again, these are wineries where we have a personal connection, and you will be treated like very special family.

Of course we will do sightseeing viewing both contemporary as well as historic sights. And shopping as an art is explained and included.

Free time is important to us all when we are on vacation, and our tours build in such free time for relaxation or for pursuing your own special interests. Some of our tours also incorporate spa treatments or golfing.

SAMPLE ITINERARY:

13 Days/11 Nights. Prices start at $3,695 WITH roundtrip airfare!!!

DAY 1 Depart US.

DAY 2 Arrive in Southern Tuscany at your 12th century villa for the welcome dinner overlooking the countryside towards sparking Cortona.

DAY 3 Morning tour of the Umbrian hillside village of Cortona. Afternoon chocolate and wine tastings.

DAY 4 Morning tour of Siena, then winery tour. Afternoon cooking class and shared dinner.

DAY 5 Morning tour of Montepulciano. Free afternoon.

DAY 6 Visit to truffle farm. Early afternoon visit to San Gimignano. Arrive in Florence-Montecatini Terme area hotel for dinner.

DAY 7 Morning visit to Pisa, then Lucca with open lunch. Cooking class with shared dinner.

DAY 8 Morning walking tour of Florence. Free afternoon and dinner in Florence.

DAY 9 Morning departure for Verona-area with stops near Modena for professional tours and tastings of balsamic vinegar and parmagiano reggiano. Afternoon arrival at hotel and dinner.

DAY 10 Visit olive oil museum, the tour of Verona. Afternoon cooking class with shared dinner.

DAY 11 Day in magical Venice.

DAY 12 Free Day

DAY 13 Depart for USA.