From the crisp Chianti Classico wine and the fresh extra-virgin olive oil to the organic pasta we’ll learn to make, our culinary tour takes us to estate wine dinners, local restaurants, and one of the oldest gelato boutiques in all of Italy. Our trip is complete with two nights in Florence — the birthplace of the Renaissance and the world capital of art in the 15th century.
October 20-28, 2026
Itinerary Highlights:
- Tuscan estate dinner
- Pasta-making class
- Wine tasting
- Sienna walking tour
- Dinner at Tuscan farmhouse and winery
- San Gimignano
- Gelato tasting
- Lunch at a local farmhouse
- Lake Trasimeno boat excursion
- Island Maggiore with lunch and wine
- Florence guided walking tour
- Academy Gallery and the Statue of David
- Full-day optional tour to Lucca and Pisa
Package Includes:
- Round-trip airfare from Raleigh-Durham International Airport or Charlotte Douglas International Airport
- Air departure taxes, fuel, and fees
- Seven nights in first-class hotel accommodations
- 15 meals: seven breakfasts, three lunches, and five dinners
- Our State host
- Wine and beer reception
- Professional tour director
- Motor coach transportation
- Admissions and sightseeing per itinerary
- Baggage handling at hotels
Accommodations:
- Five nights in Tuscany: Hotel Borgo Di Cortefreda, Boccioleto Resort, Villa Sabolini, Hotel Garden Sienna, or similar
- Two nights in Florence: Hotel Villa Neroli or similar
Note: Hotels are subject to change.
Detailed Itinerary:
Day 1: Depart from the U.S.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Board your overnight flight to Europe.
Day 2: Arrive in Florence • Tuscany
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Arrive in Florence, meet your tour director, and transfer to your hotel in Tuscany for a five-night stay. The Chianti and Umbria regions of Tuscany are filled with picturesque landscapes, rolling hills, olive groves, beautiful vineyards, and charming Tuscan hilltop towns. Enjoy a wine and beer reception followed by a welcome dinner with your fellow Our State travelers this evening.
Meals: Dinner
Overnight: Hotel Borgo Di Cortefreda, Boccioleto Resort, Villa Sabolini, Hotel Garden Sienna, or similar in Tuscany
Day 3: Organic Cooking Class • Olive Oil Experience
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Today, enjoy an organic cooking and pasta-making class and lunch. Enjoy a welcome drink while the chef discusses the class, recipe, and food to be made. The restaurant staff will assist you with putting on your aprons, and the cooking fun begins! At the end of the cooking class, you will get to eat and enjoy what you have prepared for lunch. Later this afternoon, visit a local olive oil producing farm to learn how olive oil is produced. Sample some organic extra-virgin olive oil, along with vinegar and Chianti Classico wine. Dinner is included this evening.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Hotel Borgo Di Cortefreda, Boccioleto Resort, Villa Sabolini, Hotel Garden Sienna, or similar in Tuscany
Day 4: Volterra • San Gimignano
Friday, October 23, 2026
Today, we travel to Volterra, another ancient and beautiful hilltop Italian city. Enjoy some free time in Volterra, then continue to a family-run farmhouse that specializes in saffron production for lunch. This afternoon we visit San Gimignano, the epitome of a Tuscan hill town, where nobles built splendid towers to outdo one another and indulge in their need for status. The medieval structures of this city have largely remained intact, and San Gimignano, with its large number of art treasures, is truly considered an open-air museum. Next enjoy a delicious gelato ice cream in one of the oldest gelaterias in Italy, which produces unique flavors of gelato that are famous worldwide. Later, visit a local Tuscan farmhouse and enjoy dinner featuring typical Tuscan dishes paired with local wine.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Hotel Borgo Di Cortefreda, Boccioleto Resort, Villa Sabolini, Hotel Garden Sienna, or similar in Tuscany
Day 5: Lake Trasimeno • Island Maggiore
Saturday, October 24, 2026
Begin your morning with breakfast and journey to Lake Trasimeno, located in the Umbria region of Tuscany. The heart-shaped Lake Trasimeno is surrounded by rolling hills, olive groves, woods of oak and cypress trees, vineyards, and sunflower fields that frame castle-topped medieval towns and villages. Next, enjoy a boat cruise to the Island Maggiore, where we will have lunch at a traditional restaurant located on the lake. Return to your hotel with the evening at leisure.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight: Hotel Borgo Di Cortefreda, Boccioleto Resort, Villa Sabolini, Hotel Garden Sienna, or similar in Tuscany
Day 6: Tuscany Day at Leisure • Optional Tour to Pisa and Lucca
Sunday, October 25, 2026
Today is a full day at leisure to explore on your own or join the full-day optional tour to Pisa and Lucca. See the remarkable Leaning Tower of Pisa and more of Pisa’s Field of Miracles, such as the Duomo and the Baptistery. Visit Lucca and explore the Old Town, filled with quaint shops and Gothic palaces. Lucca’s great era was in the Gothic time just before the Renaissance, and the city contains stunning architecture from that period.
Meals: Breakfast
Overnight: Hotel Borgo Di Cortefreda, Boccioleto Resort, Villa Sabolini, Hotel Garden Sienna, or similar in Tuscany
Day 7: Siena • Tuscan Estate Dinner
Monday, October 26, 2026
This morning, travel to Siena, the heart of Tuscany, where a local guide awaits you for a walking tour in the Old Town. The highlight is the Piazza del Campo, the seashell-shaped square on which the famous horse race, the Palio, takes place each year. Enjoy lunch on your own. Later this afternoon, travel to a lovely Tuscan estate. Learn about truffles and enjoy delicious tastings of oil and truffle butter bruschetta, salami, pecorino cheese, and wines from the estate, with dinner to follow. Later, travel to Florence and check into your hotel for a two-night stay.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Overnight: Hotel Villa Neroli or similar in Florence
Day 8: Florence
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Today, enjoy a Florence city tour, featuring a visit to the Academy Gallery to see Michelangelo’s original statue of David, an incredible sight. View the cathedral to see Giotto’s Bell Tower and the Baptistery of San Giovanni with its impressive Gates of Paradise. These buildings demonstrate the traditions of Florentine art and architecture from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Also see the open-air museum of Piazza della Signoria and the Basilica di Santa Croce, which houses the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo. Enjoy a farewell dinner this evening.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Overnight: Hotel Villa Neroli or similar in Florence
Day 9: Departure
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Ciao! Transfer to the Florence airport for your flight home with wonderful memories of Tuscany and Florence. Want to share your memories with other travelers? Post your favorite pictures in the Our State Travel Club Facebook group!
Meals: Breakfast
Tour Rates:
Discounted rate*: $5,249 per person (based on double occupancy)
Regular rate: $5,349 per person (based on double occupancy)
Single rate: $6,349 ($6,249 with booking discount*)
Click here for information on payment schedule, cancellation policy, and trip insurance.
*Make your final payment by check prior to the final payment due date and receive a booking discount of $100 per person.
For Reservations & More Information:
Premier World Discovery
Melissa Grant
(877) 953-8687, ext. 238 (Pacific Time)
mgrant@premierworlddiscovery.com
Online booking option: Click here and use the booking number 207112 to make your deposit online in just a few minutes.
This tour is rated Activity Level 4 of 4 — Very Active. For more information on physical requirements and what to expect on an Our State trip, click here.
Explore More
Get excited for your trip and learn more about your destination with our curated list of books, films, music, and more.
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Read
The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: Recipes From Our Italian Kitchen by Frances and Edward Mayes (2012) — Inspired by Frances Mayes’s New York Times best-selling memoir Under the Tuscan Sun, the author and her husband, Edward, share recipes, anecdotes, and pieces of culinary culture from their second home in Italy.
Inferno by Dan Brown (2013) — Featuring Robert Langdon of The Da Vinci Code, this historical thriller finds the Harvard symbologist in Florence, where he and a young doctor must decipher hidden codes within Renaissance artifacts and Dante’s poem “Inferno.”
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (1961) — This biographical novel explores the life of Michelangelo — whose iconic statue David stands in Florence — through the Renaissance artist’s own letters and Irving Stone’s meticulous research, which included years of apprenticing with an Italian marble sculptor.
An Italian Affair by Caroline Montague (2018) — In 1937, widow Alessandra inherits a family villa in Tuscany and moves there with her daughter, Diana, to start over. As war breaks out, Alessandra’s son — still in Britain — fights against the fascist regime threatening his ancestral home. Meanwhile, in Italy, Alessandra opens the villa to those affected by the war, and Diana falls for a local man with something to hide.
Watch
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003; Disney+, rent online) — The film adaptation of the memoir by Frances Mayes — a part-time North Carolina resident! — stars Diane Lane as the divorced writer who, on a whim, decides to buy and renovate a villa in Tuscany.
Tea With Mussolini (1999; Amazon Prime Video) — Starring Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Cher, this heartfelt drama tells the story of an Italian boy raised by a group of British and American women living in Tuscany before and during World War II.
A Room With a View (1985; Max, rent online) — Based on the novel by E.M. Forster, this Oscar-winning film follows Lucy Honeychurch, played by Helena Bonham Carter, as she leaves the restrictive culture of Edwardian England behind to visit Florence, where she meets free-spirited George.
“Tuscany” on Dream of Italy (2019; free on PBS) — Explore Tuscany in this 26-minute travel documentary: Learn how Chianti Classico wine is produced, see how olives are harvested for oil, watch fabrics being made on 100-year-old looms, and more.
Listen
Cieli di Toscana by Andrea Bocelli (2001) — In his eighth album — whose name translates to Tuscan Skies in honor of his homeland — operatic tenor Andrea Bocelli focuses on the pop side of the crossover style that earned him worldwide acclaim.
Giacomo Puccini — Tuscany’s most famous composer is best known for his operas La Bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, which continue to be performed at venues around the world.
“Cooking in Tuscany, and in Your Own Home” on Total Tuscany (Episode 92; Spotify, Apple Podcasts) — Hosts Travis Justice and Pat Campagna are joined by culinary enthusiast and cooking instructor Chicca Maione, who uses her online classes to help others re-create the flavors of Tuscany in their own homes.
