From the crisp Chianti Classico wine and the fresh tasting extra virgin olive oil, to the organic pasta we 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 made complete with two nights in Florence – the birthplace of the Renaissance and the world capital of art in the 15th century.
April 29 – May 7, 2025
Package Includes:
- Round-trip airfare – Raleigh-Durham International Airport or Charlotte Douglas International Airport
- Air departure taxes, fuel, and fees
- Seven nights first class hotel accommodations
- 14 Meals: seven breakfasts, three lunches, and four dinners
- Our State host
- Wine and beer reception
- Professional tour director
- Motorcoach transportation
- Admissions and sightseeing per itinerary
- Baggage handling at the hotels- one checked bag per person.
Accomodations:
- 5 Nights Tuscany: Hotel Borgo Di Cortefreda, Boccioleto Resort, Villa Sabolini, Hotel Garden Sienna or similar – Tuscany
- 2 nights Florence: Hotel Villa Neroli or similar
Hotels are subject to change. On some dates alternative hotels may be used.
Itinerary Highlights:
- Two night stay in Florence
- Five night stay in Tuscany
- Tuscan estate dinner
- Pasta making cooking 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
Detailed Itinerary:
DAY 1: DEPART USA
Board your overnight flight to Europe.
DAY 2: ARRIVE FLORENCE – TUSCANY
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.
Overnight: Tuscany
Meals: D
DAY 3: ORGANIC COOKING CLASS – OLIVE OIL EXPERIENCE
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.
Overnight: Tuscany
Meals: B, L, D
DAY 4: VOLTERRA & SAN GIMIGNANO
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 gelateria in Italy that produces unique flavors of gelato which are famous world-wide. Later, visit a local Tuscan farmhouse and enjoy dinner featuring typical Tuscan dishes paired with local wine.
Overnight: Tuscany
Meals: B, L, D
DAY 5: LAKE TRASIMENO – ISLAND MAGGIORE – UMBRIA REGION
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.
Overnight: Tuscany
Meals: B, L
DAY 6: TUSCANY AS YOU WISH – PISA & LUCCA OPTIONAL
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.
Overnight: Tuscany
Meals: B
DAY 7: SIENA – TUSCAN ESTATE DINNER – FLORENCE
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.
Overnight: Florence
Meals: B, D
DAY 8: FLORENCE SIGHTSEEING
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. The evening is at leisure for dinner on your own.
Overnight: Florence
Meals: B
DAY 9: FLORENCE – CIAO AND HOMEWARD BOUND
Ciao! Transfer to Florence Airport for your flight home with wonderful memories of Tuscany and Florence
Tour Rates:
$4,999 per person with a booking discount* (based on double occupancy)
$5,099 per person regular rate (based on double occupancy)
Single supplement $950
*Booking discount applies when you pay your final payment by check. Save $100 per person.
Please ask about our no risk deposit. Book now and your deposit is risk free with no change fees until the final payment due date.
For more information or to make reservations:
Premier World Discovery
Melissa Grant
(877) 953-8687, ext. 238 (Pacific Time)
mgrant@premierworlddiscovery.com
Online Booking Option: Save time and postage and secure your seat for this group departure. Click here & use the Booking Number (#188977 – Web Code) to make your deposit online in just a few minutes.
Additional Information:
What to expect on an Our State trip:
Traveling with a group of Our State readers is an enriching, enjoyable, and safe way to experience new cultures, people, and places. In addition to the informative narration from the tour director and local guides, an Our State host will be available to assist in making your trip successful.
We usually fly to our destination, then travel by a comfortable motor coach with anywhere from 35 to 50 people who appreciate learning about new regions. Your entire trip will be guided, planned, and arranged for your upmost enjoyment. Many activities are things you can only do because you are traveling with Our State. There is some free time built in for you to explore on your own.
You can also choose not to attend an activity if you prefer something different. Please let your tour director know if you are not coming on a scheduled day.
Many meals are included. Where you have meals on your own, suggestions will be provided.
Most of the motor coaches have restrooms but every effort will be made to make regular rest stops.
One of the best parts of traveling with Our State is that you will meet new people, many of whom you will already have much in common with since most travelers read the magazine. Many guests often develop friendships that go on long after the tour is finished. Our State trips are generally filled with dynamic and friendly people.
Physical requirements:
Our tours are physically active but not meant to be strenuous.
Please be aware you will be on your feet, walking and standing for much of the day, indoors and outdoors, in all weather conditions and terrains. There will also be extended time on the motor coach when we travel from place to place. If there are any mobility issues you will need to have an able-bodied traveling companion to accompany and assist you.
Most days are moderately paced with approximately two to three total miles of walking, possibly including some hills and stairs.
We regret that we’re unable to provide individual assistance to guests with walking difficulties or other personal needs. The responsibility of the Trip Director who accompanies your trip is to ensure that the larger group enjoys a relaxing and informative journey, and he or she cannot be relied upon to provide ongoing individual assistance to any one guest. Guests requiring such individualized assistance must be accompanied by an able-bodied companion who can provide it.
If you have additional questions, please call Our State’s Travel Director Amy Wood Pasquini at 336-286-0600, or email apasquini@ourstate.com.
