7 Days Tuscany – Private Small Group Journey
Highlights Include: Tuscan Cooking Class, Wine Tasting in Castello di Verrazzano, Olive Oil tasting, and Siena.
Specially customized for private small groups of 8 to 16 guests.
Food & Wine of Tuscany
DAY 1 ARRIVE IN ITALY: Arrive in Florence. After you make your way through customs, meet with your private tour manager in the arrivals area. Shortly afterwards, begin your exciting journey in Italy! Drive to Figline Valdarno and your hotel, Villa Casagrande. Enjoy some free time to relax or explore the local village. Later this afternoon, enjoy a visit of the noble floor of the Villa, an artistic treasure of great value, followed by a wine tasting featuring wine produced at the Villa with accompanying appetizers. “Fattoria Casagrande has a long tradition in the cultivation of vines from which it gets its wines.”
Hotel Name: Villa Casagrande
DAY 2 EXCURSION TO FLORENCE: After breakfast, depart for Florence. On arrival, enjoy a guided walking tour. Explore Florence, the “Cradle of the Renaissance. Visit the fortress palace of Palazzo Vecchio, and see Signoria Square with its many famous statues, like the Fountain of Neptune, and a reproduction of Michelangelo’s David. In the afternoon, enjoy some free time for shopping before visiting Florence’s oldest and best gelateria to taste the GELATO! Return to the Villa for overnight. (B)
Hotel Name: Villa Casagrande.
DAY 3 TUSCAN COOKING CLASS: After breakfast, enjoy a private group Tuscan cooking class in the ancient kitchen of the Countess. Learn the secrets of traditional Tuscan cooking as well as savor the dishes you will prepare. The chef will introduce you to the typical Tuscan dishes & Italian specialties. During the private 3-hour course, participants will gain practical knowledge of the basic principles of traditional cooking, like pasta, stews, bread, and of course, pizza. Afterwards, enjoy lunch based on the dishes you have prepared yourself! The remainder of your afternoon is at leisure. (B/L)
Hotel Name: Villa Casagrande
DAY 4 CHIANTI: After breakfast, depart and travel through the Chianti Hills with short stops in small villages like Radda and Greve in Chianti. Once in Greve, visit Castello di Verrazzano. There is a great tradition of wine-making here. Take a guided tour of the historical, but still working cellars, and walk around their Renaissance gardens of the Villa. Your tour is followed by a guided tasting of a selection of the best wines from organic farming accompanied by a wide choice of gastronomic specialties prepared with raw ingredients from Tuscany, served in the Hosteria of the winery. Tasting is accompanied by Gran tagliere Verrazzano: PDO Tuscan ham, finocchiona (a typical salami flavored with fennel seeds), wild boar salami, head cheese with lemon zest, crostino with lard from Greve Valley, Tuscan crostino, tasting of “Balsamico Verrazzano” on pecorino (sheep cheese), caprino (fresh goat cheese) with farm jellies. Afterwards, return to the villa for overnight. (B/L)
Hotel Name: Villa Casagrande
DAY 5 SAN GIMIGNANO & OLIVE OIL: This morning, depart and make your way to San Gimignano. You will have free time in San Gimignano, with its towered silhouette rising from the hills of the Upper Elsa Valley, facing the land of Volterra and positioned right on one of the most important stretches of the medieval Via Francigena. Later, make your way to visit a traditional farm, “Fattoria San Donato”, a medieval hamlet in the San Gimignano area, one of the best areas of production of extra virgin olive oil in Tuscany. Here you will get an introduction to the world of extra virgin olive oil in the area, the techniques of olive collection, the kinds of trees available in Tuscany and the “mentality” of the local olive farmers. You will discover all the secrets for a good extra virgin olive oil. The olive oil tasting is accompanied by some local olive oil-based specialties, integrated by a light lunch including a selection of cheeses, a mix of charcuterie, a special crostini with Saffron and ricotta, Bruschetta with garlic and Extra-virgin Olive oil, olives and mild chili pepper made with Vernaccia vinaigrette, and a selection of oil vegetables. Later, return to the villa for overnight. (B/L)
Hotel Name: Villa Casagrande
DAY 6 EXCURSION TO SIENA: After breakfast at the hotel, depart for Siena and a half-day guided tour of this unique city with the red brick paving of the Piazza del Campo – with the shell-shaped geometry of the Piazza, suggestively neo-Gothic and cathartic – commanded by the Duomo and surrounded by narrow streets and alleys. Sweet-smelling Trattorias, the sounds of the artisans and spouting fountains; Fontebrande and the mystery of the Diana, a famous river underneath Siena. These are the reasons why Siena opens up its heart more than any other place, as the famous inscription reads on the Porta di Camollia. Enjoy plenty of free time for lunch or shopping in Siena before returning to the villa. (B)
Hotel Name: Villa Casagrande
DAY 7 FLORENCE/USA: After breakfast, group transfer to Florence airport for your return flight to the USA, arriving home the same day. (B)
Customize to Suit
The above suggested itinerary can be customized to suit; more or less meals, different cities and/or sightseeing based on your clients’ interests. You name it, our expert group specialist professionals will put it together for you. Please call 1-800-818-8455, or simply complete the group request form, and we’ll get back to you with your proposal.
Inclusions
- 6 nights Villa Casagrande
- Breakfast daily, except day of arrival
- Wine experience: visit of the Noble floor of the Villa and Wine tasting
- 3-hour Tuscan Cooking class at the Villa
- Wine tour and tasting at Castello di Verrazzano
- Olive oil tour and tasting in San Gimignano area
- Luxury motorcoach with services of a professional driver
- Professional Tour Manager
- Sightseeing, special features and scenic highlights as indicated in the itinerary, including admission charges
- Portfolio of travel documents
- 24-hour local customer service while traveling in Italy
Private Departures
Please Call 1-800-818-8455 for Group Rates on this Custom Group Journey
This suggested itinerary can be customized to suit; more or less meals, different cities and/or sightseeing based on your clients’ interests. You name it, our expert group specialist professionals will put it together for you. Please call 1-800-818-8455, or simply complete the group request form, and we’ll get back to you with your proposal.
Group Discounts
On custom journeys, discounts vary depending on group requirements. Typically, travel with a group of 20 and the 21st traveler receives a 100% discount* off the land portion of the vacation price. A second traveler receives a 100% discount* off the land on a group of 40 paying passengers.
*Per person prices are land only and based on two people sharing a room. Above dates represent “land start” date. Air: Please note that airfares are not included in the prices above. Journeys Connect can quote you the lowest possible GROUP airfare available on the day that you book. Minimum of 10 seats from same gateway. Less than 10 air seats will require full payment at time of booking. Single Room Supplement: On Request. Triple Room Reduction: On Request. Group discounts cannot be combined with our Triple Room discounts. Not valid on Specialty, Customized Vacations or River Cruises, optional extensions, extra nights, airfares, taxes and fees, flight supplements, or airport transfers. Other restrictions may apply. All passengers’ names must be advised before the discount is applied. *Group discount is on a twin-share basis only.
Contact Journeys Connect
Journeys Connect group and specialty services are available exclusively on a Business-to-Business basis, to travel industry professionals. If you are an individual interested in a Group Journey for 8 or more passengers, please do browse our collection and then contact your preferred Travel Agent and ask them to book through Journeys Connect.
Travel professionals, please call and speak with one of our Group Specialty Professionals:
1-800-818-8458