Culinary Vacation in the Piedmont region of Italy

I plan and accompany clients on small group tours of Italy. I strive to provide a first class experience with a combination of private tours and free time to make your own memories.  This is luxury travel with 4 and 5 star hotels or villas, privat...

I plan and accompany clients on small group tours of Italy. I strive to provide a first class experience with a combination of private tours and free time to make your own memories.  This is luxury travel with 4 and 5 star hotels or villas, private transfers from the airport to the hotel, private tours and first class train travel. I limit my tours to 8 guests in order to provide personalized service. Since my  group is small I can customize the trip to explore special interests of my guests and participate in activities that would not be practical for individuals or for larger groups.

• My small group tours have included Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Pisa,  Pompeii, Lake Como and the Piedmont region.  The exact itinerary is determined as I customize the trip for individual clients. 
• Discover Italy with activities that include a cooking school or cooking class, dinner in a private home, stay in an 18th Century Villa, visit to wineries, truffle hunting with a dog, visits to artisan workshops, big game fishing in the Mediterranean, test drive of a Ferrari, boat tours , opera, gondola rides with a musician, tours of churches, ancient Rome  and many more depending on the interests of the client.
• Since 2008 I have accompanied more than 100 clients on small group tours of Italy. I utilize Delta Vacations for airfare and hotels whenever possible. Transfers between cities is done by private van with a professional driver or by train.
• I am knowledgeable about Italian wines. I understand the different wine classifications--DOCG,DOC,IGT and Super Tuscan. The grape variety, the climate and the soil contribute to the wine and therefore wines are specific to each region in Italy.  I accompany clients to wineries in several regions of  Italy.  My relationship with one winery in Tuscany has enabled me organize wine school events in Wisconsin.  The winery sends a member of the family and bring the wine and clients are able to enjoy a fun evening while learning to choose and pair Italian wine.
• I have provided clients with cooking class in Florence that includes a trip to the central market to purchase ingredients.
• I arrange a cooking class in a private home with a couple who has conducted cooking classes for a cruise line.  On a different night the same couple prepares a gourmet meal for us in their home. 
• I book my clients in small villa in with beautiful gardens and an outdoor pizza oven.  A pizza maker from Genoa comes to the villa to prepare a pizza party for us the night we arrive.
• I accompany clients to a 18th Century villa in the Piedmont region for a Culinary Vacation.  An Italian family owns and operates the villa and a cooking school utilizes their venue for our accommodations and classroom for cooking classes. We enjoy home-cooked meals for  breakfasts and most dinners with the Italian family who lives at the villa. We enjoy the same meal the Italian family is having and it is truly cultural immersion.  Cooking classes lasts about two hours daily and the rest of the time we explore the region--wineries, cheese town, truffle hunting, and a chestnut farm. 
• In Venice I accompany our clients on a Venetian Dinner cruise that features a 5 course meal with a choice of seafood or meat.
• Women who wish to travel but do not have a travel companion enjoy the companionship and security of travel with my small group.

In addition to the small group tours in Italy I have worked with clients to arrange other travel needs including trips to Maui, cruises, trips to Australia, South America, France and Indonesia.

 I have also worked with  university groups for learning abroad booking airfare, hotels and trains.