Day 1: Arrival to Castelfranco Veneto – description at the end
Arrival to Venice Airport and transfer on your own to Castelfranco Veneto check in at the hotel. The town is ideally located for visits to Venice and the surrounding areas but is cheaper and more genuinely Italian than Venice.

Day 2:
Spumante and Grappa from Bassano

Meeting with tour leader and start of our excursion. A short bus-ride brings us to a family-owned winery that produces 16 million bottles annually of Spumante, or Italian champagne. Underneath the beautiful Villa and its elegant garden there are 1.5 km of wine-cellar corridors, where Spumante is stored for 3-7 years. After a guided tour, you'll enjoy a glass of spumante
We stop in the small country village Crocetta del Montello, where you enjoy a light lunch in a typical Italian osteria, where the locals gather for light meals and a glass of wine. In the afternoon we visit Bassano di Grappa, the home of grappa, which you'll have a chance to taste, before returning to the hotel.

Day 3: Exploring on your own

Day on your own, the tour leader gives advises on how reach Venice or other small towns in the area. Castelfranco Veneto is perfectly located for excursions all around the Venice area: a day tour to Venice, a wine excursion to Valdobbiadene and the Conegliano hills visiting wine producers and eating. The area is very well known for it's gastronomic specialities and the restaurants organise meals with tastings of the different products typical of the region. Grappa from Veneto is known and consumed all over Italy and abroad, it is considered one of the best digestive drinks by Italians. The area is dotted with characteristic, small towns surrounded by defensive walls and the museums and castles are worth a visit. One of the most famous architects from the middle ages “Andrea Palladio‿ lived in this region and constructed many villas which inspired the new romantic style of the southern states of the USA which were built in the 1800's.

Day 4: Veneto-Sirmione-Buttapietra-Castelvetro

We leave the northern Veneto, travelling west we reach the southern part of Lake Garda and make a stop for a cup of cappuccino and a stroll in Sirmione. Before lunch we visit a rice producer, where a renowned chef and his father have a restaurant in a restored 17th-century water-mill. You'll enjoy a specially prepared lunch featuring fish from the mill-pond and freshly picked vegetables, accompanied by Valpolicella wine. We go further south entering the region of Emilia Romagna and reach our hotel just south of Modena in the small town of Castelvetro.

Day 5: Parmesan cheese-Balsamic vinegar

We start our day by visiting a Parmesan cheese producer, after the visit we drive to Modena, here we stop at a famous producer of the "Aceto Balsamico"- Balsamic vinegar. We try some drops of this special product and eat a light lunch of typical local products. Later you have time on your own to explore Modena before we return to our hotel.
Day 6: Parma ham - Salsomaggiore Terme - Monterosso (Cinque Terre) We start our day visiting a producer of the other famous product from this area "Prosciutto di Parma" - Parma ham. After this visit we drive from the Parma area to the hills of Salsomaggiore Terme, to one of the most important herbal farms in the European Community. It extends on an area of 25.000 acres, 50% of which (corresponding to 50.000 square meters) being open to the public, with over 450 species of aromatic plants on display in an unforgettable natural environment, with the added bonuses of cultural, gastronomic entertainment.

We have a guided tour of this fascinating garden, a tasting of herb infusions made according to Garden's exclusive recipes, accompanied by typical traditional sweets, finishing with a lunch based on the world famous, traditional Parma cuisine. After the visit our bus brings us towards the Cinque Terre area and down to the small charming town of Monterosso where we will where we will spend 2 nights.

Day 7: Exploring the Cinque Terre. In this area the best way to move around is on foot along the many pre-marked routes or using the train to reach the nearby towns and walk back.

Day 8: Cinque Terre-Greve in Chianti. We leave this beautiful area and travel to the Tuscany region, we make a stop for lunch just south of Florence at a farm producing olive oil and make a tasting combined with fresh dishes from this area. We drive on to Greve in Chianti where we stay a couple of nights.

Day 9: Chianti - San Gimignano. Today we make a tour of the Chianti district to see valleys and small villages, castles on hilltops, olive groves and vineyards all set in a hilly landscape typical for this area. We make a stop for a wine tasting along the road. Than we travel through the beautiful landscape of Tuscany to reach San Gimignano a well preserved medieval town. From far away you can notice high towers above the city walls, there are 15 remaining from the 72 once standing. We will make a city walk in the middle of antique noble houses, narrow lanes and squares.

Day 10: Greve - Siena - San Quirico D'Orcia. In the morning we drive to Siena with a local guide, we have a sightseeing tour of the famous piazza "Il Campo" and the Dome. After lunch on your own the bus meets us to drive down south reaching San Quirico D'Orcia in the afternoon, for accommodation in a Country hotel. Dinner included.

Day 11: Chiusi - Montepulciano wine - Pienza.
Between 600 - 400 BC Chiusi was the most important Eutruscan city. In AD 296 it was captured by the Romans and the name changed to Clusium. It is world famous for the archeological discoveries that are now kept in the Etruscan museum. Under the city there are remains dating from both Roman and Eutruscan times. We visit these sites after the museum when we stroll through the underground Eutruscan labyrinth that leads to the Roman water cistern. We stop for lunch just outside Montepulciano at a wine producer and in the afternoon we visit the charming little town of Pienza, built in the 15th century by Pope Pius II, a perfectly preserved renaissance town

Day 12: San Quirico D'Orcia-Pienza-Rome. On the way down south we stop for a visit in the little charming town of Pienza , built in the 15century by the Pope Pius II, a perfect renaissance town preserved as it was from the first beginning. A stop in Orvieto is also possible on the way to Rome.

Day 13: Half day sightseeing and farewell dinner. A local guide meets us at the hotel for a sightseeing tour during which we stroll by, the Colosseum, Forum Romanum, Campioglio and Piazza Venezia. In the evening we have our farewell dinner and our tour leader says goodbye.

Day 14: Departure For those having a return flight, departure to airport, for those that want to add extra nights in Rome or other locations, we can give suggestions.

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