On arrival in Florence, you are met by your Tour Director and are taken to your hotel in Chianti for a seven-night stay. The Chianti Region is filled with wonderful vineyards and charming hilltop towns. This evening we enjoy a Welcome Dinner of Tuscan favorites and locally produced wine with your fellow travelers. (D)

Radda in Chianti

After breakfast, travel through the surrounding hilly landscape, dotted with olive groves, cypresses, vineyards, and palaces. Arrive at a lovely Tuscan Estate, where you will be greeted with a welcome drink. Next, enjoy a truffle hunt with access to a protected area on the property. Following this Truffle Hunt, enjoy delicious tastings of oil and truffle butter bruschetta, salami, pecorino, and wines from the estate. Later this afternoon, we travel to Florence, where a local expert guide awaits you for a walking tour of Florence. Visit the Accademia Gallery & Museum to see Michelangelo’s magnificent Statue of David, an awesome sight. See the Cathedral to see Giotto’s Belltower and Baptistry 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 & Santa Croce, which houses the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo. The insightful walking tour includes a stroll across the famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge. Dinner is included tonight at a local restaurant in Florence. Return to your hotel in Chianti. (B,D)

Today enjoy an Organic Cooking & Pasta Making Class and lunch at Castello di Vicchiomaggi, located at the top of a hill overlooking the valley of Greve in Chianti. You will be greeted with a welcome drink to enjoy while the chef discusses the class and food to be made, and his recipes. The restaurant staff will assist you with putting on your aprons and chef hats and let the cooking fun begin! At the end of the cooking class, you will get to eat and enjoy what you have prepared for lunch. Later this afternoon, continue to Volpaia Castle for a Wine Tour & Tasting. The winery is organically farmed for producing extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, and Chianti Classico Wine. Enjoy tastings of Vin Santo (holy wine) and Cantucci (Biscotti). Dinner is included this evening. (B,L,D)

Travel to the incredibly picturesque Val d’Orcia Region filled with ancient villages, gorgeous farmhouses, isolated homesteads, roads lined with cypress trees, fabulous vineyards, and olive groves. Stop in Pienza, a lovely medieval town overlooking the Tuscan hills, to visit a local cheese producer for a delicious typical Pecorino Cheese tasting. Continue to a traditional farmhouse in Montalcino, where you will enjoy a multi-sensory experience of music and wine! Four wines will be matched with music tracks selected by a local Sommelier. You will have time for lunch on your own in Montalcino before continuing on to beautiful Siena, where a local guide awaits you for a walking tour of 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. Later, just outside Siena, we will visit a local Tuscan farmhouse with an opportunity to meet the owner and enjoy dinner featuring typical Tuscany dishes paired with their local wines. (B,D)

Today we travel to San Gimignano, the epitome of a Tuscan hill town, where nobles built more 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. Taste the saffron & pine nuts flavored gelato, a registered trademark. Continue to Volterra, another ancient and beautiful hilltop Italian city. Enjoy free time in Volterra and lunch at a family-run farmhouse specializing in saffron production. Dinner is included at the hotel this evening. (B,L,D)

Today is at your leisure to relax at the hotel or explore on your own. An optional tour will be available today. Dinner is included at a local restaurant this evening. (B,D)

Begin your morning with a hearty 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. Free time to explore and walk around the medieval town of Tuoro, considered one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Next, enjoy a boat cruise to the Island Maggiore, where we will have lunch at a traditional restaurant located on the lake. Tonight a special Farewell Dinner is planned. (B,L,D)

Isola Maggiore (Greater Island) of Lake Trasimeno with a small village waterfront and the medieval St Micheal Archangel church

Today transfer to Florence for your same-day flight connection home with wonderful memories of your Culinary Journey Through Tuscany. On arrival in Chicago, board your motorcoach to Champaign. (B)