8 Days Tuscany & Cinque Terre Tour Package
Duration: 8 Days / 7 Nights
Priced From: $3490 pp.dbl.occ.
Dates: May, Jun, Sep, Oct

Laughing at the enoteca while debating the merits of the olive oil flavors you’ve just tasted… triumphantly ordering gelato using the new Italian phrases you’ve just mastered… feeling the breeze while bicycling on the city walls of Lucca… savoring the delectable prosciutto and Florentine cheeses you’ve just chosen from a local market for lunch – or the fruit of the vineyards you’ve just walked through. This is Culturious… and this is Tuscany… now, your Tuscany. Maximum group size is 16.

Hotel: Gallery Hotel Art, Florence, Italy
Meals Included: Dinner
Activity Level: Today’s exploration of Florence is on foot, on flat sidewalks and at a leisurely pace, with many stops.

Day 2: Inside a City of Secrets
Michelangelo's shadow looms large in Firenze. But how... why... where? A Florentine art history scholar tells all. The Uffizi – founded by the Medicis to display their countless treasures – reveals a few secrets of its own. Getting up close and personal with Botticelli’s Birth of Venus or Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo – in a frame designed by the Master himself – can’t help but touch your soul… and the artist lurking within. We've all got passionate interests, and you'll have time to explore yours in Florence today. Next up is a visit to the Galleria dell'Accademia, home of Michelangelo's famed David. By midday you'll understand how art and history are inextricably intertwined in Florence. Continue a chat about art… and the Renaissance... and all things Florentine with phrases picked up in today's basic Italiano lesson… bellisimo!
Hotel: Gallery Hotel Art, Florence, Italy
Meals Included: Breakfast
Activity Level: Moderate amounts of walking today, with many steps.

Day 3: Living the Florentine Life
In the Tuscan hills overlooking Florence, take a walk that begins in the village of Fiesole. Wind over hilltops past ancient stone quarries to Maiano and a cappuccino… ah, Tuscany travel memories. With a local guide, stroll through Florence’s Mercato Central, where you might try sampling traditional Florentine street food – lampredotto sandwiches… fresh fruit... porchetta… gelato… Take a walk along the cobbled streets of the Oltrarno, its Renaissance palaces harboring salacious scandals and murky intrigues… You’re in the thick of Florentine life in the old San Niccolo district’s bustling squares and artisans’ workshops. Restoration specialist Bettina Schindler-Pratesi shares the secrets of her work… giving new life to old ivory, bone and mother-of-pearl. Dine as you please on your own this evening, perhaps a taste of vino and local cheeses at an enoteca…

Hotel: Gallery Hotel Art, Florence, Italy
Meals Included: Breakfast
Activity Level: Today includes an extended hike on hilly footpaths (about 90 minutes), easy walking on flat streets and sidewalks.

Day 4: The Way to Cinque Terre
The road winds and twists and turns as you travel toward the Gulf of Genoa. Take a winding road deep into a mountain to see where celebrated Carrara marble, considered the finest on earth, has been quarried since Roman times. In a hidden gem along the way – the old Toscana village of Colonnata – live like a local and try a lardo at a trattoria. Reaching Portovenere on the Gulf of Poets, you’ll instantly get why this stunning Roman-Byzantine town was named for the goddess Venus. Colorful houses cascade along a hillside against the azure sea… the black-and-white-striped Gothic church of San Pietro perched above... images captured as you cruise Portovenere to the Cinque Terre village of Monterosso – and not soon forgotten...

Hotel: Hotel Porto Roca, Monterosso al Mare, Italy
Meals Included: Breakfast and dinner
Activity Level: Minimal walking on a hillside paved with stones.

Day 5: Discovering “The Five Lands”
Gazing over the sea from your hotel perched above Monterosso al Mare, life is beautiful. Perhaps a dip in the sea from the private beach of Porto Roca? Dotted with lemon trees and calla lilies, Monterosso is one of five remote fishing villages strung like jewels along the coast – Cinque Terre, “the five lands.” They’re now linked to the outside world by rail, but for centuries were accessible only by sea… or on foot, the best way to appreciate life in what is truly a world of its own. If you wish, take one of the world’s most spectacular coastal hikes, through terraced vineyards overlooking the sea from Monterosso to Vernazza – the “pearl of Cinque Terre.” If not, you'll travel by train, which is an experience unto itself. Fall in love with village life… indelible seascape memories… and lunch in a sidewalk café, alive with the flavors of local wines, citrus, olives, and the catch of the day. The remainder of the day is free to do as you please, find your own pursuits... and what could be better than that.

Hotel: Hotel Porto Roca, Monterosso al Mare, Italy
Meals Included: Breakfast
Activity Level: Today includes fairly strenuous walks on uneven terrain between the villages; those who prefer not to walk can take the train.

Day 6: Tasting Tuscany
A jog, or a swim, is an excellent way to start the day before a drive through the Tuscan Hills to Lucca. If you’re wondering if Tuscany is all about the food, a hands-on lesson with experts in the art of making fresh pasta at Fattoria Colle Verde, one of the region’s foremost wineries and olive oil producers, may shed some light. After a little testing and a little cooking, cap your pasta-making debut with a little virgin olive oil tasting… a little Tuscan wine tasting… and more than a little pasta tasting at lunch. You can take a walk through olive groves and across rolling hills for a taste of life in the Royal Villa of Marlia – picture Napoleon’s sister strolling the grounds (she lived here), or artist John Singer Sargent (a frequent guest) painting in the garden... or head straight to the walled city of Lucca, your home for the next two nights.

Hotel: Hotel Ilaria, Lucca, Italy
Meals Included: Breakfast and lunch
Activity Level: Today includes moderate walking through olive orchards and hills, and along irregular dirt paths.

Day 7: A Feast for the Senses in Lucca
Medieval Lucca’s red-brick walls shut out traffic and the modern world… leaving a peaceful community that still revolves around its original Roman street plan. And because it’s topographically flat – unlike most Tuscan towns – Lucca is a cyclist’s dream. One of the best ways to explore to explore this colorful, elegant, historically powerful and culturally rich city is by bike – zipping down its narrow lanes… across its ancient piazzas… even along the top of its massive walls! And if you're not interested in bicycling, there's so much to see and do in town. Delighting all the senses is a hallmark of the Tuscan Hills… so a local winery just outside of town is the perfect venue for tasting local wine, sipping prosecco, sampling a canapé... perfect for reflections on a week well spent. And to finish it off, a memorable dinner of Tuscan specialties in an absolutely magical spot… under the setting Tuscan sun.

Hotel: Hotel Ilaria, Lucca, Italy
Meals Included: Breakfast and dinner
Activity Level: Today includes a bicycle tour of approximately three miles, along terrain that is mostly flat and paved, with frequent stops.

Day 8: Arrivederci, Tuscany…
As you return to Florence through those magical hills for your journey home, the rich flavors of Tuscany travel, Culturious-style, linger in your memory. And there they’ll stay… warm and inviting… till your next visit.

Meals Included: Breakfast

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