Tuscany Highlights Package Tour

The Tuscany Highlights Package Tour has been developed for those clients interested in seeing all of the most popular destinations in Tuscany, without the crowds and without being on a bus tour where you feel just like a sheep.  This tour caters for private groups in numbers of two, four and six.  The style is intimate and there is a real opportunity to relax and see Tuscany the way you want.  Ideally, this is for people who want to experience a little of everything Tuscany has to offer and it provides a great overview of the area.

Taking in the main tourist attractions of Florence, Siena, San Gimignano and the Cinque Terre, you are based centrally in Lucca and see all of these places at your own pace.  There is plenty of room to relax in your own apartment and you are not confined to a hotel room (and best of all, there is no packing and unpacking and checking in and out of hotels).  Local restaurants have been selected because of the quality of their food and service.  Most are local favourites and a good sign of a great restaurant is when the locals are dining there.  This tour places a real emphasis on enjoying thefood and wines of the area and incorporates wine and olive oil tasting as well as cooking demonstrations.

Available dates:

Saturday 9th June 2007 - Saturday 9th June 2007 (sold out)

Saturday 7th July 2007 - Saturday 14th July 2007

Saturday 29th September 2007 - Saturday 6th October 2007

 

Itinerary:

Day 1.  Saturday Arrive at Lucca after 2.00pm.  Settle into your luxury apartment and relax.  This will be a full itinerary for the whole week, so you will need to be fully rested for the adventure instore. After an afternoon at leisure exploring the city there is a welcome dinner at one of Lucca's premier restaurants: Gli Orti.  For this evening, the menu will feature local specialites as well as wine and coffee. D	Apartment Sergiusti - sitting room
Day 2.  Sunday Breakfast in the apartment consists of hot, freshly ground Bei & Nannini coffee and fresh pastries from one of Lucca's best pasticceria. Breakfast is followed by a morning walking tour of Lucca's walls and the historic centre of Lucca.  This tour ends at Bar Colombino for lunch. Bar Colombino is Lucca's newest and trendiest restaurant.  It is located on the walls of Lucca in a renovated barracks from the times when the walls of Lucca were a strategic defence as opposed to a tourist attraction. Following lunch, we return to the apartment where the first of our cooking schools commences.  This is a four hour demonstration with active participation preparing five courses that you, personally have selected.  The best part of the cooking school is eating the incredible Tuscan specialties that you have prepared.  Menus need to be selected at least a week prior to your arrival and a typical menu is as follows: Apetiser:  Crostini Salsiccia, stracchino e semi di finocchio (crostini with fresh sausage, soft cheese and fennel seeds). First course:    Pappardelle alla lepre (freshly made large, flat noodles with a wild rabbit sauce) Main course:   Uccelletti con le olive (small fowl cooked with olives) Side dishe:   Zucchine, pomodori, foglie di cavolo ripieni (zucchini and tomato-stuffed cabbage leaves) Desert:   Panna cotta con frutti di bosco o cioccolato (cooked cream with wild berries or chocolate) Wines are selected and provided to accompany each course. B L D	The walls of Lucca Fresh ingredients ready for pasta making
Day 3.  Monday To ensure our early start today, we feast on a picnic breakfast as we makle our way to San Gimignano and Siena in our luxurious, private coach.  San Gimignano is the epitome of a picture postcard Tuscan "hill town".  It has 14 of it original 72 medieval towers still standing and has been the setting for numerous famous movies.  You will spend the morning exploring the city at your leisure before moving on to Siena. On arrival in Siena, we undertake a two hour walking tour of the city with a professional guide.  This provides a great introduction to the city.  After the tour, you have a few hours to continue to explore this magical city, or visit a gallery, one of the many museums or the remarkable duomo.  Maybe even just spend some time in scalloped shaped, slanting Piazza del Campo - Siena's main square and home to the world famous Palio horse race. Dinner this evening is in one of Siena's local trattoria and includes a full menu and wines.  Following dinner, you are returned to Lucca via private coach. B D	San Gimignano - view from one of the towers
Day 4.  Tuesday Breakfast in the apartment again this morning.  After breakfast we catch an early train into Florence.  This breathtaking city is home to more than 70% of the world's Renaissance art treasures and it would be easy to spend the whole day drifting from one gallery to the next, but we spend our first two hours with a guided walking tour of the historic centre.  It is a great way to acquaint yourself with the city.  The tour ends at the Uffizi gallery where we have pre-reserved entry  (saving the normal three / four hour queue). The afternoon and evening is at leisure in Florence.  You have the opportunity to explore to your heart's content and the possibilities are endless. Shop along the Ponte Vecchio, grab a stylish jacket or some leather goods at the leather markets, visit the Boboli gardens and the Pitti Palace or just relax in the Piazza della Signoira and watch the world go by.  The Duomo is a must see and there are dozens of other churches and monuments. You have the opportunity to spend the evening in Florence the catch the late train back to Lucca or head back to Lucca earlier for some additional time there.  B	Florence - Piazza della Signoria
Day 5.  Wednesday Breakfast this morning is at one of Lucca's most famous pasticieria: Pasquinelli.  Fresh coffee, spremuta (freshly squeezed Sicilian oranges) and sweet and savoury pastries makes this a memorable feast.  All amidst the hustle and bustle of the local Lucchese having thier morning coffee on the way to work. Today is a luxurious and hedonistic look at the privileged life of the wealthy Lucchese from years gone by.  In the 16th and 17th centuries, the silk trade bought great wealth to Lucca and those who reaped the benefits were eager to show off their success.  Spectacular villas and country estates were contruucted in the hillsa few miles from Lucca.  We visit two of the more notable of these villas: Villa Torrigani and Villa Mansi.  Both of these happen to be constructed on what is now know as the "Strada del Vino" which we take good advantage of.  We first visit Villa Mansi and its gardens for a guided tour of both.  We then stop at Fattoria Maionchi for a wine and olive oil tasting follwoed by lunch on the terrace overlooking the spectacular Tuscan countryside.  Fattoria Maionchi is popular internationally and with locals for the production of D.O C. wines (Certified of Controleed Origin) and extra virgin olive oil.  After lunch, we tour Villa Torrigiani and its spectacular grounds and then we are returned to Lucca in the private coach just in time for a short rest or a quick bycicle around the walls of Lucca.  Our evening meal is at Ristorante da Leo, another Lucchese favourite and popular spot with the locals serving traditional, flavoursome meals.. B L D	Villa Torrigiani Villa Mansi
Day 6.  Thursday Breakfast in the apartment again this morning followed by another early start.  Our private coach takes up to the Cinque Terre today.  The Cinque Terre is a wild and rugged strech of coastland on the Italian Riveria close to the French border.  It is famous for the five ancient, fishing and wine growing villages that cling to the rock faces leading down to the sea.  The Cinque Terre towns are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. We head out from the apartment and spend an hour and a half driving past the amazing area around Carrera, which is famous for it pure white marble.  Michaelangelo used marble from the mines here which he selected for quarrying himself.  He was such a regular in the area he eventually bought a house on the main piazza. The sheer white cliffs of marble are dazzling in the summer sunshine.  We take a quick sidetrip into Carrera on the way. We arrive at Portovenere which is quite close to the Cinque Terre.  From here we catch the ferry to the first of the Cinque Terre towns: Riomaggiore.  It is now decision time.  You have the option to continue from town to town using the ferry, walk between the towns or catch the special Cinque Terre tourist train between the towns.  Our recommendation is to walk between the first two towns from Riomaggiore to Manarola.  This is a comfortable walk of about 30 minutes and is rated by the Cinque Terre guide as an "easy stroll".  It is known as the via dell' Amore and is a well paved coastal path lined with picnic areas and stone benches. It is worth the walk for the breathtaking exposure to the coastline and beautiful seascapes. The rest of the day is at leisure to explore the villages of your choice.  You can continue on with the tour leader and stop for lunch (optional) at a trattoria in Vernazza and visit each of the villages and return to the coach at 6.00pm, or do your own thing and meet up with the group at 6.00pm at the coach in Portovenere. Return to Lucca and time for a quick freshen up and out to dinner at Ristorante Rusticanella.  A favourite pizza restaurant for the locals. B L D	Cinque Terre - Manarola
Day 7.  Friday A more leisurely start to the day today with breakfast in the apartment and a short stroll to the train station.  We catch the train to Pisa for a visit to the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of miracles).   An icon around the world, the Leaning Tower took more than 200 years to build and has been leaning for almost 1,000 years.  Equally impressive (although not nearly as well known are Pisa's cathedral and baptistry. Included in today's activities are entry to climb the Leaning Tower, entry to the Cathedral, the Baptestry and the Museum. Following lunch, you have the option to return to Lucca and spend the afternoon there, or spend the afternoon exploring Pisa. At 7.00pm, we attend a (one hour) highlight concert performance of Puccini's most popular and well known arias.  Lucca is Puccini's birthplace and this special concert series is held in the Basilica of Saint Giovanni.  The church itself is significant for the discovery of the ruins of an entire Etruscan village under the floor.  The acoustics in this church are spectacular and neither performer or accompanist are amplified artifically. Following the concert, we have our "farewell" dinner in Restaurant "Buca di San Antonio".  This is Lucca's oldest and one of its most respected houses of fine dining.  It has traded continuously as an "Osteria" or "Taverna" since 1782 and it is believed it existed even earlier than that.  This certainly will be a meal to remember. B D	Pisa - Cathedral and Leaning Tower
Day 8.  Saturday Sadly, today is our time for departure.  A relaxing breakfast in the apartment is followed by a late checkout (11.00am)	Lucca - Amphitheatre

 

The Tuscany Highlights Package Tour includes:

Seven nights luxury accommodation in an apartment in Lucca's historic centre

Six evening meals

Three lunches

Seven breakfasts

One active participation cooking demonstration

Two hour walking tour of Lucca

One day trip to Florence including two hour walking tour of Florence

Entrance to Uffizi gallery in Florence

Day trip to Siena and San Gimignano including two hour walking tour of Siena

Day trip to Cinque Terre

Half day trip to Pisa to visit Leaning Tower

Day trip visiting two of Lucca's historic villas

Wine and olive oil tasting

Puccini highlight concert

All lunches and evening meals include wine, mineral water and coffee

Transfers to and from events / activities as listed in the itinerary

Price per person based on twin share accommodation:   1,950 Euro plus local payment of 100 Euro

Private groups of two, four, six and eight can be accommodated with this package.  Minimum number of participants: two

 

 

Return to Package Tours page...