Itinerary:
Day 1 Bologna
- Arrival at Bologna Airport
- Transfer to your centrally located hotel in Bologna
- Welcome drink at hotel or a nearby bar
- Overnight in Bologna hotel
Day 2 Bologna and Pasta Making
- Breakfast at hotel
- Guided 2-hour walking tour – see Bologna’s main attractions and vibrant markets
- Visit the massive Piazza Maggiore, incomplete Basilica diSan Petronio church, famous Neptune Fountain, and the iconic two towers that each lean in a different direction
- Learn about Bologna’s culinary prowess as Italy is serious about food
- Afternoon lesson to discover the secret of making fresh and delicious pasta in a very nice and real atmosphere. Enjoy making Tortellini, fresh dough and Tagliatellewith the expert “Sfogline”, Bolognese women who can create wonderful and perfect pasta starting from two very simple and basic ingredients: eggs and wheat
- Taste what you created for dinner
- Overnight in Bologna hotel
Day 3 Parma – Modena Gourmet Tour
- Depart for the “Food Valley” in Modena and Parma.
- Excursion to a cheese factory, where you will see all the working steps in the production of Parmigiano Reggiano, the world´s most famous artisan cheese made only in the Emilia-Romagna countryside.
- Witness the entire cheese making process, from the early morning delivery of the milk from local farmers to crafting of the curds by the master cheesemaker, to the final aging process.
- View huge storage of cheese
- Enjoy the breakfast of champions with a glass or two of good, dry Lambrusco, and, of course, plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese tastings.
- Tour continues to “acetaia” to see the secrets famous Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena D.O.P (certified Balsamic Vinegar, minimum 12 years old). This is not a factory but a single family producing small amounts of the world’s finest vinegar for generations using the same ancient technique of aging grapes in oak barrels (batterie) that Italian families in this region have been using for centuries.
- Full tasting of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale DOP allows you to compare 6 years old balsamic condiment with 12 and 25 years old Balsamic.
- Continue to see prosciutto manufacturing
- Learn the careful craft of creating one of the most delicious pork products.
- Full tasting of fresh slices of prosciutto di Modena D.O.P in a combination with some nice Lambrusco wine.
- Evening at leisure
- Overnight in Bologna hotel
Day 4 Bologna – San Marino – Urbino
- Breakfast at hotel
- Depart Bologna for the Marche region
- Stop in San Marino for a visit
- Cross the border into the tiny country of San Marino which is the oldest sovereign state with castles and villages perched from clifftops.
- Visit Urbino, an idyllic hill town where time seems to be frozen and allows you to fully breath its unique, historic atmosphere. Houses and palaces weathered brick and pantiles cluster around steep narrow streets, surrounded by misty mountains and green and yellow hills, like the background of a Leonardo portrait.
- Urbino has been half-forgotten by tourists and art lovers. During the 15th and 16th centuries Urbino was one of the cultural capitals of the Renaissance and it also represents, even now, a quite unique and picturesque university town.
- Guided tour to explore the famous University of Urbino, Piazza del Rinascimento, the church of San Domenico, the dome, the monument to the great Raffaello and the beautiful Ducal Palace.
- Take amazing pictures of this real hidden Italian gem!
- Dinner
- Overnight in Urbino hotel
Day 5 Frasassi Caves – Conero Riviera – Ascoli Piceno
- Breakfast at hotel
- Depart to Frasassi Caves to discover the longest and among the most interesting in Italy approximately 787 feet high central chamber which is large enough to comfortably hold Milan cathedral.
- Continue to the coast and enjoy some time on the Conero Riviera. Just south of Ancona rises the solitary limestone peak of Monte Conero whose steep slopes slide down to the sea; the bay of Portonovo, protected by the Regional Park of Monte Conero, is one of the prettiest white pebbled beach on the whole of the Northern Adriatic shore.
- Lunch at a local restaurant facing the sea and tasting the local cuisine, including “moscioli”. Around Ancona, mussels that reproduce naturally and live attached to underwater rocks off the Conero coast are known as “moscioli”.
- Continue to Ascoli Piceno
- Evening at leisure
- Overnight in Ascoli Piceno hotel
Day 6 Ascoli Piceno and Offida
- Breakfast in hotel
- Meet your local guide and visit the enchanting town of Ascoli Piceno, one of the most important art towns in southern Marche and in central Italy. Travertine was widely used to pave the historic center.
- Taste typical Ascoli olives: delicious fried olives stuffed with meat.
- Continue to Offida for a winery visit and then a complete wine tasting combined with regional typical products. The visit will start with an explanation of the winery and the history of grapes and instruments then a guided visit in the structure and bottaia, guided wine tasting in tasting room with other regional product tasting, fried olives, moscioli, ham, cheese and bread (according to the selected area).
- Tasting with beautiful and fascinating landscapes close to the sea.
- Evening at leisure
- Overnight in Ascoli Piceno hotel
Day 7 Ascoli Piceno – Castel Del Monte – Andria
- Breakfast at hotel
- Depart the Marche region for the Apulia region
- First stop will be Castel del Monte, the famous and original octagonal castle built by emperor Frederick II, today site of UNESCO world heritage.
- Vist Andria, where you will taste the characteristic delicious “burrata”, a special cheese stuffed with cream and mozzarella stripes. Now used by international chefs for the preparation of their most exquisite dishes but was born at the beginning of the 10th century as an idea to preserve the non-sold milk.
- Dinner
- Overnight in Alberobello hotel
Day 8 Altamura – Matera
- Breakfast at hotel
- Depart to Altamura, one of Apulia’s most ancient towns: a human fossil has been found here and not far from here more than 30,000 dinosaur imprints.
- Walking tour of Altamura
- Stop in a bakery to taste the famous bread of Altamura: for this particular bread, strictly wood-fired, you have to mix the durum wheat semolina with yeast, sea salt and water, just as it was done in the postwar period, when the housewives brought their own-branded loafs of bread to the bakers. At last you will taste the “focaccia” stuffed with cherry tomatoes and olives, the wine-favored “taralli”, the typical “friselle” and a local type of pasta called “mostaccioli”.
- Next depart to Matera, the so-called town of “Sassi” (stones). An extraordinary gem in the history of humanity, amongst the most ancient of the world, where between the cave dwellings you can find traces of all epochs, from the Neolithic Age to the barbarian and Saracen assault, from the Christian sepultures to the Renaissance and Baroque era.
- Dinner
- Overnight in Alberobello hotel
Day 9 Alberobello, Ostuni and Cisternino
- Breakfast at hotel
- Depart to Alberobello, an extremely ancient borgo, now protected as international heritage by UNESCO, due to its trulli, the typical coned constructions made of “chiancarelle”, white tiles made of limestone slabs.
- Continue for visit to Ostuni, the famous “white city”: an ancient medieval city, rich in baroque styled palaces and buildings, a high-lying real mountain gem, radiant for the white color of its center.
- Then continue to Cisternino, only a few miles away, which will make you fall in love with its white chalk houses, its alleys adorned with flowers, its courts and ancient churches.
- Dinner in a typical “vuccerìa”, little butcheries offering genuine char-grilled meat made according to local tradition.
- Return to Alberobello
- Overnight in Alberobello hotel
Day 10 Alberobello – Departure
- Breakfast at hotel
- Transfer to Bari Airport for your return flight
Daily departures tailor-made by your Italian Destination Specialist
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