Taste of Southern Italy and Rome: A Gourmet Experience for Food and Wine Lovers including the Amalfi Coast, Naples, Island of Capri and Rome

Arriving in the warmth of Naples, you will be met at the airport by one of our drivers, waiting to accompany you to your hotel on the seafront.

At 5pm, you will meet your fellow travelers and your escort in the lobby of the hotel to learn more about the week and all the food and wine you will be enjoying.  This will be followed by a short walking tour of the city center to learn more about this fascinating city which is home to some of Italy's best-loved foods, ending with a delicious seafood welcome dinner by the marina and a short stroll back to the hotel.

Overnight in Naples.

This morning will being with a buffet breakfast at the hotel, particularly enjoyable for anyone with a sweet-tooth as the Neapolitans are known for their cakes and pastries, including the wonderful ricotta-filled sfogliatelle!

You will then have a chance to see more of Naples and to walk off breakfast, as you wander down Via Toledo, passed Galleria Umberto, until you reach Via dei Tribuanli, a street full of some of the best food outlets in the city, including the famous Pizzeria Sorbillo and supposedly the best babà in town!  But save some room for lunch and instead descend below the city streets into the underground cisterns and tunnels of the city's ancient aqueduct system.  Built by the ancient Greeks settlers, the system has not only provided centuries of fresh drinking water for Naples, but in more recent times has also become a place of refuge.  

Following the tour, you'll have some free time to wander Via dei Tribunali and decide what to have for lunch - there's plenty of pizza to choose from, or less healthy street-food and cream-filled, alcohol-soaked cakes!

And the food doesn't end here.  When you meet back up in the afternoon, it will be to head to pizza school!  Pizza making in Naples is an art form which they take very seriously and has even been added to the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage!  Accepting you can't learn all there is to know about pizza in an afternoon, you'll still have a great time making your dough, learning how it differs from other pizzas, notably the so-called 'Roman pizza' and the exact toppings required to make a pizza truly Neapolitan!  Then, you get to eat your first pizza napolitana!

Return to the hotel.

Overnight in Naples.

This morning after breakfast at the hotel in Naples, the group will depart for the ancient town of Herculaneum.  Once a wealthy town, much of Herculaneum is still buried beneath the modern Ercolano, but what has been excavated gives a fascinating glimpse into the homes of the rich.

For lunch you will stop at one of the most famous wineries at the base of Mt. Vesuvius, where you will enjoy lunch and taste various different wines, discovering how volcanic soils influence and enhance wine production.

After lunch, you will visit the most famous of the towns destroyed by Vesuvius: Pompeii.  In the company of a local guide, you will visit some of the most notable locations of the town (forum, Greek theaters, amphitheater, baths and temples) and learn about what the townsfolk were doing on the day Vesuvius erupted.

In the late afternoon, you will arrive at your hotel in the town of Maiori on the Amalfi Coast.  One of the few towns with a beach, Maiori is also the flattest of the coastal towns, making it easy for you to take a stroll before dinner together this evening in a local trattoria.

Overnight in Maiori

This morning after a light breakfast at the hotel we will venture up to the mountain top town of Ravello by minivan, unless you feel inclined to climb the 1500 steps that connect the two towns!

The first stop of the day will be Villa Cimbrone, where there will be time to walk in the gardens and get some wonderful photos - please note that there is no road access to the villa and there are a number of steps on the road to reach the villa.  If you don't feel like making the walk, you can relax in a bar on the main square and wait for the group to return.

When you arrive at the cooking school, it will be time to start preparing the freshest of ingredients for your lunch!

Over the next few hours, you will learn how to make local, seasonal dishes, which will later be served for lunch on the terrace overlooking the Mediterranean. 

After lunch, take a leisurely stroll to the gardens of Villa Rufolo in the center of town.  If you are feeling energetic, climb the tower and descend into the gardens for more wonderful views across the sea, or sit in the shadow of a tree and admire all the natural beauty around you before returning to Maiori.

Dinner in Maiori at leisure and overnight. 

This morning after breakfast at the hotel, wander down to the beach where a private boat will be waiting to take you to Capri.  Along the way, you will experience dramatic views of the rugged coastline from the sea.

At Capri, you will visit some of the many grottoes that surround it, including the Blue Grotto if weather conditions permit, before docking at the marina.

On the island, you will head up to the Gardens of Augustus for incredible views across the entire island.

Having worked up an appetite, you will stop for lunch together before you start to make your own dessert!  Spend the afternoon learning all about gelato and trying you hand at making some, as well as tasting several different flavors.

The boat will take you back to Maiori, where you will have the rest of the day to yourselves.

Overnight in Maiori.

After breakfast this morning, you'll travel south along the Amalfi coastal road to the Cilento National Park, home to beautiful beaches and mainland Italy's best preserved Greek temples.  In the town of Paestum, names after the Greek sea god Poseidon, a local guide will take you round the 3 imposing Doric temples and the museum that houses other finds from the UNESCO protected area of Paestum and Velia.

The province of Salerno is known for its production of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, buffalo mozzarella which under Italian and European laws, can only be produced by traditional methods in strictly controlled geographical areas.  On a local farm, see the water buffalos happily sitting in water and how their milk is turned into delicious, creamy mozzarella, which will obviously be part of today's lunch!

In the late afternoon we return to Maiori on the Amalfi Coast where you will have time to relax and enjoy dinner and leisure on your own.

Overnight in Maiori.

After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and time this morning at leisure to get a walk in or enjoy yourself at your own pace, at approximately 11:00 AM we will head south down the Amalfi Coast stopping at our first winery of the day which is home to some great varieties of wine that will be paired with local regional delicacies and explained by a professional sommalier.

Since there will be quite a few different local products which accompagny the glorious red and white wine varieites today we will not include lunch today as we will be eating and drinking throughout the entire day in moderation!

This evening to conclude our time in this stupendous area of the world, we will dine in an equally magical location at the Torre Normanna, which is a stunning location with equally stunning local dishes.

Dinner and overnight in Maiori. 

This morning it will be time to leave the Amalfi Coast behind as you head by the Strada del Sole on your way to Rome.  Before getting there, you'll stop in the lovely, cool hills that surround Rome, known as the Castelli Romani.  This area has long been a favored escape for the Roman elite and even the popes have their summer getaway here, overlooking the beautiful volcanic crater lake: Lake Albano.  

To stretch your legs, visit the papal palace and see where centuries of popes have slept, then take an ecological turn in the Barberini Gardens in a golf cart, before heading to the Pope's own farm to prepare lunch!  The organic farm is home to many different animals and extensive vegetable gardens, where you will be gathering the ingredients you need to make traditional Roman pasta dishes from scratch.  You'll also learn to make a typical dessert of the area and lunch will be accompanied by some of the local wine, produced in the volcanic hills of the Castelli Romani. 

The final stop of the day will be your hotel in Rome, where you will have the evening to yourselves.

Overnight in Rome.

Your tour today will be one of cultural and culinary discovery.  As you walk through the city center with an expert guide, you will see some of Rome's most famous monuments and taste examples of her best loved dishes.  From delicious street-food like supplì and pizza slices, local cheeses, meats, pastries and gelato!

Following the tour you are unlikely to want lunch and will be free until the evening to visit the city on your own.

Meeting again at the hotel, you will wander to Il Collegio restaurant for the farewell dinner in one of the city's oldest wine cellars.

Overnight in Rome. 

The tour will conclude tour when you check out of the hotel and our driver takes you to the airport for your flight home.