Day 1 - Sept 20: Arrival
Arrival at the Airport in Milan where the tour leader/driver will be waiting for you. Transfer to the hotel in SestriLevante, on the Italian Riviera close to Portofino. Sestri is a lovely town inserted between two long beach stripes, witha beautiful promontory and castle.
Check in at the hotel and relax after the long trip. Welcome dinner in the evening is served on the restaurant terracein Sestri Levante, with an amazing sea-view. This is a beautiful Art-Deco Hotel right on the beach.

Day 2 - Sept 21: Boat tour
We will leave in the morning and start our boat tour. The first stop will be in Rapallo, a lovely small town of the ItalianRiviera. Once arrived at the dock we will be welcomed by a great food showman named Guido Porratti who will guideus for the first experience inside this beautiful coastal area of Liguria. Guido is the owner of the store Parla comeMangi, famous in Italy to be the scenario of a lot of Gambero Rosso Channel shootings (The Italian Food Channel).There we will have our lunch/experience as market tour, pesto making demonstration and local wine, cheese andsalami tasting. After this experience, the boat will proceed to San Fruttosio where we will visit the famous abbeyoverlooking the sea. After the visit we will enjoy a glass of wine on the terrace. Our next stop will be Portofino, jem ofthe Italian Riviera where we will have some free time to walk around as well as take the famous postcard pictures andwhy not enjoy a gelato in the square. Around 4.30pm we will take the boat back to Sestri Levante and we will headback to the hotel before dinner. Tonight we will be at Polpo Mario, famous for the best octopus in the riviera.

Day 3 - Sept 22: Cinque Terre
Today we will explore the Cinque Terre. We will take a ferry in the morning and do the first stop in Riomaggiore. Fromthe dock we will take a private shuttle going up in the mountain to visit Terre di Bargon, a niche producer of thefamous wine Sciacchetrà. We will have a tasting with the family before boarding the ferry again and stop in Vernazza,famous for the great landscapes and the picturesque colored houses. We will have lunch in a seafood restaurantcalled Gianni Franzi. After lunch we can taste the famous Gelato by Gelateria Il Porticciolo. We will take the ferry backto Sestri Levante and in the late afternnon we will enjoy a typical italian aperitivo overlooking the beautiful sea. Dinnerwill be on your own.

Day 4 - Sept 23: Focaccia cooking class
Breakfast and check out and ride to Recco, which is famous for the production of the local focaccia. Manuelina is theplace to go, open since 1964, it is recognized by the Michelin guide as the best Focaccia col Formaggio (cheesefocaccia) maker. There will be a unique cooking class organized by the owners based on how to make the Focaccia.Then, we will sit down at the table and enjoy a full tasting of the best specialties from the house. After lunch, the ridewill continue to Dogliani at the beautiful Poderi Einaudi Wine Resort (upon availability) . A welcome dinner will follow.

Day 5 - Sept 24: Dolcetto and Barolo DOCG
In the Morning we will have an incredible farmhouse experience by casa Matilda, a slow food presidium farm, with ahomemade pasta cooking class and lunch with the owners. The afternoon is dedicated to visit and experience theCantina Poderi Eunaudi, the best producer of the Dolcetto and Barolo DOCG, visiting the vines, the wine production,having snack and wine tasting. In the afternoon there will be the possibility of free walking tour of the village ofDogliani before going for dinner.

Day 6 - Sept 25: Langhe Basse
A visit to Langhe Alte after breakfast, bus ride to Vicoforte to visit one of the best monuments in all the Piedmont, thelargest round shaped chapel in the world. The frescos are part of the UNESCO Heritage sites. For lunch we will go inValcasotto, an original ancient mountain village famous for the cheese production. We will visit the old aging caves.After the visit we will have the lunch in a local osteria with a great selection of excellent dairy products. In theafternoon, we will go back to the resort and enjoy a wine “aperitivo” in the garden. The dinner will be in Dogliani atthe fantastic restaurant il Battaglino where to taste the famous stuffed Onion.

 

Day 7 - Sept 26: Langhe Alte
After breakfast we will drive to le Langhe and stop in Bra, one of the cutest town of Le Langhe Alte. Today we willstart by visiting the Grana Padano producer in Bra.
In the afternoon we will visit a Barolo producer, Marchesi di Barolo, for a great wine tasting. Later in the afternoonwe will travel to Alba, the capital of the Truffle, where we will walk in the narrow streets of the old town and thenhead for dinner in a local place for the best tasting of Agnolotti del Plin and truffles.

Day 8 - Sept 27: University of Food and Wine
After Hotel Check-out we will go and visit the University of Food and Wine, founded by the Slow Food MovementPresident Carlo Petrini. We will have a great wine tasting at La Banca del vino before going for lunch at their beautifulrestaurant and try their Vitello Tonnato, the Veal carpaccio in Tuna Sauce. Later in the afternoon we will travel toTurin, the Capital of Piedmont, check in at the hotel, relax and then experience the famous restaurant Il Consorziofor dinner. The specialy of this place is the veal cheek braised in Barolo sauce.

Day 9 - Sept 28: Turin
Morning breakfast and we will enjoy a great chocolate tasting in one of the most famous and old producer and shopin town. After this incredible experience we will be guided to discover the old Savoy Capital, which was also the firstCapital of Italy.Lunch today will be on your own. After lunch you will have some good free time for shopping in thevery fancy and selected pedestrian area of the city center along Corso Cavour. We will meet later in the day and gothe “bicerin”, which is the oldest cafe in town where Cavour (a famous 19th century Savoy general) used to go, beforegoing to our farewell dinner at the traditional restaurant Le Tre Galline, famous for the preparation of the GranBollito Misto. Return to the hotel after dinner.

Day 10 - Sept 29: Departure
Departures. Milan airport and return to the States. Buon Viaggio!