When it comes to visiting Italy I think it’s safe to say that everyone is interested in the food, the wine and just about everything else to do with the Italian culture. Today I’m sharing 10 of my favorite experiences in Italy so you have an idea what you should be looking out for when visiting Italy for yourself (and if not at least maybe you’ll be inspired).
Cinque Terre by Yacht
Find your complete freedom on the sea when you are visiting Italy. You can choose from a daily, weekly, or monthly charter with a crewed 72 foot luxury yacht of. They offer a unique and customized experience for all of their trips. The yacht charter offers all benefits and facilities of a floating villa enabling you to explore a variety of exciting destinations in luxury, comfort and privacy. You can navigate a world of choices available and we will work with you to create a charter vacation that suits your exact desires.
Tuscany Wine Trail
Chianti Classico is one of the most renowned wines in the world and is characterized by an unmistakable Black Rooster logo. Enjoy your wine tour traveling with your family and friends with a professional driver in a comfortable vehicle customized to your group’s size. This area is outstanding, dotted with olive trees, cypresses and vineyards that produce some of the best wines in the world. It grows a blend of Sangiovese, Canaiolo, and other varieties of red grapes blended by the producers. Your experience includes transfers from and to to Florence, a visit of two wineries and their cellars (a famous winery and a family-run organic farm and winery). It also includes wine and olive oil tastings, a typical Tuscan Meal and many Instagramable opportunities you will want to experience while visiting Italy.
Dan Brown’s Inferno – Florence Walking Tour
Symbols revealed, a magical atmosphere with mystery and suspense! All this and more on this unique tour of Florence that will introduce you to the sites described by Dan Brown in his book and seen in Tom Hanks’ movie: Inferno. Your charismatic guide will entertain you throughout an intriguing path of mind-blowing details, anecdotes, and clue-filled history that will reveal all the most important sights and locations that professor Robert Langdon saw while visiting Italy in the Brownian dark masterpiece.
Walk through the amazing center of Florence, one of the most important and charming cities of UNESCO World Heritage, and discover its unique heritage and breathtaking beauty with an expert licensed guide. Visit some of the most important spots where the greatest minds and artists have stood and been inspired.
Learn about the powerful Medici family, the masters of Florence, and Palazzo Medici Riccardi, one of their first residences, as well as San Lorenzo cathedral, their family church. The highlight of the tour will be at Palazzo Vecchio, Town hall of Florence where faith and science join together with breathless revelations.
This will lead the way through the beautiful “Salone dei 500” and the Museum of Palazzo Vecchio. This unique building as described by Dan Brown as, “A giant chess piece that has become an inimitable symbol of Florence”. (cit. Dan Browns’ Inferno) – At Palazzo Vecchio you will admire the Hall of Geographical Maps, the Capriate, the balconies and Dante’s death Mask. And then, discover the medieval and Renaissance skyline of Florence from a unique perspective: enjoy an Italian breakfast relaxing on a spectacular panoramic terrace of an historic noble Palazzo.
This is a fantastic tour that will allow you to learn more about art and the rich history of Florence while learning about its protagonists of the past, such as the Medici family, Dante, Botticelli, Michelangelo and Giorgio Vasari through the lens of mystery and symbology.
Chianti Safari
Take a unique and adventurous tour to discover the most beautiful spots of the rolling Chianti hillside. This is a thrilling off-road journey aboard a Range Rover Defender while visiting Italy. Meet your driver guide and depart Florence’s city center. Travel to the countryside and once in the hills, set off aboard a sturdy off-road vehicle. Travel along winding roads lined by swaying cypress trees to an authentic period farmhouse, explore the grounds and wander through the mysterious cellars.
Catch hidden views, take splendid Instagram worthy photos and stop alongside a lovely field for a picnic snack and some fabulous local wine. Then discover a real Tuscan hillside jewel: a famous winery set in a majestic Medieval castle, with its fascinating turrets and merlons, rising in an outstanding position. The fresh breeze and sweet scents of the countryside will lead you straight to the greenest heart of the Chianti Classico hills, where luxuriant vineyards sparkle and thrive, to relish the best of Tuscan local fare during a memorable 3-course Tuscan lunch accompanied by the rich aroma of Chianti wine.
Crown your day with the visit of a boutique winery and taste its amazing products on your way back to Florence, surrounded by unforgettable views.
Exclusive Vatican Visit with the Key Holder
Early this morning make your way to the Vatican museums and enjoy a very exclusive experience… Open the Vatican doors with the key holder!
On this tour, you will have the opportunity of entering the Vatican Museums before their opening to the general public. You will open the doors of the Vatican Museums, alongside the key holder, who is responsible for the opening of the 300 doors which lead to the splendid frescoed rooms of the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel.
Your tour includes the opening Pius-Clementine museum, the upper galleries (Candelabra, Tapestries, Geographical maps) as well as Raphael rooms and the passage through Immaculate Conception and the Sobieski room. You will have the honor to open and switch on the lights of the Sistine Chapel before enjoying a nice breakfast in the Pine Court.
Following breakfast continue visiting the Vatican Museums with your guide and discover the unparalleled collection of classical statuary, ancient treasures, a hallway lined with 16th-century topographical maps of Italy and paintings by Old Masters from Giotto and da Vinci to Titian and Raphael. Continue with a stroll down the cavernous nave of St. Peter’s Basilica with its majestic dome and bronze canopy. Your tour ends on St. Peter’s square, a sacred and monumental site where throngs of the faithful gather to receive the pontiff’s blessing.
Discover the Carrara Marble Quarries
Follow in the footsteps of Michelangelo when you are visiting Italy as you head for the Carrara marble quarries. The artist would often spend several months here, seeking the perfect piece of marble, claiming that he could see how it could become a figure. The Romans too carved their figures from the Carrara hills, and in times that are more recent the likes of Henry Moore and Botero sought their marble here.
After visiting the quarries, you will enjoy lunch in a traditional trattoria in Colonnata. The village is famed for its production of lardo; a type of fatty salami spiced with things such as rosemary, star anise and juniper berries, and aged in large marble vats. You will also get the chance to explore the village of Pietrasanta, home to several famous sculptors, many of whom still live there.
Antique Hunting in Florence and Tuscany
Antique lovers and collectors will enjoy this unique treasure hunting tour while visiting Italy in Florence and wider Tuscany. Led by an expert, you will be taken on a tour of several antique and flea markets in Florence and other surrounding Tuscan towns. Whether its old paintings of hidden street corners or Tuscan landscapes, 19th-century postcards of Tuscan villages, antique jeweler or pottery, you are sure to find a gem to take home with you.
If you are a more serious collector, your guide can also introduce you to some high-end dealers, specializing in 16th-19th century art and furniture. Casual shoppers will be taken to small art galleries that sell post-impressionist Italian art at bargain prices. The choice is yours!
Ferrari Test Drive in Chianti
Enjoy a thrilling once-in-a-lifetime experience the next time you are visiting Italy, by getting the chance to drive the ultimate Italian iconic car – the Ferrari. After a brief tutorial to get you acquainted with the Ferrari’s controls, you will get behind the wheel, strap in and start your engine. Drive along the scenic roads of Tuscany, past vineyards and olive groves. I.D.I. Travel will prepare a tailored itinerary just for you so you can enjoy the ultimate Ferrari experience you have always dreamed of.
Balloon Ride in Val d’Itria
One of the best ways to discover Apulia’s Istria Valley is to take to the skies and admire it from above when you are visiting Italy. On this unforgettable tour, you will explore the region while flying in a hot air balloon. You’ll float over endless olive groves and charming white villages, glide over the glittering blue sea and traditional vineyards.
This will also be one of the best way to see the region’s iconic trulli houses. These quirky dry-stone conical buildings are one of the main reasons part of this region was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will be able to admire all of these during your exclusive hot air balloon experience.
Horses and Vineyards
Based in a truly picturesque environment you will be given a brief lesson to get acquainted with your horse, before a relaxed and easy hour horseback ride through a scenic landscape made of the typical Tuscan hillside, olive groves and vineyards.
An approximately 1.5-hour horse experience that will immerse you in the true essence of the Tuscan countryside, like no other experience. After the beautiful horse ride you will then reach a fascinating ancient olive oil mill in a noble estate, and given a guided tour of their spectacular spaces in a unique mix of ancient and modern setting, learning about the processes involved in producing olive oil. A taste of their gourmet olive oil will reveal all the incredible flavors that their passion and work generate.
Then reach a boutique winery, visiting its small ancient cellar, combined with the modern workspace where incredible wines are produced, Learn their peculiar approach to wine making, that has granted them some of the most important wine awards worldwide. Enjoy a delicious Tuscan lunch in a restaurant, immersed in nature, tasting some of the incredible wines of the winery you just visited. You will then be taken back to Florence with a relaxed and scenic drive on one of our minivans.
There are just so many fun activities to do when you are visiting Italy that your options are endless. Click here to see even more ideas. Once you have found that perfect experience (or more) Contact Us for assistance in making your dream come to life!