9 Day Abruzzo Tour - Italy’s Last Hidden Treasure! All meals provided, Personal guide and Two hosts, Cooking classes, Saffron master class, Cheese making, Olive oil tasting, Wine tastings, Grand Sasso National Park, Costa dei Trabocchi, Pescara, and Many More Hidden Gems! Private Tours by appointment Minimum 6 guests Lombardy Delights Pty Ltd. (Trading as Italian Delights Tours) ABN – 82 886 161 696 www.italiandelights.com.au EMAIL: [email protected] PH; OS-+613 9018 6624 / AUS-1300 681 822 Postal Address: PO Box 95 Bentleigh, VIC 3204. 9 Day Abruzzo Tour - Italy’s Last Hidden T r e a s u r e ! ITINERARY PROVIDED MEALS LEGEND B-BREAKFAST L-LUNCH D-DINNER Day One - (Arrival: Termini Train Station, Rome, Cooking Class) LD Traditional Abruzzese Cooking Class You will be met in Rome by your host's Marco and Katri, where we will depart together and make our way through Lazio and into the region of Abruzzo. Be ready to see some spectacular scenery along the way as this is Italy’s most beautiful stretch of freeway. Around 1pm we will reach our lovely agriturismo accommodation which will be home to us for the next 5 nights. Upon arrival, we will enjoy a welcome aperitivo and a light lunch set out by our friendly hosts. Later this evening we will join our host Donatella, for a leisurely hands-on cooking class. Donatella will teach us how to cook some regional specialty dishes using seasonal produce, while sipping on a glass of Montepulciano of course! We will enjoy what we have made during the cooking class for dinner, which will be served afterwards. Day Two – (Cooking Class and Artisanal Produce) B L D Loreto Aprutino - Tomato Passata Making - Olive oil Tasting in Ancient Frantoio - Biroteca Today, we will venture into the “Golden Triangle” known for producing the The 9 Day Abruzzo - Italy’s Last best quality extra virgin olive oil in Abruzzo. We will visit Loreto Aprutino, a Hidden Treasure Tour cost AUD charming hilltop village where Marco and Katri have their home. $6210.00 per person, twin share (AUD$621.00 Single Supplement) and includes: Just outside of the village, we will visit our friend Alessio and his family, who ✔ 8 nights accommodation Twin produce pasta, tomato passata (sauce), olive oil, jams, and other items. Alessio Share or Double will take us to see how they grow various fruits and vegetables and we will ✔ Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day enjoy learning how to make traditional tomato passata. Talk about paddock to ✔ One cooking classes plate! ✔ One cheese making class ✔ One tomato passata class Two wine tastings Afterwards, we will sit down with the family for a traditional lunch. ✔ ✔ One olive oil tasting ✔ One saffron masterclass After lunch, we will visit Loreto Aprutino. We will have a guided tour of ✔ All land-based transport including Abruzzo’s most extensive collection of Castelli Ceramics, which provide us transfers to Rome's Termini train station. with stories of the past. Then, we will visit the town’s ancient frantoio (olive (See Terms and Conditions section at oil factory) with a distinct gothic facade. rear for list of tour exclusions) 9 Day Abruzzo Tour - Italy’s Last Hidden T r e a s u r e ! ITINERARY PROVIDED MEALS LEGEND B-BREAKFAST L-LUNCH D-DINNER Day Two – (Continued). Afterwards, we will take a stroll to visit our neighbour’s birroteca (brewery) in the historical centre and enjoy a drink while taking in the views of the Majella Mountain. Dinner tonight will be at our agriturismo. Day Three – (Mozzarella making - Hidden Hermitage or Gelato Making) Learn how to make your own mozzarella B L D This morning we will visit a family owned and run cheese producer near the outskirts of Pescara. We will learn about the difference between Italy’s main cheeses, and we will each learn to make our own mozzarella ball! We will enjoy a cheese tasting afterwards, before heading to a near-by agriturismo for lunch. After lunch, you will have the choice of having some R&R time at the accommodation, joining us on a hike to find the hidden hermitage of San Bartolomeo a Majella or we will visit Marco’s cousins Gelateria to see how their award-winning gelato is made and of course, enjoy some ourselves! We will drive along the main part of the promenade of Pescara, on our way back to our accommodation. Dinner tonight will be at our agriturismo accommodation. The 9 Day Abruzzo - Italy’s Last Hidden Treasure Tour cost AUD $6210.00 per person, twin share (AUD$621.00 Single Supplement) Day Four – (A Special Seafood Lunch out on the Beautiful Adriatic Sea) B L D and includes: Trabocchi Coast and the unique fishing houses - Seafood Dining Experience - ✔ 8 nights accommodation Twin Share or Double Pescara Riviera ✔ Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day Today, we will leave the mountains and foothills behind and head to the ✔ One cooking classes ✔ One cheese making class coast. With the glittering Adriatic Sea on our left, rolling hills lined with ✔ One tomato passata class olive groves and vineyards and the Majella mountain on our right, the drive ✔ Two wine tastings is simply stunning! We will visit the Abby of San Giovanni in Venere, perched ✔ One olive oil tasting One saffron masterclass up high overlooking the Adriatic Sea and see the oldest olive tree in Abruzzo. ✔ ✔ All land-based transport including transfers to Rome's Termini train We will travel along the 15 km of pebbled coastline, known as the Costa dei station. (See Terms and Conditions section at Trabocchi (Trabocchi Coast). All along the coastline are the traditional rear for list of tour exclusions) 9 Day Abruzzo Tour - Italy’s Last Hidden T r e a s u r e ! ITINERARY PROVIDED MEALS LEGEND B-BREAKFAST L-LUNCH D-DINNER Day Four – (Continued). fishing houses which sit out over the water, called Trabocco, or Trabocchi (plural). Most are over 130 years old and they are unique to Abruzzo. Lunch today will be a truly unique experience. We will dine on our favourite Trabocco restaurant and enjoy a seafood feast on the trabocco itself, surrounded by water. In the afternoon, we will spend time at Marco’s family’s beach establishment in Pescara, where we can enjoy a swim, a stroll along the lively beach, or just relax beneath an umbrella, Italian style! Day Five–(Frantoio- Enoteca - Bucchianico) B L D Olive Oil Tasting and Wine Tasting This morning you will have time to rest and relax at your accommodation before we enjoy a light lunch. In the afternoon will make our way to the hilltop village of Bucchianico, where we will spend time with the locals. Weather permitting, we will take a detour to a lookout high on the Majella Mountain. In Bucchianico, we will meet with Francesca, a producer of fine extra virgin olive oil. In her private ancient frantoio, (olive oil factory) that has been in her family for generations, she will teach us all about extra virgin olive oil, The 9 Day Abruzzo - Italy’s Last with tastings. Hidden Treasure Tour cost AUD $6210.00 per person, twin share A little way down the narrow lane and around the corner, we will descend (AUD$621.00 Single Supplement) and includes: the stairs into an ancient cellar that has been turned into an enoteca (wine ✔ 8 nights accommodation Twin bar). Here, we will enjoy an educational wine tasting with the enoteca’s own Share or Double charismatic host, and a grazing-style dinner. ✔ Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day ✔ One cooking classes ✔ One cheese making class Day Six – (Sulmona - Organic Winery - Santo Stefano di Sessanio) B L D ✔ One tomato passata class Two wine tastings Delights of Sulmona and a unique winery experience. ✔ ✔ One olive oil tasting ✔ One saffron masterclass Today, we say goodbye to our hosts and to the foothills of Abruzzo, and head ✔ All land-based transport including inland, to the town of Sulmona. transfers to Rome's Termini train station. (See Terms and Conditions section at rear for list of tour exclusions) 9 Day Abruzzo Tour - Italy’s Last Hidden T r e a s u r e ! ITINERARY PROVIDED MEALS LEGEND B-BREAKFAST L-LUNCH D-DINNER Day 6 - (Continued) In Piazza Garibaldi, overlooked by mountains, we will enjoy the theatrics of the farmer’s market and check out the local produce, such as the renowned platted garlic, called Aglio Rosso di Sulmona. Enjoy time to wander through the main streets of Sulmona. You could try the Pelini Confetti (sugared almonds which feature at Royal weddings) check out the honey store, or refill your water bottle with the fresh mountain water from the renaissance fountain, supplied by the medieval aqueduct. At midday we explore unique winery who’s owner risks everything each year in his quest to produce exquisite wines. We will walk through the vineyards while the resident Bulldog follows behind and our host explains why this microclimate is so particular. Lunch today will be paired with informative tastings of the winery’s range of wines. After lunch, we will continue on to Santo Stefano di Sessanio, a medieval village in the Gran Sasso Mountains. Here in Santo Stefano di Sessanio, we will be staying in “difuso” accommodation, where each of us will have our own little apartment within the village. You will be shown to your apartment to settle in to what will be your home for the next 3 nights. The 9 Day Abruzzo - Italy’s Last Hidden Treasure Tour cost AUD Day Seven – (Alpine Plateau - Alfresco Lunch - Castel del Monte - Rocca $6210.00 per person, twin share Calascio) B L D (AUD$621.00 Single Supplement) and includes: Explore the traditions of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, lunch in the Alpine ✔ 8 nights accommodation Twin Plateau known as Italy’s Little Tibet and enjoy the view from the highest Fort Share or Double in Italy! ✔ Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day ✔ One cooking classes Enjoy time to yourselves this morning to wander the cobbled alleyways.