If you’re a food-lover, we have something to share with you that our sister company – Authentic Adventures – has been working hard on…

 

They have teamed up with TV foodie favourite Gregg Wallace to design a unique collection of Italian food holidays, which offer a whole host of experiences and flavours specific to the regions of the country visited. What’s more, these tours will offer you the chance to discover the ‘real’ Lambrusco and to sample locally produced brandies.

 

There are seven itineraries to choose from – spanning the regions of Sicily, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany – with the first being a three-day spring ‘taster’ tour of Parma, priced at just £999 per person and departing in May 2019. The remainder of the holidays will depart in the autumn, and Gregg Wallace himself will join guests on three of them: Tastes of Parma – Parmigiano, Prosciutto & Porcini Mushrooms, Food Secrets of Tuscany, and Truffles, Cheese & Chocolate in Piedmont.

 

Speaking about this exclusive collaboration, Gregg said: “I’ve been in love with Italy since my first visit 20 years ago and fortunate enough to return every year since, both personally and professionally. Without doubt, the food found in Italy is amongst the best in the world. I’ve partnered with Authentic Adventures, part of the UK’s leading special interest holiday group, to craft seven expert-led itineraries showcasing the very best of Italian regional cuisine. My food holidays are not just about what the Italians eat, but also why and how – they tell the stories that underpin this glorious cuisine. I’ll even be joining a few of them – not as the expert, but as an eager foodie ready to indulge.”

 

Parma in Springtime – A 3-day taster tour

• 3 days, £999 per person and a single supplement of £159
• 2nd– 4th May, 2019
• Highlights include a pasta cookery class and dinner at Commanderia del Gusto, visits to both a Parmigiano-Reggiano producer and family-run Parma ham producer, a winery visit and tasting experience, and meals at fantastic local restaurants

Tastes of Parma – Parmigiano, Prosciutto & Porcini Mushrooms

• 5 days, £2,499 per person and a single supplement of £329
• 10th–14th September, 2019
• Gregg Wallace will join this tour for one day
• Highlights include a porcini mushroom hunt, visits to both a Parmigiano-Reggiano producer and family-run Parma ham producer, a boat ride along the River Po, a cookery class and meal at the exclusive Academia Barilla, and sublime dinners at Il Tribunale and La Filoma – considered to be two of the best restaurants in Parma

Food Secrets of Tuscany

• 8 days, £2,749 per person and a single supplement of £159
• 30th September – 7th October, 2019
• Gregg Wallace will join this tour for one day
• Highlights include the chance to enjoy a picnic lunch with the locals in the chestnut woods of Regnano, a walk with a traditional shepherdess and her flock of prized Zerasca sheep, a cookery class at a mountain agriturismo hosted by local cooks, a visit to the Olio Moro olive grove where the group will watch oil being pressed and can participate in a tasting, watching traditional panigaccio bread being made using an age-old method, dinners at five of Lunigiana’s finest restaurants, a tour of the marble quarries that supplied the stone for Michelangelo’s David, and a visit to a family home to discover an ancient peasant alternative to pasta

Markets, Marsala & Marzipan – Flavours of Western Sicily

• 1st– 8th October, 2019
• 8 days, £2,999 per person and a single supplement of £499
• Highlights include an unforgettable candle-lit banquet in a Marsala wine cellar, a street food cookery class led by talented local cooks, the chance to join the monks of San Francesco to learn how to make Sicily’s famous marzipan fruits, tours of the lively Palermo-area food markets, a visit to the ancient salt pans and salt-tasting experience, an olive oil tasting at a local farm, a visit to the Molini del Ponte flour mill to learn about an ancient grain that is cultivated only in this particular part of Western Sicily, a tour of the former Florio Tuna Factory on Favignana island to discover more about the history of tuna fishing and to see this fantastic example of industrial archaeology, a visit to the Azienda Cicchiara farm and dairy to taste a regional cheese called Vastedda Valle del Belice, and a Marsala wine tasting

Almonds, Pistachios and Aztec Chocolate – The Best of Southeast Sicily

• 4th–11th October, 2019
• 8 days, £2,999 per person and a single supplement of £329
• Highlights include a Cotumè cookery class on authentic Sicilian cuisine, the chance to experience the Bronte Pistachio Festival, a visit to one of the great Modica chocolatiers who still follow the Aztec methods of production, a dinner at the elegant Locanda Don Serafino where its two Michelin stars set the scene for an unforgettable meal, watching the highly prized Monti Iblei olives being pressed and follow this with a tasting, experience dinner at a rooftop restaurant with views over Mount Etna, visits to a traditional pasta maker and the Occhipinti Winery, the chance to taste prestigious almonds at a museum dedicated to them, and an indulgent visit to a gelateria in Noto – an area reportedly home to the world’s best ice cream

Truffles, Cheese & Chocolate in Piedmont

• 21st–27th October, 2019
• 7 days, £3,249 per person and a single supplement of £399
• Gregg Wallace will join this tour for one day
• Highlights include a visit to one of the foremost Barolo cellars for a tasting and tour, a truffle-hunting experience with an expert tartufaio and his faithful dog, Michelin-starred dining at the fabulous Del Cambio restaurant in Turin, a trip up into the Alps to taste Castelmagno cheese that has been made the same way for over 1,000 years, visits to a family-run coffee business and one of Turin’s great chocolate makers, a tour of the area’s rice fields and cookery lesson, and a private tour of the historic FIAT test track at Lingotto

Bologna – Gastronomic Capital of Italy

• 8 days, £2,799 per person and a single supplement of £449
• 4th–11th November, 2019
• Highlights include a cookery class at the acclaimed Podere San Guilio restaurant, tours of Modena’s food markets, visits to an artisanal Parmigiano-Reggiano producer and a balsamic vinegar producer, a tour of the vast rice fields, an ice cream workshop at the Carpigiano Gelato University, winery visits to discover the ‘real’ Lambrusco at Chiarli and the superb brandy produced at Villa Zarri, and the chance to experience a truffle hunt in the company of an expert tartufaio and his skilled dog