8 Italian food tours to add to your Travel Tuesday wish list
From Tuscany’s vineyards to Sicily’s distinctive culinary traditions, find an Italian food and wine trip that suits your appetite for discovery before Travel Tuesday deals drop.
Some of Italy’s best travel moments come with a fork in hand—and no two regions serve up quite the same story. That’s why our experts design multiday guided Food & Wine Tours in Italy to give you a mouthwatering taste of Tuscan vineyard vistas, Sicilian seafood traditions, or northern Italian truffle country. But what’s your favorite flavor of exploration? A city-hopping foodie adventure, a countryside escape, or a chance to get hands-on in the kitchen? We’ve assembled eight tours to help you find your perfect pairing before Travel Tuesday deals touch down on December 1. Simply browse these Food & Wine Tours and Italy itineraries below to start cooking up your next getaway.
How to choose an Italian food and wine trip
The best Italian food and wine tour isn’t necessarily the one with the most tastings. It’s the one that matches the food traditions, regions, and experiences that sound most appetizing to you. Here’s what to consider as you compare your options.
Find your flavor of Italy. Every region has its own culinary traditions, so think about which parts of Italy you’re most eager to discover.
Decide what you want to savor. Are you more interested in wine culture, regional cuisine, or a little of both? Look for an itinerary that reflects your appetite for discovery.
Consider the pace. Compare tour lengths, destinations, and time spent in each place to find a journey that suits your travel style.
Check what’s included. Review the itinerary for included meals, tastings, winery visits, and other culinary experiences. Some activities may cost extra or vary by departure, so check the details before booking.
Choose your setting. Consider how much time you’d like to spend in each setting, along with where’d you’d like to be. Would you rather explore lively cities and their food scenes or venture into the countryside?
Ready to find the journey that’ll satisfy your travel cravings? Browse our Italy Food Tours to compare itineraries and discover the trip that suits your tastes or check out our Italy Travel Guide for even more inspiration.
Italian Food & Wine Tours you’ll want to savor
For travelers dreaming of Tuscany’s vineyards and hill towns
Tour to book: Food & Wine of Italy: Tuscany & Umbria
Why it stands out: Ready to trade city bustle for vineyard views? This trip takes you through the wine country of Chianti, Montalcino, and Montefalco, with winery visits and regional tastings that let you savor central Italy, one pour at a time (one of our favorite Italian food experiences). Between sips, meander medieval hill towns, graze through Florence’s Mercato Sant’Ambrogio, and treat yourself to extra scoops of gelato in San Gimignano. You’ll also get hands-on in a Tuscan cooking class, making pasta, bruschetta, and tiramisu before sitting down to enjoy your creations. With four wine tastings and four food tastings included, it’s a delicious deep dive into Tuscany and Umbria.
Best for travelers who: dream of clinking glasses in rolling vineyards, discovering charming hill towns, and getting a little flour on their hands away from the hustle and bustle of larger cities.
For travelers who want to taste their way through Italy’s most iconic culinary cities
Tour to book: Food of Italy: Venice, Florence & Rome
Why it stands out: This trip serves up three iconic cities, three distinct food scenes, and countless bites you’ll remember forever. In Venice, sample cicchetti (think: Venetian tapas) with a glass of regional wine. In Modena, discover how traditional balsamic vinegar is made before tasting it alongside lunch. Florence serves up market bites and a hands-on Tuscan cooking class, where you’ll make pasta, bruschetta, and tiramisu. When in Rome, explore local culinary traditions all while taking in the city’s unforgettable landmarks. Just when you’ll think it can’t taste any better, you’ll wrap up your tour with a farewell dinner at Alfredo alla Scrofa, the historic birthplace of fettuccine Alfredo. With five food tastings and a cooking class included, this is one of those Italy culinary tours that pairs classic sights with unforgettable bites.
Best for travelers who: want a greatest-hits tour of Italy’s food culture, with hands-on cooking, regional specialties, and iconic sightseeing all on the menu. First Italian adventure? Consider it deliciously sorted.
For travelers looking beyond the typical Italy itinerary
Tour to book: Food & Wine of the Adriatic: Slovenia, Croatia & Northeast Italy
Why it stands out: Ready to take your taste buds across borders? This culinary journey serves up Slovenia, Croatia, and Northeastern Italy, with distinct regional flavors at every stop. Sample fresh sea bass on Slovenia’s coast, taste olive oils at a family-run Croatian olive farm, and head into the Istrian countryside for a truffle hunt with a trained dog. In Italy, discover Friuli’s lesser-known wine country, sample local prosciutto and artisanal cheeses, and raise a glass of Prosecco in the hills where it’s made. You’ll also join a hands-on Slovenian cooking class. With six food tastings, three wine tastings, and a grappa tasting included, this is a delicious way to explore a whole region.
Best for travelers who: have already sampled Italy’s greatest hits and are ready to venture beyond the usual itinerary, discover lesser-known culinary destinations, and collect a few new favorite flavors across three countries.
For travelers drawn to southern Italy’s bold flavors
Tour to book: Food & Wine of Italy: Naples, Puglia & the Amalfi Coast
Why it stands out: Come hungry, because southern Italy doesn’t do any meals halfway. Start in Naples with a food walk featuring local cheeses, cured meats, and a sweet stop at a historic chocolatier. Then, head deeper into the south, where vineyard visits and guided tastings introduce you to regional wines like falanghina and Taurasi. In Puglia, sample peppery olive oils, bite into a local puccia sandwich, and explore Alberobello’s storybook trulli before rolling up your sleeves for a cooking class featuring fresh pasta and pillowy focaccia. You’ll also explore Matera’s ancient cave dwellings before reaching the Amalfi Coast for a farewell drink. It’s a flavorful tour of southern Italian traditions, countryside charm, and coastal scenery.
Best for travelers who: Love discovering regional specialties, tasting their way through local wine country, and getting hands-on with Italian cooking—with a side of whitewashed villages, olive groves, and sun-soaked southern scenery.
For travelers who want southern Italy and Sicily in one journey
Tour to book: Food & Wine of Southern Italy: Sicily, Calabria & Campania
Why it stands out: This southern Italian adventure is made for curious foodies who want to see how the flavors change from region to region. In Sicily, sample pastries in Baroque Noto and sip Nero d’Avola at a local winery before enjoying a story-filled dinner at a contessa’s villa. Cross to Calabria for regional dishes and coastal charm, then explore Matera’s ancient cave dwellings and taste its traditional bread. Farther north, sample wines in the Sannio and Taurasi regions, learn to make Campanian specialties in a hands-on cooking class, and visit an organic dairy farm near Paestum for fresh mozzarella, ricotta, and buffalo-milk gelato. With wine, spirit, and food tastings included, there’s a whole lot of nonna-approved authentic southern Italian food to savor.
Best for travelers who: want to go beyond a single destination and discover how food, wine, and local traditions change across southern Italy, with plenty of hands-on experiences and memorable meals to savor along the way.
For travelers specifically interested in Sicily’s food and wine culture
Tour to book: Food & Wine of Sicily: Palermo, Marsala & Catania
Why it stands out: Sicily’s food tells the island’s story—and this tour is your ticket to tuck into it all. Wander through Palermo’s Mercato del Capo for street-food favorites, then head to Erice for a hands-on pastry workshop that’ll have you crafting fruit-shaped marzipan sweets alongside experts. In Marsala, explore the historic salt pans and taste four varieties of the city’s namesake fortified wine. Along your journey, you’ll also discover family-grown olive oils, enjoy a seafood lunch in the fishing village of Marzamemi, and sample regional cheeses and wines in Ragusa. Cap off your trip with a memorable farewell feast at a countryside villa hosted by a contessa. With four wine and six food tastings included, this is Sicily served with all the delicious details.
Best for travelers who: want to dig into Sicily’s distinctive food and wine culture, discover the stories behind its regional specialties, and savor the legendary island, one bite and sip at a time.
For travelers who love coastal cuisine and northern Italian wines
Tour to book: Food & Wine of Northern Italy: Piedmont, the Riviera & Bologna
Why it stands out: Northern Italians know a thing or two about eating well, and this trip is ready to prove it. In Piedmont, go truffle hunting when the season is right and sip Barolo among the Langhe hills. In Emilia-Romagna, visit a Parmigiano Reggiano producer, sample traditional balsamic vinegar, and explore Bologna’s lively food markets before making fresh pasta in a hands-on cooking class. Then, head toward Verona’s countryside for a tasting of Valpolicella wines, including amarone, ripasso, and recioto. Along the way, get a taste of historic towns and soak up vineyard views. Think you’d enjoy exploring Cinque Terre with Ligurian bites and wine? Add an optional excursion for a flavorful mix of wine country, culture, and culinary traditions.
Best for travelers who: want a little bit of everything, from truffle hunting and world-famous cheeses to coastal scenery, hands-on cooking, and the wines that make northern Italy such a treat to explore.
For travelers seeking Italy’s most immersive culinary experience
Tour to book: Food & Wine of Italy: Cooking Classes, Truffle Festival & Fall Flavors
Why it stands out: Ready to roll up your sleeves and dig in? Start in Turin with a chocolate-making workshop, then head to Alba for its White Truffle Fair and a truffle hunt with a furry canine expert—followed by a tasting of truffle pasta, truffle cheese, and salami with local wine. In Emilia-Romagna, visit a Parmigiano Reggiano producer, sample traditional balsamic vinegar, and make tortellini, tortelloni, and tagliatelle from scratch in a Bologna cooking class. Then, settle into a Tuscan farm stay for another hands-on lesson, more regional dishes, and a Chianti tasting over your farewell dinner. With three cooking classes, eight food tastings, and three wine tastings included, this tour serves up Italy’s culinary traditions with plenty of chances to join in.
Best for travelers who: believe the best souvenirs are recipes, food stories, and new skills to take home—and who want to experience Italy’s culinary traditions firsthand, from truffle hunting to handmade pasta.
Explore our Italian food and wine trips
What to compare before Travel Tuesday
Found a few Food & Wine Tours in Italy that have you saying, “delizioso!”? Before you choose, compare the details to find the trip that best suits your taste, travel style, and appetite for adventure.
First, find your flavor of Italy
Tuscany and Umbria: for vineyard views and countryside charm
Sicily: for distinctive regional specialties and island flavors
Campania and Puglia: for southern Italian cuisine and coastal traditions
Northern Italy: for celebrated wines, regional delicacies, and Riviera scenery
Decide how you like to dig in
Are you happiest swirling a glass of wine, sampling your way through a food market, or getting hands-on in a cooking class? Compare included tastings, food tours, culinary demonstrations, cooking classes, and seasonal festivals to find your kind of foodie itinerary.
Consider how much of Italy is on your dream-trip menu
Some tours focus on a particular region, while others serve up a taste of several. You can even venture across borders on a multi-country culinary journey. Consider how much ground you want to cover and how many destinations you’d like to discover.
Check the details before you book
Compare trip lengths, available departure dates, included meals and activities, and any optional experiences that cost extra. Then, review our best deals to see which tours and departure dates qualify.
Pro tip: Some culinary experiences are seasonal or available at an additional cost. Double-check your chosen tour’s itinerary for what’s included and available on your departure before you book.
Add your Italian food and wine trip to your wish list before Travel Tuesday
Your next great food story starts with the right itinerary. Whether you’re keen to master a new recipe, discover a local favorite, or simply let someone else handle the planning while you enjoy the pours, there’s a trip to suit your taste. Add your favorites to your wish list, then check our latest offers for eligible tours and departures. Ready to make a meal of your next adventure? Browse our Food & Wine Tours and let the delicious daydreaming begin.
Italy Food & Wine Tours FAQs
Since moving abroad for college at the age of 18, Steph’s never doubted that travel is her passion in life. When she isn’t seeking opportunities to satisfy her wanderlust—and inspiring others to do the same—you’ll find her exploring Boston’s vegan food scene, shopping for eclectic pieces to add to her closet, or rewatching 90s romantic comedies.
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