Emilia-Romagna & Tuscany
Move through Italy’s medieval porticoed cities, working countryside farms, and the culinary lineages that have shaped how the Western world eats.
A Culinary Deep Dive into Two of Italy’s Greatest Food Regions
Italy is deeply regional—and nowhere is that more true than at the table. Join us on a journey through two of the country’s most celebrated food regions: the porticoed medieval city of Bologna and the river plains of Emilia-Romagna, and the rolling hills, volcanic springs, and hilltop towns of Tuscany.
About your trip
We're moving through two regions that serious food people will tell you is the best eating in Italy. Italy's food culture is extraordinarily diverse — each regions shifts dramatically in ingredient, technique, and tradition — and each deserves to be experienced with intention. Instead of attempting to cover the country in a single journey, we've designed this itinerary around four distinct stops: the food capital of Bologna, the thermal village of Bagno Vignoni in the Val d'Orcia, the truffle countryside of San Miniato, and the historic center of Florence.
Italy's more traveled routes — the Amalfi Coast, Rome, the lakes — are extraordinary in their own right, but they require a different pace and focus. By centering this trip in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, we're able to build an experience around the people who grow, make, and cook the food: a farmstead cheesemaker in the Val d'Orcia, a family running Tuscany's only exclusively floral farm, a tartufaio who hunts truffles with a trained Lagotto Romagnolo, and Emiko Davies — award-winning cookbook author and food writer — who cooks with us in her own kitchen in San Miniato.
What’s included
A professional photographer documenting the journey so you can stay present
All activities listed in the itinerary
Boutique accommodations
7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, and 2 dinners
El Camino's exclusive Eat, Play, Shop Guide
An experienced local host with you throughout the trip
Not included
Airfare in and out of the country
Airport transfers — given the number of arrival and departure options for this trip, transfers are not included in the price in order to give you flexibility. We're happy to help coordinate and arrange your private transport; the cost of transport will be additional. If you need just tips and advice, we’re happy to provide that as well.
Mandatory travel insurance
Incidental expenses
Alcohol except where noted
Tips for local hosts, and photographers. We will provide suggested amounts.
Travelers must provide evidence that they have purchased travel insurance for the duration of their journey. If you’d like to upgrade to a single room, you can add this during the booking process. If you need assistance please contact our Customer Success team.
Dates & Prices
October 11–18, 2026
Shared Room: $7,500
Private Room: $9,100
Itinerary
Flight
☞ Please remember to book separately
Day 1
☞ Arrival in Bologna (BLQ) | Welcome Dinner
Day 2
☞ Bologna History & Ingredient Tour | Drive to Bagno Vignoni | Evening Thermal Pools
Day 3
☞ Tuscan Countryside Cheese Farm & Lunch | Afternoon at Leisure
Day 4
☞ Tuscan Flower Farm & Wreath Workshop | Chianti Country Winery Visit + Tasting | Arrival in San Miniato
Day 5
☞ Cooking Class with Emiko Davies | San Miniato at Leisure
Day 6
☞ Truffle Hunt & Pasta Making in the Forest | Drive to Florence
Day 7
☞ Florence Culinary History & Art Walking Tour | Medici Lemon Groves | Farewell Dinner
Day 8
☞ Departure from Florence
All trips include a professional photographer, so you can stay fully present. Photos from the journey are shared with the group during and after the trip.
More details in the FAQ below.
Your Itinerary
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Arrival in Bologna | Welcome Dinner
Benvenuti! Bologna is a city that takes food seriously — it always has. Beneath 38 kilometers of medieval arcades called portici, salumerie, pasta shops, and old-school trattorie have been occupying the same addresses for generations.
After checking in at a small, family-run property directly opposite the Teatro Comunale and a minute's walk from Piazza Maggiore, dinner is at a historic trattoria in the heart of the centro storico — a neighborhood institution beloved by locals. The menu is the classics of Emilia-Romagna: tortellini al panna, slow-cooked ragù, the region's layered lasagna, and tiramisu. Bologna's food culture does not require explanation — tonight, it speaks for itself.
Accomodation: A small, family-run property steps from Piazza Maggiore and directly opposite the Teatro Comunale
Meals Included: Dinner
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Bologna History & Ingredient Walking Tour | Drive to Bagno Vignoni | Evening Thermal Pools
There's a reason Bologna's nickname is la grassa — the fat one. This morning you'll understand why.
Setting off on foot, we'll move through the food vendors and product shops of the medieval center with an expert guide fluent in both the history and gastronomy of the city. Stops include a pasta workshop where Bologna's traditional pasta-rolling women hand-roll fresh sheets into shapes machines can't replicate. You'll try forming tortellini yourself. Then a hole-in-the-wall taglieri carrying Mortadella Rossa, a cured meat made only here, distinct from the mass-produced version the rest of the world knows. You’ll learn the history of the central mercato, sampling regional delicacies including DOP parmigiano reggiano and balsamic vinegar. A century-old dessert delicacy and an award-winning gelato round out the day.
In the afternoon, we drive south into Tuscany to Bagno Vignoni — a medieval village in the Val d'Orcia whose central piazza is not a fountain or a church but a steaming Etruscan thermal pool that has been a gathering point since antiquity. The hotel sits directly on that piazza, family-run for four generations. The evening is free for dinner — there's a well-regarded trattoria a three-minute walk away — and later, we have exclusive access to the private thermal pools for a late-night dip.
Accommodation: A family-run hotel sitting directly on the town's Etruscan thermal piazza, with private access to the thermal pools
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
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Tuscan Countryside Cheese Farm & Lunch | Afternoon at Leisure
After breakfast, we head into the Tuscan countryside to visit a working farmstead and dairy, a caseificio where goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys and the herb gardens that feed them are tended by the same family that has operated this land for decades.
In the organic dairy the cheesemaking process is explained — from the animals' diet to the specific cultures that distinguish each variety — before heading out to meet the goats themselves. Lunch is an al fresco tasting of the farm's own cheeses, paired with local bread and seasonal produce, eaten looking out over one of Tuscany's most gorgeous views: overlooking Pienza and the medieval village of Monticchiello. Cypress-lined ridges, pale clay hills, the occasional medieval tower on the horizon.
The afternoon is free. Options include a hike on the marked trails in the area, a walk through the village itself along the Roman aqueduct that runs through its center, or a return to the thermal pools — either the hotel's private facility or the outdoor hot springs a short walk from the village.
Accommodation: A family-run hotel sitting directly on the town's Etruscan thermal piazza, with private access to the thermal pools
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
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Tuscan Flower Farm & Wreath Workshop | Chianti Country Winery | Arrival in San Miniato
We start the morning at a farm with an unusual distinction — the only farm in Tuscany that grows flowers exclusively, run by a family of women. Walking the beds in October means seeing the farm in its rich autumnal state, still full of color. You'll forage your own selections before heading indoors to assemble a bouquet or wreath to carry with you for the rest of the trip. Lunch is hearty, made from local Tuscan products, and served on-site.
In the afternoon, we wind through Chianti country toward San Miniato, stopping at a winery mid-route. October is vendemmia season — the grape harvest — and the cellars are in full production. You'll see the vines, walk the cellars, and taste several of the region's wines.
We continue north to San Miniato, a hilltop town above the Arno plain known across Italy for its white truffles. We'll check in to our hotel, one of the town's oldest buildings, its rooms and common areas hung with over 150 works of art, sitting directly beneath the Tower of Frederick facing the Duomo. The rest of the evening is yours — your host will have dinner recommendations, from a neighborhood butcher who puts out tables at the end of the working day to a celebrated vegetarian tasting menu that will make you question every fine dining meal you've had before.
Accommodation: One of the town's oldest buildings, its rooms and common areas hung with over 150 works of art, beneath the Tower of Frederick
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
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Cooking Class with Emiko Davies | San Miniato at Leisure
This morning we cook with Emiko Davies — an award-winning cookbook author and food writer who has spent more than a decade living and working in Tuscany. The class takes place in her restaurant and test kitchen in the center of San Miniato. Everyone works together around the kitchen, which is closer to how Italian family cooking actually happens. We’ll eat what we make over a long lunch with natural wines.
The rest of the day is yours. San Miniato rewards a slow wander — good coffee, excellent sandwich shops, and piazzas where local life proceeds without any particular interest in being observed. For those who want to get back into the close-at-hand countryside, e-bike rentals are available.
Accommodation: One of the town's oldest buildings, its rooms and common areas hung with over 150 works of art, beneath the Tower of Frederick
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
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Truffle Hunt & Pasta Making in the Forest | Drive to Florence
This morning we head into the woods outside San Miniato with Emiko Davies for a truffle hunt, led by an expert truffle hunter — a tartufaio — whose family has worked this land for generations. His Lagotto Romagnolo, an Italian breed historically trained for truffle hunting, moves through the undergrowth by scent while we follow on foot through forest that sits on what was once the floor of an ancient sea, surfacing actual marine fossils in the soil as you go.
Back at the on-site kitchen, Emiko leads a pasta-making class. You'll roll your own dough, shape your own pasta, and sit down to a lunch made from what was found that morning in the forest.
In the afternoon we drive to Florence, checking into a design hotel in the centro storico where exposed brick, original pietra serena stone, and herringbone tile floors sit alongside contemporary furniture in rich solid colors. The rest of the day is yours to enjoy the town known as the birthplace of the Renaissance.
Accommodation: A design hotel in the centro storico with exposed brick, original pietra serena stone, and hand-tiled bathrooms referencing the Baptistery of San Giovanni
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
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Florence Culinary Walking Tour | Medici Lemon Groves | Farewell Dinner
This morning's walking tour traces Florence's food history through centuries of trade, patronage, and botanical obsession — not a restaurant in sight. Our guide approaches the Medici through the citrus they imported rather than the art they commissioned, reads the frescoes of the Last Supper as documents about what people ate in which century, and leads us through centuries-old farmacias, the Boboli Gardens where the Medici lemon groves still stand, and Europe's oldest science museum, where 18th-century wax models of every plant and fruit they catalogued line the shelves.
Lunch is at a celebrated enoteca known for its sandwiches and small-producer wine list.
The afternoon is yours — museums, vintage markets along the Arno, or simply the pleasure of walking through a city dense with things to look at.
The week ends at a family-run trattoria that has been serving traditional Tuscan food on traditional Tuscan pottery for decades — crostini with chicken liver, fresh pasta, bistecca Fiorentina carved at the table, and a glass of vin santo to close. A proper ending to the trip.
Accommodation: A design hotel in the centro storico with exposed brick, original pietra serena stone, and hand-tiled bathrooms referencing the Baptistery of San Giovanni
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
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Departure from Florence
Depart from Florence at any time. Return home with a deeper understanding of what it means to eat well — and a whole new crew of travel friends to meet up with for more food adventures around the world!
Meals Included: Breakfast
Important Notes
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Our small group trips are intentionally designed for a specific kind of traveler. Before booking, all travelers must read and agree to our Traveler Values.
• You are open-minded, curious, and present—more interested in the moment than perfection.
• You enjoy stepping outside your comfort zone and are excited to engage with cultures different from your own.
• You've read the full itinerary, understand the travel style and accommodations, and feel comfortable with what's outlined.
• You recognize that you're visiting places where daily rhythms may differ from home, and you approach those differences with patience and respect.
• You understand that travel can be unpredictable, and that last-minute changes due to weather, logistics, or local circumstances are sometimes unavoidable.
• You're adaptable, easy-going, and able to roll with changes—knowing that some of the best moments come from the unexpected.
• You know you can opt out of any activity at any time, and will communicate openly with your guide when you do.
• If concerns arise, you're willing to raise them directly with your local host or the El Camino team so we can address them proactively.
• You value inclusivity and are excited to travel alongside people from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
• You show up with generosity—toward fellow travelers, local partners, and the places we're privileged to visit.
Our trips are rooted in responsible tourism, mutual respect, and shared experience. Agreeing to these values helps ensure a positive, connected journey for everyone involved.
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Most food-focused travel in Italy lands in one of two places: a cooking class in a rented villa, or a restaurant tour that moves from dining room to dining room without explaining anything about where the food comes from. This trip is structured differently. You spend time with producers — a farmstead cheesemaker in the Val d'Orcia, a flower-farming family in the Tuscan countryside, a truffle hunter who works the same forest his family has hunted for generations — before sitting down to cook with Emiko Davies, who has made a career of understanding what these ingredients mean and where they come from. The context changes the experience. You eat differently when you know the provenance.
El Camino also does not move the group through highlights at speed. Two nights in Bagno Vignoni is enough time for the Val d'Orcia to feel like somewhere you lived briefly, not somewhere you visited. The itinerary is designed to build familiarity, not accumulate sights.
The group is small — never more than 14 travelers — and the host is with you throughout, not just during organized activities. Dinner reservations are arranged in advance for free evenings so that the recommendation is a real one, not a name from a list.
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All our small group trips include a professional photographer.
This isn’t about content creation or social media—it’s about presence. Having a photographer allows travelers to fully experience a place and the people they meet, without feeling pressure to document every moment themselves.
The photographers we work with are highly respected professionals who know how to move quietly, capture real moments, and tell the story of a journey with sensitivity and care.
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The easiest option is to book return flights in and out of Florence (FLR).
From Florence, Bologna is easily reached by train, bus, or private transfer — comparable in time and ease to getting from a major North American airport into a city center. You can get guidance on any of these options from our team, and all are more cost and time effective than booking a separate internal flight.
If you prefer to fly directly into Bologna (BLQ), that works too. Your travel coordinator can help coordinate transfers at either end for an additional cost.
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We recommend arriving in Bologna no later than 3 PM on Day 1. This gives you time to check in, settle, and make the short walk to the welcome dinner in the evening without rushing. If your flight arrives earlier, Bologna's historic center is a good place to spend an afternoon on your own.
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This itinerary is designed for the traveler who wants to understand a place through what it grows, makes, and eats.
If you're drawn to food as culture — not just as pleasure — and you want a trip built around the people behind the ingredients rather than the restaurants that serve them, this is the right trip.
This trip is ideal if you:
are genuinely curious about food traditions, regional ingredients, and culinary craft
want hands-on experiences with cheesemakers, truffle hunters, flower farmers, and acclaimed food writers
appreciate a mix of structured experiences and free time to explore independently
enjoy unhurried days with room to wander, eat well, and absorb a place
prefer boutique, character-forward stays over large hotel chains
are comfortable with a trip that moves through multiple towns and landscapes
value intimate group travel with access that independent travelers rarely get
like meaningful conversations and real encounters over curated performances
This trip is also well suited for solo travelers who love food and want to share that passion with a small group of like-minded people.
If you're looking for a fast-paced tour of Italy's greatest hits — the Colosseum, the Amalfi Coast, Venice — this is not that trip. This itinerary goes deep into two regions most visitors never slow down enough to understand.
Please review our Traveler Values before booking.
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We are not a luxury travel company, but we're far from budget. In Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, "high–low" becomes producer–table.
We believe the richest understanding of a place comes from contrasts:
hand-rolling tortellini with Bologna's pasta women and dining at a neighborhood institution that evening,
a morning truffle hunt through ancient forest and a long lunch made from what you find,
a flower farm run by women in the Tuscan countryside and a winery tasting through Chianti's finest,
cooking in Emiko Davies' own kitchen and wandering San Miniato's piazzas on your own afterward.
In Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, food isn't a highlight of the trip — it's the lens through which everything else is understood.
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Standard pricing is based on shared double rooms. This allows us to offer high-quality boutique stays while keeping the trip accessible.
Traveling with a friend, partner, or family member? We'll room you together.
Traveling solo? Most of our travelers do. Before departure, we'll learn about your preferences and match you with a compatible roommate. We're always happy to talk through any concerns.
Single room upgrades are available in most locations. If they sell out at checkout, email us at info@elcamino.travel and we'll see what additional options exist.
Here's what to expect across the itinerary:
Bologna — a small, family-run property steps from Piazza Maggiore and directly opposite the Teatro Comunale
Bagno Vignoni — a family-run hotel sitting directly on the town's Etruscan thermal piazza, with private access to the thermal pools
San Miniato — one of the town's oldest buildings, its rooms and common areas hung with over 150 works of art, beneath the Tower of Frederick
Florence — a design hotel in the centro storico with exposed brick, original pietra serena stone, and hand-tiled bathrooms referencing the Baptistery of San Giovanni
All hotels meet the El Camino standard: clean, safe, aesthetically considered, and chosen for experience over excess.
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No more than 14 travelers, 1 ECT host, and 1 photographer.
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We have a roster of well qualified hosts that we work with. Prior to your trip, you will receive a welcome packet that will inform you on who will be guiding your adventure. We proudly work with local hosts because no one is better equipped to provide layer upon layer of context than someone who is actually from there.
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A 30% deposit is due at booking. The remaining balance is due 90 days before departure.
Please read our Booking Terms and Conditions for more information about our cancellation policy.
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Our Italy itinerary is moderately active, with experiences that take you through medieval city centers, working farms, forest trails, and hilltop towns. Much of what makes this trip special is experienced on foot, and the most memorable moments often happen in places vehicles can't reach.
Travelers should be comfortable with:
walking up to 3–4 miles per day on cobblestones and uneven terrain
extended time on foot during city food walks in Bologna and Florence
light forest walking during the truffle hunt outside San Miniato
standing for extended periods during farm visits, cooking classes, and workshops
navigating steps and inclines in hilltop towns like San Miniato
This is not a physically strenuous trip, but it is immersive.
If you have concerns about the activity level, recent surgeries, or mobility issues, please reach out to us at info@elcamino.travel before booking so we can ensure the trip is a good fit.