Tours Archives - Onward Travel

Ten Years of Amore Love

We are celebrating our 10th anniversary here at Onward Travel this year, and that means we are also celebrating ten years of partnering with Chef Jenna Arcidiacono of Amore Trattoria Italiana in Comstock Park, Michigan. Jenna was one of the first partners we worked with to plan a trip, and we are still doing tours with her to this day.

Female Friendship Forms

Molly and Jenna met in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Molly had a food truck at the time, and Jenna was busy running her Italian restaurant that she and her husband Maurizio started 14 years ago. The women immediately bonded since they both love food, and they connected professionally since there were so few females in the local hospitality industry.

When Molly started Onward Travel with her sister Kat, she reached out to Jenna about leading a trip to Italy. Jenna thought it was a fabulous idea, and they did not look back. To date, Onward Travel has partnered with Jenna for a total of fifteen tours, most recently in Emilia-Romagna.

Jenna and Molly

The first trip was to the northern part of Italy, from Venice to Como and included a group of Amore patrons. “It was full of learning points, but Molly and Kat nailed everything down and tightened it up. Ten years later, we still offer that trip because it is so perfect. This year, we are offering a special reboot in honor of the 10th anniversary of our partnership. This one is new and improved from 10 years ago!” said Jenna.

Kat and Jenna in Venice

So Much Love for Amore

Since the demand from Jenna’s audience is so great, Onward Travel now offers two different tours to Italy with her each year. “We can only accommodate fourteen people, so it is a small group, and so many people want to go on these trips that they typically sell out the same day they are announced. We are working on a different type of tour in 2025 that will allow more guests to join, so stay tuned for that!” said Jenna.

Jenna enjoying cannoli in Sicily this Spring

Even though she has been to Italy countless times, it never gets old for Jenna. Plus, the tours are never exactly the same. “We went to Sicily in the spring this year and we did some repeat events from the previous trip, but not everything was the same, so it was nice to be able to compare this trip to the first trip to Sicily,” said Jenna. “Italy is so vast. Some of the excursions are repeats for me, but I do not mind at all. I learn something new each time!”

Jenna hosts a pre-trip dinner at her restaurant so that everyone can get to know each other. “Then we host a follow up dinner to review everything we learned and reminisce about our favorite moments,” said Jenna. Travelers get a Team Amore sweatshirt to represent Jenna’s squad when they travel together.

Team Amore in Sicily in 2016… taken on windy Mt. Etna

There are repeat travelers who have assembled a sweatshirt collection over the years. Jenna says some people have gone on four to five different trips with her. “Because we already know each other, it really feels like traveling together as a family,” said Jenna.

Food is First

One of her favorite activities of any trip is taking a journey to a local market to shop for the best ingredients and then cook dinner together. “The travelers all become my sous chefs, and that’s a really fun night,” said Jenna.

Jenna shops with travelers in Sicily

Food is the focus of any trip with Jenna. In this year’s tour to Sicily, the group dined in a Michelin-star restaurant. Jenna had a black truffle ice cream sandwich that blew her mind. “It was wild! The ice cream had truffles in it and with the crunchy cracker it was sweet and salty all at once. It was the craziest bite!” Jenna recalls.

Black Truffle Ice Cream sandwich

In another trip to the Amalfi Coast, Jenna and her group toured a lemon farm and cooked together there right in a lemon grove. “The family has been there forever, and Kat is a friend of theirs. The owner’s cousin plays guitar and there is a lot of singing, dancing, and drinking limoncello, of course,” said Jenna.

Kat and Jenna in Amalfi

Other food highlights include gnocchi made from scratch in Sicily with a red pesto sauce of fresh tomatoes, almonds, sun dried tomatoes, and Pecorino cheese. Jenna brings back fresh food inspiration from all these trips to her restaurant and incorporates many of them in new dishes on the menu. “I usually host a wine dinner based on new ideas I got on the trip and dishes and ingredients I fell in love with while I was there,” said Jenna. “I’m always scrolling through my photos looking back at pictures of food from the trips for inspiration.”

Another highlight that stands out for Jenna was during the trip to Sicily where the boat captain had secretly arranged for his friends to drop a basket full of noshes and wine down a rope from the top of the cliff. “It was a surprise to everyone but now, this is the only way I want to have wine served to me,” laughs Jenna.

Jenna in Sicily this Spring

10 Years of Fun

Jenna loves working with both Molly and Kat from Onward Travel and considers them family at this point. They know her so well, it is easy to plan adventures they know her, and her groups will love. “They know exactly what kind of vibe people need on these trips. They are exceptionally good at researching and vetting activities. They know what I like because we have worked together so much. I love that our trips are heavy on unique food experiences. I am always up for anything!” said Jenna.

Jenna appreciates that there is some free time built into Onward Travel trips. Her Sicily group this year happened to be avid shoppers, and she said there was plenty of time to explore the boutiques and shops everywhere. “It is not always go – go- go. There are activities each day but some down time, too,” said Jenna.

Customers of Chef Jenna’s Amore Trattoria Italiana restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan can find more information about these tours at www.onwardtravel.co/amore. Please note spots on the tours are reserved for Amore customers and their friends.

November 6, 2024/by Molly Crist

Tours

The Best Bites of Basque Country

Food plays a crucial role in travel because it offers a sensory connection to a place’s culture, history, and traditions. When people travel, they seek authentic experiences, and local cuisine provides a direct way to engage with a destination’s lifestyle and identity. Sharing meals leads to meaningful interactions, and trying regional dishes introduces travelers to new flavors, cooking techniques, and ingredients.

This was certainly true for our group of travelers who recently experienced the culture and cuisine of the Basque Country in our culinary immersion tour. From Michelin-starred restaurants to a hands-on cooking class in Basque techniques to the beautifully chaotic pintxos bars in San Sebastián’s Old Town, they experienced it all!

What Makes Basque Cuisine Unusual

Basque cuisine is deeply rooted in unique cultural traditions, local ingredients, and a distinct geographical setting. The Basque Country, straddling northern Spain and southwestern France, has a rich culinary heritage that blends coastal and mountainous influences.

Here are some reasons why the food of this area stands out:

1. Geographic Diversity: The region has both coastal and inland areas, allowing for a wide variety of ingredients, from fresh seafood (like anchovies and hake) to meats (such as beef and lamb) as well as produce. Because of the diversity, it’s rare to find these same dishes elsewhere.

2. Pintxos Culture: Unlike typical tapas, pintxos are small bites often served atop slices of bread, skewered together. They’re known for being creative and flavorful, blending contrasting tastes in inventive ways. This culture of bite-sized eating encourages socializing and experimenting with different flavors.

3. Traditional Techniques: Basque cuisine relies on age-old methods, like slow-cooking and grilling, using wood-fired grills. We experienced this at Michelin-starred Elkano where the chefs cook the fish over open flame outdoors.

4. Ingredient Focus: There’s a strong emphasis on high-quality, locally sourced ingredients. The Basque approach values simplicity, letting the natural flavors of the food shine, whether it’s through seafood, meats, peppers, or cheeses like Idiazabal, which our travelers experienced during a cheese tasting.

5. Innovative Gastronomy: Basque chefs have been at the forefront of modern culinary innovation, notably in San Sebastián, which has one of the highest concentrations of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world. This has made the region a global leader in experimental cuisine, blending traditional flavors with avant-garde techniques.

This combination of tradition, creativity, and a focus on local ingredients makes Basque cuisine distinct and celebrated worldwide.

A Bite to Remember

We asked our travelers what one bite stood out to them the most during their week in this very special culinary destination. That’s a very hard question when you consider how much delicious food was consumed, but they were up for the challenge!

Shelia Rudzinski and her husband Brandt couldn’t be more different when it comes to eating. Brandt will try absolutely anything, while Shelia describes herself as a picky eater. She doesn’t like tomatoes, but all the fresh tomatoes we had on the trip were a highlight for Brandt. His favorite dish of the trip was the Red Tuna at Elkano, a Michelin-star restaurant in the fishing village of Getaria, because both the freshness and the flavor of that tuna stood out to him.

That tuna was also memorable for Cheryl Lukehart. “I polished off all that was remaining on the portion right in front of me as well as the rest of the next one over. Tuna is the only sushi that I’ll order as just the fish and not in a roll. This tuna tasted so fresh and had a great texture. The subtle seasoning let the fish shine through. It was just a perfect bite of tuna!” said Cheryl.

Shelia also tried tuna belly at Narru for the first time. “It was delicious! I had no idea I liked raw tuna! The entire experience put me out of my comfort zone where food is concerned, but I loved every minute of it,” said Shelia.

But a moment of the meal at Elkano really put Shelia outside her comfort zone. The server asked our table if anyone wanted to eat “collagen” and a few ladies jumped at the chance. After they ate the bite, it was revealed that it was the eyes of the fish called Turbot that we were presented whole and served tableside. “It did taste really good! But I don’t think I could ever eat it again now that I know what it is,” said Shelia.

Carolyn DeMayo was another fish eye taste tester. Carolyn wasn’t a seafood lover coming into this trip but like Shelia, she embraced the experience and tried a lot of new foods. Her husband Andrew Siebert said, “My favorite bite wasn’t my own. It was the ‘collagen’ that Carolyn had. I’m amazed and proud that she expanded her culinary boundaries at least tenfold on this trip.”

In fact, the dish that stood out the most to Carolyn was a trout dish with “liquid salad” and codium, which is seaweed, from Michelin-star restaurant Kokotxa. “I mopped up that liquid salad with my bread, it was so yum!” said Carolyn.

But Carolyn’s heart lies with cheese, so she found the sidewalk cheese tasting at Elkano 1 to be a highlight of the trip. Her father-in-law, Charlie Siebert, would agree and he took a wedge of the blue cheese we tasted for snacking on for the rest of the trip.

In America, we often hear the rule that cheese doesn’t go well with seafood. But the chefs at Kokotxa see it differently. They paired a perfectly cooked scallop with asparagus and a sauce made with Comté cheese, and it was the highlight of the trip for Teressa Parks.

For Rose Walker, the very first stop on our pintxos tour, Bar Txepetxa, will be forever etched in her mind, thanks to white anchovies with spider crab topping. This award-winning bar with pictures of American celebrities like Ethan Hawke and Glenn Close on the walls is known for its anchovy-focused pintxos. Our travelers also tried pintxos with uni, a first for many of them!

Perhaps the most quintessential pintxos, known as “Gilda,” stood out to Pat Parcham. “The Gilda pintxo was a combination of flavors that just popped, and it was such a simple preparation that yielded such flavor,” said Pat. This dish is simply a skewer of a guindilla pepper, a Cantabrian anchovy filet, and a manzanilla olive. This classic was reportedly invented at Bar Casa Vallés in San Sebastián and named after Rita Hayworth’s character in the film Gilda, which premiered the same year. It’s a timeless bite that remains a local favorite!

Another stop on our pintxos tour was at Bar Sport known for grilled Foie Gras, which was Andrea Siebert’s best bite of the trip. But she also enjoyed trying a new fish that locals call “little soldiers” during a rustic lunch at a small restaurant in Pasaia. Andrea also stepped out of her comfort zone by eating fresh anchovies and trying raw oysters on this trip.

Those flatfish in the sole family or “Soldaditos” from Taberna Muguruza were also The Chopping Block trip host Chef Guillermo Delavault’s favorite bite of the trip. “It’s the perfect example of simplicity – just the freshest fish, cooked to perfection with great oil and a pinch of salt, creating a fantastic bite. I could have easily eaten two dozen of them!” said Guillermo.

While many restaurants are seafood-focused in the Basque Country, our travelers also enjoyed meat throughout the trip.

Onward Travel host Andrea Miller will forever remember the beef carpaccio with the creamy extra virgin olive oil ice cream at Villa Lucia Gastronomic Space. It was the perfect bite to kick off the meal and the cold ice cream was somewhat of a surprise since we all initially thought it was burrata cheese. But that savory ice cream was absolutely delicious with the flavorful beef! Rich Walker agrees this was his favorite bite of the tour.

Andrea may have a thing for savory ice cream since the olive ice cream served with anchovies, tomato and a savory sponge cake at Kokotxa also stands out to her as a dish that won’t soon be forgotten.

Charlie Siebert’s best bite of the trip came during the very first meal, lunch at Lizeaga Cider House, where our travelers learned about local cider, tasted it straight from the barrel and enjoyed a traditional Basque meal, including a big platter of steak. “This meat was rare, but not bloody. It had the perfect char and melted in your mouth just like butter,” said Charlie.

Steve Parks agrees. “My best bite had to be the steak at the cider house. That segued into our cooking class nicely where we learned how to cook that type of steak,” said Steve.

That hands-on cooking class at Kookin Donosti was a highlight for many of the travelers. Like Steve said, we learned how to prepare the steak perfectly and serve it with roasted Piquillo peppers, as well as master a traditional cod omelette and local fish, hake in green sauce. We were even treated to a taste test between the Burnt Basque Cheesecake we made in class versus a cheesecake Brandt had picked up from a local store. The one we made in class was the clear winner!

Our travelers didn’t shy away from picking up ingredients in local stores, from canned pâté to tinned seafood to pickled peppers and Espelette pepper to bring home to recreate the magic after the trip ended.

Pat’s bag arrived a day late to her home in Chicago but it contained all of her food goodies from Spain so she whipped up a few appetizers for friends. Kudos Pat!

Studies have shown that people are 50% more likely to try new foods when dining in a group than when eating alone. So, book your next trip with Onward Travel and step out of your culinary comfort zone just like our Basque Country travelers did!

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October 17, 2024/by Molly Crist

Tours

World-Class Dining and Beaches in Basque Country

Basque Country, located in northern Spain and southwestern France, is one of the most captivating culinary havens worldwide. The independent region is home to the Euskaldunak people who have their own language, culture and community centered on the appreciation of food and wine. This beautiful area has hundreds of miles of coastline along the Bay of Biscay, and our small group of travelers will spend a week in San Sebastián, a small city formed around a horseshoe-shaped beach.

San Sebastián is a vibrant city, and you will explore it all from the local wine Txacoli to Rioja’s reds, tapas to tasting menus, farmhouse tables to farmers markets, queso Idiazabal to chocolat, sea views to cobbled streets. Our home base will be an exclusive 4-star boutique hotel located in a historical building in the center of the city and very close to the beach.

Chef Guillermo is your Guide

Chef Guillermo Delavault has been visiting San Sebastián for over twenty years and considers it his second home. He fell in love with Basque cuisine and culture and was the chef at a prestigious hotel there before moving to the United States. He will share his passion for this region with our group as he leads us through tastings that will electrify your senses. In addition to his deep knowledge and enthusiasm for the culinary world, Guillermo is an avid traveler and he makes a fun and friendly companion. Chef Guillermo will partner with a Basque colleague and close friend, Chef Lander Ganzo, to introduce us to the local cuisine firsthand.

Basque Cuisine

Basque cuisine is renowned worldwide for its exceptional quality and unique flavors. Pintxos, the Basque version of tapas, are a culinary highlight, often served in bars and taverns throughout the region. The “old town” is home to the largest concentration of bars in all of Europe and every night the Donostiarras (locals) head out in groups to hit as many pintxos bars as possible. Basque chefs are celebrated for their use of fresh, locally sourced ingredients, and Michelin-starred restaurants abound in cities like San Sebastián.

And we will take advantage of these restaurants! You will enjoy lunch at Elkano, the one-star restaurant known for creative, elegantly plated cuisine featuring seafood and fish. You will also visit one-Michelin star Restaurante Kokotxa for a seasonal tasting menu dictated by what’s fresh at the market.

The Story of Txakoli

What better wine to enjoy all of this beautiful seafood and fish than with the traditional wine of the Basque region, Txakoli (also called Txakolina, or Chacoli). You will visit a winemaker that grows the indigenous grapes Hondarribi Zuri (white) and Hondarribi Beltza (red). The wine has a natural spritz and is typically poured from high above, so it forms in the tall, flat-bottomed glasses and aerates, enhancing its youthful effervescence. Toast to your adventures while learning about this special local wine.

This time of year is harvest in Rioja so you’ll see vines heavy with grapes, mostly Tempranillo and Garnacha. The Rioja D.O.C. is Spain’s largest wine regions with more than 500 wineries in the area. The wines pair perfectly with the unforgettable views.

Sagardotegias (cider houses) surround San Sebastián so it’s only fitting that the first stop on this tour will be at a traditional cider house for cider shot straight from the barrels and a traditional Basque feast.

Piment d’Espelette: A Legendary Chile

You’ve likely heard of or even used Espelette pepper in your cooking. This chili pepper essential to Basque cuisine and has a flavor profile that’s fresh and fruity with a hint of heat. It’s spicy without being overpowering! It’s special because it is a DOP product which means it can only be grown in the French commune of Espelette, Pyrénées-Atlantiques. We’ll visit Atelier du Piment to explore the farm and learn about the process of growing and processing the peppers.

Architecture Tourism

Basque cities like San Sebastián are home to striking modern architecture juxtaposed with historic buildings. A great example of the quirky Basque architecture is St-Jean-de-Luz, a small Atlantic fishing village with a charming market which we will visit.

You will also see avant garde, contemporary buildings in the Basque Country, most notably The Guggenheim Bilbao designed by Frank Gehry in Bilbao, where you will depart for home. You’ll have the option to add another hotel night if you would like to see the art collection which spans from the mid-20th century to present day. The restaurant inside the museum also possesses a Michelin star so of course, you should dine there too!

This seven-day tour is full of delicious food, wine and irresistible photo ops. Whether you are drawn by the culinary scene or the stunning vistas that stretch from the mountains to sea, this journey will no doubt leave a lasting impression, especially when you experience the warm hospitality of its people. Basque County has countless treasures that await you!

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April 5, 2024/by Molly Crist

Tours

Paris to Provence: Eating in the Footsteps of the Impressionists

We are excited to announce a new tour that will marry art and food in France this fall. You will have the experience of eating like a famous artist, in the same restaurants, enjoying the same foods the impressionists did in the 19th century as you sketch your memories throughout this unique adventure.

Chef Kelly Unger of The Rooster & The Carrot Cooking Studio in Doylestown, Pennsylvania will lead this tour along with Artist and Founder of ArtsNewsNow.com, Mandee Hammerstein. Generationally, Onward Travel has a longstanding relationship with Chef Kelly as our grandmother and mother have both attended her cooking classes and have loved each one of them. So, when Kelly approached us about preparing a tour for her students, we were thrilled to work with her.

“I’m a Francophile, and I teach a lot of French classes. Over the years, my students have asked for guided trips to France. It was always a goal of mine, so it was really nice to hear people ask for it. Using Onward Travel to coordinate the logistics was a natural fit. I love supporting small, women-owned businesses,” said Kelly.

This unique first tour is inspired byn a radio show that Kelly and Mandee host every other week called Eat Like an Artist on WDVR FM. You can listen to the latest episode from February 26, 2024 online here where they announce this trip to their audience. Kelly lives in the food world and Mandee lives in the arts world, so combining their talents will allow our small group of travelers to explore the food and art of the Impressionists through multiple unique lenses.

Fifteen travelers will live and cook through the eyes and taste buds of some of our world’s prized creatives as you travel from Paris to Provence. We will reacquaint ourselves with the Impressionist artists and their works – think Claude Monet, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent Van Gogh although considered a post-Impressionist artist), and many more and Mandee will lead some impromptu art lessons throughout the trip.

“Even if you aren’t a great artist, sketching your memories throughout the trip will allow you to relate more to the artist and memorialize your way through the trip creatively. We are constantly snapping photos with our phones, but sketching allows us to connect to what’s happening and savor memories in a personal and different way. It’s not about how good of an artist you are, but rather being open to a fun artistic exercise,” said Kelly and Mandee in a shared statement..

Paris to Provence: Eating in the Footsteps of the Impressionists will kick off with three days in Paris, the City of Light. You will see Marc Chagall’s ceiling for the Paris Opera which consists of 2400 square feet of frescoes and took him a year to complete.

You will have dinner at Au Petit Riche where many Impressionist artists and Opera staff dined. The restaurant opened in 1854 when chefs started becoming popular and dining out became fashionable. This particular spot was a favorite of Renoir, and you will enjoy the same classic French cuisine that the artists did in their day.

Of course, no trip to Paris is complete without spending some time around the beauty of the magnificent Eiffel Tower. Tour guests will explore it both during the day and enjoy dinner at a restaurant with some of this historical monument’s most beautiful, close-up views at night.

There will be a museum visit to tour the permanent Impressionists Collection at Musee D’Orsay and lunch to take in the museum’s opulence. We also have a boat ride down La Seine so you can get even more different perspectives of the city.

The group will then move on to Provence via train where you will tour Atelier de Cézanne, a biographical museum about the painter Paul Cézanne. You will learn the secrets behind traditional Provencal cooking and prepare a hearty feast during a cooking class at La Belugue in Beaumont- de-Pertuis. This 18th-century farmhouse offers the perfect venue for a cooking lesson in dishes that could have also been prepared during the artists’ time.

We’ll explore the market in St-Rémy, enjoy a modern immersive exhibition into the world of Van Gogh, enjoy a wine tasting and dinner at a restaurant just next to the 14 century castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the summer residence of the popes during the Avignon Papacy. The views, food and wine in this special restaurant are unparalleled!

On this trip, you will visit other historical sites such as the Pont du Gard, the tallest of all Roman aqueduct bridges. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its historical importance, architectural ingenuity and exceptional preservation. We’ll also visit an abbey near a medieval town.

This trip offers experiences of a lifetime such as a truffle hunt and lunch as well as a visit to one of the most beautiful villages in France, known for its distinctive red cliffs, created by the world’s largest known iron ochre deposit.

Paris to Provence: Eating in the Footsteps of the Impressionists will commence Wednesday, October 16 in Paris and end on Thursday, October 24, 2024 in Marseille. Utilize pencils, paintbrushes and culinary tools to create a memorable experience as you follow in the footsteps of creative geniuses and create your own works of art and food along the way.

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March 8, 2024/by Molly Crist

Tours

Cook Like a Tuscan

If you fancy yourself a foodie, there are few other destinations in the world that will satisfy your hunger for delicious cuisine and wine than Tuscany in Italy. That’s why for the past six years, we have partnered with Chicago’s premiere recreational cooking school, The Chopping Block, to bring you the popular Cook Like a Tuscan tour.

Spend seven days in Tuscany in autumn, when the olives and grapes are being picked and pressed to perfection. The weather is typically beautiful, and the scenery is full of medieval hilltop towns overlooking rolling countryside of vines and olive trees. From our stone villa in the heart of Chianti wine country, we’ll travel throughout the region for a once-in-a-lifetime culinary immersion.

Roll Up your Sleeves and Pasta Machines

This tour is unlike others because it includes four hands-on cooking classes, so it is a true culinary vacation! You will master the techniques of pasta, pizza, focaccia, and gnocchi as you learn how to utilize local ingredients featured in Italian cuisine. Your teachers are local chefs with a true passion for their homeland and enthusiasm for its food. From rustic handmade pasta to fine-dining dishes, you will tie on an apron and learn it all!

You will also have the pleasure of visiting Antica Macelleria Cecchini in Panzano in Chianti. This butcher shop brings people on a pilgrimage to Panzano from all over the world. Most of them are hoping to meet Dario Cecchini, who is known as the most famous butcher in the world. This 68-year-old eighth generation butcher has been featured in television shows Top Chef and Chef’s Table. Dario does few butchery classes these days, but our small group of travelers is one of the few that continues to get to experience this very personalized class.

Another special cooking class happens at Badia a Coltibuono, a former abbey and home of the late Lorenza De’Medici, an internationally known cook, author, and authority on Italian cuisine. The estate is now owned by Lorenza’s three adult children and their farm and its land have been producing excellent wines and oils for over a thousand years! Today, it’s an agritourism destination with a restaurant, cooking school, boutique hotel and event venue. The cooking classes feature local Tuscan ingredients, many straight from the vegetable garden.

In this hands-on class, you will learn how to make pasta just like an Italian nonna, ragu, focaccia and biscotti as you dine on the fruits of your labor paired with wines from the estate including their lovely Chianti Riserva.

Cheers to Chianti

In addition to all of the cooking you will do on this trip, there’s plenty of wine education paired during the week. From impromptu lessons with tour guide and Sommelier Viktorija Todorovska on the villa’s loggia (open air porch) to guided tours and tastings at local vineyards and wineries, you will gain a solid understanding of the beautiful wine made in this region, and just how hard it is to make! Italy’s wine laws are quite strict, and you’ll hear firsthand what farmers are up against, including drought and wild boars.

From Chianti Classico to Brunello di Montalcino to Super Tuscans and Vin Santo, (Italy’s famous dessert wine), you will taste it all and learn about these spectacular wines that will soon become part of your regular wine repertoire when you return home. You’ll also likely continue to use the casual Italian toast of “Cin cin” when clinking glasses with friends just as they do in Italy!

Cultural Immersion

Not only is this trip a food and wine lover’s dream, but you are given a true immersion into the local culture of Tuscany. You’ll see how terracotta is made in a tiny Tuscan town famous for its production, experience a taste of local olive oils, and visit outdoor markets and shops. We travel from the villa just enough to see the sights, but not too much where you feel like you are always in transport.

You’ll visit Montefioralle, a tiny, hilltop stone village with 360 degree views of the Tuscan countryside as well as Montalcino, a medieval walled hilltop city with a fortress and a 16th century vibe. You will soak in the warm therapeutic waters of Bagno Vignoni which have been bubbling since ancient times.

A visit to Siena’s iconic Piazza del Campo where the famous Palio di Siena horse race takes place will conjure images of the crowds as you walk through this town’s neighborhoods, each rooting for its own horse. Siena’s Gothic cathedral, Duomo of Santa Maria Asunta, features mosaic floors that will blow you away!

Explore on Your Own

Although this itinerary may sound jam-packed, there is also plenty of downtime to relax and explore on your own. Lay by the beautiful pool at the villa, explore the vineyards surrounding the villa or walk through the lovely village of Panzano whenever you like. This trip is the perfect combination of fun, education, eating, and experiencing! Whether you are an experienced cook or have never boiled dried pasta in your life, you will fall in love with Italy as you learn how to Cook Like a Tuscan.

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February 19, 2024/by Molly Crist

Tours

Experience an Amazing Amalfi Adventure

One cannot think of central Italy without dreaming of a trip to the Amalfi Coast. You may have heard this enchanting area is for only the affluent and glamorous, but it is also a playground for creative and adventurous souls, as well as food and wine lovers.

Onward Travel chose May for this year’s trip because it is an ideal time to explore: the tourist crowds are not at their peak yet, the lemon trees bear ripe fruit and the temperatures remain pleasantly moderate, enticing you to indulge in a refreshing dip in the sparkling, azure Tyrrhenian Sea.

Unravel Rich History

Settlements along the coast boast a rich history dating back to the 10th century, and today, the entire coastline is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage “cultural landscape.” The dramatic scenery, characterized by soaring cliffs and endless vistas will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark on your memory.

The region’s incredible history comes to life as we trace the ancient roots of these coastal settlements including the 11th century Byzantine Cathedral at the area’s center, as well as a medieval paper factory still in existence today.

Savoring Seafood and Zesty Lemons

But we also come for the food, where fresh seafood and locally grown lemons contribute to the area’s phenomenal cuisine. You will learn how to prepare some local recipes in a hands-on cooking class with a local family who is truly like family to us at Onward Travel. You will tour their culinary garden, whip up a delicious meal and hear fascinating stories from this multi-generational family.

You will also meet another close friend – Biagio the mozzarella maker, who is the last artisanal cheese maker on the entire Amalfi Coast. You will make a big batch of fresh mozzarella, learning his secrets along the way, before tasting a generous sampling of his products. You will never look at a ball of mozzarella the same again!

Biagio the artisanal cheese maker and tour guide Kat

You will learn quickly why lemons are revered in this area. Amalfi lemons are sweeter, more supple, and much larger than we are accustomed to in the United States. You will visit a family lemon farm and take a lemon-centric cooking class featuring some of their best and brightest dishes. No meal is complete here without limoncello!

Tour guide Kat and Sal the organic lemon farmer

This trip also features a dinner at one of Onward Travel’s most favorite restaurants anywhere in the world, owned by the same family who taught our cooking class! Not only is the view amazing, but the food will blow you away. It is run by a family who assume all the roles in the operation – from chef to sommelier to Matre’d to manager to farmer and pastry chef. We will conclude the meal with another spectacular homemade limoncello. Salute!

Expert Local Guide and Scholar

One of the benefits of this trip is local interpretation by one of our favorite local guides, archaeologist, and slow food connoisseur Roberto, who will take you on a tour of the lovely little off-the beaten path villages of the Amalfi Coast. Roberto excels in bringing the history of this area alive, including stories from a villa that was established one thousand years ago.

He will also guide you through the ancient ruins of Pompeii, one of the world’s most famous archeological sites. Roberto will make you feel you are part of life in this ancient world, and you will quickly understand why the ancient city has been a popular tourist destination for over 250 years.

Explore by Boat

A visit to Amalfi would not be complete without a private boat cruise to the world famous Isle of Capri, also known as “Blue Island.” You will enjoy a breathtaking trip along the coastal inlets of all the villages with stunning vistas at every turn. And it transforms into an aperitivo cruise on the way home!

The Amalfi Coast is a popular tourist destination (for good reason!) but Onward Travel takes you off the beaten path and provides a truly meaningful immersion in the local area thanks to our local connections and friends. Some plans have changed and now Kat (our Amalfi “expert”) will be leading this tour – she is super thrilled to return to one of her favorite places and introduce the group to all of her friends! Single or double occupancy is currently available at our elegant waterfront accommodations, so share this experience with your partner or a friend and join us in May 2024. Just four spots remain!

The Amalfi Coast promises a delightful and unforgettable experience. Are you ready to embark on this amazing Amalfi Coast adventure?

Register now

February 15, 2024/by Molly Crist

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