January

January

January

Winter is the time for brisk walks in the leafless woods for a full panoramic view of the majestic snow-covered peaks of the Apennines. Unexpectedly, potherbs for hearty winter soups are emerging in fields and walls; you can forage for them with an expert, learn to make zuppa and compare your results to those at a Slow Food zuppa challenge.

February

February

February

Carnival: celebrations and banquets to say farewell to meat (carne) before Lent. Viareggio is second only to Venice for its Carnival parade. A good time for an orgy of meat-eating and finding out how salami and sausages are made.

March

March

March

Spring is nearly here, trees are in bud and it's warm enough for outdoor festivals: a festival of camellias (green and black teas are camellia leaves) on the first three weekends and an olive oil festival at the end of the month.

April

April

April

Spring brings azaleas and wildflowers. The snow on the high peaks has melted and you can venture up to a mountain village and make Garfagnana potato bread with the village baker.

May

May

May

The best cheese is made in May using milk from animals on lush spring pastures. Visit a shepherd and see the process from rennet to curd and whey to ricotta.

June

June

June

White acacia blossom adorns the mountain slopes in May, and now we can visit beekeepers to help with the honey extraction and taste the intense single-flower honeys.

July

July

July

Farro or emmer is a primitive wheat that was cultivated by the first farmers more than 10,000 years ago and is grown still in the Garfagnana. Its harvest in July is accompanied by a festival and feasting with farro beer of course.

August

August

August

Now that the wheat harvest is finished, everyone is making bread. It seems every village celebrates in food and music its own special bread from flat bread like tortillas to yeasty focaccia-style breads and potato bread with a special preservation order on it from Slow Food.

September

September

September

Porcini are hiding in the woods (if the conditions are exactly right), but flaunt themselves on restaurant menus. Help with the grape harvest and learn about wine-making. Join pork butchers at their party in a castle.

October

October

October

The weather is cooler but still enjoyably warm. The month kicks off with a squash festival. Chestnut-drying huts are fired up. Black truffles appear on restaurant menus. The new wine is ready for tasting at a village festival.

November

November

November

Olives are ripe. Pick them, take them to the press and go home with your own olive oil. Hunt for white truffles and visit a truffle fair. Visit a chestnut-drying hut and eat chestnuts as pancakes, porridge, pasta, bread and roasted.

December

December

December

More chestnuts, a chocolate festival and Christmas. Visit a water mill where chestnuts are ground into flour. Villages reinvent themselves as living presepi (Nativity scenes) with inhabitants carrying out traditional crafts and, of course, serving traditional food and drink.

Here's how it works

• Decide when you want to take your vacation. 
• Fill in the Booking Enquiry Form or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to receive a full 'Menu' of what's going on in the month of your choice. The Monthly Menus include cultural and outdoor activities as well as culinary ones.
• We create an itinerary, suggest suitable restaurants and give you a costing (see below for charging basis).
• We fine-tune the itinerary to suit your requirements and adjust the costing if necessary.
• Once we've agreed the itinerary and the fee, we email you a booking form which you fill in and return to us with a deposit. The balance is due 8 weeks before the start of the tour or on the day of the tour in the case of one-day tours.

Fees

Up to 3 people

I pick you up in my car wherever you're staying and take you to the places you want to go and tell you as much as you want to know about the people and places we visit. For this service, I charge €190 euros for one person, €110 euros per person for two people, €80 euros per person for three people per day plus €50 euros per day for transport.

More than 3 people

4 people: €70 euros per person per day

5–7 people: €55 euros per person per day

Please ask for special quote for more than 7 people.

Plus cost of transport which will be in a luxury mini-van with driver (depends on number of hours: approximately €320 euros per 8-hour day).

Other charges

Entrance fees (often free, but no more than €10-15 euros per person), cost of your own meals and mine (from €20 euros for an osteria to €60 euros per person for a Michelin-starred restaurant), cooking lessons, horse riding, concert tickets.