We arrived in Italy after a long flight. We caught a cab to our hotel, which is a quick 10 minute ride from the airport. The hotel staff was expecting us and made us feel comfortable. Our room was bright, clean and comfortable. I was glad to see the hotel has a restaurant. We were hungry and the food was tasty. They also provided us with information on how to get into, if we wanted to see a little of Rome.

The next day we were picked up by a private coach and taken to Villa Martiena in the rolling hills of southern Tuscany. The countryside along the way was filled with delightful farms, olive groves, forests, rivers and picturesque hill top towns.

Just after we arrived and the bus parked at the Villa, our breath was taken away by the view as we stepped off the bus. As we made our way to the upper terrace, we were greeted with a glass of the local wine. Giorgio and Simon welcomed us and gave us a tour of the Villa with a great discussion about the history, state of the Villa when they purchased, their improvements, and future projects.

We were given a gift of individual tour brochures for all the Tuscan hillside towns on our itinerary plus brochures on the food and vine of the region. We were escorted up to our room and shown its many wonderful features. The room comes with blow dryer’s, mirror vanity lighting, a rain shower head, espresso maker, desk with lights and USB ports. They also have iron and ironing board, fans, drying racks, hair iron, hot water kettle, and converters available upon request. Plus there is WiFi throughout the villa the main outdoor terrace.

We we able to unpack and settle into our room that we had for the duration of the tour. We decided to relax on the grounds of the villa, part of our group took a walk into Montepulciano during the afternoon.

A glass of wine and so appetizers were served in the late afternoon on the terrace. The terrace has a spectacular view looking down across the Tuscan countryside as the sun set. A wonderful sit down dinner was served with abundant wine and followed by a relaxing evening. A brief discussion given by Giorgio covering the next day schedule. The rest of the evening was for relaxing and getting to know our fellow travelers.

The following day the group was picked up by our private tour bus and taken to the local train station. We were able to pack lightly since we could leave most of our things in our room at the villa.The group traveled to Florence by train and divided into two groups. Each group continued by train to their respective destination of Cinque Terre or Venice. One was escorted by Giorgio and one by Simon. The two groups were reunited in Florence after two days. We stayed at lovely modern hotel in the center of the historic center. It was great spot because we were just minutes from all the major sites. We had the afternoon on our own to explore Florence. The group gathered at the hotel and we were taken to an amazing Florentine steak house for dinner.

The following morning, the group left the hotel and had a delightful breakfast at a cute restaurant on the Arno River. We meet up with our tour bus and went to the stunning mid evil town of San Gimignano and had time on our own to see the sites, shop and have a nice lunch. We got back on the bus and went wine tasting at a wonderful winery in the countryside outside the town. We returned to the Villa where we had another wonderful four course dinner consisting of local Tuscan dishes.

A light breakfast is available every morning for 90 minutes prior to the departure time at the villa. The breakfast includes yogurt, cereal, pastries, cold cuts and cheese. The best part was the American coffee. There are also espresso, tea, water, or juices available.

The next several days our private tour bus picked us up at the villa gate each morning and we were whisked away to tour a different Tuscan hillside town and visit local wineries. Our bus was comfortable, clean and well maintained.

We went to Sienna, Pienza, Montalcino, Cortona, Arezzo, ….. The typical bus tour day started with departure from the villa at 9, a relaxing drive to the town with Giorgio and Simon giving us a brief overview of the schedule of the day along the way. They were available to answer our questions. We were escorted into the gates of town and shown our meeting spot for departure. We had the day to wonder through the town on our own and explore museums, historic buildings, shops, discover cafes for lunch on our own or sometimes we joined with friends from the tour. If a winery was part of the that day’s tour, the bus drove us to the winery in the countryside. We had private escorted tour of the grounds, production and cellar by the staff of the winery. At some, we were able to do a barrel tasting. All the wineries included tasting of all their wines plus staff proves a talk about their wines. All the wineries were small, family owned, produced excellent wine and are not distributed in the USA.

The final day of our tour was a free day to explore Montepulciano. In the late afternoon we gathered at the villa for a second chance to taste all the wines from the wineries we visited during our tour and order any wines we wanted to ship home. The wine makers were there to pour and answer any questions. We had a grand final dinner with local entertainment. It was such a nice show.

The final morning there was breakfast and good byes. Many people were going different directions but a group of us hired a van, with the help of Giorgio, to take us back to the airport in Rome. Others had arranged rides to the local train station to continue their travel adventure.

This is an excellent way to see Italy and explore the Tuscan wine region. It was the right balance of being between an escorted tour and having the freedom to explore on our own. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who’s thinking about going to Italy and love wine and food.