News

Italy’s ‘slow food’ movement embraces local food and traditional cooking and Saga guests can indulge in good food and famous wines on the new A Taste of Tuscany tour.

The seven-night holiday includes two nights in Rome and five nights in the Florentine province of Rignano sull’Arno – the perfect base to discover the Tuscan countryside where food and wine are always the focus!

In Rome, guests enjoy dinner in a typical, informal ‘osteria’ where a tour manager introduces the Italian ‘slow food’ culture. Next morning, the tour moves on to the Renaissance city of Pienza, for a tasting of the famous Pecorino (sheep’s cheese) and a visit to a wine producer’s cellar in the medieval hillside town of Montepulciano.

A five-night stay at Hotel Villa Il Palagio (4Q), in Rignano sull’Arno, is the base to discover Tuscany, starting with a visit to Florence. The city is home to glittering art treasures and Renaissance architecture and the tour also features a visit to Mercato Centrale Firenze – a hub for artisan and authentic regional food producers.

Guests continue on into Chianti country, stopping at the historic towns of Castellina and Greve before visiting an olive oil mill. There is a tour of the medieval streets of San Gimignano and the Via Francigena (an ancient route connecting northern Europe to Rome) to Siena. After a light farmhouse lunch and learning about organic olive oil production there’s also free time to sample traditional Sienese desserts in a famous pastry shop.

The medieval hill city of Montalcino is famous for Brunello wine and the itinerary includes a stop at the Enoteca La Fortezza wine shop before travelling back to the Florence area for a Tuscan cookery class and dinner prepared by the Saga guests.

The last night of the holiday is spent back in the ‘eternal city’ of Rome with a farewell dinner to raise a glass to a Taste of Tuscany.

For details call free on 0800 092 0803 or travel.saga.co.uk/italy

7 nights from £1,549 departing London Heathrow on the scheduled services with British Airways to Rome on May 6, June 10 and 17, September 9 and 23 and October 14, 2018.