Do you feel inspired by Epicure & Culture’s culturally immersive travel stories? Are you longing to have a similar experience, complete with home-cooked organic meals, comfortable homestay accommodations, scenic hikes through landscapes littered with vineyards and lemon trees, and the chance to explore important local heritage?
Well, you’re in luck. Epicure & Culture is now offering the chance to live like a true local in the Italy’s beautiful Amalfi Coast.
**NOTE: Click here to go straight to the booking page, which also has full tour details.
The Route
In partnership with G Adventures, a leader in responsible tourism and transformative travel experiences, we’ve created an 8-day trip that begins and ends in Naples, Italy, with stops in Pompeii/Furore; Valle delle Ferriere/Furore; Ravello/Amalfi/Furore; Mount Tre Calli; Positano. Dates are September 26th – October 3rd, 2015.
What’s So Special About This Tour?
This isn’t about seeing a list of guidebook-sourced attractions or sitting on a hop on, hop off bus to cram as much as possible into one trip. This isn’t about sleeping in big brand hotels or eating at Michelin star restaurants (although I promise the food is even better). This is about transformative travel. It’s about having immersive local experiences that provide insight into the culture of the Amalfi Coast and its people. You’ll go home from this tour not only having seen and experienced a lot, but as a changed individual.
The Experience
This tour is all about experiencing Italy like a local, so you’ll be staying in a 16th century former monastery agriturismo (farm stay) centered around lush greenery situated above the beautiful Amalfi Coast. Here you’ll live with a family, learning how to cook like an Italian — a skill that will undoubtedly benefit you back home — and what the daily routine of a local is like.
While you’ll have time to enjoy the accommodation, you’ll also spend much time outside of it. Savor a slice of pizza in Naples, the very place pizza was invented; hike through vineyard and olive-laced trails, including the famous “Walk of the Gods”; explore the ruins of Pompeii; visit historic churches; and see the very scenery that inspired many artists, poets and musicians — including Wagner. Much of this tour involves eating and hiking, so you’ll be able to indulge in farm-to-table dining before walking it off with scenic treks of some of the world’s most heavenly landscapes.
What’s Included
- Guided tour of Pompeii
- Four days of organized hikes and excursions from Furore
- Visit to Amalfi and Ravello
- Scenic ferry ride from Positano to Amalfi
- Six home-cooked dinners using local organic produce
- Three pre-dinner cooking demonstrations at the agriturismo
- Orientation walk in Naples
- Transport between destinations and included activities.
Responsible Tourism
As readers of Epicure & Culture know, we’re passionate about responsible tourism. For that reason, we’re offering a tour that you can truly feel good about booking. Here are some reasons why:
- This tour works in cooperation with Planeterra to minimize any negative impacts of tourism in the destination, as well as to help provide sustainable alternatives and positively impact the local economy
- This tour works with small, local businesses to not only keep costs down, but to help support local artisans and entrepreneurs (not to mention it helps you have a more authentic experience)
- This tour provides business opportunities to local people by employing local guides and tour operators
- This tour uses accommodation that is socially and environmentally responsible
- This tour encourages travelers to use refillable water bottles instead of disposable plastic, cotton tote bags, reusable batteries, etc.
Booking
For full trip details please click here. If you have questions, please use the contact form below to get in touch.
About Epicure & Culture Tours
Epicure & Culture was started in 2012 by Jessica Festa out of a desire to provide transformative and responsible travel experiences that took people beyond just “seeing the sites” but immersed them in local culture and told them the stories of the community members they encountered. In conjunction with offering trip coaching and being the founder of Responsible Tourism Twitter Chat (#RTTC), Jessica decided it wasn’t enough to just educate people on how to travel. She wanted to provide them with the experience. And that was how Epicure & Culture Tours was born. There’s no need to think or plan, simply book and you’ll be given an immersive local living experience that’s also in-line with the publication’s responsible tourism ideals. The only thing you’ll need to do is pack your bags (including some loose-fitting pants, as all tours contain a hearty dose of delicious local food).
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