PACKAGED TOURS - Chianti by Vespa
Imagine cruising along winding country roads on your Vespa scooter; picture-postcard vistas greeting you around every curve of the Chianti hills. Enjoy endless rows of vineyards bearing some of the world's finest grapes. Picture stately lines of towering cypress trees and silvery-green olive groves rimming an ancient abbey. View fields ablaze with crimson poppies in the springtime, golden sunflowers in summer and red grapes in autumn.
Be a Traveler not a Tourist. Italy is not just a country, it is an experiece!. Tour Italy on the freedom of a Vespa scooter. We have been guiding our luxury Vespa tours in Italy for the past 13 years, so contact us now to reserve an entire week and book a private tour for your group of eight or more!
Motorbike license is required.
Minimum 2 person.
Maximum 14 person
Chianti Region Tour
The 7 days tour includes:
- Complimentary ground transportation from the Santa Maria Novella Train Station located in Florence city center to your hotel in Chianti and return-trip ground transportation from your hotel in Chianti to Florence Santa Maria Novella Train Station on our published times. Times outside of this can be accommodated on a user pay basis
- 7 nights accommodations at one of our 4 star hotels in Radda in Chianti
- 7 breakfasts, 4 lunches.
- 1 welcome reception followed by dinner upon arrival.
- 4 hosted dinners, (2 deluxe dining and 2 dinners at local restaurants), including selected wine.
- All event fees, wine tastings, museum entrance fees, and sightseeing activities and admissions, unless indicated as optional (trips may include many optional activities on a user-pay basis).
- Italian luxury cooking class.
- 7 days Vespa usage, fuel, and limited Italian property damage insurance (additional scooter protection insurance is available at a small premium; driver responsible for all damage to the scooter).
- Local host, Vespa escorts, support van and driver.
- Pilot van each day, great to carry your purchases or if we have inclement weather or if you choose not to ride your Vespa for part or all of the tour
- Local native PhD tour guide fluent in English.
- 3 - 5 Day Tours do not include Cooking day or/and Siena day or/and Cross-Country day. (Depends on season.)
- 3 - 5 Day Tours do not include Outbound Transfer.
7 Day Basic
The following is a sample itinerary and subject to change
Day 1 Saturday:
Meet guests in Florence and transport to Radda in Chianti where we base our tours. Hosted arrival dinner.
Day 2 Sunday:
We will ride about 45 minutes to the town of Greve. We stop in the Piazza of Greve, where there has been an open market in this “square” since the 1500’s. Next we will go to Panzano, located halfway between Florence and Siena. It is a small, attractive hill town. We will have lunch here at La Cantinetta a Panzano before an afternoon of wine tasting at Castello di Albola and a visit to their historic cellars. Then a return ride to Radda and dinner on your own this evening.
Day 3 Monday:
Today is history day with a 45 minute scoot to Siena where we’ll meet your private tour guide. They are art historians and heraldry experts. After a private tour of the Duomo, you will lunch at a local café on your own or with new friends and enjoy an afternoon of exploration, shopping or people watching in the city’s famous piazza. Later will we attend a group dinner at Pastaececi a Castellina.
Day 4 Tuesday:
Off to the historic Monterinaldi winery, where you will have a gourmet lunch and wine tasting as well as a tour of the grounds and cellars. Here you will taste a range of delicious Chianti along with other reds during the course of your lunch. Then we head back to Radda. Along the way we could perhaps stop at the famous ceramic shop of Guiseppe Rampini, or perhaps an afternoon ride to Volpaia, declared “the world’s most beautiful spot” by the Wall Street Journal.
Day 5 Wednesday:
Today we will scoot to Monteriggioni, Castellina, and Castello di Brolio for another wine tasting and tour. Montereggioni appears much as it did in medieval times with an almost intact outer wall and 14 towers. Castellina is another hill town, and a visit to the Via Della Volte, an ancient tunnel used by guards is a “must do”. Today use its windows to see the vineyards and countryside. Visit the shops to visit Andrea Rontini, world class photographer and his award winning photos that capture the essence of Tuscany. Castello di Brolio sits atop a hill and on a clear day you can see Siena from here. It is just outside Gaiole in Chianti. If the drivers are good, this would be a good day to go to Volterra. Volterra is another walled, hilltop town which boasts a Roman theater and Etruscan sites. This evening there is a hosted dinner at Le Panzanelle a Lucarelli and farewell to the 5 day tour participants.
Day 6 Thursday:
This is Culinary Day. After breakfast, we’ll take a short 35 minute scoot to one of Tuscany’s most renowned chefs for a half day cooking class at our luxury cooking school. You’ll discover the secrets of the “Slow Food” movement and Italian cuisine as you create a variety of dishes, and then savor the fruits of your labor for lunch with your fellow chefs! Dinner on your own.
Day 7 Friday:
On the last day of Vespa riding, we will go to San Gimignano, which is known for its many towers and considered by many to be the most beautiful Tuscan medieval village. Lunch on your own as you tour the town at your leisure. Farewell dinner this evening is at Malborghetto, giving everyone a chance to reminisce about the week’s adventures and celebrate the many surprises we all experienced.
Day 8 Saturday:
Complimentary transfer to Florence for the rest of your stay in Italy, or to make connections.