10 days /9 nights in Southern Italy
August 18 – August 27, 2025
Part foodie and cooking tour, part beach trip and ancient ruins, let Calabria breathe life into you as you experience Italy unlike any other version of it you’ve ever known.
We invite you to slow down with slow food, disappear for a while in the olive groves, and discover your favorite version of yourself.
Meet Calabria.
Unlike most other places of the world, Calabria is wild and rugged, with a scandalous history and exceptional allure. She’s a place you go to discover not just your best self, but your favorite self, in a sun-kissed land between the crystal seas. She has the prestigious recognition of being home to a staggering list of FEE Blue Flag Beaches due to excellent water quality and environmental standards, and has the delight of offering a glimpse into the Old World in a way not possible in other places in Italy. Calabria is an outstanding place. She doesn’t put on airs or pretend to be something she is not.
She just IS, and invites you to slow down and be the same.
Immerse yourself in the land of Ciccio’s Olives, where olive groves surround you, the warm sun kisses you, and the balmy breeze smells of sea salt and flowers. Connect with authentic, slow food from another place and time by experiencing the ancient trees that so gracefully give their olives year after year to be pressed into liquid gold for our nourishment, health, and enjoyment. Meet your olive oil farmers, learn their secrets and stories, and dine with them under the stars.
Let time stand still and live like a local as your native Calabrese guide shows you everything the tour books miss out on.
La Costa degli Dei
This Old World region of Southern Italy is known for its hot peppers, cured meats, handmade pasta, coffee, sweet red onions, tuna, and especially for its exquisite olive oil that comes from some of the world’s most ancient olive trees. Not a region to be merely known for its agricultural products, Calabria stands out as an oasis of sea, sun, sand, and dramatically exceptional beauty.
The Coast of the Gods is one of Italy’s most spectacular coastlines, bursting with culture and mythology, golden sandy beaches, and turquoise waters. It’s found along the Tyrrhenian Sea, the waters hugging the top of the most southern toe of Italy, and is largely under-discovered and one of the Mediterranean’s best kept secrets.
This boutique, small group tour whisks you away to:
Tropea
Pizzo
Parghelia
Caminia
Soverato
Piedigrotta
Scilla
Le Castella
Badolato
Squillace
Reggio Calabria
Vena di Maida
Lamezia Terme
…and more!
DATE:
August 18 – August 27, 2025
PRICE:
$5,299 per person*
EARLY BIRD PRICING: $4,999 per person if booked before April 15, 2025 (extended for tax return season)*
*Based on double room occupancy
25% non-refundable deposit is due at time of reservation, with remaining 75% due May 1, 2025. If booked after May 1, the full amount will be charged.
Includes:
- All land transportation including Lamezia Terme airport/train station pickup & drop off
- Accommodations at local agriturismo
- Swimming pool access
- European-style breakfast
- 6 included dinners
- Wine and tips for all organized meals
- Private bilingual tour guide and drivers
- Tours & tastings
- Entrance fees
- Visits to artisan & food shops
- Highlighted slow food farm to table meal
- Cooking class
- Winery and tasting
- Access to shopping mall
- Education on Italian & Arbereshe culture
- Official meet & greet with Ciccio’s Olives & Fratelli Pugliano
Does Not Include:
- Flights
- City tax, beverages, and meals not in the “Includes”
- Items and expenses of personal nature
- Medical & travel insurance
- Any items not mentioned in the “Includes”
Highlights:
- Food origin tracing from bottle to farm, with guided grove and mill tours, official meet & greet with our producers, and olive oil education
- Hands-on cooking classes with family chefs and guest local culinary experts
- Family-style dinner al fresco in the olive groves
- All meals covered except two lunches and two dinners to give you opportunity to choose your own locale and fare
- Visiting best loved yet under-discovered places in central/southern Calabria including beaches, mountain towns, castles, and museums
- Reserved umbrellas and beach chairs at beautiful lidos
- Exclusive artesian demonstrations and tastings
- 24/7 access to bilingual tour hosts
- Welcome gift upon arrival with necessities and gifts
- Dedicated Facebook group for tourgoers to get to know each other and where we share helpful tips in planning/traveling
Interested in joining us? Fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch!
Join us on a trip of lifetime to Southern Italy!
Interested in 2026 tours instead? Fill out the form; we’ll keep you in the loop.
For Further Reading:
Official Calabria Tourism Site
List of Blue Flag Beaches in Calabria (20 of them!)
Anyone with an adventurous spirit ready to explore an under-discovered part of Italy, walk the groves of our olive trees, relax in the crystal waters, and learn how to cook and eat like a local.
No! We designed this trip to encourage relaxation and unplugging from our fast-paced lives. You’ll sleep in the same place each night of the trip as we day-trip to the various destinations.
Many airlines fly into Lamezia Terme (airport code SUF), often with layovers in Rome. You can also fly into Rome or Milan and take the train down.
We’re looking for a minimum of eight people and a maximum of 14 people on our tour.
We’re so glad you asked. As an olive oil company, we are focused on connecting people with our family of olive oil producers and our product origin. As chefs, we are delighted to offer authentic cooking classes highlighting Southern Italian cuisine. As Italians, we’re from the land, speak the language, and know the best beaches and insider secrets. As Americans, we anticipate traveler needs and connect people from the USA to Italy and deliver them authentic, desirable, and boutique experiences in a place that is only starting to be discovered.
You should arrive to Lamezia Terme on Monday, August 18, and depart on Wednesday, August 27. Please let us know if you’d like to arrive into town a day earlier and we would be happy to help you figure that out, too. Feel free to add a few days on your Italy trip to explore other areas! We highly suggest Sicily, Rome, Florence, and the hill towns of Tuscany.
There is a flight of stairs to the accommodations at the agriturismo, as well as an outdoor flight of stairs to the pool. Other than that, we are bringing you to the place of destination, so very little planned walking is part of this trip. If we’re in a hill town where you’d rather not explore but sit for a cappuccino or glass of wine, that’s what we would recommend! As always, we will be right with you and are happy to help you as needed with an extra drive to a town center.
The Arbereshe are also known as Albanians of Italy, or Italo-Albanians, and are an Albanian ethnolinguistic group minority that settled in a few towns in Italy. Our town of Vena di Maida happens to be one of those communities! On our walking tour of the town, you’ll see signs in both Italian and Arberesh – something not often found anywhere in the world.