Come and join us for an informative tour about the history and traditions of Italian food and wine as well as the history of Florence!
This tour begins bright and early at the Tour Provider Office at 9:40 am, where you will meet the group and your dedicated tour guide. From here, head to one of the biggest food markets in Florence. Your tour leader will guide you through a tasting path of the most essential Tuscan products, and we will teach you how to distinguish the highest quality ingredients. The tour will then continue through the leather market to learn about the typical Florentine products towards the Medici chapels, the magnificent Cathedral, Piazza Della Repubblica, Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi gallery and finally the Ponte Vecchio. You will fall in love with the art, the architecture and the masterpieces left by the many great Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo and Donatello for you to admire.
We then have a bonus stop at one of the historical gelaterias in Florence for a tasty Italian gelato and a break. Here you can get something to eat for lunch before we set off on a half-day tour of the Tuscan Chianti Classico wine region, all in the comfort of a minivan.
Travel just less than an hour outside of Florence towards our first stop, a winery in the heart of the Chianti region surrounded by cypresses, olive trees, and vineyards. After a guided tour through the old cellars learning about the winemaking production, you will finally taste their delicious and famous wines. During the wine tasting, you will also try the renowned black rooster Chianti Classico Wine and the extra virgin olive oil on yummy bruschetta.
After a short ride, we will reach our second winery, a local family-run farm to find out that small wine producers can make amazing wine too. Here you will have an authentic experience where you will learn how the grapes and olives are picked by hand. You will also taste the result of the hard work of the wine-loving farmers. During the day you will taste 6 up to 8 different types of wine, balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oils.
From here, we head back to Florence, aiming to have you back at the meeting point by 6:30 pm, so you can keep exploring Florence at your leisure.
We promote a youth market 18-39 years old. What does this mean? Does it mean that you have just had your 40th birthday so you won't be welcome if you are a more seasoned traveler? That we are going to card you at the door? No way!
It means that we have a general audience of college students, backpackers, solo travelers, etc... that often fall into this category. The tours are more fast-paced, budget-minded and include activities for travelers to meet and connect with other passengers of the same age from all parts of the world who share the same interests, lifestyles, and travel styles.
We are not strict with the age limit and people older than 39 are always welcome to join our tours as long as you are young in heart, have no walking disabilities and are happy to be with younger people.
Our brand is designed around this unique experience geared towards younger travelers, so only passengers that fit this demographic travel with us.
Don’t panic! The first step is to speak to your bank. All purchases made on our website will appear as purchases being made in Switzerland as our website booking provider is a Swiss-based company, so be sure your bank is aware you will be making Swiss purchases to avoid having your payment flagged as possible fraudulent activity. If you cannot resolve the problem with your bank, you should email info@italyonabudgettours.com immediately so we can proceed with a manual booking.
Let us start by saying that If you want to pay for one of your products but the Credit Card is in a different currency than the currency in which we sell our tours, then you have 2 options. This can be selected on the screen where you enter your credit card details by selecting "view currency conversion options":
Option A
TrekkSoft does the currency conversion to accept the customer's currency, exchanging that into the currency in which we operate our tours. This is called dynamic currency conversion since we display the actual USD price (Or whatever currency your card is in) to you at the time of booking and this is the amount which is debited from your card without any further conversions or charges.
Option B
The card issuer ( your bank) does this currency conversion and applies a commission and processing fee. So this is when a tour is in EUR for example, and you are charged in EUR even though your credit card account is in USD. So your bank gives you an exchange rate which you will only see on your monthly statement.
In either case, as we are not a bank, the conversion is not the same as you would see on the likes of xe.com since these are the wholesale currency values, these rates are not available to anyone in reality.
The retail rates are always higher since there are differences in buying selling rates, and there are commissions and transaction fees when exchanging currencies. Whatever currency you pay, we will receive the amount as displayed in EUR
This could either mean that the tour is sold out or that it is no longer possible to book the date online due to the cut off time. If you are interested in a specific departure date e-mail info@italyonabudgettours.com and we will be happy to let you know if we still have available spots for that tour.
The hostels we collaborate with are very safe in fact in each room you can find a personal locker where you can store your valuable objects and bags. You just need to bring your own lock or sometimes you can hire it directly at the reception.
Depending on your nationality, you may require visas to enter Italy. You are fully responsible for obtaining all necessary visas prior to the departure of your trip. Italy on a Budget is not legally permitted to knowingly allow anybody who does not have a valid visa to join a trip. Consult your travel agent to determine which visas you require and how to obtain them.
Cancellation, unexpected medical expenses, injuries, theft, lost luggage or money can significantly disrupt and ruin your holiday. Italy on a Budget strongly recommends that you take our comprehensive insurance cover for cancellation, medical expenses, evacuation and repatriation expenses, personal accident, personal baggage, money, and public liability before you travel.
Upon receipt of the final payment, your trip documentation will be released 20 days prior to your departure containing final details and info about the accommodation. You will also receive a day by day itinerary including full details & costs of all optional activities available on your trip.
The optional activities need to be arranged and organized not later than 1 week prior to your arrival since they are subject to availability. You can either book the activities directly on our website or by email sent to our team. You can choose to pay in cash ( local currency ) directly to your trip manager on day one of your trip or by credit card if booked online.
Got a group? Get a discount 🤑
Get in touch with our team via phone or email and we will get your crew an awesome deal.
You're welcome!
