Best Food Tour in Florence, Italy 2024: Florence For The Food Lover

If you love food, then a Florence cooking vacation is a must-do activity. This culinary journey will introduce you to some of the cornerstones of Italian food culture and artisanal flavors of Tuscan cuisine. From marbled meats to golden olive oil, you’ll get to taste all the local hidden gems! Plus, you’ll learn about the history and culture behind each dish from your guide.

Day One

Order of activities subject to change based on specific dates booked.

• Arrival on your own and check in to your centrally-located hotel in Florence, home for your Florence food tour.
• Time to settle in and relax.
• Dinner tonight at a local restaurant in the authentic San Frediano quarter (left bank of the river Arno, about 20 minutes on foot or 10 minutes by taxi.)
• Overnight.

Day Two

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• This morning, meet your licensed Florence guide for a 3-hour guided tour combining the art highlights of this amazing city with visits of local food specialty shops and markets where Florentines purchase their fresh seasonal ingredients. You will find out why Florence is a top spot for Tuscany food tours as you taste local cured meats and cheeses and learn about the Italian way of life.
• At the end of the tour your guide will drop you at the Mercato Centrale for lunch on your own. The Mercato Centrale is a place where food is “lived,” it is prepared by artisans who know it deeply and who have been preparing it generation after generation. Each store has its own workspace and makes its own specialities, making it a perfect place to discover authentic Florentine dishes at a fair price.
• Afternoon visit of the Accademia Gallery to see the famous David of Michelangelo. (The visit is not guided but includes a “skip the line” reservation. If you would like to hire an official guide these arrangements can be made in advance.) 
• Dinner tonight on your own.

Day Three

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• This morning, head to a cooking atelier for your first Tuscan cooking class. (The cooking atelier is about a 15 minute walk or 5 minute taxi ride from your hotel.) You will start with a unique walking visit of local “botteghe,” or shops, to select ingredients, always a highlight of our Florence food tours. You might visit the local butcher, vegetable vendor, and cheese shop. Your Tuscany cooking class will focus on signature Tuscan recipes and will include a four-course menu.
• Lunch to follow paired with local wines.
• Afternoon free for shopping and individual explorations. You may want to visit the nearby Boboli Gardens or Palazzo Pitti Museum, or to walk through the famous Rose Garden of Florence to the Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset and enjoy one of the most famous panoramic views in the world.
• Dinner on your own tonight.
• Overnight.

Day Four

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• After breakfast your private English speaking driver guide will pick you up at your Hotel for a full day excursion in Chianti region : first stop will be the beautiful Castello di Monterinaldi for your hand on cooking class : your chef will prepare pasta and typical Tuscan dishes together with the guests: soups, flavorful sauces, simple sides, main courses, desserts, and everything will be served for lunch along with Monterinaldi wines.
• Guided visit of the wine cellar and lunch to follow.
• After lunch stop at the charming Wine Estate Mulino di Grace for a wine tasting and visit of the winery before reaching the capital of Chianti, the village of Greve. Time to visit the village on own. Once inhabited by the Etruscans, this town is perhaps more famous for the great explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. He is celebrated with a statue in the main square, Piazza Matteotti. Stroll the porticos around this three-sided piazza and check out the restaurants and enotecas (wine bars). Besides finding shops, cafes, a park for the kids, gas stations and banks this small town also has some special treats for shopping local artisan products, wine, and clothing.
• Retune back to Florence and dinner on own and overnight.

Day Five

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Free morning for leisure activities. Perhaps a museum visit or some shopping. Lunch on your own.
• After lunch , at 3:00 pm meet your driver at the hotel and reach the charming small town of Fiesole from where you will start your Sunset Fiesole bike tour. Under the guidance of your expert guide, with your e-bike you will discover Fiesole, the sky above Florence, the nature and the Florentine hills surrounded by fields of olive trees – so close and yet so far – from the city. You will cross the path of the Via degli dei, the ancient Via Flaminia Minor, the Etruscan Road that crossed the Apennines mountains at least 200 years BC.
• During the trip, you will have a break, tasting fragrant bread and extra virgin olive from a local farmer. It won’t be a tourist experience, but a little adventure: local life away from the crowds.
• At the end of the tour, transfer back to your hotel by private transfer
• Farewell Dinner tonight at the Restaurant “Torcicoda” to end your cooking
  week with the best Florentine Steak !
• Overnight.

Day Six

• Breakfast and depart on your own.

Optional Additional Days and Tours

You can add on additional nights in Florence and additional tours, or we can completely customize the tour according to your tastes. Some additional activities we can include are:

• additional cooking class in Florence
• excursion to Pisa and Lucca
• full day tour in Chianti including San Gimignano
• truffle hunt experience
• additional museum visits and tours

Please inquire!