Gourmet and wine tours
What is Tuscany famous for all over the world? Art, food and wine of course! So, what a better way to know it than a journey through its vineyards, where several kinds of vines are cultivated, visiting award-winning wineries where sipping intense reds or fruity whites guided by expert wine tasters? We also suggest you not to forget extra virgin olive oil, traditionally produced and used to cook in Tuscany since always. Stopping at an old oil mill is one of the most curious experiences you could do: it often happens to discover that in some small farms olives are still collected by hands and cold pressed with ancient millstones. But a gourmet tours in Tuscany reserves many other surprises to a traveller: excellent restaurants, country osterias, city wine bars offer the best of the local wine-and-food production, great chocolate artists make this territory “The Chocolate Valley”, fish is superbly cooked along the coasts and mountains give you strong almost forgotten flavours. You do not have but to leave and come to taste all this…

• Gourmet weekend in Lucca: Original Lucca weekend learning to cook a typical Italian lunch and enjoying countryside and good wine at local wineries....more info
• Gourmet biking weekend in Lucca:Biking along Lucca’s countryside, having break at country wine bars for sipping good wine, taste excellent food and having special dinner with Italian fiends preparing pizza...........................................more info
• Gourmet biking weekend in Garfagnana: Biking along Garfagnana hills, discovering wild landscapes and hilltop villages, stopping at local osterias, trattorias and norcinerias to taste mountain flavours...............................................more info
• Gourmet week in Lucca and surroundings:An original mixed week to discover all the beauties of the northern Tuscany, admiring art masterpieces, having superb wine and food, tasting famous local chocolate, learning how to prepare a typical Tuscan menu, relaxing at the thermal baths, sailing along the coast as far as Cinque Terre...................................................................................more info
• Gourmet week in Florence and surroundings: A week between Florence, discovering its art masterpieces and handicraftsmen workshops, and the Tuscan countryside, visiting Chianti villages, meeting friends showing you the secrets of tasting vintage wines and cooking typical Italian food.......more info
• Friendly cooking lessons in a Chianti stone farmhouse : hands-on cooking lessons to enjoy the wonderfully intense flavours of traditional Italian dishes cooked in an evocative stone farmhouse in the hills of Chianti, surrounded by vineyard & olivegroves.
• One day wine tour in Chianti : Guided visit to Chianti Classico wineries and lunch at typical stone farmhouse tasting extravergin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, bread, cheeses, salami, prosciutto, focaccia...................more info
• Half a day wine tour in Chianti : Guided visit to a famous winery, where you will learn all about wines, from their origin to today's days, accompanied by an English-speaking guide, who will take you to discover the Chianti Classico wines and Tuscan
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• Visit to an Italian market : Discover an Italian open market, stopping for a classic coffee break in a typical coffee shop and having lunch at a Chianti farmhouse
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• Herbs, vines and olives walking tour : an easy walking along Chianti countryside, discovering aromatic herbs, different varieties of olive trees and learning how to recognize and use them, passing through vineyards, discovering different vine trees, reaching a “boutique winery” familiar estate to enjoy wine and oil tasting in its garden..........................................................more info
  

Tuscany bike tours

Tuscany is one of the best places in the world to bike. Thanks to our collaboration with a local cycle seller, we can not only propose you several tours to discover this region by bike, but also provide expert cycle-guides and excellent bicycles of several kinds, all carefully controlled and assured. And, moreover, if unprovided of it, you will be able to buy your bike wear here.
Some of the bike tours we propose to you:

• Lucca, its Renaissance walls and the historical centre: a bike tour to discover the town in a not ordinary way, stopping at a typical osteria to taste local food and wine.
• Around Lucca: biking pleasantly along Lucca’s countryside, discovering hill top parishes and isolated farmhouses. A good chance to enjoy nature and good cooking at an osteria on the hills around Lucca.
• Lucca’s Villas: an enchanting bike tour to visit the beautiful and famous Renaissance Villas built by the ancient rich silk merchants to enjoy countryside and dedicate themselves to agriculture.
• Following the Serchio river, discovering how life blossoms near water.
  
• Biking in Garfagnana: the best way to enjoy an almost wild territory, meeting with rivers, ancient bridges, small stone villages picturesque farmhouses and typical osterias.
  
• Florence hills: an incredible chance to see Florence from the top of luxuriant hills, between olive groves and grapevines, ancient Renaissance villas and country parishes
  
• Biking along Chianti: the most famous countryside in the world reveals itself to you thrust by thrust, giving you the chance to taste a great wine at famous wineries, enjoy superb cookery and visit picturesque villages.

Adventure tours
Our adventure tours are the right chance to discover that Tuscany is a really surprising land…Its various territory, whose landscape changes from hills to valleys, from mountains to sea coasts and isles, offers the traveller many possibilities to live an unexpected holiday into an almost wild nature. Thanks to our collaboration with expert environmental and equestrian guides, sailing companies and other professional persons, we can organize whatever kind of tour and excursion, assuring competent assistance and support together with fun and relax.

• The Apuan Alps: the strength of the nature, the human stubbornness.
• Colonnata ring : marble, quarrymen and lardo di Colonnata. A tour in one of the most ancient Apuan valleys, tasting lardo di Colonnata “d.o.p.” in typical “larderie”.
• Via Francigena : on the pylgrims trail for Rome. One or more days stages along the “via Francigena” with an environmental guide and a medieval historical expert.
  (with departures and/or arrives to Lucca, combinable with Trenotrekking)
• The mountain flavours : evening culinary art meetings, spending the night at a mountain hut and a “the day after” excursion on the Apennini Lucchesi.
• Birdwatching: on the routes of the migratory birds; tours and observations
  (june and september, on Versilia hills)
• Train-trekking between Garfagnana and Lunigiana: short excursions through Garfagnana and Lunigiana mountains using a small train to move from a village to another.
• Riding on the Massa hills : Exploring the Massa hills on horseback.
  

Learn Italy

A not ordinary way to know Italy, sharing its everyday way of life, meeting Italian people, learning Italian while living the Italian culture as a real Italian: this is “Learn Italy”.
Not a school, but a slow travel inside this well known but often stereotyped country, that has much to tell whoever wants to know it. Our purposes are thought to let you relax and slow down, to enjoy completely your stay, living day after day as a continuous discovery.
Also, seen that we have our travel agency in Lucca, we are at your complete disposal to support your stay in Italy, giving you whatever kind of information and advice

• Enchanting weekend in Florence : Stay in a 16th century villa on the hills overlooking Florence, enjoying its peaceful and pleasant atmosphere. The villa, after a perfect restoration, offers its guests elegant rooms, all furnished with the owners personal touch, a wonderful historical garden, a heated swimming pool and other facilities. A guided visit to Florence and an unexpected cooking lesson held by a professional chef, complete this enchanting weekend.......more info
• Calligraphy Basic Course : A really not ordinary course for calligraphy lovers, held by Daniel J. Quinn, a very famous calligrapher having his workshop in Florence..................................................................more info
• Gardening and floral design course : An unusual holiday between hands on gardening lessons in the “orto” (garden) of the ancient Spedale del Bigallo, conferences, floral design workshops and guided visits......................more info
  

For Her
I dedicate these travel proposals to women like me, who love travelling and discovering new places, without renouncing to make a journey on their own or with their children. For them, I research the best women welcoming accommodations and think to activities and tours along all Tuscany, to let them just relax and have fun: friendly cooking lessons in home kitchens or renaissance villas, enchanting floral experiences in sunny historical gardens, camelia plantations and other surprising places, chocolate workshops and tasting, easy biking tours along countryside…. Also, our travel agency, provides several single tailor made services to support women in travel: baby sitting, personal chef, domestic personnel, female tourist professional personnel and so on. For any specific request or question, contact me: chiara@notordinaryways.com . I am at your complete disposal.

• Flavours and flowers in Lucca: A pleasant week in Lucca to relax yourself and forget everyday life…
  We propose you a nice stay in a comfortable accomodation in the city centre or in a Lucca country house.
  Biking or walking along country streets or the enchanting Lucca’walls, cooking in your house sunny kitchen with Italian friends, playing with flowers in soft floral design workshops is just a taste of this pleasant experience in Lucca......more info
• Flavours and flowers in Lucca (weekend) : A pleasant weekend in Lucca to relax yourself and forget everyday life…
  We propose you a nice stay in a comfortable apartment in the city centre, a pleasant guided tour along Lucca and a friendly floral design experience.....more info
• Shopping tours in Florence between craftsmen and ancient workshops: tours in the ancient historical quarters of San Frediano, Santo Spirito and Pitti, from the Ancient Florentine Silk Factory to a silverware workshop, passing by a famous worker in bronze and an unequalled glass and crystal workshop, stopping at the very famous “Castorina” workshop, a magic world rich in wood objects and pieces of forniture and visiting many other handicraftsmen....................more info

Sailing

Wonderful sailing holidays to relax and have fun on a boat, guided by an expert skipper, along the picturesque villages of Cinque Terre, Lerici, Tellaro, Portovenere...

• Weekend sailing along Portovenere, Lerici and Cinqueterre: A wonderful weekend to relax and have fun on a sailing boat, guided by an expert skipper. From the nautical base in Bocca di Magra, to the picturesque villages of Cinqueterre, we will sail on a modern and comfortable boat, along the wonderful East Ligurian Coast...more info
• Five stars sailing cuise along Costa dei Poeti, Lerici, Portovenere and Cinqueterre : Two mainly features originated these special sailing cruises along the East Ligurian coasts: Annamaria’s love for cooking and Alberto’s passion for sailing. They will welcome you on board of a splendid Cyclade Beneteau, an over 13 metres sailing boat: 3 double cabins, provided with private shower bathrooms, completely furnished in good taste by the home owners..............................................more info