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Small Group Private Tour Specialist

Plan your Italy adventure with the small group private tour specialist. Escape overtourism and discover the back roads and authentic small towns with us. Kathy and Vernon create your perfect trip, with off-the-beaten path destinations, activities from walks and bike rides to city tours and shopping, and expert-led culinary adventures.

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Food and Wine

Any tour of Italy is incomplete without indulging in the amazing food and wine. But to truly appreciate It requires an understanding of the regional history, culture and geography. All become part of your adventure with Kathy, chef, food blogger, and Certified Italian Wine Professional, and Vernon, mountain guide, MS in European Literature and avid history enthusiast.

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Your Unique Adventure

Not all private trips are custom. Most tour companies don't have the flexibility to deviate from their set itineraries, so there are always compromises. With Kathy and Vernon, your adventure will be as unique as you are, and your itinerary will be personally designed us to meet the desires and varied interests of your group.

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The ItaliaOutdoors Difference


Truly Personalized Service and a Custom Plan for Every Trip

Kathy and Vernon

NO MIDDLEMEN

You communicate directly with Vernon and Kathy. We know your dreams for an Italy adventure, we’ll have it ready for you when you arrive.

No Group Too Small

SMALL FOOTPRINT

Our small footprint allows us to travel like locals and enjoy spontaneous adventures as we explore the path less traveled.

 

Custom Plan

UNIQUE ITINERARY

Each tour itinerary is unique and serves as a framework for an exceptional journey, where a thoughtful plan adjusts to your pace.

 

Authenticity

KNOWLEDGE

We focus on just a few select tours to provide an exceptional level of regional knowledge and an unforgettable authentic experience.

Travel after COVID-19: How do you wish to travel in Italy when we are able to return? In a small private group of your family and friends? Plenty of outdoor explorations? Off the beaten track destinations far from tourist crowds? Private cooking classes, wine tours, small intimate hotels? That's how we've been traveling for ten years. Plan your adventure in Italy with Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine, the custom tour specialist.

Customize Your Adventure - Food - Wine - Walk - Hike - Bike

With Italy's "Best Local Guide 2013"

Read about our tours in Adventure Cyclist August 2015

Our passion is creating intimate, personalized active food and wine adventures that explore an authentic Italy
- its outdoor beauty, its hidden back roads, its small family producers, its traditional wines, at your preferred pace.
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piazza walthur bolzano italy private tours
Piazza Walthur, Bolzano, Italy

 

Bolzano is a favorite stop of ours throughout the year - we visit during our cycling tours in the Dolomites, start our more mellow rides down the Sudtirol wine road here, and return during the winter to ski the many nearby resorts.

Visit Vernon's guide site, www.italiaoutdoors.com, to learn more about the various outdoor activities you can enjoy from Bolzano.

Bolzano is the capital of the province of Alto Adige (South Tyrol or Sudtirol) in Italy. Originally a Roman settlement, after the fall of the Roman Empire, immigrants arrived from Barvaria to the north, and it has been settled by German populations since then. Before World War 1, Bolzano was part of the Austro-Hungarian county of Tyrol, and became part of Italy at the end of this war. This cultural heritage is still prevalent throughout the region, from its bilingual street signs and town names, to its foods of wurst and spaetzle, to wines such as Vernatsch (Schiava) and Blauburgunder (Pinot Noir).

I arrived in Bolzano late in the afternoon. I had a reservation at the Parkhotel Laurin, on Via Laurin. A comfortable hotel with simple rooms, a nice bar, and beautiful gardens in the back which were a quite popular place to stroll in the evenings.

market bolzano piazza del erbe
Market in Piazza del Erbe

 

I had a short list of restaurants to visit, and no other purpose than to eat and walk around this magnificent city. The main piazza and shopping streets were just outside my door, the Piazza delle Erbe (Piazza of Herbs), the main city marketplace, close by as well. The shops and the market was closed, as it was Sunday evening, but the stands were ready for business the next morning.

cavallino bianco bolzano italy food
Cavallino Bianco

 

My first stop was a walk-by of a restaurant I knew would be closed, Cavallino Bianco. This is a very traditional establishment, in operation since the 12th century, initially built to serve the vendors in the surrounding markets. It still has shared tables, and the extensive menu features many time-honored local specialities, including leberknodel, bauernplatte, deer stew, and goulash. They unfortunately were on holiday during my visit, but I will be sure to check them out next time I am through.

fischbahke bolzano italy private tours
Fischbahke

 

A very intriguing street food restaurant was just around the corner - Fischbahke. Very funky, with lots of hand-lettered signs and a very eclectic mix of furnishings. It reminded me of something you might see in Boulder, CO or some other big college town. The menu was simple small plates: mozzarella with tomato, feta with olive, speck, mixed cheeses, or a salad with grana.

hopfen bolzano custom tours italy
Hopfen & Co.

 

I stopped at Hopfen & Co, Piazza delle Erbe, 17, for a small bite. This is a what we in the US would call a brew pub. It offers an nice selection of local foods, accompanied by their homemade Bozner bier. A couple of small rooms downstairs, the first one dominated by their large bar. Also, some nice outside seating, where most of the action was this pleasant Sunday evening. They had a dark, lager, and weiss beers, as well as a small selection of local wines, including Lagrein, Santa Maddalena and Teroldego.

The menu included some traditional sausages, including wurstel bianchi and salsicce di noremburger, and dishes like homemade gnocchi, canderli, spaetzle, goulash, stinco di maiale (pork shank), and veal liver with rice. I very much enjoyed my spaetzle, prepared with bacon and cheese, and served in a saute pan, which many of the dishes were. It was accompanied by some of the best bread I’ve had yet in Northern Italy; a basket of assorted lighter rye breads, one with strong caraway, another with more of whole grain texture.

vogele bolzano food tours italy
Vogele

 

Almost right next store is Vogele, Via Goethe 3, a ristorante serving a mix of traditional fare, as well as more Mediterranean dishes. Antipasti included prosciutto with melon, mozzerella with tomato and grilled zucchini, and cavatelli with octopus to mixed grilled meats with sauerkraut and potatoes. Also on the menu, roasted veal head with mushrooms and wine vinegar, a variety of canderli with sauerkraut to ravioli stuffed with fish served with a prosecco crema, and tagliatelle with fresh local mushrooms.

bolzano duomo italy tours
Duomo in Bolzano

 

The other restaurants were located around Piazza Walthur, across from the Duomo. Pretty standard pizzarias or gelato/dessert fare. But all fairly busy on a warm summer evening. This piazza is a perfect spot to wind down the day, surrounded by towering man-made and natural wonders: the Duomo, and the Dolomites. Some great ski runs up in those there mountains!