Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 76F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..
Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 76F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Updated: August 9, 2025 @ 4:30 pm
This motorcoach took our group to wineries, farms, restaurants and landmarks in Tuscany, Italy.
Searching for truffles at Villa Machiavelli in Tuscany.
Dinner at Fattoria San Donato di Fenzi Umberto, a farm-to-table restaurant in Tuscany.
Vineyards occupy rolling hills throughout Tuscany.
Food & Dining Editor
Parker Milner is the Food Editor of The Post and Courier. He is a Boston College graduate and former professional hockey player who joined The Post and Courier after leading the Charleston City Paper’s food section.
This motorcoach took our group to wineries, farms, restaurants and landmarks in Tuscany, Italy.
TUSCANY, ITALY — Chirping nightingales interrupt the silence of a spring Tuscan night. The windows in my hotel room have been tugged open, allowing the intermittent sound to spill inside along with the cool breeze.
The singsong tune is replaced by my shouting alarm a few hours later. I mosey over to the reception area for a macchiato, helping me gear up for the busy 12 hours ahead.
It’s my third day in Tuscany, a region of central Italy with lush rolling hills, flowering grape vines and historic buildings that make Charleston’s feel like newborns.
What’s different from this journey and others I’ve embarked on is my company — I’m on a group tour with 42 others, most of whom I only met after touching down at the Amerigo Vespucci Airport in Tuscany’s capital city of Florence.
Traveling this way has its shortcomings. The set schedule lacks the spontaneity of a less formal trip, and each person is at times at the mercy of the entire group. Certain activities and accommodations might not match what was on the brochure.
But by the time I boarded the plane home eight days later, I felt as though I’d thoroughly experienced this part of the world in a way travelers typically cannot.
If you’re hesitant to try group travel, a tour of an accessible but adventurous destination like Italy might just shift your view. It certainly changed mine.
It feels odd at first.
The name tags. The itinerary. The sign-up sheets. The tour guide whose voice echoes through a fuzzy microphone on a motorcoach bus that feels so out of place in this mostly rural region of Italy.
But then, we share our first bites of bruschetta, the toasty bread swiped with garlic, fresh tomatoes and olive oil bottled steps from where we’re sitting.
We get acquainted with one another over glasses of organic Chianti, whose peppery notes catch us by surprise, and Vernaccia, a crisp white wine produced exclusively in this corner of Italy.
Vineyards occupy rolling hills throughout Tuscany.
We visit a saffron farm where chefs blend the crimson threads with ricotta cheese to make a creamy sauce for fusilli. We roll ravioli and tagliatelle with nothing but our own two hands, applauding the traveler from New York whose ribbons earn praise from the chef leading our cooking class.
Forty-eight hours into my first-ever group travel experience, I’ve met dozens of people — an orthopedic surgeon, an Air Force veteran, an operating room nurse, a breast cancer survivor, a chef from Alaska — each with their own reasons for making this Italian pilgrimage with a group of strangers.
By the end of the trip, we’ll know how one another takes their coffee and where they’ve traveled before coming here. We’ll learn about each other’s families and cheer on those who complete an activity that stretches beyond their comfort zone.
During this trip, many of the conversations that created these connections took place at the dinner table.
Most group tours have a theme, whether it’s history, music or, in this case, food. And what a wonderful place Italy is for a culinary excursion.
Chefs, journalists, book stores and influencers are all diving into the food tourism industry. Travelers are eager to share meals with culinary celebrities or learn from experts about the food they’re eating.
The area of Tuscany tempts these visitors with cuisine that earned a reputation for being lighter than Southern Italy’s, pairing well with the area’s wines: Chianti’s made primarily with the Sangiovese grape.
Experiencing the breadth of Tuscany’s culinary draws involves rides along steep, winding roads. They cut through pads of unoccupied land that stretch on for miles, with ancient towns like Siena, Lucca, Pisa, Volterra and San Gimignano faintly visible in the distance.
Uber doesn’t operate in Italy, so visiting each of them requires a rental car, private driver or, in our case, a 50-seat motorcoach.
Searching for truffles at Villa Machiavelli in Tuscany.
We spend hours on the bulky vehicle most days, leading to some restlessness. But the travel time often moves along with ease, thanks largely to new conversations with new friends.
The mornings are filled with chatter in anticipation of the day’s events.
Fellow travelers enthusiastically read from guidebooks and press clippings they’ve brought from home. One woman knits while others gaze out the wide windows, commenting on the beauty of artichoke fields and olive trees or pondering the occupations of the people inhabiting the small towns on our route. Conversations center around what surrounds us, not what’s happening on our phones.
Our journey takes us through seven Tuscan towns, each with its own distinct characteristics. Florence has its soft leather, Renaissance artwork and porchetta shops, while Siena’s medieval architecture culminates in a central square where a famous horse race is held twice a year.
Pisa has its crooked tower, Volterra its Etruscan beauty and Lucca its youthful energy. We enjoy them as a group, but there’s plenty of time to wander and explore on our own.
Later at night, silence settles in on the bus as we digest a Tuscan meal that’s further connected us to this inspiring region of Italy.
Dinner at Fattoria San Donato di Fenzi Umberto, a farm-to-table restaurant in Tuscany.
“Less is more” is the thread connecting much of the food we try in Italy.
Less additives in the flour used to make fresh pasta.
Less distance between the farm where the Chianina cows are raised and the restaurant where bistecca alla Fiorentina is cooked to a model medium rare.
Less time from the moment olives are picked to when they’re crushed and drained of their oil.
We experience these simple delights at full-service restaurants lining cobblestone streets, their patios filled with pasta, wine, dessert and cappuccinos. Meals typically start with antipasti — bruschetta, or beef tartare, for instance. Bread with fresh, fruity olive oil is a staple on every table.
Pasta courses are served next, with small portions of curly, straight, wavy and stuffed noodles sauced delicately. We sample them at restaurants like Ristorante Giglio in Florence, where the chefs infuse spaghetti with uni and trottole with lamb ragout.
At Brassica Osteria Contemporanea in the small town of San Miniato, Italy — about 30 miles east of the Leaning Tower of Pisa — chef Andrea Madonia hand-rolls tortellini inside the pint-sized restaurant he owns with his best friend. The plump pillows are one of four fantastic courses costing 40 euros, or $46.
The 11 of us travelers who ventured here occupy a long table pressed up against the doors. We laugh over glasses of wine made with the Sangiovese grape native to this region. Plates are passed and food photos are taken. The mood loosens with every sip and bite, as stories and jokes are told. We walk in as acquaintances and leave as much more than that.
Moments such as these, more than the wonderful food, are what I’ll remember from this trip to Italy. And they’re what I’ll look forward to the next time I travel with a group.
Reach Parker Milner at 843-830-3911. Follow him on Twitter @parkermilner_. Subscribe to CHS Menu newsletter
Food & Dining Editor
Parker Milner is the Food Editor of The Post and Courier. He is a Boston College graduate and former professional hockey player who joined The Post and Courier after leading the Charleston City Paper’s food section.
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