There are so many companies offering guided tours of Italy that choosing can become a daunting task. Here are some things you may consider when choosing:

Our vacations are truly All-Inclusive

We encourage you to browse other websites and look at their itineraries, but look closely. Most of the time you will find that they are peppered with 'free days' or 'optionally you can...', etc. Many only include meals resulting from the classes. Our tours are truly all-inclusive. We offer much more in terms of classes, excursions, and included features. Of course, if you would rather venture out on your own one day, you are free to, but if you want to go on an excursion with us, it is there, and it is included... everything including entry fees, transportation, meals, even quick little coffee or water breaks along the way. What makes this important is that if we were to simply remove 3 meals and 3 excursions from our week, it would increase our profit by 20%, so the while our pricing is in line with (and sometime higher than) others, the value is much greater.

The Personal Touch

Most of the Italian tours you will find out there are operated by huge global operators that cram as many people as they can ona giant tour bus. It is all 100% pre-programmed and impersonal. We keep our groups very small, and a great deal of our schedule is very flexible and organic in nature. If everyone wants to spend a little more time in one place and a little less in another, we can usually work it out. If everyone decides they would rather cancel one place in favor of another, we can often make it happen. With a smaller, more personal tour, we can bend for you, and have a lot more fun.

A More TRUE Experience

When you are shuffling on and off of big tour busses, there is something lost in the experience. When you dine, you are forced to dine as a huge group, which limits your choices. The places you stop are limited to places that can accomodate large groups. All in all, it is more artificial as a whole. With smaller groups, we use a passenger van to get around. We can stop and eat where we want, when we want, instead of going to huge places. We save a ton of time and have a much better experience.

A small oeprator with BIG features

When you find other operators that offer smaller personal tours, you generally find yourself dealing with people a world away that speak broken english. While endearing, many people don't feel completely comfortable sending thousands of dollars a world away, outside of the assurances and legal rights of their own country. Additionally, when you deal with U.S. companies that offer tours, they are generally nothing more than tour brokers that have little to do with your tour, and can't really help you if any problems come up while you are away. DiscoverSoriano is a United States based company, and we operate our own tours. When you call us, you are calling the U.S. When you pay us, you are paying U.S. Dollars to a U.S. company with U.S. responsibilities. If you have a problem, we are the ones that take care of it. In fact, in most cases, we even own the lodging accomodations.

While this may seem insigificant to some, keep in mind that Italy is a very different culture than yours, and things you take for granted may not be so normal here. This ranges from the inconveniences to the major emergencies. For example, on your tour in July, are you sure you will have air conditioning? Just because someone says you will, does not make it so. Air conditioning is very rare in Italy, but as Americans, we make certain that our homes have it. What if there is a medical emergency? We have a stable infrastructure in place to accomodate you... everything from seeing a doctor, to getting to the hospital... to helping assist and interface with doctors and insurance companies back home.

None of this takes away from the experience in any way. We have gone to great lengths to provide the true Italian experience, while mixing in conveniences you are accustomed to and assurances you would otherwise demand. They are there if you want or need them, but they are not in your face. This is one of the things that makes us so incredibly unique.

An infusion of real Italian culture

Most tours operate where the tourists are.  Naturally, they flourish in areas buzzing with tourism.  However, an Italian cooking tour is as much about culture as it is about food, and Italian sightseeing tours are singnificantly more interesting when you discover the hidden treasures.  We mix in many of the popular destinations, but we are always sure to expose you to some wonders that few people have experienced.  With us, you won’t wake to a buffet breakfast.  Instead, we will have traditional Italian breakfast in cafés alongside the villagers.  When we eat out, we will probably be the only foreigners in the restaurant.  Our goal is to make you feel the real Italian culture as much as possible.  You will feel more like a family guest than someone on a tour.  We went out of our way to make sure that the excursions are both unique and awe-inspiring…  Places the tourism books missed… places you will talk about for the rest of your life. 

Accomodations

Most tours will put you up in impersonal hotels. We believe that living within the Italian culture is essential to making your time with us as magical as possible. You will stay at one of our breathtaking village homes. These are truly 1st class accomodations. Each one is completely independant, and beautifully decorated. They feature all modern conveniences, such as dedicated high speed WIFI Internet, satellite television (with dozens of English channels), air conditioning, full kitchen, and much more. When our village homes are not available, our overflow goes to beautiful bed and breakfasts that offer the similar amenities.

Location

Many people are not really familiar with the various regions in Italy, but they know certain buzzwords like 'Tuscany' or 'Umbria'. People often tell us they want to go to Tuscany and Florence. That is like hearing someone say they want to go to Los Angeles and California. The area of Italy that most people think of when they hear terms like 'Tuscan Countryside' or 'Tuscany Hilltowns' is an area known as 'Tuscia', which is made up of Southern Tuscany, Southern Umbria, and Northern Lazio. In fact, many places people think of when they think of Tuscany, aren't in Tuscany at all. Soriano nel Cimino is right at the center of this area, at the northern rim of the Beautiful Tiber Valley, bordering with Umbria and just south-east of the Tuscan border. Soriano also has the added benefit of being very close to Rome, compared to most of Tuscany.

Tour Guides that are always there for you

Most tour guides are pretty much just there for the times you are touring, and leave you to fend for yourself most of the time. Our tour guides are there to help you in every way, from the moment you begin your stay with us, until the moment you leave us. 24 hours a day. They are knowledgable, They speak english, and they are there to help you with everything from interpreting on your behalf, to just about any minor or major personal needs you may have.

You are family

This can't be stressed enough. A week with us just doesn't feel like a tour at all. You will feel like you are visiting extended family, and we will feel like extended family is visiting. This isn't part of some formula to make your trip special, it is just the way it all works out. This is part of the reason we don't do identical tours week after week... it just wouldn't be fun for us! We have a very casual attitude toward it... this is fun for us, and we love sharing this wonderful place with others. Perhaps it is because we get to know you well before you arrive and we can't wait to finally meet, perhaps it is the Soriano air, or perhaps it is our little slice of the Tuscan Sun that does it. :-). Either way, you will go home having had the most amazing vacation of your life, having made amazing new friends, having seen remarkable things few tourists have seen, and having felt an uncanny sense belonging in a place so far away. Long before you get home, you will have started planning your return to Soriano nel Cimino.

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