10 THINGS YOU WANT TO KNOW WHEN TRAVELLING TO ABRUZZO
Abruzzo Day Tours & Experiences
Authentic culinary and cultural excursions in central italy, join experience bellavita on an exclusive day tour in abruzzo.
Join an Abruzzese local for a day packed with authentic experiences. Choices include traditional cooking classes where you’ll learn to prepare family dishes, wine tastings featuring excellent local vintages, adventurous truffle hunts, and more!
Our day tours offer a vibrant slice of life in Abruzzo, perfect for anyone eager to dive deep into the region’s rich culinary and cultural traditions.
While we specialize in creating personalized, multi-day tours, we still offer a selection of our original daily tours on a limited basis. These experiences are primarily reserved for past guests and guests on our bespoke tours, but we also consider new request based on availability.
If you’re interested, please send us a request, and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.
(Looking for a longer tour experience? Why not consider crafting a Custom Abruzzo Tour with our team?).
Browse Our Food and Culture Experiences in Abruzzo
Truffle hunting tour in abruzzo, italy, guided abruzzo wine tasting and winery visit, pasta making with nonna amina, cheesemaking experience, hear from our previous travelers & guests.
- I have such fond memories of my evening making chitarra con pallottine with Mario! I learned about Abruzzo customs--wines, appetizers and most of all had a great time! Mario is a knowledgeable and welcoming host and has a real passion for Abruzzo. read more read less Frank Olivieri 24/06/22
- We are to older couples how visiting Italy for many decades. We love eating and drinking. Marino arranged a culinary trip for us. The best wines and foods of the Abruzzo. And I can tell you it was an wonderful experience. We visited the special fish restaurants in the south (trabucco), get a taste of the cucina povery of the Abruzzo in local restaurants of very high quality, discovered the specialties like vino cotto, local meat and fish, and visiting the best wineries of the Abruzzo like Emidio Pepe. We met the family of Marino his father and mother en grandmother. It was warming. With Marino we not only had a perfect experience of la dolce vita of Abruzzo but we can call him now a good friend. If you want to experience the best of Abruzzo get in contact with Marino. There will be no better choice. As a wine lover we now drink more wines from the relatively unknown wine region of Italy. We will come back to this wonderful place that have everything to offer. From the coast to the mountains. For us that travelled tens of times to Italy this was one of the top three experience. High level of food and wine, in a relaxing not touristy area with excellent price performance. Hard the get in other regions of Italy. read more read less Han 24/06/22
- I am Paula from Virginia, USA. We have a home in Montedinove. I have “Experience BellaVita’s” 3 times and will be there again in a couple of weeks! I’ve made Chitarra and cheese dishes! When we go to BellaVita, we always bring friends with us! It’s a great way to spend the day! read more read less Paula Damgaard 24/06/22
- My name is Gail, our experience will Bellavita was awesome and memorable. Professional and educated staff and so friendly! We scheduled a few tours with Bellavita and each one was over the top. We loved the truffle hunt, cheese making! We felt like family not a number. read more read less Gail 24/06/22
- With very little information available, Marino was able to weave together the story of my father's family and life in Orsogna. We had one day to visit the town, and it was the highlight of our trip to Italy. From a visit with the town's mayor, a tour with the town historian, an incredible local meal, wine tasting at a local winery, a visit to the cemetery where he pulled together pieces of our family's history -- he also found living relatives and the site of my father's home. It was an emotional and beautiful experience, and Marino made it all possible. We will forever be grateful to Marino for creating the experience of a lifetime. read more read less Lisa D'Angelo 23/06/22
- Having fallen in love with the Abruzzo region (online during lockdown!) my husband and I booked a holiday-home hunting trip for Spring 2022. We have both spent time in Italy in the past however had never visited the Abruzzo region before. Prior to visiting in person we wanted to research the food and culture of the region and, in the Winter of 2020, stumbled across Experience Bella Vita’s website; specifically the food box service. Marino was brilliant from the first order. His passion for Abruzzo was infectious (and the food/wine delicious!) which only cemented our desire to visit this undiscovered Italian gem and find a holiday home. He was a fantastic resource and when I enquired about putting together an itinerary for a couple of days exploring the region he came up with a number of options, any of which would have been wonderful. In the event (and as was travelling with my husband’s parents as a group of 4) we settled on the following: Day 1: Winery Tour (including lunch), tour of Loreto Aprutino (we were specifically interested in some properties here), Aperitivos/nibbles in a local bar Day 2: Campo Imperatore, Cooking Arrosticini in the open-air, Castle Calascio, mountain villages, Aperitivos/nibbles in a local bar Highlights of the tours: - the winery tour was BRILLIANT. Having been on a more ‘touristy’ tour in Tuscany this felt incredibly personal and we learned so much! We visited the Ciavolich vineyard and really enjoyed learning about the history and process of the wine making there. We also learned that the Ciavolich vineyard shares a valley with the well known Valentini winery. During the tasting (4 wines) we enjoyed a number of Abruzzese delicacies to accompany the wines. Delicious and fun! - Marino had arranged for a local ‘ambassador’ of Loreto Aprutino to show us around and we, again, really loved the personal touch. Our guide had curated a wonderful ‘history of football’ exhibition in an old palazzo. There was room after room of interesting artefacts, posters, shirts…very unexpected and interesting. There is also a ‘history of cinema’ museum which we visited which is run by an animator who runs workshops (we viewed a short film that had been made by local children). The olive oil museum was closed when we visited however I understand that is very good. - the day in the mountains was exceptional. Visiting in springtime is highly recommended as you will be blessed with meadows of wildflowers. A particular highlight was stopping off en route to the plateau to enjoy the perfume of the ‘broom’ flowers. Delightful! Also cooking arrosticini on the plateau should be on everyone’s ‘to do’ list. Especially if cooked by Marino - Delicious! - Marino’s commentary (and music choices!) in the car. He is so knowledgeable and really enriched the experience. - Aperitivos each evening were lovely. It genuinely felt like going for a drink with a friend…a friend who conjures up all the best things for you to try. You just need to sit back and enjoy them 🙂 There were endless other little things that Marino did to ensure we had the best time however you need to experience for yourself. Abruzzo is a beautiful region; if you have any interest in exploring the region please book a tour/experience with Experience Bella Vita. You will not regret it! Jasmin and Richard read more read less Jasmin and Richard 20/06/22
- My friends and I had an amazing truffle hunting experience with Marino, followed by a delicious meal made with local dishes and ingredients. One of the best meals I had in 5 years living in Italy. read more read less Gabriel Gomes 10/06/22
- WOW! We just returned from the experience of a lifetime and ‘living like a local’ in Abruzzo with Marino and Experience Bella Vita. His complete detailed planning and tailor-designed trip of what we were interested in experiencing exceeded every expectation! From truffle hunting, making fresh pasta with his family and Nonna to cheese making, visiting a local winery and, my favorite, enjoying fresh seafood in an authentic Trabocchi! We found the Abruzzesi very warm and welcoming even if their understanding of English was limited. Every single encounter with these wonderful people was heart-warming. The passion and love of their craft and the pride they exhibited was only surpassed by the love of their family. Insuring the family was cared for was paramount. It wasn’t about material possessions or money. It was pure love of family, providing for family and making sure we felt we were part of the family. The meals they prepared for us were amazing. If you are looking to avoid the crowds and commercialism of the big cities, travel at a relaxed pace, explore quaint hilltop villages, taste the delicious wines of the Montepulciano grapes, dine as a member of an Italian family and experience absolutely stunning views from the Adriatic Sea to the Gran Sasso and Maiella mountains in a small intimate group of your choosing, contact Marino at Experience Bella Vita. Abruzzo is an undiscovered gem which makes it more valuable! You will not be disappointed. Marino went above and beyond to make sure our Abruzzo vacation was perfection! Every detail was exquisite and he included several surprises to make it even more memorable. From the time he picked us up in Rome until we returned our experience and enjoyment were his top priority. He made us comfortable from the very beginning, almost like we had known him for years and at the end we felt like family! His passion for his Abruzzo culture, knowledge of wines and authentic foods, extensive network of contacts throughout the region and enthusiasm for people to learn about Abruzzo are exemplary. We plan to return to Abruzzo and, if you couldn’t tell, Marino is our only choice. It will be like coming home! read more read less Paula W. 31/05/22
- Marino was an extremely helpful travel guide not only for the 3-4 specific days we spent together, but also for detailed travel guidance and unique places to see for the few days getting to Abruzzo and the few days afterward as we continued south toward Puglia! He offered us great restaurants, cities to visit, places to stop on the side of the road and regional specialties to try. Marino is a genuine enthusiast of Abruzzo's wonders. He is warm and giving with excellent English and professional expertise! Far more than just a wonderful Italian family experience - Marino helps you figure out how to maximize your entire travel experience. We give BellaVita a rating of 11 out of 10! We've lived in Italy several times and have visited most of the country over the years. Once you've seen all the museums and churches and major cities, Marino knows where all the other amazing and unique experience remain. Many of them are in and around Abruzzo where his knowledge is unparalleled. read more read less Steve G 02/04/22
- Marino was amazing! We had such a great time exploring the small towns my ancestors were from. I was able to see my great grandfathers birth/baptism and marriage note and explore the community’s my ancestors may have lived. I learned a lot about the area of Abruzzo. Marino went above and beyond my expectations. I highly recommend Marino to assist with ancestry research. read more read less Nikki D'Alonzo 20/03/22
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