Culture Discovery Vacations

Culture Discovery Vacations is a company that was founded with the purpose of creating tours for travelers that seek to fully experience cultures they visit. We operate primarily in Italy, on a nationwide basis. Our goals with each tour we create are: 1) Focus on people above places. 2) Create a rich set of experiences that could not have been achieved via independent travel or through traditional tours. 3) Experience and live to the greatest extent possible, the local culture of each place we visit. 4) Avoid the trappings of mass-market tourism to the greatest extent possible. 5) Support local economies, traditions, and artisans at each place we visit. Types of tours we operate: HUB & SPOKE CULINARY TOURS Typically with 18 or fewer guests per tour, these trips are based in a single location for the duration of the trip, with day trips to surrounding areas. These trips are all about giving the guests the sense of "home", in that they never change accommodations, and are woven into the local life of the base location during the trip. COACH TOURS Our coach tours are designed for 24 to 44 guests, and follow a more traditional approach to touring, spending several nights at each location. We are different than most other coach tours, in that we tend to include much more than others in our packages, we have a strict policy against captive shopping experiences, and we always favor small local establishments, rather than the "tour bus locations". Additionally, we spend a great deal of time where other tours don't go in order to provide a more rich and authentic experience. We completely operate all tours we organize, using our own cooking school, and in-house staff as guides, chefs and hosts.