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Food and Wine

As befits the bastion of the Slow Food movement, Italy is a leader in food and wine tourism. The country is riddled with strade dei sapori (food trails) and strade del vino (wine trails). The foodie trail takes you from hearty alpine cuisine in the Dolomites through Piedmont’s truffle country to Bolognese pasta - and the birthplace of pizza in Naples.

Superb food and wine go with the territory, with regional cuisine as much a reason to visit Italy as the dolce vita lifestyle and culture. The food and wine trails are a glorious excuse to follow a well-trodden path through gorgeous scenery, with welcoming visits to wine and oil estates.

Taste Italy: whether it’s Tuscany’s Chianti country, the Amalfi Coast wine route or Treviso’s radicchio trail, there is ample fodder for travelling gastronomes. The bewildering choice of food trails runs from Parmesan cheese trails to routes dedicated to Modena’s balsamic vinegar, Campanian mozzarella, Calabrian leeks or Alba’s white truffles.

As for ‘liquid trails’, Tuscany combines great wines, such as Brunello di Montalcino, with the hill-top scenery that has inspired countless `Chiantishire’ films. Serious wine-lovers also lap up the Barolo trail in Piedmont’s prestigious red wine country. If looking for bubbles, there’s Franciacorta, by Lake Iseo, a landscape dotted with monasteries. (Thank the pleasure-loving monks for launching the wine industry in medieval times). But also consider a sparkling Prosecco trail near Treviso, that takes in visits to Palladian villas. Or digest dinner along the grappa trail at Bassano del Grappa, choosing between fire-water flavoured with juniper, almonds or honey.

Eating round Italy: the sheer diversity of regional cuisine is daunting. Turin’s princely cuisine or Sicilian street food? It’s a tough choice. The cities or the islands? Venice, as a cosmopolitan empire, raided the recipe books of the Arabs, Armenians, Greeks, Jews and Turks. Venetian trading posts in the Levant gave this bazaar city access to spices, the secret of its subtle cookery.

Instead, in Sardinia, meat, not fish, is paramount, with lamb, beef and wild boar all favourites, spit-roasted or grilled and smothered with fragrant herbs.

Bologna relishes its reputation as “the fat” (la grassa) but foodies regard the stuffed pasta as supremely rich rather than fattening. Legend has it that a local inn-keeper modelled the tortellini shape on his mistress’ belly button - which says much about the seductiveness of Italian cuisine.

Many of our specialist operators are passionate about specific regions and the foodie secrets in store. Explore independently, guided by a chosen operator. Or book a trip including wine estates or even a cookery course. Imagine visiting the local markets, fields, forests and vineyards with someone who loves the produce. Or gathering porcini mushrooms, making olive oil, pasta or biscuits - or simply tasting wines for Italy. Specialist operators can advise you on everything from eating in a hole-in-the wall osteria (inn) to a Michelin-starred restaurant. Buon appetito!