Off the Tourist Flow

Abbey of San Galgano - 35 km South of Siena

Taste traveling in Italy with our artisan producers, sourcing our products and discovering new flavors and ingredients to bring Italy home, we often find ourselves off the tourist flow visiting lesser known sites that Italians like to visit in their own country. We prioritize their character and local heritage and want to bring that experience home as well.

You think you know Italy. You’ve traveled to Rome, Venice and Florence. You’ve been to Siena, Cinque Terre, the Amalfi coast, Como and Naples, Pisa, Parma and Pompei. You've basked under the Tuscan sun. Seen the towers of San Gimignano and drunk the Brunellos of Chianti. Bravo fellow Italian traveler you’ve just began to discover Italy!

There’s much more to see and learn about Italy and like the proverbial onion or tip of the iceberg you need to dig deeper and peel away the layers of “show and tell” travel to discover Italy beyond the beltway. Sourcing our products traveling on road trips with our Italian family and friends we've seen some little known places off the tourist flow. On your next trip to Italy go further afield and look for something completely different. You will not be disappointed.

Besides Assisi visit La Verna, a Franciscan retreat in the centre of the Tuscan Apennines, where Francis received the stigmata. Discover that there’s more than wine in and around Chianti. Visit San Giovanni d’Asso near Siena for truffles with a side trip to an Italian terme and a stop at the roofless Abbey of San Galgano a Cistercian Monastery in the valley of the river Merse with its mysterious Italian Excalibur, the sword that San Galgano plunged into a rock, when he decided to abandon his life of wealth and privilege. Drive the historical route of the Brenta Riviera and visit the Palladian villas of the Veneto near Vicenza. Stop at Trattoria Porto Menai dall’ Antonia along the canal in Mira for a spectacular feast of scampi giganti griglia (giant shrimp, grilled) with prosecco to drink.

You may have seen the Sistine Chapel but the mosaics of Ravenna will leave you with an equal sense of wonder. Leonardo’s Last Supper is amazing but Giotto’s interpretation, located in the Scrovegni chapel on the estate grounds of a Paduan money lender’s son who in atonement for his father’s sins sought redemption through art, is in many ways as intriguing as Leonardo’s masterpiece in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.

Discover antica farmacia (pharmacies) where healing ingredients from nature create an Italian sense of benessere at Santa Maria Novella Farmacia in Florence for a breath of the Renaissance. They can be found all over Italy if you know where to look. Visit Ferrara, Verona, the Gonzaga court of Mantua and Como and Bellagio for a romantic lake views. Visit an acetaia to learn about balsamic or Caseificio Vacche Rosse to see the production of the legendary parmigiano reggiano cheese made from the dairy of the "Red Cows".

Learn new things about discover the fatal charm of Italy Italy or add to what you already know and come up with something completely different in your travels. I guarantee you’ll never think of Italy the same afterwards and never think about having a cappuccino after 12 noon.

In our Taste and Travel Series we share our travels with you. It may be a site, a place to stay, eat or an itinerary suggested to heighten your travel experience. Be sure to subscribe to our Market Notes to learn more.

First published April 5, 2021