GOLDEN WEEK IN TUSCANY:
Based in Cortona
For Women Only
November 1-9, 2026
Susan Van Allen infuses her tours with enthusiasm, engagement and enchantment!…
–Christina, Massachusetts
Join author Susan Van Allen, (100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go), for an inspiring, femme-friendly Golden Week in Tuscany, at glorious olive harvest time!
Come for a beautiful adventure surrounded by classic splendid scenery of green rolling hills, stately cypress trees, olive groves and vineyards. Enjoy 7 nights in a Villa in enchanting Cortona–the hill town writer Frances Mayes made famous in Under the Tuscan Sun. Meet Susan’s local friends—entertaining guides, chefs, artisans, and winemakers. Highlights include joining in on an olive harvest, wine tasting at a female-run winery, soaking in curative thermal waters, discovering Renaissance masterpieces, shopping at Italy’s largest antique fair in Arezzo, and extraordinary food and wine every Golden Day.
This is a gift of La Dolce Vita=The Sweet Life, custom-designed and led by Susan so that wonderful women like you can fully enjoy the rejuvenating pleasures of the Bel Paese.
Attention All You Wonderful Women!
It’s time to treat yourself to the Beauties and Deliciousness of Tuscany
Treasures of Cortona / Olive Harvest Experience and Cooking Class
Spa Day at San Casciano de Bagni / Sunset in Pienza /
Renaissance Masterpieces
Award-Winning Woman-Owned Winery / Arezzo’s Fabulous Antique Market
Gold Jewelry Artisans
Sample Brief Itinerary:
Day 1: Depart USA or Canada to Florence, Italy
Day 2: Welcome to Cortona
Day 3: Olive Harvest Experience and Cooking Class
Day 4: Treasures of Cortona
Day 5: Spa Day at San Casciano dei Bagni
Day 6: Award-Winning Winery Visit /
Pienza at Sunset
Day 7: Amazing Arezzo
Day 8: La Dolce Vita in Cortona / Farewell Dinner
Day 9: Arrivederci!
November 1-9, 2026
SOLD OUT!
Join the Waiting List: 100placesinitaly@gmail.com
$6790 per person in shared double room
$6990 per person in shared suite
$7390 per person / Single Superior room
$7690 per person / Single Deluxe Room
To Reserve with $350 Deposit, OR
If you have any questions,
Email me at
100placesinitaly@gmail.com
Full Itinerary
Golden Day 1: Buon Viaggio!
Today you will transfer on your own to the airport, to catch the overnight flight to Florence, full of joyful anticipation…
OR if you’d like to arrive early for Golden Week, pre-hotel nights can be arranged.
Golden Day 2: Welcome to Your Golden Week
Benvenuta! You’ll be met by our driver at the Florence airport or train station, then transported through the beautiful countryside to your home for the week: Hotel Villa Marsili.
The setting of this boutique hotel, with panoramic valley views, will enchant you upon arrival. There will be time to relax, unpack, and perhaps wander up to Cortona’s historic center, where cobblestoned lanes and medieval piazzas will invite you to blend in with Tuscan hill town life.
In the early evening, a welcome aperitivo with the group in the Villa’s bar will be a cozy start to our adventure. Susan will give you tips about keeping a travel journal, so that it can become a treasured souvenir of the trip. We’ll meet our local guide for the week, Laura, who will lead a short orientation walk up to Cortona’s historic center, including a stop at a gold jewelry artisan showroom, that celebrate’s the town’s traditions.
Then we’ll enjoy dinner at a nearby trattoria, the first of many memorable and delicious meals.
Meals Included: Dinner
Golden Day 3: Taste Tuscany – Olive Harvest Experience and Cooking Class
Buongiorno! Wake up to your stunning valley view and a delicious breakfast buffet of homemade focaccia, pastries, marmalades, and more. Get used to this lovely start to every day of your Golden Week.
Then you’ll be driven to the countryside, near the town of Montepulciano, to experience Tuscany’s beloved autumn tradition: the Olive Harvest. You’ll be welcomed to the organic farm of an awardwinning cookbook author and begin the day’s adventure in her olive grove, where you’ll have fun picking olives and tasting freshly pressed oil.
In the farm kitchen, you’ll enjoy a hands-on class to learn about Tuscany’s classic rustic cuisine— rolling pasta, making a savory sauce and olive oil cake dessert. Lunch, enjoying the fruits of your labor, will follow.
You’ll be back in Cortona by late afternoon, with the rest of the day to enjoy the town and have dinner on your own, with Susan’s suggestions. Choices range from wine bars that serve light snacks to folksy trattorias and elegant ristorantes.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Golden Day 4: Treasures of Cortona
This morning our charming local guide Laura will lead us to discover a range of Cortona treasures. We’ll begin outside the city walls with mystical sights: Le Celle = a mountainside hermitage where Saint Francis prayed in the thirteenth century, and the Basilica of Santa Margherita, that impressively honors Cortona’s patron saint.
And YES, we’ll see Bramasole, the house Frances Mayes’ wrote about in Under the Tuscan Sun.
In Cortona’s historic center, we’ll stroll to discover Renaissance masterpieces in the Museo Diocesano, hear stories of the town’s fascinating history, and meet local artisans who are dedicated to preserving centuries-old crafts of ceramics, woodworking, and leather.
The rest of the day is yours to enjoy Cortona according to your desires.
Meals included: Breakfast
Golden Day 5: Spa Day in San Casciano dei Bagni
Today you’ll experience one of Italy’s oldest traditions: taking the waters at a thermal spa.
You’ll immerse yourself in the regenerative waters at Fonteverde, a luxurious 5-star resort that’s set in the midst of Sienese hills. Here is where the Etruscans established a thermal center two thousand years ago, Roman emperors soaked, and Grand Duke Ferdinando I de’ Medici and his family frolicked in the seventeenth century.
You’ll continue the healthy tradition by relaxing in warm pools, indulging in excellent massages or body treatments, and enjoying lunch on your own at the resort’s acclaimed restaurant that celebrates local ingredients and regional specialties.
We’ll return to Cortona by early evening, completely refreshed. Dinner is on your own, with my recommendations.
Meals Included: Breakfast
.
Golden Day 6: Winery Tasting and Lunch / Pienza at Sunset
Wines produced in Tuscany are beloved world-wide. We’ll visit an exceptional winery near the town of Montalcino–the only winery in Italy that has an all-female staff and produces award-winning Brunello wine designed by an all-female panel of experts. The experience, in a sixteenth century villa, surrounded by organic gardens and vineyards, will include a cellar tour, followed by a tasting with lunch.
In the late afternoon, we’ll head to the hilltop top town of Pienza. Sunset is the perfect time to enjoy this treasure, that’s adorned with elegant Renaissance architecture. There will be time to stroll along Pienza’s panoramic promenade, shop for artisan treasures, and taste the town’s prized Pecorino cheeses.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
.
Golden Day 7: Experience Amazing Arezzo
Our guide Laura will lead us to discover beauties of Arezzo—a town where Roman, Medieval, and Renaissance art and architecture are splendidly blended. A highlight will be Piero della Francesca’s Legend of the True Cross, painted in the fifteenth century, and hailed by art historians as one of the best fresco cycles in the world.
And to make our visit even more colorful, we’ll be there for Italy’s largest monthly Antique Fair, when Arezzo’s historic center fills up with 500 vendors, spreading out an eclectic mix of treasures—from candelabras to jewelry to comic books.
There will be time for strolling and shopping, and then we’ll gather for lunch to enjoy excellently prepared Tuscan specialties.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Golden Day 9: La Dolce Vita Day / Farewell Dinner
Today is your day to enjoy Cortona, or its surroundings, according to your desires. Susan will help you plan your day.
In Cortona, simply wandering, exploring artisan shops, opening church doors to discover beautiful sights, or strolling the Parterre (Public Gardens) are wonderful choices.
Other suggestions in Cortona:
— Etruscan Museum
Besides 4 floors of Etruscan artifacts, there are upper floors of Roman mosaics and an exhibit of twentieth century paintings by Gino Severini, a native of Cortona
— Tuscan Clay Lab Pottery Lesson
(More info available on request)
Outside Cortona
— Visit to Montepulciano or Siena or Florence can be arranged
(More info available on request)
In the evening we’ll gather for our Farewell Dinner, grateful, refreshed, and inspired from our Golden Week together.
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Golden Day 10: Arrivederci…
You’ll depart by private transfer to the Florence airport or train station, with Golden Memories of our week together.
Meals Included: B
Itinerary subject to change. If because of weather or unforeseen circumstances changes need to be made, replacement events will be equally as awesome as above.
Activity Level: Bring comfortable walking shoes! The historic center of Cortona and other hill towns we visit are pedestrian only, and our time there will include walking together to discover their treasures and time for you to go at your own pace–which may range from settling into a caffe to people watch or exploring further if you wish. The Hotel Villa Marsili (our home base) is set below Cortona’s historic center, about a 10-minute walk (gentle uphill) to get there. There are also bus rides, some on curvy country roads, which require precautions to be taken for those with motion sickness.
What’s Included
- Entertaining hosting by author Susan Van Allen, focusing on Italy’s celebration of all things female
- 7 nights at 4* hotel in Cortona (Hotel Villa Marsili)
- Transportation by private minibus, including roundtrip transfers from Florence airport or train station to Cortona
- Daily buffet breakfast at the hotel
- 2 multi-course dinners with wine
- 1 cooking class in Tuscan countryside, including Olive Harvest experience, followed by lunch
- Winery visit with tasting, including lunch
- Spa day at San Casciano dei Bagni, including thermal pools
- Lunch in Arezzo
- Guided tours by charming local expert in historic center of Cortona and surrounding countryside, and town of Arezzo
- Sunset visit to hilltown of Pienza
- Entrance fees to museums, churches and sites
- Gratuities for all group activities
- Pre-Trip Booklet with packing list, itinerary, and other helpful trip information
- Charitable donation of $25 to UNICEF
What’s Not Included
- Airfare
- Meals not listed in “what’s included”
- Spa treatments
- Gratuities for private transfer drivers and hotel staff
- Optional travel insurance
- Arrival and departure transfer from Rome airport or Rome train station (supplement for $800 per service per 1 or 2 travelers sharing a car can be arranged)
- Everything not mentioned under “the itinerary includes”
The week is expertly designed and hosted by Susan Van Allen, with a balance of planned group and free-time independent experiences.
[testimonial_pro id=”13098″]
In Collaboration with PERILLO TOURS, America’s Leading Tour Operator to Italy for over 80 years.
Contact Info:
TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE FOR GOLDEN WEEKS, or for more information, contact Susan
100placesinitaly@gmail.com
Would you like me to book a Golden Week in Italy for you and your family or friends?
You can gather a group of 10, and we’ll do it!
OR I can custom-design an itinerary for your group—Let’s Talk!
Would you like to arrive early or extend your Golden Week, in Tuscany or Beyond? Discounted hotel rates and packages can happily be arranged. Just ask!
