La Dolce Vita Wine Tours - A Review
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Italy, Greece, and Spain - Wine and Hiking Tours to Remember
Patricia Thomson and Claudio Bisio are the perfect tour guides.
As the owners of La Dolce Vita Wine Tours, Patricia (food, film, and wine writer) and Claudio (native Italian biking and hiking tour guide), offer food-loving, hiking and wine tours in Italy, Spain, and Greece (and now Portugal).
Note: Some tours do not include hiking, just food and wine.
Each day of their tours (which consist of fewer than 12 people) includes about a half day of hiking on mountains, or through rural countryside, vineyards and small towns.
Following each hike is a visit to a local winery and, of course, a rest before dinner featuring the local cuisine. What a great way to really experience a place!
It would be difficult to plan a vacation like this on your own, without knowing the place. As clients of La Dolce Vita Wine (and Hiking) Tours, my husband and I highly recommend this type of vacation.
La Dolce Vita
is Italian for "The Sweet Life"
Patricia Thomson & Claudio Bisio
Your European Wine and Hiking Tour Guides
PATRICIA THOMSON became interested in wine after spending time in Florence studying Italian Renaissance art. She now writes about Italian wine, food, and travel for Tastes of Italia, Gastronomica, and other magazines. Pat and Claudio met while biking in Piedmont and now divide their time between New York and Italy. A member of the Society of Wine Educators, Pat leads tours in Italy and directs La Dolce Vita's US operations.
To read some of Patricia's articles on wine, CLICK HERE.
CLAUDIO BISIO is a native Italian from Piedmont, whose family had a small vineyard and produced wine for their dinner table. Before La Dolce Vita, he planned tour itineraries and menus as a guide for other tour operators. In 1999, he co-founded La Dolce Vita Wine Tours with his wife and business partner, Patricia Thomson, and acts as the company's tour designer and guide.
Bottles at an Italian Winery
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What you will Receive
from your European Wine Tour
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Access and personal dialogue with winemakers
Pat and Claudio have access to the best wine estates in Italy and arrange top-level tours. On our last trip, we were guided by the owner of Tieffenbrunner Wine Estates and the winemaker at Hofstatter Winery. -
Gourmet Wine Dinners
Our guides took us to some of the best restaurants of the area, conversed with the waiters in Italian and introduced us to local specialties that we might not have tried on our own. Beef cheek, anyone? -
Charming Accommodiations
Hotels are 3* or above and Pat and Claudio make all of the arrangements. -
Small Groups and Attentive Service
Group sizes are small (there were 9 in our first tour and 7 in our second). Pat and Claudio rented a van and picked us up and dropped us off at a train station. They did all of the driving, paid the tolls, and even helped us with train tickets. -
Learn a Little History
Claudio is from Italy and knows history and winemaking, among many other things. Pat is an expert on wine varietals and art history. Between the two of them, we learned so much.
Windows of Tuscany
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Italian Alps Review
We did their Tuscan Trek in 2007 and the Italian Alps in 2009. See my page below for a day to day look at our Italian Alps Wine Tour.
What Do You Think?
Would you like to do a European hiking and wine tour?
2012 Tour Dates
Find Out More
about La Dolce Vita European Wine Tours
- La Dolce Vita Tours
La Dolce Vita Wine and Hiking Tours - Main Page.
- Italian Wine Tours
Land of Barolo -- Slow Food Festa -- Trufflemania -- Venice to Amarone -- Tuscan Wine Treasures -- WINE-INTENSIVE TOURS: Xtreme Piedmont -- Xtreme Tuscany
- Walking and Wine Tours
Italian Alps -- Piedmont & Cinque Terre Trails -- Tuscan Trek -- Amalfi Coast -- Sicilian Saunter
- Biking Tours
Chianti Classico By Bike -- Pedal Piedmont
- Spain and Portugal Tours
Rioja (Spain) Roundup -- A Passion for Port (Portugal)
A Little Reading Perhaps?
Before Your Wine Tour
Make Sure you have Good Hiking Gear
La Dolce Vita Wine Tours on Facebook
Become a Fan
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How does a wine and hiking tour sound to you?
Please share your thoughts.
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susannaduffy
Sep 11, 2010 @ 4:45 pm | delete
- What a wonderful tour - and the wine, the wine!
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JaguarJulie May 18, 2010 @ 12:56 pm | delete
- Those windows of Tuscany are fabulously artistic. I too love photographing windows and store fronts and especially those during our various Eastern European vacations. Love your eye for artistic composition!
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WindyWinters
May 11, 2010 @ 1:03 pm | delete
- I would love to visit Italy one day and see the beautiful scenery.
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mbgphoto May 11, 2010 @ 12:55 pm | delete
- This sounds really intriquing! What a wonderful way to see the wine country!
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jptanabe
May 11, 2010 @ 10:05 am | delete
- Oh yes, what a wonderful idea these Wine and Hiking Tours are! I just love your photos of Tuscany and the Italian Alps. I'm not one for big tour buses and stuff, but a small personalized group with a guide who knows the language and where to go (and eat!) sounds perfect.
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About the Author
More Pages about Wine and Travel
by kimmanleyort
Website: The Nature of Photography
Mother, wife and photographer who never stops learning. I also love to travel and La Dolce Vita European Wine Tours...
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