Loading...

Small Group Private Tour Specialist

Plan your Italy adventure with the small group private tour specialist. Escape overtourism and discover the back roads and authentic small towns with us. Kathy and Vernon create your perfect trip, with off-the-beaten path destinations, activities from walks and bike rides to city tours and shopping, and expert-led culinary adventures.

Read More...

Food and Wine

Any tour of Italy is incomplete without indulging in the amazing food and wine. But to truly appreciate It requires an understanding of the regional history, culture and geography. All become part of your adventure with Kathy, chef, food blogger, and Certified Italian Wine Professional, and Vernon, mountain guide, MS in European Literature and avid history enthusiast.

Read More...

Your Unique Adventure

Not all private trips are custom. Most tour companies don't have the flexibility to deviate from their set itineraries, so there are always compromises. With Kathy and Vernon, your adventure will be as unique as you are, and your itinerary will be personally designed us to meet the desires and varied interests of your group.

Read More...

The ItaliaOutdoors Difference


Truly Personalized Service and a Custom Plan for Every Trip

Kathy and Vernon

NO MIDDLEMEN

You communicate directly with Vernon and Kathy. We know your dreams for an Italy adventure, we’ll have it ready for you when you arrive.

No Group Too Small

SMALL FOOTPRINT

Our small footprint allows us to travel like locals and enjoy spontaneous adventures as we explore the path less traveled.

 

Custom Plan

UNIQUE ITINERARY

Each tour itinerary is unique and serves as a framework for an exceptional journey, where a thoughtful plan adjusts to your pace.

 

Authenticity

KNOWLEDGE

We focus on just a few select tours to provide an exceptional level of regional knowledge and an unforgettable authentic experience.

Travel after COVID-19: How do you wish to travel in Italy when we are able to return? In a small private group of your family and friends? Plenty of outdoor explorations? Off the beaten track destinations far from tourist crowds? Private cooking classes, wine tours, small intimate hotels? That's how we've been traveling for ten years. Plan your adventure in Italy with Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine, the custom tour specialist.

Customize Your Adventure - Food - Wine - Walk - Hike - Bike

With Italy's "Best Local Guide 2013"

Read about our tours in Adventure Cyclist August 2015

Our passion is creating intimate, personalized active food and wine adventures that explore an authentic Italy
- its outdoor beauty, its hidden back roads, its small family producers, its traditional wines, at your preferred pace.
Tell Me More!

The Alto Adige Valle Isarco DOC, also known as Sudtirol Eisacktaler, is Italy’s northernmost wine region. Surrounded by the Italian Alps, and the gateway to the Dolomites, this wine region is on Italy’s northern border with Austria. Historically, this region was under the control of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and only was ceded to Italy as recently as the end of World War I.  The culture here is very Germanic, and many of the grape varieties grown here reflect that influence. This is Alpine country, though the areas right around the Isarco river are a little lower as the river has carved out the valley over time.  Many of the vineyards here are at altitude, ranging from 400-800 meters above sea level. 

valle isarco private tours italy walking bike ski
Valle Isarco, Italy


This is white wine country, where winegrowing is challenging in this northern location. But the results are particularly superb, with lively, well-crafted and refined wines. The combination of cooler nights and warm days, with valley breezes give the Valle Isarco wines a tart and dry taste, robust and full-bodied. The Valle Isarco produces 95% white wines, mostly varietals made from Pinot Grigio, Veltliner, Silvaner, Muller-Thurgau, Kerner, Riesling and Gewurztraminer (known here as Traminer Aromatico) grapes. In fact, the purported home of Gewurztraminer, the village of Tramin, is located just a few miles away.

valle isarco wine custom italy tours
Garlider Muller Thurgau

The most common grape variety in the region is Sylvaner, cultivated in wind-sheltered slopes at 500-700 meters. Sylvaner is an elegant and fruity wine. Almost as common is Müller Thurgau. This vine loves high altitudes and climbs up to 850 meters. It is a popular warm weather wine and aperitif, with a pleasant, subtle palate. Gewürztraminer grapes thrive in the warmer slopes. The grapes are harvested in late October, and offer a robust and complex wine. Kerner, a recent addition, created in 1929 by crossing Schiava with Reisling, and was introduced to South Tyrol in the 1970s. Today, it is an impressive wine with consistently outstanding vintages. Other varieties grown in the region include the fruity Veltliner, elegant Pinot Gris and Riesling.

The remaining 5%, the red wines of this region, are indicated by the “Klausner Laitacher” designation. These wines are limited to Schiava, Portugieser, Lagrein, and Pinot Noir.

The name “Alto Adige Valle Isarco” or “Sudtirol Eisacktaler” must be followed by either a variety or location. Any Alto Adige Valle Isarco wine made from grapes grown exclusively in Bressanone and/or Varna may bear the additional mention Bressanone on its label (Brixner in German).