The tours are aimed at anyone who cares deeply about the history and origins of regional Italian food and gastronomic tradition and want to meet farmers and producers who are keeping local typical food products alive today.

The Garfagnana is the mountainous territory north of Lucca and near the marble quarries of Carrara where Michelangelo chose his raw material. The territory has kept its old traditions, including local versions of classic Italian foods such as prosciutto crudo, salami, pecorino, farro, chestnuts and polenta.

The adventures last from one day to seven days and involve hands-on activities such as olive picking, cooking lessons and visits to the homes and workplaces of the small traditional foods makers.

Your meals will be in family trattoria, enoteca and Michelin star restaurants depending on choice, but they will always reflect the seasons and seasonal harvests. Heather can also advise on accommodation.

the tours

Sapori e Saperi Garfagnana gastronomic adventures Tuscany LuccaYour culinary adventure to the Garfagnana can be tailored and will certainly reflect the time of year of choice. By way of a guide Heather has created three themed tours: Cheese & Honey; Pork & Porcini Mushrooms; Olive Oil, Chestnuts & Polenta.

Specific elements of each give an idea of the scope of your gastronomic visit to the territory:

- cooking lessons with real Italian mammas

- learn how to bake bread, pizza and focaccia in a wood-fired oven

- help beekeeper make acacia honey

- pick olives and press to bottle your own oil with visits to olive oil frantoi both traditional and modern

- see chestnuts drying in traditional drying house and taste cakes and beer made from chestnuts

- visit a flour miller at his 18th-century water mill where wheat, maize and chestnuts are ground on traditional millstones

- meet a maize farmer and champion polenta cook to understand how delicious polenta can be

- Tours of Lucca & surroundings like Capannori and the Versilia sea side zone which include Viareggio, Pietrasanta, Seravezza and Forte dei Marmi

The Adventures are designed for very small groups of no more than eight people and personalized day tours can also be arranged.