Small-group trips to Italy.
Hosted by an Italian.
Food, wine and the places we return to ourselves - shared with just fourteen guests.
Seven nights built around the Italy we love: regional food, local wine and the people behind both. Gerardo was born in Italy and knows the people and places worth seeking out. Joanne makes sure every detail works. And we’re both there with you, from beginning to end.
Every meal, every glass and every transfer included.
We don’t run trips every week.
We run a small number each year because we’re there for every one - choosing the places, making the introductions and travelling alongside you.
Sicily & the Aeolian Islands
Modica and the Baroque south-east, a performance under the stars at Syracuse’s ancient Greek Theatre, the volcanic vineyards of Etna and an evening in glamorous Taormina. Then across to the UNESCO-listed Aeolian Islands - with a private boat to Stromboli to watch its volcanic activity against the night sky.
Amalfi Coast & Ischia
The Amalfi Coast at its best - days on the coast, Positano from a private boat and a sunset concert high above the sea in Ravello. Then into the vineyards of inland Campania, far from the usual route, and on to Ischia, the island Gerardo grew up on - including dinner one night with his family.
See what travelling with us is really like
A proper look inside one of our trips - the places we stayed, the tables we sat around, the winemakers and producers we met, and the way the days actually unfolded.
It’s twenty minutes that will give you a very good idea of what it feels like to come to Italy with us.
There’s no such thing as Italian food in Italy
Italians don’t really eat “Italian food”. They eat the food of Campania, Sicily, Ischia, Modica - sometimes the food of a particular town or island.
Travel fifty kilometres and the pasta can change. So can the grapes, the vegetables, the way things are cooked and what belongs on the table.
That’s what makes these trips interesting. We move through places that sit remarkably close together on a map, but have their own ingredients, dishes and wines.
The Amalfi Coast, inland Campania & Ischia
On the Amalfi Coast, lemons, anchovies and wines from vineyards clinging to the hills above the sea - alongside a private boat along the coast and a sunset concert in Ravello.
Inland, Campania becomes another place entirely: ancient grape varieties, serious red wines and cooking few visitors to the coast ever encounter. Then Ischia, the volcanic island where Gerardo grew up, where the food is shaped as much by the land as the sea - vegetables and herbs grown in fertile volcanic soil, local wine, rabbit and dishes that belong unmistakably to the island.
Modica, Syracuse, Etna & the Aeolian Islands
In the Baroque south-east, Modica is famous for its distinctive chocolate, still made using a traditional process that gives it its characteristic grainy texture. In Syracuse, more than two thousand years of Greek history remain part of the city - including the ancient Greek theatre, where we’ll see a performance.
Then Etna changes everything again: vineyards planted in black volcanic earth on the slopes of an active volcano, producing some of Sicily’s most distinctive wines. Across to the Aeolian Islands and the landscape changes once more - volcanic islands with their own Malvasia, capers and deeply local food traditions.
Small enough to eat where we want to eat
With fourteen guests, we can choose places because they’re where we want to eat - not because they’re equipped to feed a tour group.
We seek out what belongs to each place: the local dish, the indigenous grape, the producer doing something worth tasting, the restaurant we’d choose if we were there on our own.
“We know what belongs on the table, and where to find it. Italy as the Italians see it, rather than Italy packaged for visitors.”
Sicily or the Amalfi Coast?
| Sicily & the Aeolian Islands | Amalfi Coast & Ischia | |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | Saturday 19 – Saturday 26 June 2027 | Saturday 3 – Saturday 10 July 2027 |
| Best for | Sicilian food and wine, volcanic landscapes and a wilder side of Italy - from the Baroque south-east and Etna to the Aeolian Islands. | Campanian food and wine, the beauty of the coast and a more personal side of Italy - from famous Amalfi to inland wine country and Gerardo’s Ischia. |
| The wines | Etna’s Nerello Mascalese and Carricante, grown in black volcanic soils, followed by Malvasia in the Aeolian Islands. | Local grapes all the way: Falanghina and Biancolella on the coast and Ischia, then Taurasi and the great Aglianico reds of inland Campania. |
| On the water | A full day by private boat through the Aeolian Islands, finishing at Stromboli after dark. | A full day by private boat along the Amalfi Coast, plus a separate private sunset cruise later in the week. |
| The feel | Dramatic and full of contrast - Baroque towns, ancient Syracuse, Etna’s vineyards and volcanic islands. | Iconic and deeply personal - the Amalfi Coast, little-visited inland wine country and Ischia, where Gerardo grew up. |
| The pace | Three bases across seven nights, with time for long winery lunches, local restaurants and experiences that aren’t built around tour groups. | Three bases across seven nights, with time for long lunches, evenings on the coast and the local places we return to ourselves. |
| Weather | Warm early-summer days and comfortable evenings. | Southern Italian summer, with warm days and long evenings. |
| See Sicily | See Amalfi & Ischia |
Both itineraries, day by day, with the hotels, prices and what’s included - all in one email you can read properly later, or forward to whoever you’re travelling with.
Once you’re there, you won’t reach for your wallet
- Seven nights’ accommodation
- Every breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Drinks at every winery visit, lunch and dinner
- All winery visits and tastings
- Every entry ticket and guided experience
- All private group transport, ferries and transfers
- Both of us with you, every day
- International and domestic flights
- Travel insurance, which is required
- Meals and drinks not specified in the itinerary
- Optional activities during free time
- Personal purchases
Gerardo & Joanne
We’re not tour guides. We’re taking you to the Italy we know.
Between us, we run DiVino, import Italian wine and plan every part of both weeks. And when you come to Italy, we come with you.
No tour guide handed an itinerary. No local rep meeting you at the other end. Just the two people who planned the trip, there to experience it alongside you.
Four steps, and the first is just a conversation
A 15-minute chat
A chance to get to know each other and talk through the trip. No sales pitch, and no deposit taken on the call.
We hold your place
For fourteen days, while you talk it over with whoever you need to talk it over with.
A $5,000 deposit
Confirms it. Non-refundable, but movable to another DiVino trip with 90 days’ notice. Balance 60 days out, or by installments.
We handle the rest
Every booking, reservation and transfer. You arrange flights and insurance. That’s your entire to-do list.
They say it better than we can
A few questions you might be thinking about
Trip-specific questions are answered on each trip page.
Who else will be there?
Australians, mostly between 45 and 75, and roughly half of them travelling on their own. The rest are couples. What they have in common is that they love food, wine and Italy, and they’d rather eat well than tick off sights.
Everyone arrives not knowing anyone. By the second lunch that has stopped being true.
I’m travelling on my own. Will I feel out of place?
About half of every group travels on their own, so you won’t be the odd one out. Nobody eats alone, and there’s no forced pairing-up. A room to yourself is $2,000 for the week on either trip.
Do I need to know anything about wine?
Not a thing. Some of our favourite travellers have arrived knowing only that they like drinking it. Gerardo will explain as much or as little as you want, and nobody is tested on it.
How active do I need to be?
Not very. The focus of these weeks is food and wine, not walking. There are a few points where there’s an option to walk, and there is always an alternative if you’d rather not, or if you’re less mobile. If you have something specific you’re concerned about, tell us on the call.
Isn’t it too hot in June and July?
It’s summer in southern Italy, so it’s warm. We plan around it rather than pretend otherwise: air-conditioned transport and rooms, mornings for the active things, afternoons near water, and dinner once it’s cooled down. It’s also why we go then. Long evenings, everything open, and the sea warm enough to swim in every day.
Why only fourteen places?
Because that is the number that still fits at one table, in one boat, and in a cellar that isn’t set up for groups. Above about fifteen you stop being guests and start being a tour, and the doors we rely on stop opening.
What’s the deposit, and what if something comes up?
A $5,000 deposit holds your place, and we invoice you after we’ve spoken, by bank transfer or card. The balance is due 60 days before departure, or by monthly installments at no extra cost.
The deposit is non-refundable but movable: with 90 days’ notice you can shift it to another DiVino trip, another date, or hand it to a friend. And if we ever cancelled a trip, you’d get every cent back.
Can I add days either side?
Most people do, and we’d encourage it. You’ve come a long way. Tell us where you’re thinking and we’ll tell you where to stay and what to eat.
The full details, sent to you
Both itineraries, day by day, with the hotels, prices and what’s included. Three quick questions so we send you the right one.
Where should we send it?
We’ll never pass your details on, and you can unsubscribe in one click.
We just need your name, mobile and an email address that works - that’s where the itinerary goes.
It’ll be in your inbox in a few minutes. Once you’ve had a look, book fifteen minutes with Gerardo or Joanne to talk through the trip, ask your questions and see if it’s right for you. No sales pitch, and no deposit taken on the call.
Small enough to do Italy properly.
We keep every trip to just fourteen guests. It means we can eat in the restaurants we actually want to eat in, spend time with the winemakers and producers we know, and travel together without turning the experience into a tour group.
Have a conversation with Gerardo or Joanne about what you love about Italy and how you like to travel, and we’ll tell you which trip we think you’ll enjoy most. If the answer is somewhere else entirely, we’ll tell you that too. No sales pitch.