Travel in Style: The Best Luxurious Experiences to Have in Italy
Italy doesn’t need an introduction — it just deserves a slow and attentive manner in which to be experienced. For visitors who want to escape from the usual crowds, the country has a lot of refined, thoughtful, and quietly exclusive experiences that offer authenticity without compromise. Here are some of the top chic, curated experiences to enjoy Italy, north to south.
Wine immersion in the Langhe Hills in Piedmont
In Italy, wine is not a drink — it’s a legacy. Piedmont’s Langhe hills are a UNESCO World Heritage wine region where Barolo and Barbaresco are still made by tiny cellars with love for every wine. Several family-run wineries offer curated experiences that go beyond the tasting room: guided vineyard walks, vertical tastings of vintages dating back decades, and even harvest participation for those visiting in autumn. Many include lunch in the vineyard or in restored farmhouses, featuring local cheeses, white truffles, and fantastic views.
A day of craftsmanship in Florence
Florence is more than its Renaissance museums, it’s also a living laboratory of Italian craftsmanship. Step behind the storefronts of the Oltrarno district and you’ll find goldsmiths, leatherworkers and tailors who are continuing traditions that date back centuries. Arrange a private atelier visit and spend the day watching artisans work in their real studios — that’s the true culture far from a tourist cliché experience. If you’d like to create your own pair of handmade sandals or observe a centuries-old techniques, this experience is just the right one for you.
Discover the Etna volcano on a private tour in Sicily
Sicily’s Mount Etna is the highest and most active volcano in Europe, but it’s also a place of unsuspecting peace, particularly when visited on a private, guided tour. Discover the Etna volcano means access to distant craters and ancient lava flows, all accompanied by professional volcanologists or native naturalists. Experience wine tastings and discover the slopes, where volcanic soil gives Sicilian wine with its rich mineral depth.
Truffle hunting in Umbria
It’s easy to imagine truffle hunting as a kind of tourist gimmick, unless you do it in Umbria, where it’s part of agrarian dna. Private tours pair you with trained dogs and their handlers, and they take you deep into the woods at dawn or dusk. After the hunt, lunch down on a full truffle-style meal, served up at the farmer-hunter’s farmhouse and washed down with Umbrian wines. No Michelin stars, no artificial glamour — merely luxury of taste and sheer delight at ingredients that had been in the ground two hours previously.
Helicopter over the Dolomites
For a filmic view of northern Italy, few experiences rival a helicopter ride over the Dolomites. These summits stretch from Alto Adige to Veneto, and the sensation of beholding them from the air is one of pure scale and beauty. Other excursions combine a flight with lunching at mountain refuges.
Traveling stylishly in Italy is not only about five-star luxury experiences. It’s about substance, intention, and choosing moments that don’t feel performative, but personal, and that kind of access is the only kind of luxury that never goes out of style.
