Is Cities Lost in Time on the Road Less Traveled For Me?
Is Cities Lost in Time on the Road Less Traveled For Me?
This is one of our most immersive vacations, and it is not for everyone. Please read this page carefully to make sure it is a right fit for you.
- Your Disposition - Our vacations are focused on having a good time with new friends. Everything we do revolves around that. People seeking a self-centered vacation might reconsider. Our groups tend to span all ages, men & women, singles & couples... everyone is welcome, and when our guests come ready to embrace a new culture, look forward to trying new things, and interact with other guests, it is always amazing. Even the way our guests see us is important. If you see us as "providers of a service", you may reconsider our trips. We bring you into our family and become part of the group with you... as though you are visiting friends and family. If you are able to be in this frame of mind, our trips will be like nothing you have ever experienced, but if you are looking for a more detached relationship with us, our trips may not be for you.
- Be Ready to Embrace the Culture - Our trips focus on bringing you into the true culture of the place, but some guests prefer to see it, but not live it. We embrace the culture and do things the way locals do, which may or may not be what you are looking for. This includes little things like not having cappuccino with our meals (Italians only have cappuccino as a breakfast beverage), not having bacon and eggs for breakfast (Italians have coffee or tea and pastries), or larger things, like the fact that we have our dinners after 8:00 PM, like the Italians, do. Every step of the way we adapt to the local culture, rather than asking the local culture to adapt to us. This also tends to make us much more welcome guests than other groups!
- Physical Intensity - You by no means need to be athletic for this vacation, but you must be able to handle some level of physical exertion. A good rule to follow would be to ask yourself if you can do three flights of stairs, then continue walking without needing to sit down for a while.
- Age Concerns - We have had guests as old as 90 years old with no problems whatsoever. Age is not a limiting factor, so long as you are in good physical condition with no health problems that exertion would complicate.
- Altitude - Soriano is at an altitude of 2,000 feet (600 meters).
- Walking & Bus Time - In Italy, walking is always a larger concern than it probably is back home. This is because the towns are ancient, and much is closed to vehicle traffic. Some guests are also concerned about how much time they will spend on a bus. While we are in a very central area, we try to go to some of the most interesting places. Some days will have more travel time, and some very little.
Total Walking & Bus Time for the Week
Detail Day By Day:
While in Soriano
Soriano is a castle-topped hill town. There are moderate inclines while walking in town. Furthermore, some of our homes are in the medieval quarter, which is up a hill in an area that only allows foot traffic. Some of the homes have stairs (none more than three flights). All of our days start and end in the town piazza. The homes are all close to the piazza, but in different locations. The most distant home is 580 feet (175 meters) from the piazza. 250 feet (80 meters) of that walk is up a moderate incline.
| Day | Walking | Bus | Rest Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | On Saturday when you arrive, you will be walking from piazza to your home to check in. We will help with your bags if you desire. In the evening, we take a stroll around the village, then to dinner. Between the stroll and the restaurant where we have dinner, we will walk roughly 0.6 miles (1 km) today, not including the walking between your home and piazza. About 1,100 feet (470 meters) of this is on a slight to moderate incline. | The only time you will be on the bus today is to get to Soriano. If you come from the Rome airport, it is roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you come from the Orte train station, it is roughly 20 minutes. | n/a |
| Sunday | Walking to Piazza from all homes is either flat or downhill. The villa for our cooking classes requires no walking. In the afternoon, we will visit the Bomarzo Monster Park, where the total amount of walking will be roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) which is mostly flat. | The drive to the villa in the morning is about 5 minutes. For the afternoon excursion, we will be in the bus for roughly 20 minutes each way. We must take winding mountain roads for the excursion today. | After the cooking class, we go directly from the cooking class to the Bomarzo Monster Park. If you would like to relax after lunch today, we suggest opting out of the excursion and joining us for dinner in Soriano. This will give you about 4 hours of downtime during the day. |
| Monday | This is our first full day out. At The Marmore Falls, you can stay at the bottom and only walk about a quarter mile, or choose to the the falls, which will require more exertion. Once in Rieti, there will be mostly a stroll. | The morning drive to the falls is about 45 minutes. Another 20 minutes to Rieti, and about an hour back home in the evening. | Today is a full day out. We will not be back in town until dinner time, and we go directly to dinner tonight. Most guests take time to close their eyes on the bus ride. |
| Tuesday | The excursion to Vulci will require quite a bit of walking. Expect 1.5 to 2 miles. Additionally, there is no shade, so if it is hot and sunny, be prepared. | The drive to Vulci is 45 minutes to an hour. | The cooking class this evening will be very calm and relaxing. |
| Wednesday | This is a long day out, but there are only about 0.9 miles (1.5 km) of walking all day. It is mostly flat and there are no uphill walks at all. There is, however, a 0.4 mile (0.6 km) walk after the last winery that is all downhill, which is factored into the total for the day. | Today is our longest driving day. We will spend a total of about four and a half hours on the bus today. The morning drive to Montalcino will be roughly two hours and fifteen minutes. After that, we will be backtracking toward home for the rest of the day. The drive from the abbey to the winery is ten minutes. The drive to Pienza is twenty minutes. The drive to Montalcino is twenty minutes. Finally, the drive home will be about an hour and twenty minutes. Additionally, when we are in Montepulciano, the winery is at the top of the city hill, where we cannot drive. Rather than have you walk up the steep hill, we take a short (5 or 10 minute) city bus ride to get there. | Today is a full day out, and we are having lots of wine. It is very relaxing along the way, but our guests are always thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day. The bus ride back to Soriano is usually quiet as most of the guests are taking a little snooze. |
| Thursday | Walking today is very much up to you. Foligno is a. very flat city, and you may want to spend more or less time exploring it. Figure 1/2 to 1 mile today. | The drive is about one hour each way today. | Today we are out most of the day, but it is not an intense day. The time we spend at the mill is very relaxing, and in Foligno you can exert yourself as little or much as you like. We will be back home earlier than normal tonight, which will give you a great opportunity to get to bed early if you like. |
| Friday | The hike today will be about 3 miles long if you choose to participate. For the rest of the day there is no walking to speak of. | The drive to the site of the Etruscan site is about 10 minutes each way. Later the drive to the mill and winery is about 35 minutes each way. | If you choose to opt out of the hike, this will be an extremely relaxing day. |
How This Trip is Unique From Our Others
Many people ask us how our locations are different when trying to choose the trip that is best for them. Each of our locations is different not just in the places you see, but in the overall "feel" of the week. Here is some information about the Soriano weeks to help you choose:
| Luxury-Factor | Soriano is more down to earth - Our cooking classes in Soriano are "family style". They are structured like a group of friends cooking family recipes together. The town itself has few "tourist" services. It is off the beaten path, and most of the shops are there for the locals, not visitors. Additionally, you are not staying in a hotel, but rather in a self-catering village home. What this means, is that you will not have hotel services here, but you will be living among the local residents. |
| Activity Level | The Soriano itinerary is very action-packed - Between cooking, excursions, cultural experiences, etc., we have something going on all day, every day. There is little "down time". That said, we structure our excursions and activities on most days in a way that it is easy to opt out of something so that you have whatever amount of downtime you like. For example, you may want to opt out of a morning excursion, but be there for the afternoon cooking class. In that case, we would simply pick you up in the afternoon. |
| Cultural Immersion | The Soriano weeks are very immersive - An immersive experience in Italy has upsides and downsides. You must be very ready to embrace things as they come. Things are not always on time, a restaurant may be unexpectedly closed, and things will not necessarily work as we want them to. For example, The fact that a home has internet does not mean it will work on a given day. Getting a tech in a small village is not as easy as you may expect. Additionally, many services people look for may not be available in a small town that is not accustomed to tourism. |
Special Needs we can (and cannot) cater to in Soriano
| Physical Limitations | You must be able to walk up to a mile and do at least a couple flights of stairs in order to go on the excursions on this trip. If you are unsure, please be aware that while we do all that we can to help our guests, we cannot do so at the expense of other guests. As such, if you are unable to walk during any of our excursions, we ask that you have someone come with you that can assist you. |
| Food Limitations | We can cater to most food allergies, vegetarian diets, and to some extent kosher diets. We will substitute with other dishes if you let us know in advance. We can even cater to a gluten-free diet. Our cooking class menus will not change based on a guest's food limitations, but even in the classes, we can usually offer alternatives to eat. That said, if you do have limitations, it is important that you have a positive attitude about it. We are happy to substitute, but the variety of alternatives may be limited. |