Co-sponsored with Insider's Italy

DURATION: 5 days

GROUP SIZE: 8 people max

The Roman diet is excitingly seasonal. A climate that is ideal for year-round growing and a hospitable volcanic soil makes Rome's local agriculture self-sustaining. Every month of the year yields a different, remarkable food product that is celebrated in markets and kitchens and on restaurant menus. For Romans, artichokes, figs, zucchini and chestnuts are each synonymous with the seasons in which they peak. This trip is designed for families who love food and who want to discover how Italians continue to enjoy such a strong connection to their landscape and to the food that it produces. Combining farm visits with market tours, cooking lessons, and annotated meals, we'll trace Roman cuisine from the farm to the fork. The trip is designed around kids and their interests, with activities organized for younger children to get them thinking about where good food comes from and how it is prepared, and with more in-depth hands-on learning for the older kids. It is also appropriate for families who support sustainable principles in their home lives. The trip is carbon neutral: it emphasizes small, locally owned businesses that underpin Rome's gastronomic economy, it focuses on sustainably produced products, often organic, and it relies almost exclusively on inexpensive public transportation. By trip's conclusion, families who love to cook and eat together will have learned how Roman food is grown, harvested, transported, marketed, prepared and enjoyed, and will return home with hands-on knowledge of how to bring these ideas back to their own tables.

Highlights

• Visit the Colosseum and the Markets of Trajan to discover ancient Rome's culinary roots
• A day outdoors at Ostia Antica or along the Appian Way
• Tour of Testaccio produce markets with a chef followed by a cooking lesson in her home
• A day devoted to seasonal produce on a farm, vineyard, or olive estate
• Pizza-making workshop and visit to Pompeii in Naples

A SUSTAINABLE EXPLORATION OF ROMAN FOOD CULTURE

Our trip begins in Rome, our home base for the duration, with a look at the origin of Roman food in the archaeological sites of the city's historical center. We will learn how food was used and consumed in antiquity and trace its importance with walks through the Colosseum, Imperial Fora, and Markets of Trajan. Depending on the season, we will spend day two at Ostia Antica where we will scour the ruins of Rome's ancient port town, tasting food prepared from 2000-year-old recipes as we go, or take to the Appian Way by bicycle for a trip to a small farm and a picnic along Rome's most ancient roadway. Back in town, we will spend time exploring the Testaccio neighborhood's Spazio Bio, an innovative organic market managed by local producers. While at the market, we will plan a meal to be prepared in a hands-on cooking class in the home of a professional chef who learned Italian cuisine from (who else?) her mother.

Our exploration of Roman cuisine and its seasonal components will take us beyond the city walls, as well. We will dedicate an entire day to seasonal products. Depending on the season, we may attend a strawberry festival or grape harvest, pick olives at a country estate, or get our hands dirty making cheese in the Roman countryside. All the while we will consider the notions of sustainable, seasonal production and the path that food takes from the volcanic soil of Lazio to Rome and, ultimately, the table.

Two hours south in Naples, life revolves around food to an extent even greater than in Rome (or the rest of the world, claim locals). The city bursts with pastry shops, delis, pizzerias, markets, cafés, restaurants and friggitorie (fried-food shops). Everywhere you look, there is pastry, pizza or pasta. Even the city's famous Nativity scenes all feature a market, miniature plates of pasta on rustic tables, a fishmonger, cheese vendor, a wine merchant, things drawn less from the New Testament than from Neapolitan culture itself. We will devote a full day to Naples and Pompeii, with food as our focus. After a morning visit to Pompeii's ruins, we'll spend some time in the afternoon learning to make our own pizza with an exemplary pizzaiolo followed, of course, by lunch.

PRACTICALITIES

Additional information: The trip can be tailored to fit the needs of families with small children and teenagers. Due to Lazio's year-round growing season, this trip can be scheduled any time of year. Day 3 will be dedicated to a specific seasonal product, ie. collecting olives on a farm near Viterbo in the fall, gathering strawberries in the fields of Fiumicino in the spring, harvesting peas and artichokes in Maccarese in April.

Can this Trip be booked privately? Yes, this trip can be booked privately upon request for parties traveling together. The cost of this is €3200 base cost for the group plus €310 per person. Simply contact us by email if you would like to place a request.

Can you accommodate vegetarians and individuals with lactose tolerance issues? Yes. Please inform us at the time of booking if you require special dietary consideration.

What's included? Lunches, tours, tickets, etc. Airfare, arrival and departure transfers and accommodations are not included. Insider's Italy will provide their Rome Accommodation Planning service free of charge, offering lodging consultation for accommodation of a spectrum of styles and budgets.

How strenuous? There is some walking, ranging from leisurely strolls on relatively even cobblestone streets to more strenuous walking over uneven pavement in archaeological sites. Please inform us upon purchase if you have any difficulty walking or stair climbing.

Who leads the groups? Trips will be guided by Rome-based group leaders and docents who will accompany families, assist with any logistic issues, and act as a general resource for clients. Participants will also have the support of dedicated city managers, an additional support staff to ensure client satisfaction and personalized service.

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