Fabulous food and wine tours in Italy … Italy should be devoured! Piedmont with its mountains and Tuscany with its hills: fill your senses with tastes from award-winning vintners, wines that range from robust to comforting, old to young, and food that sings and melts in your mouth, all with medieval towns at your fingertips. Italy allows you to slow down, smell the grass, smell the food, smell the wine, see the land, touch history, and devour it all.

Fabulous Sardinia, a must visit for everyone. Take a cruise from the Banchina Dogana (harbor) in Alghero to the tip of Capo Caccia, the long headland that you saw from Alghero’s walls, to visit this beautiful cave, bristling with stalagmites and stalactites that reflect in an underground lake. The Grotta di Nettuno was carved by the sea, in cliffs that tower almost 304 meters above. The mouth of the cave is at sea level, and arriving by water is the most dramatic way to approach, not to mention the easiest. But you can also drive there, about 14 kilometers from Alghero, passing an interesting nuraghi alongside the road. Once there, you’ll need to walk down (and, remember, also climb back up) on the 656 steps of the Escala del Cabirol (goat stairs), carved into the face of the cliff.

In the South-West of Sardinia, among mounts and shrubs shaped by the wind, in the wildest and most isolated Sardinia, an imposing coastline develops for about 47 kilometers: this is the mighty Costa Verde. A succession of pristine beaches such as Piscinas – with the highest sand dunes in Europe – cliffs that burst deep into a green waters sea, so loved by the most daring surfers. You will be amazed by the fantastic sunsets along this coast, where your eyes get lost in a strong elation for the sky turning into pink. Marina di Arbus is not just about the sea: there is the declared archaeological mining site of Montevecchio and also Bugerru, Ingurtosu plus the one of Porto Flavia in Masua. You can’t miss the sea stacks of Pan di Zucchero and the defensive Tower of Torre dei Corsari. In the village of Arbus you’ll find the Knife Museum, which has the heaviest flick-knife in the world. Read more about Combined programs main Corsica and Sardinia.

Guiseppe Garibaldi was the founding father of modern Italy. He spent the last years of his life on the tiny island of Caprera, which is part of La Maddalena archipelago. His farm and house, Casa Bianca, have been transformed into a small museum where you can see the boat in which Garibaldi rowed to the mainland and his famous red shirt. This bold modern structure in the port area of Olbia houses some of the island’s most ancient history. Don’t miss the Roman era vessel which was found in the towns main port. Entrance is free, which is a nice little bonus.

One of the absolute must-do’s when visiting Sardinia (or in fact during any of your travels), is to enjoy the local food and taste. Sardinian food is characterized by very strong flavors, of which Cannonau, the local wine, is the perfect example. Carasau (a type of thin crispy bread), Porcheddu (a frequently basted young pig) and Culurgiones (a ravioli-like pasta filled with pecorino cheese, mint, and other ingredients) are other products of the Sardinian gastronomic tradition. Local restaurant Su Combidu, located in the center of Cagliari, is a great place to explore the different tastes of Sardinia, but there are many more great traditional restaurants across the island, too.