It all started in 2011 with Caputo Brothers Creamery, a family-owned cheese business located in the heart of the Central Pennsylvania dairy region. While on their honeymoon, the owners, Rynn and David Caputo, decided to quit their Fortune 500 jobs and attend culinary school in Calabria, Italy.

After traveling across all twenty regions of Italy, they knew they were destined to make their culinary passion their life’s work. They brought their passion for Italian cheese back to the States, along with all of their stories from Italy. They recognized a desire from their cheese customers to experience Italy and all of its culinary offerings and decided to plan a tour in 2012 - their first of many. Kyle Carter, who has been with the Caputo team from the start, is the Chief Curation Officer of Curata Travel. As the years went on, the number of tours continued to grow and we were getting incredible feedback from our travelers so we wanted to be able to offer even more! Thus was born...Curata Travel!

Together, we understand that travel is known to educate the mind and soul - we believe it should educate the palate as well!

COVID-19 travel regulations/guidelines are constantly changing. Currently, and as of April 1st, 2023, travel to Italy no longer requires a COVID Vaccine or negative test to enter the country or spaces within the country. Masks are no longer required in public spaces, but may be recommended in public spaces like public transportation or medical facilities. These requirements change often and while we try our best to update them here, please use Sherpa for the most up-to-date information.

If, however, you become unwell while traveling and test positive for COVID, you must self-isolate for five days, as per the current guidelines for Italy by the World Health Organization. You should then wear an FFP2 (N95) mask until you test negative. Your travel companions, even if they test negative, must also wear masks until the entire group tests negative.

It is important to note that Italy remains vigilant about Covid due to the significant number of deaths during the main outbreak. If you test positive, it is crucial not to underestimate the situation. It is advised to cancel any planned tours, avoid using public transportation, and refrain from dining in restaurants.

Living like an Italian is what these culinary adventures are all about – years of travel through all 20 regions of Italy have allowed our team to design a culinary stroll that will take even the most inexperienced traveler comfortably “off the beaten path” to enjoy the Italy that tourists rarely get to experience. Each trip is designed for travelers to experience these rich cultural traditions through cuisine. Travel is known to educate the mind and soul – we believe it should educate the palate as well!  

Our small group tours (average group size: 18 people) are not just a memorable vacation, but are full of authentic experiences, friendship, and a reverence for the Italian artisans and food traditions of each region we visit.  Each excursion and meal is planned with care to show you the authentic Italy that we love so much.  

Our newsletter delivers lots of important updates on current and upcoming tours, new blog posts, recipes, and other fun news right to your inbox! Don't you want to be the first to know about a brand new tour???

Start the process by completing a Booking Request Form for the trip you are interested in. They do fill up quickly, so there is always a chance to be put on a wait list. Once you contact us, a deposit will be needed and a form will be filled out with all of your information. You will then receive updates leading up to the time of your trip!

Please see our Terms & Conditions page for details.

We do not provide or sell any insurance to our travelers, but we do highly recommend purchasing it for your trip. InsureMyTrip is a great option to compare plans and find the right coverage for you.  

We accept checks and all credit cards (there is a 3.6% processing fee for all credit card payments).

Pricing includes all hotel accommodations covered in the itinerary, all planned excursions and classes, daily breakfasts, all meals (may vary depending on your tour) accompanied by local wines, private transportation throughout the tour, and airport transfers on the specified arrival and departure dates/times.

Airfare and trip insurance are not included in the pricing. Also not included are activities, food, and beverage not outlined in the itinerary, as well as hotel incidentals such as hotel bar tabs, international calls, laundry service or room service. Any transportation required outside of the itinerary - taxi fare, airport transfers outside of the planned group transfers, etc. Gratituties for your guides is at your discretion.

Yes! Please use the Contact Us form and let us know which tour you are interested in!

A single supplement is an industry standard, included merely as a way to cover costs, and it is not included as a way to discourage solo travelers. It is to account for the additional cost of a room for one person vs. two.  For example, if a double room at a hotel costs us $200 and we have 2 people in that room, the cost is $100/person whereas when it’s just one person, the cost is $200/person (hotels do not typically apply a discount for single use or if so, it is minimal).  So when you look at this over the span of a 9-night trip, our supplement typically averages out to less than the total we would be paying the hotels to make up for this difference (each trip is different depending on the hotels & room costs). This is a standard industry feature and ours is usually much lower than many other similar tour operators!

We keep our tour groups fairly small, usually between 15-20 travelers per trip and sometimes much smaller. Check out a specific tour page for details.

All over!! From the most northern areas (Bolzano) to the southernmost (Calabria), east coast (Puglia) to west (Amalfi) - even to the islands (Sicily, Sardinia), and everywhere in between! We've even started venturing to other countries too like Croatia!

Our tours are led by any combination of our team members! We usually have 2-3 team members accompanying any given trip.

A typical day on one of our culinary tours might look something like this:

- Breakfast at our hotel at your leisure. Times for departures each morning can vary, but usually do not happen before 9am.

- After breakfast, we will meet in the hotel lobby to board our bus for the day's excursion. This can be a boat tour, a visit to a winery, or free time in a new city. Nine times out of ten, we will reconvene for lunch together as a group at a restaurant in the city we are visiting.

-After lunch, we will usually return to the hotel for people to rest, change clothes if they'd like, or visit the town we are staying in. This is your free time to spend how you'd like.

-We meet up again for dinner as a group. This can be in the town we are staying in or we may have to take our bus to its location. Remember: meals in Italy often start later and last longer than we are used to. Most meals will start around 8pm and may last until 10:00/10:30pm.

Our culinary tours to Italy are typically 10 days - sometimes a couple of days less, sometimes a couple of days more. Check each tours itinerary for exact dates!

Well, we focus on the culinary delights of Italy - so that means FOOD! We will visit restaurants, markets, wineries, cheese tastings, olive oil tasting, cooking classes, and so much more! We also take time to appreciate the history, beauty, and culture that Italy has to offer.

This depends on where you're going and when you're going, but the most important thing to keep in mind is comfort! We will include packing tips in our pre-trip communications. And check out our Amazon Shop for some of our favorite items!

We will be traveling from place to place on our tours, which means we will stay in different hotels. When choosing, we try to diversify the types of hotels we stay in so travelers can get a total experience. This means we aim to stay in places that have a combination of the following characteristics (all while ensuring they are clean and comfortable): 3- or 4-star hotels, family-run hotels, Agriturismo hotels, and hotels located in city centers. Everyone, or each couple, has their own private room with their own bathroom.

We recommend booking your flights between 3-6 months in advance of your trip. While international flights are released about 11 months in advance, we find this range to generally be the time to find optimal pricing and the most flight options. And you can always set up an alert on a site like Google Flights to monitor how prices are fluctuating. Please contact us before booking flights to ensure there have been no changes to the itinerary.