2026 Tours Update

Happy New Year and may 2026 bring you good health, happiness and provide you with many lifetime memories

Italy | 30 May – 17 June
✨ Two spaces available – single or double

France | 21 June – 8 July
❌ Fully booked

Italy 2026 - Puglia / Abruzzo / Umbria / Emilia Romagna

We hit the road immediately on arrival this year, travelling approximately 1½–2 hours from Fiumicino Airport, Rome, to an overnight stop in Montecassino. Here we will have time to reflect on some of the New Zealand forces’ most gruelling and costly battles of the Second World War.

We then spend seven nights in Puglia, staying at the magnificent Masseria Pistola – a unique and fabulous experience. We are the only group in these palatial, beautifully restored farm buildings, enjoying complete privacy in stunning surroundings.
The Masseria is set within a truly beautiful garden, with space for swimming and outdoor relaxation. Over the week, we have ample time to enjoy everything this exceptional property has to offer.
With its own private chef and wonderfully attentive staff, we are truly spoilt.

Next, we enjoy two nights in Abruzzo, staying in a rather unusual but great fun hotel spread throughout a restored medieval village – Santo Stefano di Sessanio.

My beloved Umbria follows, where we spend four nights immersing ourselves in art, history, charming villages, saints, and the delicious Sagrantino wine and food of the land. Our hotel, Palazzo Bontadossi, is a restored gem, perfectly located in the heart of the piazza in Montefalco.

Finally, we arrive in foodie heaven in the north – Bologna, the famed home of Italian cuisine. Think tortellini in brodo, mortadella, and visits to producers of Parmigiano Reggiano, traditional balsamic vinegar, and prosciutto.

This is a wonderful finale to a gorgeous tour, from which you can continue on independently to Verona, the Italian Lakes, Padova, Venice, or Milan.

✨ Don’t miss out – I will not be repeating this tour in 2027.

It’s been a quiet start to 2026 for us, but we’re enjoying having the time to walk and even play golf.

The garden is really picking up now. The cutting flower patch will be underway very shortly, and we’ve already started picking tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini. Our first apricots have been especially exciting, along with the daily harvest of raspberries. The vegetable garden is starting to resemble a market garden, but the onions, potatoes, and garlic should last us the year. I’ve also followed in my mother’s footsteps and frozen young peas, beans, and broad beans.

I’ve had great fun creating bowls of foliage for the outside tables—first for Christmas, and now with foliage that will eventually dry and stay put. The nursery, full of cuttings and seedlings, means there’s constant planting going on, and hopefully one day the perennials will outdo the weeds.

Best Wishes Everyone. Don’t miss out insomethig that you would love to do.

Judith