Tuscany, Umbria and Cinque Terre in September ~ September 14th - 26th, 2025

28 club members participated in the club’s September Italy trip. From the beautiful Tuscan countryside to the Umbria region and ending on the coast in Cinque Terre, this was a fantastic trip. We spent 5 nights at Hotel Borgo Di Cortefreda in Tuscany, which was a beautiful hotel out in the vineyards of Tuscany. During this time we visited Florence, including the Accademia Gallery, wineries, Pisa, Lucca, Siena and San Gimignano. We also had a fun cooking class. Next we moved on to Assisi for 3 nights. Our hotel was in a great location with fantastic city views, the Giotto Assisi. While in Assisi we toured Perugia and Assisi. After the Assisi tour, including seeing the St. Francis Basilica, some of the group walked up to the fortress for amazing views of the city and surrounding area. Next we moved on to Rapallo, a city north of Cinque Terre and stayed at the Hotel Tiguillio Royale for 3 nights, right on the water. This was another great hotel and the group really enjoyed the open air rooftop bar for drinks and snacks overlooking the water and city. We took the train to the 3 towns of Manarola, Riomaggiore and Monterosso. Our final group day was taking a boat in the Gulf of Tigullio and visited the towns of Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure. In Portofino some of the group hiked up to the lighthouse for nice views of the harbor area and some of Cinque Terre. Most of the group flew in and out of Florence, which seems to be a very disorganized airport and some had delays, cancellations, etc. Some of this was due to weather and strikes happening in Europe. Our guide was Luca Zanon, who was also our guide for the Explore France trip. He is a fantastic guide, always looking out for the group, handling logistics, suggesting local restaurants, checking into airline information and overall helping with anything the group needed.

Debbie Steininger,

Trip Leader, Italy, September