Ballooning: Champagne Flights over Tuscany, Florence. Ph: +39 0577.725.517 Fax +39 0577.725.519.
Buddy Bombard Balloon Adventure (333 Pershing Way, West Palm Beach, FL 33401. Tel. 561/837-6610 or 800/862-8537, fax 561/837-6623). All inclusive tours of 7 days/6 nights in Siena with daily balloon excursions above Siena and the Tuscan counryside.
Culture: Hire a professional licensed local guide of Florence to take you around giving you lectures about history and art. You can also join an art treasure tour organized by
Esplanade Tours: 581 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116, Phone: 617/266-7465 or 800/426-5492.
Adventure: Eplore Worlwide Ltd. (1 Frederick Street, Aldersot Hants. GU11 1LQ, England, E-mail:
info@explore.co.uk),
Mountain travel Sobek (6420 Fairmount Ave., El Cerrito, CA 94530, tel 510/527-8100 or 800/227-2384) and
Wilderness Travels (801 Allston Way, Berkley, CA 94710, tel. 510/548-0420 or 800/368-2794) can take you on hiking tours through the medieval hill towns of Tuscany
Music: Dayley-Thorp Travel (330 W.58th St., New York, NY 10019, tel 212/307-1555, a performing art specialist, offers music and opera tours in Italy.
Smoka Tours (Box 856, frederick, MD 21705, tel. 301/695-3661 or 800/722-0057) can arrange custom summer Italian opera, concert, and music festival tour.
Gardens: Endless Beginnings (9825 Dowdy Dr., Suite 105, San Diego, CA 92126, tel. 619/566-4166 or 800/822-7855) visit Tuscan Garden and Villas.
Food and Wine: Grape Adventures Inc. (307 Maynard Rd., Sudbury, MA 01776 USA, Ph. 978/4409754 in Italy call 0338.8180266) will escort tour members to a premier wine estate in Tuscany (usually Chianti Classico). On route, the guide will provide background information about the history of the area, its wines, etc... At the destinations winery, tour members will enjoy a tour with wine-tasting and have the opportunity to purchase wines, olive oils, honey, and other farm products.
Lorenza de'Medici's Villa Table (Badia a Coltibuono, Gaiole in Chianti, Siena, tel. +39 0577 749498 fax +39 0577 749235) offers weeklong courses of cooking for English speaking visitors at a restored 17th century monastery and winery.
