Majella Tours of Italy

Casa
Italia
Cortina d'Ampezzo
Majella Tours of Italy

Curated Small Group Tours of Abruzzo, Puglia, Liguria, Dolomites It is my father’s homeland and the place that I love most in the world.

Majella Tours leads food, culture and nature focused small group tours of the central Italian region of Abruzzo. For travelers who wish to experience an Italy beyond the tour buses, Engish-translated menus and hordes of crowds, Abruzzo is an undiscovered slice of heaven. Join Michelle DiBenedetto-Capobianco on an unforgettable journey through time into an Italy you thought no longer existed. Abruz

zo is the region of national parks, “la terra di mare e monti”, where you can get from the sea to the mountaintop in an hour’s time. It’s the unexplored last frontier of Italy where you hike through rugged mountains and valleys only to stumble upon medieval villages and hidden hermitages carved into stone. Abruzzo’s cuisine is rustic and pure – you can literally taste the land’s aura in its cheese, salumi, lamb and ancient legumes and grains. It is a region with a proud pastoral tradition that has seen hardship and poverty due to wars and an isolated geographic position, but whose people have emerged with an indomitable spirit of survival and loyalty to their territory.

14/05/2026

There’s one more chance to travel to Italy with me in 2026 - and I’ll admit I’ve been quiet about it, because the trip itself is quiet. That’s exactly the point.

I won’t pretend that Puglia in summer doesn’t have its appeal, especially if you love a beach. But Puglia (and Matera in neighboring Basilicata) is no longer a secret, and the crowds have followed. November is a different story.
In the off-season, locals reclaim their streets for the evening passeggiata. New-harvest wine and olive oil are poured unhurriedly. The naturally slow rhythm of southern Italy returns, and the weather stays mild enough to sit outside with a glass of wine and nowhere to be.

The idea for this trip came from a video my friend and local collaborator Francesco posted - he was working remotely from Piazza Garibaldi in Monopoli, one of the towns I use as a base. The piazza looked so peaceful it stopped me mid-scroll. I texted him, and he wrote back: “I love the vibe here right now. Monopoli feels exactly as it should.”

That was all I needed.

If a slower, deeper dive into Puglia sounds like your kind of Italy, send me a message. Booking closes in July.

And if this sounds like someone else’s kind of trip too, tag them below. ✈️🇮🇹

https://www.majellatours.com/puglianovembertour

03/05/2026

My 20-year old son recently Googled our ancestral village of Salle, in Abruzzo, and came across a guest blog post I wrote in 2012 (around the same time this photo was taken) for an English-language site dedicated to the region. The post is about my full-circle experience in Salle - visiting as a little girl and then returning so many years later with my own children. With Mother’s Day nearly here, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic so I shared what I wrote all those years ago in my latest newsletter.

(Link in comments)

29/04/2026

🇮🇹 Not the Italy everyone shows you. The Italy that feeds your soul.

Picture this: a misty morning in a centuries-old Parmigiano-Reggiano dairy, watching a cheesemaker coax 1,000 liters of milk into a single golden wheel — the same way his grandfather did. Lunch in a family osteria in Parma where the tagliatelle is rolled by hand before your eyes and the lambrusco is poured generously, always. An afternoon in a traditional acetaia in Modena, learning the alchemy behind aged balsamic vinegar that’s been slowly breathing in wooden barrels for 25 years.

Then comes Bologna - La Grassa, the Fat One - with its labyrinthine covered porticos, its boisterous mercato district, and its locals who take lunch seriously. A detour to the breathtaking Castell’Arquato, a perfectly preserved medieval hilltop village, where time moves differently and the views over the hills feel almost invented. And finally, the utterly unexpected Ravenna, where 6th-century Byzantine mosaics shimmer in golden light like something not quite of this world.

✨ This is a small group tour - 12 guests maximum (6 Spots Remaining). Your guides aren’t reciting scripts; they’re locals who grew up here

Every day is a layered experience: food, art, history, and human connection woven together by people who genuinely love sharing their home with curious travelers.

🧀 Parmigiano-Reggiano & Prosciutto di Parma at the source
🍝 Private pasta-making in a villa in Parma
🫙 Balsamic vinegar tasting at a 4th-generation family acetaia
🏰 Wandering the medieval villages
🎨 Guided mosaics tour in Ravenna’s UNESCO basilicas
🍷 Lambrusco at a small organic producer’s vineyard
🏛️ Exclusive access to hidden chapels, markets & workshops

👇 Drop a 🍝 in the comments if Emilia-Romagna is on your list — or tag someone who would never say no to the world’s greatest food culture.

🔗 Link in bio for itinerary details & availability — groups fill quickly.

19/04/2026

Picture this: a warm September evening on the terrace of -Campari spritz in hand, the Riviera light turning golden. Two of my favorite clients - a mother and daughter who’ve long since crossed over into the “friends” category - and I had nowhere to be. A free evening, which I believe in deeply.

Some of our group had grabbed a taxi to Portofino to try a restaurant they’d read about. Others had wandered into the centro. We were perfectly content right where we were.

We got to talking with a couple at the next table. As it turned out, we’d each spent the day in the same two (under-the radar) towns - elegant Chiavari and the seaside gem of Sestri Levante. When I asked what they’d thought, they shrugged. Fine. Nothing special.

My friend couldn’t help herself. Did you see the…? Did you go into…? Did you try…?
No. No. No.
“We didn’t really know where to go,” they finally admitted.

Same towns. Completely different days.

I’ll be the first to say that group travel isn’t for everyone. A dear friend told me just last week: “I’d love to come, but I’m afraid my lack of poker face would be a liability to the group.” Fair enough - I appreciate the self-awareness.

But a well-run tour can actually be more intimate, more immersive, and in some ways more spontaneous than traveling independently. I have strong opinions about what “well-run” means, and here’s the heart of it:

A good tour leader introduces you to people - local guides, farmers, chefs - who make a place feel real. They choose restaurants not for the ratings or the cool factor, but because something about them just feels right. And they give you genuine free time, so you can wander on your own. And I’ve noticed that free time lands differently when you’re on a good tour. You explore with more purpose and less anxiety, because somewhere along the way, you’ve started to feel at home. And that’s really the whole point, don’t you think?

Photos: 1: A quiet moment at a spot I wouldn’t have found without a local ➡️2: Spritzes on the terrace at Hotel Continental ➡️3 “Downtown” Santa Margherita Ligure➡️4& 5 Sestri Levante & Chiavari (the towns my terrace friends thought were “meh” 😂

30/03/2026

Ciao amici! Yesterday announced the 2027 🇮🇹 tour calendar, but this is the journey I’ve been bursting to share! I returned a few weeks ago from an epic research trip (and by research, I mean tasting cheese, prosciutto, tortellini, lasagna…) and eccoci qua! My first-ever Taste of Bologna + Parma Tour!

Emilia-Romagna has always held a special kind of magic for me - I started exploring the region in my 20s, when a career in food and travel was barely a glimmer, and even then, was struck by the deep reverence shown to food traditions. In Emilia-Romagna, food isn't just something you eat, it’s something you live. It is woven into the very fiber of both urban and rural life and serves as the backbone of the region’s economy. Over the years, I found myself returning again and again - including to visit my son during his study abroad semester in Bologna last fall - and now, as a cooking school owner, I can see why so many consider it Italy's culinary capital.

On this trip, we’ll be based in Parma and Bologna - two very different cities in character, but with a shared devotion to food traditions, culture and intellectual curiosity. I hope you’ll check out the highlights below and the complete itinerary in the link in comments.

And of course, I’ll be returning to my beloved Abruzzo 💚 in 2027 as well as to the dreamy Italian Riviera 🏝️ and the Dolomites ⛰️

(Link in comments)

29/03/2026

📣📣 NEW 2027 TOUR! 📣📣

🇮🇹Taste of Parma & Bologna

🗓️April 25-May 2, 2027

💡HIGHLIGHTS include:

🧀🐖Private visits to family-owned producers of Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale (my own personal W***y Wonka experience)

🫛Tour of Modena’s historic market

🍷Tasting with a local winemaker who produces fizzy Lambrusco in the countryside

👩‍🍳 Cooking class in a private villa #

🖼️ Private tour of Ravenna, the Capital of Mosaics)

🏰 Visit to the medieval hamlet of Castell’Arquato

🍝 Lingering feasts featuring the best pasta of your life

…and so much more all while led by the amazing Alice of and her incredible network of dynamic and passionate local guides

DM me for details!

01/03/2026

I’m not one for ticking off days - especially after turning 50 a few weeks ago - yet somehow this never-ending winter has me doing just that.

And today, the countdown feels very real.

🇮🇹 1 day until I’m back in Italy (headed to airport soon!)
🌼 3 Sundays until spring.
💝10 Sundays until Mother’s Day.
⛰️12 Sundays until I gather with guests in Abruzzo this May.

Check out my latest newsletter (link in comments) and play a game for a discount on a new tour I’m developing for 2027!

06/02/2026

🏔️🚡⛷️🇮🇹 Happy Winter Games! Some photos from host city Cortina d’Ampezzo this past July

01/02/2026

Buongiorno amici,

I hope you’ll read my latest newsletter in which I make the case for traveling to Italy in the off-season, when the crowds dissipate, the heat softens and the pace slows.

Join me in for a Slow Taste of Puglia + Matera in November 2026 🇮🇹

(Link in profile)

18/01/2026

If I had to encapsulate #2016 in a single image, this would be it - the day I decided to stop talking about organizing a tour in Italy and to just do it.

In August 2016, a few days before my family and I were heading back to NY after a summer spent at our family home in Abruzzo, I stopped to say hello to my friend at her warm and wonderful agriturismo high in the Maiella mountains. We had been introduced by a mutual friend the year before and I instantly fell in love with her positive energy and larger than life personality. She generously insisted that we stay for dinner so we could meet a newly arrived American family who was staying at her B&B for the week.

My boys (then 10, 9 and 7 yo) were playing a heated game of “scopa” with Marisa’s son Paolo and his blessed namesake, the revered shepherd poet, Nonno Paolino, when the American guests surfaced from their room. Now, mind you, Decontra, the tiny hamlet of barely 60 inhabitants where Marisa’s B&B is located does not show up on any map - this is truly rural Abruzzo..if you’re there, it’s intentional.

We greeted them and learned that friends from the UK had suggested this remote, off-the-grid spot for their daughter (the young woman in the photo) to finish her thesis on the recent influx of African migrants to the island of Lampedusa.

We started a little get-to-know-you-game:

Where does your daughter study? … … oh, small world! I went to BC!

Where do you live in the States? … Park Slope, Brooklyn…oh, small world, you live on the same block as my brother-in-law!

And then the husband says…But my wife grew up in the suburbs of NYC…in a town called Port Washington…

Wait, what? Port Washington? WE live in Port Washington…

The possibility of one, tiny infinitesimal world 🌍 bared itself to me at this moment high in the Majella mountain…Abruzzo’s beloved “madre montagna”…mother mountain.

And I knew that it was time to try to gather some like-minded travelers to share my experiences in this beautiful hidden corner of central Italy.

A few months later, I put up a post on Facebook advertising my first ever tour in Abruzzo which took place the following summer 🙏🏻💚✨

13/01/2026

My latest newsletter is a love letter 💌 to Abruzzo and an invitation to join me there in May along with my dear friends (who feel more like famiky ❤️) at Cantinarte

(link to read in comments)

Indirizzo

Cortina D'Ampezzo

Sito Web

http://www.majellatours.com/

Notifiche

Lasciando la tua email puoi essere il primo a sapere quando Majella Tours of Italy pubblica notizie e promozioni. Il tuo indirizzo email non verrà utilizzato per nessun altro scopo e potrai annullare l'iscrizione in qualsiasi momento.