Meet your local tour leader at the tour office in central Florence at 8 am, just a 10-minute walk from the Santa Maria Novella train station, and meet the rest of your group of like-minded young travellers. From Florence, you will travel for an hour and a half by private 8 seat mini-van through the beautiful Tuscan countryside enjoyed by generations on the movie screen.
Learn about the Italian way of life, the local customs, cuisines, and quirks from your guide before reaching the first stop of the day. Siena is the medieval town that set the backdrop of the famous movie Letters to Juliet and Stealing Beauty. Be ready to be amazed by Siena a town full of charm, narrow streets with local artisans and medieval squares made in red brigs. A stop of the gothic Cathedral of Siena will be a must before we continue our trip and head towards our next destination.
From here, you head to the famous Montepulciano, where vampires converge in the Twilight Saga's New Moon. The beautiful walled town is also the home of the Montepulciano DOCG wine. This makes it the perfect opportunity for a tasting of vino and other local products at an ancient underground cellar from the 14th century. You will have the chance to purchase products for the perfect gift or to ship home. Your guide will provide you with local insight, information about the specific scenes and other films set in each place. You will also have free time to explore the other attractions that the town has to offer, at your leisure.
Just a 10-minute drive from Montepulciano we will find our local restaurant located in a stunning position overlooking the Tuscan hills and also producers of the famous Montepulciano DOCG wine. Here we will enjoy our light lunch with local Tuscan products, including a wine tasting.
After lunch, you will head to Cortona, the luscious hilltop town known for its olive groves and made famous by Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun. You will be given free time in Cortona to explore the narrow streets, artisan stores and other landmarks seen in the cinematic adaptation of Frances Mayes' novel. Who knows, maybe your own Italian love story will unfold!
We aim to head back to Florence by approximately 8 pm.
We promote a youth market 18-39 years old. What does this mean? Does it mean that you have just had your 40th birthday so you won't be welcome if you are a more seasoned traveler? That we are going to card you at the door? No way!
It means that we have a general audience of college students, backpackers, solo travelers, etc... that often fall into this category. The tours are more fast-paced, budget-minded and include activities for travelers to meet and connect with other passengers of the same age from all parts of the world who share the same interests, lifestyles, and travel styles.
We are not strict with the age limit and people older than 39 are always welcome to join our tours as long as you are young in heart, have no walking disabilities and are happy to be with younger people.
Our brand is designed around this unique experience geared towards younger travelers, so only passengers that fit this demographic travel with us.
Don’t panic! The first step is to speak to your bank. All purchases made on our website will appear as purchases being made in Switzerland as our website booking provider is a Swiss-based company, so be sure your bank is aware you will be making Swiss purchases to avoid having your payment flagged as possible fraudulent activity. If you cannot resolve the problem with your bank, you should email info@italyonabudgettours.com immediately so we can proceed with a manual booking.
Let us start by saying that If you want to pay for one of your products but the Credit Card is in a different currency than the currency in which we sell our tours, then you have 2 options. This can be selected on the screen where you enter your credit card details by selecting "view currency conversion options":
Option A
TrekkSoft does the currency conversion to accept the customer's currency, exchanging that into the currency in which we operate our tours. This is called dynamic currency conversion since we display the actual USD price (Or whatever currency your card is in) to you at the time of booking and this is the amount which is debited from your card without any further conversions or charges.
Option B
The card issuer ( your bank) does this currency conversion and applies a commission and processing fee. So this is when a tour is in EUR for example, and you are charged in EUR even though your credit card account is in USD. So your bank gives you an exchange rate which you will only see on your monthly statement.
In either case, as we are not a bank, the conversion is not the same as you would see on the likes of xe.com since these are the wholesale currency values, these rates are not available to anyone in reality.
The retail rates are always higher since there are differences in buying selling rates, and there are commissions and transaction fees when exchanging currencies. Whatever currency you pay, we will receive the amount as displayed in EUR
This could either mean that the tour is sold out or that it is no longer possible to book the date online due to the cut off time. If you are interested in a specific departure date e-mail info@italyonabudgettours.com and we will be happy to let you know if we still have available spots for that tour.
The hostels we collaborate with are very safe in fact in each room you can find a personal locker where you can store your valuable objects and bags. You just need to bring your own lock or sometimes you can hire it directly at the reception.
Depending on your nationality, you may require visas to enter Italy. You are fully responsible for obtaining all necessary visas prior to the departure of your trip. Italy on a Budget is not legally permitted to knowingly allow anybody who does not have a valid visa to join a trip. Consult your travel agent to determine which visas you require and how to obtain them.
Cancellation, unexpected medical expenses, injuries, theft, lost luggage or money can significantly disrupt and ruin your holiday. Italy on a Budget strongly recommends that you take our comprehensive insurance cover for cancellation, medical expenses, evacuation and repatriation expenses, personal accident, personal baggage, money, and public liability before you travel.
Upon receipt of the final payment, your trip documentation will be released 20 days prior to your departure containing final details and info about the accommodation. You will also receive a day by day itinerary including full details & costs of all optional activities available on your trip.
The optional activities need to be arranged and organized not later than 1 week prior to your arrival since they are subject to availability. You can either book the activities directly on our website or by email sent to our team. You can choose to pay in cash ( local currency ) directly to your trip manager on day one of your trip or by credit card if booked online.
Got a group? Get a discount 🤑
Get in touch with our team via phone or email and we will get your crew an awesome deal.
You're welcome!
