WHO WE ARE
and
HOW WE TRAVEL
Who we are
We are a small authorized incoming tour operator
based in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia and specialized
in gastronomic tours in Italy, exclusive for individuals or
small groups. ItalySlowTravel has been put together by
young and dynamic persons with a long term experience in the
tourist sector and especially in travel organization.
After many years of experience as tour guides and, behind
the scenes, as tour organizers, we felt the necessity of
proposing a different way of travelling: something more
intimate and more bearable which could make of a travel a
personal experience. In an age of mass travelling, where
everybody tries to see as many things as possible in the
shortest time, we think such a requirement being more and more
diffused: requirement of returning to the slowness,
also by discovering the savours of the places we visit which
are, more than anything else, witness of the deepest
historical roots of human beings.
^Top^
Our quality
- We do not offer trips developed by other companies on
which we put our brand. Every single tour is personally
organized and tasted as we would like to share with you
the beauty and peculiarities of one of the world's most
enchanting countries as we see it, with special "devotion"
for our beautiful and varied region, Friuli-Venezia
Giulia.
- We focus exclusively on Italy and exclusively on special
wine and food slow travels. We think this could be the
difference as we can offer a wide range of detailed
services that foreign based and multi-destination
companies are not always able to offer.
- Small groups (average 6/8 participants, max 12/15)
- Tailor made tours and independent travel packages with
suggested itineraries
- Air-conditioning de-luxe mini-buses
- Carefully selected charming hotels and farm-houses
- Top quality typical and fine restaurants
- Gourmet tasting menu, wines included at dinner
- Top quality wines and other local products tasting
- Carefully selected and professional local guides
- Special arrangements according to your needs
- Access to peculiar sites and private visits
- Off-the-beaten-path itineraries
- 24/24 assistance during your holiday
Last but not least our enthusiasm and passion for
travelling and the love for our country!!!!!!
^Top^
Our team
The story of ItalySlowTravel is the story of its founder,
Vania and her passion for travels. Vania
Chiandotto is an Italian lady who, after having travelled
through different countries and for many years as tour
director, came back to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the region where
she has spent most of her life and started rediscovering its
traditions and its suggestive history and charm. In the
meantime she got ahead with her personal research by
travelling across the other Italian regions, one different
from the other, each one with its peculiar charm. She has been
working in the tourist field for the past ten years,
especially in the travelling organization sector.
She is flanked by a network of collaborators, which
includes Stefano Lunardi, a professional travel photographer
and journalist, who shares with us all his beautiful photos of
Italy and especially some images of his enchanting region,
Liguria. He is the author of most of the photographs on our
web site and the writer of the "magazine" tests.
This is to show you how we do personally experience the places
we propose for visiting. Each pictured place you see and
each test you read are the evidence of something we have
personally seen, felt and "tasted".
^Top^
Our professionality
We are an authorized tour operator and this
confirms also legally, our professional, economical and
insurance guarantees: according to Italian and UE regulations,
in fact, the tour operator is the first responsible for
holidays quality towards clients.
This legal set up, not obtainable by all agencies is a
guarantee of professionality and of economical and
insurance covering in favour of the traveller.
Professionality, which is reflected particularly in the
transaction on-line: that is why ItalySlowTravel has
chosen to work with the leader of the sector (SAFE
BOOKING).
^Top^
Our philosophy - Travel slowly
To travel slowly off the beaten tourist tracks in order to
discover new corners of Italy, to intimately experience
each region but also to look at the already seen things
but from a different point of view, under a new light, without
haste.
Travelling slowly does not mean necessarily to stop
a whole day in each place you visit but, probably, to linger
over a peculiar aspect of the place rather than running to
visit all the museums and monuments at any cost. This
"meditative" stops may be in front of a small church,
of an impressive landscape or leaning against a barrel while
tasting a glass of good wine inside an ancient wine-cellar.
In fact, while strolling among vineyards or visiting a
wine-cellar where wine rests, sometimes, for many years, time
seems to stop. And it is enough to taste a typical cheese to
recall a past of pure air and uncontaminated pastures, which
still survives there where the production is very limited and
where quality and genuineness are still strongly felt. Or, why
not, to dedicate a whole afternoon to a mini-course of
local cuisine, in order to bring home a true, intimate and
daily piece of Italy.
We will not take you everywhere: we will not take
you in a region that we have not personally explored and whose
services have not been tasted yet as this would be not
coherent with our philosophy. Should you not find the
region/area you are interested in, do not hesitate to contact
us: we are continuously working on new proposals and, even if
the wished itinerary has not been not published yet, we could
sometimes satisfy your request.
^Top^
Slow Travel and Internet
It might look strange the praise of slowness by somebody
who works exclusively via internet and is supposed to be
perfectly in line with digital revolution where communications
travel at light speed and the present is constantly cancelled
by the future. But we do not believe internet is haste's
father: we think it is one of its children.
Haste was born before internet and was present not only in
the working world but also in the private one with fast food,
fast holidays, etc. Internet is, for us, simply a different
and unlimited way of communication. Certainly the personal
contact you can have entering a travel agency does not exist
here, but we think that this can be compensated by the care
and the attention we put in our work: such attention can be
used only by someone who personally organizes the tour and who
chose to be a specialized tour operator. Even if there will
not be a real personal contact we believe you will feel as if
there were.
^Top^
Who is our client
- Our offer is dedicated to foreigner travellers
who wish to visit Italy for the second time or, why not,
also for the first time but prefer to see deeply less
things than running from one city to another. Anyway, even
if not foreseen in our itineraries you will always have
the chance to visit the highlights and most famous cities
in the nearby: this could happen during the days at
leisure by joining optional excursions, by taking part to
extension tours or independently.
- Our clients are also Italian people living abroad - we
can arrange special programmes for those who will spend
their holidays in Italy staying by their relatives but
would also like to take some days to explore their never
visited or almost forgotten region or/and other beautiful
Italian sightseeing.
- Our client prefers to avoid big groups.
- Our clients may be good judges of wines or amateurs, it
does not matter, but also the one who will enter in
contact with wine for the first time will have the
opportunity to be acquainted with production and
preservation processes and to taste some of the most
famous Italian D.O.C wines or some local and noteworthy
ones. Wine certainly will be one of the typical products
more frequently present during our itineraries but it will
not be the only one: other areas of Italy provide the
traveller with different typical products.
^Top^
Our web site
We would like to spend to spend some words on our web site
because, as you have already seen or will see, it cannot be
considered only a tour operator web site, which proposes
travel packages and tours. We also would like to give our
traveller something we often feel lacking when we reserve a
travel: information.
We do not pretend to make known all that is worth knowing
of each single Italian region: a whole life and millions of
web pages would be necessary. We only want to give a
smattering and an input for further personal researches.
We are structured, therefore, as mini web portal and try to
give as many information as possible - not only the
traditional but also the most curious ones - about the places
we have included in our program. We want also to tell you
about the fantastic Italian wines, the rich and various
regional cuisine, handi-craft, traditional festivals or
peculiar interests (legends, curiousness, etc).
Copyright
All contents on this site including images, texts, layout,
links, logos, etc . are protected by copyright.
You may download any content included in the site for your
personal and non-commercial use only.
Customer responsibility: you cannot use ItalySlowTravel
web site to make any speculative, false or fraudulent
reservation
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of
your account information and your password.
ItalySlowTravel responsibility: The site may contain
links to other sites that ItalySlowTravel thinks to be of
interest to our travellers. Though we make every effort to
include links only to those sites which could be of interested
and safe, we do not regularly review the contents of these
sites, do not necessarily approve them and shall not be
responsible for them
Limitation of liability: ItalySlowTravel shall not be
considered responsible for any damages, including virus that
may infect your computers equipment or other property on
account of your access to the site or your downloading of any
materialsform the site.
Credits
Where no differently specified photos by Stefano Lunardi.
For any further information regarding our travel proposals
and our services you can have a look at the FAQ.
^Top^
After all this, we invite you to share our travel
philosophy by joining us for a unique tour in Italy!
|
