The Italy you can't book,
vi ci portiamo noi.
we take you there.
First
When you'd like to leave, how many you are, what you love and what bores you.
Then
The full itinerary, with real names. Within seven days you receive the proposal: stops, houses, tables, experiences, costs.
Finally
If you'd like, a real call. Thirty minutes, video or voice, in Italian or English, to refine the proposal together.
No generic quotes, no catalogs. What you'll receive is a trip already designed around you, with names, photos, costs and a suggested schedule. Take your time reading it. Change anything you like. Book it when you're ready.
Within one week, you'll receive
- A day-by-day itinerary, with the real names of places, hotels, restaurants, wineries and artisans.
- Photos and short stories: who lives there, why we chose it, what awaits you.
- A final quote and detailed contract. No surprises when it's time to pay the balance.
- A recommended calendar: the dates we suggest traveling, and why.
Why we do it
We've spent years searching for the places we love, one conversation at a time. They're people's homes, homes where someone opened the door because we knocked gently.
If we put their names on a public page, they would end up in a hundred different itineraries within a single season, and they'd stop being what they are.
Since 2018, we've been designing journeys you won't find anywhere else. We do it for a small number of people, slowly, the way travel used to be.
Below are four things we can actually measure.
4.9 / 5
Average traveller rating
800+
Travellers since 2018
8
Maximum per group. Always.
24h
Average time to first reply
I'm Maria Grazia Nardoianni. Before founding Italy Authentica, I packed my bags more times than I can remember: Boston, Bologna, Rome, Milan, then Madrid, promoting products from some of Italy's lesser-known regions across Europe and the Gulf. The places that never make it onto postcards.
Three places shaped me more than any others. Cassino, where I was born, in Ciociaria, between Rome and Naples — a place almost everyone passes through without ever giving it a name. Boston, whose North End holds one of the truest expressions of what it means to be Italian outside Italy. And Taormina, the Sicily that adopted me.
Moving so often taught me how hard it can be to feel at home when you're far away and on your own. So I went looking for an Italy made not of monuments, but of small everyday rituals. And I realized that it was the people who made a place special.
Not the monuments.
The people.
This is the page where they start opening their doors to you. And every request that comes through here, I read myself.
Tell us who you are. We'll handle the rest.
Five minutes is enough. We reply within 24 hours.
Prefer to talk now?
Four ways to reach us without filling in a form. If you're writing from the United States, leave a message and we'll call you back in your evening.
Phone
+39 351 458 5252
contact@italyauthentica.com
Where we are
Rome · Taormina · Boston
Hours
Mon to Fri, 8am to 4pm in Italy. That's 2am to 10am in New York.
The travellers of Italy Authentica
Frequently asked questions
The first introductory call is free and without obligation. If you wish to go ahead with the design of your personalised itinerary, a Travel Design Fee is payable, the amount of which Italy Authentica will quote in advance according to the complexity of the project. Should you accept the quote and the travel contract that follows, and entrust Italy Authentica with arranging the journey, the Travel Design Fee is deducted in full from the final price of the trip.
Within seven days of your request you receive the full proposal: stops, houses, tables, experiences and costs. If you'd like, we then go through it together on a call.
Italian or English, whichever you prefer: the call and the whole proposal.
The Travel Design Fee covers a reasonable number of revisions to the initial proposal, set in relation to the complexity of the project. Substantial change requests after the itinerary has been drawn up, significant changes of destination, an increase in the number of travellers or repeated requests to redesign the trip may involve additional costs or a new Travel Design Fee.
Vegetarian, pescetarian and most intolerances are fine with a little notice. Strict vegan and coeliac diets are hard to guarantee. Our tables are family kitchens and small producers, where cheese, cured meats and flour are the heart of it, so talk to us before you book.
A passport valid for at least six months. From 2025, non-EU travellers (US, UK, Australia, Canada and others) also need an ETIAS authorisation before entering Italy. It is quick to arrange online, well before you leave.
It isn't required, but we strongly recommend it, ideally with 'cancel for any reason' cover, taken out within a couple of weeks of your deposit. It's your safety net for flights, health and the unexpected.