211 of the 1,286 reviews on this site were written by someone travelling as a family, and on public departures that means adult family: the minimum age is 18. Adult children with parents, siblings, cousins, in-laws. If you want to travel with children, the route is a private buyout, where any age is welcome. We would rather tell you that here than after you have booked.
What “Family” Means Here
The minimum age on a public departure is 18. That is a firm rule, not a guideline, and we would rather you read it now than find it at checkout.
So family here means grown-up family. Adult children with their parents. Two sisters and their husbands. A mother and a daughter who have been meaning to do this for years. 211 of the reviews on this site came from someone travelling that way.
Your family joins the same trip as everyone else on the calendar. Most run eight days and seven nights, which is twenty meals: seven dinners, six lunches and seven breakfasts, wine at lunch and dinner. Sicily runs twelve days and Argentina and Uruguay thirteen, so those come with more. Both airport transfers and transport throughout are included.
Nothing about the format changes because you are related. The same host runs the day, the same meals are already arranged, and you share the table with whoever else booked that departure. What changes is only who is sitting next to you.
Travelling With Children
If your family includes children, the public calendar is not your route. There is another one, and it is often the better trip anyway.
Buy out a departure and it becomes yours. Any age is welcome, because the age rule exists to protect the experience of strangers sharing a table, and on a private trip there are no strangers. You get the same meals, the same hands-on classes, the same host running the same days.
For a lot of families that closed-off quality turns out to be the appeal rather than a workaround. Start at custom tours rather than the calendar below, and tell us who is coming and roughly when.
Where Families Actually Go
Ranked by how many family groups have reviewed each trip. These are adult family groups, since public departures are 18 and over. No trip here is measurably more family-heavy than the others, so none carries a badge.
Wine & Cooking Under the Tuscan & Umbrian Sun
Local Living Cooking Vacation with Wineries, Olive Mill, Cheese Making & Sightseeing in Tuscany, Umbria and Alto Lazio
79 family reviews, out of 413 in total
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
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Cooking in Paradise on the Amalfi Coast
Amalfi Coast Luxury Cooking Vacation w/ Private Villa, Cooking Classes, Cheese Making & Local Family Experiences
27 family reviews, out of 189 in total
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
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Culinary Treasures of Bologna, Venice, Michelin Stars & Exotic Cars
Bologna, Venice, Cooking Classes, Winery, Parmesan Cheese, Prosciutto Factory. Ferrari Museum, Lamborghini Factory, Traditional Balsamic & More!
18 family reviews, out of 83 in total
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
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Sicily, The Motherland - Wine, Cooking, Culture & Adventure
NEW! - Small Group Sicily Coast to Coast Tour with Exclusive CDV Only experiences, Boutique Lodging, Cooking & More.
10 family reviews, out of 52 in total
12 days, 11 nights, all 32 meals included
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Wine & Cooking in the Heart of Chianti and Florence, Tuscany
Tuscany Cooking Vacation with Wineries, Florence, Siena, Museums, Cortona, Sightseeing & Private BBQ!
8 family reviews, out of 65 in total
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
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Portugal: Family, Culture, Wine & Cooking
A week of true cultural immersion & local traditions with the wonderful people of Portugal. Discover Port wines in Porto, explore the Douro Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site, breathtaking towns, & cook local dishes.
5 family reviews, out of 41 in total
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
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Wine, Cooking, & The Olive Oil Harvest - Soriano
Harvest Olives & Make Your Own Olive Oil in Umbria, plus Cooking Classes, Tuscan Wineries, Sightseeing and More.
4 family reviews, out of 25 in total
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
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Wine, Cooking and Castles in Barolo & Roero
A week of cultural immersion and local experiences amidst the backdrop of one of the most pristine wine areas in all of Italy.
3 family reviews, out of 33 in total
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
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Medieval Chestnut Festival & Wine Harvest Season
Two Weeks Only In October - Experience the Magic of our Medieval Festival & Harvest Season!
3 family reviews, out of 16 in total
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
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Authentic Croatia - Friends, Family & Flavors on the Dalmatian Coast!
Explore vibrant Split, Croatia and its surrounding area: a blend of history, warm hospitality, and rich flavors. Enjoy Old Town, market shopping, cooking classes, Hvar and Brac island trips, winery visits, countryside dinners with locals and much more.
1 family review, out of 15 in total
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
See the tripAlso on the Calendar
Newer to the calendar, or simply smaller. These run exactly the same way as everything above.
Croatia Small Ship Cruise 2026 | Dalmatian Coast | Up to 28 Guests
Experience Croatia on an ultra-small ship, up to 28 guests. Truly local, authentic experiences along the Dalmatian Coast, a different kind of luxury.
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
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Argentina & Uruguay: Insider Tango, Carnival & Gaucho Culture
CDV's Newest Adventure - Argentina & Uruguay cultural immersion. Tango with locals, behind-the-scenes Carnaval access, authentic gaucho ranch experiences.
13 days, 12 nights, all 35 meals included
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Madrid & Beyond Immersed: Culture, Cuisine & Connection
Experience a side of Madrid you’ve never seen. Explore hidden treasures, savor authentic flavors, and immerse yourself in hands-on cooking, artisan workshops, and Spanish traditions. This is Madrid beyond the ordinary—a journey of culture, cuisine, and connection.
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
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Barcelona & Catalonia: Cooking, Wine & Catalan Traditions
Step into the heart of Catalonia, where ancient vineyards meet medieval monasteries and family traditions span centuries. Harvest grapes and stomp Mistela with an 8th-generation winemaker, build human towers in their birthplace, and cook alongside local chefs in village kitchens. From Barcelona's hidden Gaudí gems to oyster farms in the Ebro Delta,
8 days, 7 nights, all 20 meals included
See the tripIn Their Own Words
Published as written, by guests who told us they travelled as a family.
Beautiful and exciting moments spent with my sister and new friends in the heart of Chianti. Lovely views, great wine and fabulous food all lived in the span of a week!
Everything is thoughtfully planned out to give you the best local experience.
First of all to travel with my two adult daughters was pretty special, and too have it be a monumental birthday gift as well. I loved all the things we did on our trip.
We meet a great group of people from other guest to host. We saw beautiful places, laughed a lot, ate great food and enjoyed the wine.
Great country! Wonderful people. Deep history and delightful family cooking. Plus, Pelinkovac (local liqueur) and the grandfather of all Zinfandels!
The folks that make up Culture and Discovery truly became family to my sister and me…laughing, eating, drinking and loving life together.
Every count on this page comes from the 1,286 reviews written on this site, not from a headcount of our guests. Most people who travel with us never write one, and plenty of those who do leave it on TripAdvisor, Google, Trustpilot, Yelp or Facebook instead. None of those is counted here.
Family Travel Questions, Answered
Most people see our trips as adult-oriented vacations, so our policy is that unless you are organizing a private group for one of our vacations, in which only members of your group are on the trip with us, the minimum age is 18.
Exceptions for Private Groups
If you are planning a group large enough that we are able to close off the trip to people outside of your group (family vacations, reunions, school groups, clubs, etc.), this rule does not apply, and we will happily accept guests of any age.
Family Weeks
Occasionally we put a "Family Week" on our calendar. When this is the case, it will specifically say that it is a Family Week in the name of the itinerary. In these cases, the minimum age is seven years old.
Small town Italy is a place where the family bond is still strong. Families eat together every night and sit at the table to discuss the day's events. It is a place where whole families form tight bonds with their neighbors. It is not a consumer-focused society, so entertainment isn't about which movie you will see tonight, or what toys you will play with today. Instead, it is all about who you will spend time with and what you will be talking about.
It is all about people interacting with people, sharing meals with them, cooking together,... such that your family is a large circle of intimate relatives, distant relatives, friends, and neighbors.
People congregate in the town squares over gelato and talk about their day while kids play in the streets. The richest guy in town has a glass of wine with the poorest. Elderly men stand in the sun with groups of friends they have known their entire life while their wives are preparing lunch with friends they have known their entire lives... and everyone is involved in the lives of all that surrounds them.
It is the simplicity of life that is all but gone in many corners of the world, but the Italians hang on to it dearly.
We believe that this is the essence of Italian culture. It is at the core of the charm so many of us feel when we are exposed to it. So we make that sense of family a core to everything we do. This not a marketing term for us, as it is for some large Italian style products and restaurants. It is who we are. It is the main reason we do what we do.
So we do everything we can to bring that feeling into your life. You get to know these people, you don't just see them through a window. You get to know the butcher, the owner of the little vegetable market, the lady at the farm across the road, the elderly men having their breakfast in the morning. We mix you in with the locals. But it is more than that, because we literally fold you into our own family as we prepare lunches together in our homes, share meals with our local friends, and find ourselves invited into their homes.
As it all unfolds, you will find all of the stress from back home melting away, and all of the people in our group simply become a part of this amazing society. For that brief period, you are with us, you will become Italian.
This is the feeling that we just cannot put into words, no matter how hard we try. It is the most common thing people talk about at the end of their time with us... the amazement that such a feeling of belonging can exist for a place they had never been to just a week before. They are always completely amazed as they leave what has instantly become their home away from home. And it is all because of this family approach we take. You are not a customer. You are part of our extended family.
If you have a special occasion while you are with us, let us know! If you are having a birthday or anniversary, we'll be sure to celebrate it wherever we are :-).
We would also love to help you surprise someone you are traveling with. Just get us the details, and we'll plan something together
Travelling a different way? The same fourteen trips are covered for couples, friends and solo travelers, or around the harvest season. Who you travel with compares all five.
Bringing the Whole Family? Let's Talk About a Private Group
See what is on the calendar, read what other families wrote afterwards, or ask us about buying out a departure for your own group.
Ask About a Private Group See 2027 Dates & Prices Read the ReviewsAbout the numbers. Review counts are read live from our reservation database each time this page loads, so they move as guests publish new reviews. The 18 and over minimum applies to public departures only; a private buyout has no age limit. Group size of around twelve is an average, not a fixed number.