Exploring lesser-known Italy on our West Travel Club Tour
![Villa La Rotonda is a Renaissance villa designed by Andrea Palladio and located outside Vicenza in northern Italy, It is also known as Villa Capra. Along with other works by Palladio, the building is conserved as part of the World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-15431322/b95087f0b64eb9486f4b8ab82caa7ac8a6a9fac9-16x9-x0y210w4000h2250.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
ITALY, OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
While tourists flock to the cities and west coast of Italy, we’re heading east, on roads less travelled for our Italy, Off The Beaten Track tour.
Our Travel Club Tour leaves Mira, near Venice in north-east Italy, on May 27, 2025, and winds its way over 15 days down the Adriatic coast before crossing the country westward to finish in Rome.
We’ve partnered with Albatross Tours for this tour because their personalised attitude and approach fits ours, and we’ve limited it to 28 guests.
It is from $10,347 per person, based on twin share, for the tour only. (There are just five solo traveller spots.)
![Travel Editor Stephen Scourfield. Pic Mogens Johansen, The West Australian](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-15431322/cd0f307cdd5e2ad07a4998da0861a004fb5a45b8.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
OUR ENDORSEMENT
Travel Editor Stephen Scourfield
I’ve written about a lot of tours, worked with a lot of tour companies and personally led a lot of groups.
That leads to some understanding of how tours are put together, and the skills operating behind the scenes.
My decades as Travel Editor bring an understanding of the vision and the depth of research and planning that has gone into a tour. It’s rather like researching the background for a story in these pages.
It gives some insight of the pace and smoothness of the tour, which is like writing a story.
And the Italy, Off The Beaten Track is a standout.
It’s smooth, in-depth — gorgeous.
And so, in including it in our Travel Club Tours, I am putting my full endorsement and recommendation behind the tour — and behind all that Albatross Tours brings to it.
I’m aware that our tours attract a lot of solo travellers, and people who like to feel the extra care and security that we like to bring to Travel Club Tours, and Albatross is a strong match for that.
Travel Club Tours usually sell out, so I suggest anyone interested in more information act pretty quickly.
![The arcades of Via Santa Stefano in the city of Bologna, Italy.](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-15431322/7ad80b6d61c6fc70f0eb0a04efe6e1aeed8dd8d0.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
WHERE THE TOUR GOES
Here we are, on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains, visiting pretty towns and villages and following a dramatic coastline.
Travellers will fly in to Venice, and the group will spend the first two days based in the Venetian Villa hotel in the riverside town of Mira, which is near Venice.
Guests will go to Vicenza, home of the 16th-century architect Andrea Palladio. The “Palladian Villa” came from his design pen, and it has shaped architecture across the world.
The tour continues through Padua and on to a three-night stay in Bologna. Long stays and an easy pace are a real feature of our Italy, Off The Beaten Track tour.
Travellers will walk through Padua with a local guide, and then have time to do their own thing. They might stroll through the UNESCO Heritage-listed Orto Botanico (a centuries-old botanical gardens) or just sit and eat lunch and watch the passers-by.
The group visits Bologna, where there’s another walking tour, and a visit to Basilica San Petronio on Piazza Maggiore and the Archiginnasio Palace, which was Europe’s first university.
After Bologna, there are another three nights on the coast, at Pesaro. On the Adriatic coast, the grand Piazza del Popolo is a splendid place to enjoy. Casa Rossini is the birthplace of the 19th-century opera composer Gioachino Rossini. The Civic Museums in Mosca Palace house Renaissance paintings and a big collection of ceramics.
But the time in Bologna also includes a day trip to the elegant city of Ravenna. A local guide will tell its story, as the group visits early Christian monuments, including the 1450-year-old Basilica of San Vitale, built from red bricks but with marble and Byzantine mosaics inside.
The tour travels on through the villages along the Adriatic Sea, like Grottammare, with its dramatic, panoramic views. And then, in Ascoli Piceno, there’s more time to pause, with a three-night stay in a splendid 16th-century palace. In Ascoli Piceno itself, there’s an elegant Renaissance square called Piazza del Popolo. It has beautiful travertine paving. The 13th-century Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo is a palace built over Roman ruins.
After Ascoli Piceno, there’s an interesting drive over Gran Sasso — a massif in the Apennine Mountains. Its tallest peak, Corno Grande, is the highest mountain in the Apennines. Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park certainly has sights to remember.
After calling at Santo Stefano in the Abruzzo, there’s another three-night stop — this time in Spoleto, in Umbria.
This part of the tour includes a morning in the nearby Umbrian city of Assisi. The city was damaged by earthquakes in 1997, but there has been a big restoration of its two medieval castles.
After Spoleto, the coach travellers call at Tivoli before staying at Frascati, near Rome, which is where the tour ends. The ancient Medieval city of Spoleto, in Perugia, is easy to explore on foot, with lots of bars, trattorias and shops in its cobblestoned alleys.
I think you will gather from this that the tour mixes skilled guiding with good free time. Lots of meals are included, to give the tour structure, but there are plenty of opportunities to just find a local cafe.
Lets just recap on the “overnights” — two nights, three, three, three, two, one. All 14 nights are in specially selected hotels, with free wi-fi at most. The long stays give the tour leisurely pace and help with the “in-depth” feel.
Travel is in a first-class air-conditioned touring coach, there’s an audio system on walks and the price includes all tips — for the tour manager, driver and local guides.
PRACTICALITIES
+ The limit of 28 travellers is a good size, I think. It’s small enough to be “personal”, big enough to move around within the group.
+ All touring is in a full-sized and well appointed coach, meaning there’s plenty of space for the smaller Albatross groups.
+ The price includes 24 meals — daily breakfast, eight evening meals and two lunches, including one in an historic, deserted village.
+ Email your expression of interest to info@westtravelclub.com.au to receive further information on joining the tour.
ABOUT OUR PARTNERS
Albatross Tours specialises in European tours, designed specifically for Australians. It now handles more than 5000 European tour groups a year.
The company is nearly 30 years old and based in Brisbane.
The Albatross team understands the mix of having “structure” to a tour and also having time to draw breath, wander and feel free. They call this “My Time”.
A spokesperson explains: “We have designed our holidays to ensure adequate, well-planned free time. That is the Albatross difference. It’s about balance.”
All accommodation is booked for a two, three, four or five-night stay, reflecting the commitment to staying longer in one spot. The team understands that we have travelled far and don’t want to be hurried — and so has developed “hub and spoke” style touring, where guests stay in accommodation for several nights, and do day trips.
The spokesperson says: “When we design our tours, we look at each region and consider what can be done and should be done. And since our style of touring is easier and more enjoyable with longer stopovers, this allows guests to experience a variety of exciting excursions and activities.”
Guests aren’t constantly changing hotels or being driven long distances every day. Early morning departures are very rare.
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