Ideas for a trip to Italy - Culinary Classes and Relax

DH and I and friends are looking to take a trip to Italy. Looking to go for 9 days or so. I'd love to go to Tuscany and other areas to make people happy.

Are there any travel companies that do a little of both ? How would I even start this itinerary ?

Just trying to keep everyone happy.

Re: Ideas for a trip to Italy - Culinary Classes and Relax

We went to Italy in October but planned the trip ourselves so I don't have a TA recco...but I can give some suggestions.

We flew into Milan (cheapest RT flight) on Emirates. Great airline.
We took a train to Florence from there. Very easy...we had a toddler so you could certainly do it with other adults LOL.

Stayed in Florence a few days. No real plan but saw all the historic sites, galleries and top rated restaurants on TripAdvisor. Plan to stroll a lot here, very walkable city. We stayed near Uffizi and was good location. We did a one-day trip out to the Tuscan countryside at the Verrazano family estate...highly recommend the wine lunch. Probably our favorite experience of the trip. It's an easy drive.

Then took a train to Rome...huge city and very different from Florence. Spend 3-4 days at least. TONS to do and see. We stayed near Campo di Fiori and recommend it..close to Vatican but we did end up taking taxis a lot in Rome bc it's so big.

Then we took a train to Naples and rented a car to drive around the Amalfi Coast. We rented a house on Homeaway in Amalfi as a central base and just drove around for 2 days. Driving was a bit scary as the road is a two-way but only big enough for 1 car LOL, but we survived. Make sure you have someone who doesn't mind the stressful driving, get an automatic and the smallest car you can manage.

All of this is doable to book on your own. Trains are easy to book in advance online. I would recommend adding Venice in (from Milan) but we didn't do it b/c it was just going to be a 1-2 day thing.

Good luck - definitely go - it's worth the time and money...Italy is amazing.

Ideas for a trip to Italy - Culinary Classes and Relax

Thank you so much for all your tips and suggestions. I've been doing a lot of internet research and think I can do most of the planning on my own.