Hello Fodorites.....we are heading to Bologna and are thinking of doing a food tour with Italian Days...it gets great reviews with stops in Modena and if we go on a Saturday...it stops in Savigno which looks lovely. It is a pick up at 7 AM and back around 5 with a big lunch (yay!) in the middle. I am just wondering if we are better off going on our own to Modena, Parma, Savigno by train or even hiring our own driver. We will likely be six people so I would think we could arrange something like that. We are only in Bologna for 5 nights. I would LOVE to have a lunch in an agriturismo while there so that part is appealing to me for sure. The cost is 150 euro per person...as i said it gets great reviews but we have traveled quite a bit and it may be wonderful but I'm wondering if we should do our own thing.

Thanks for any insight!

I've taken the Italian Days food tour - while it was only 3 stops + lunch, it was fantastic and I would (and have since) highly recommend it. Completely worth every penny. It may have helped that my tour was with the owner, and his enthusiasm was infectious. I would in fact take it again if I were to go back to Bologna.

By contrast, my first food tour was in Rome, and cost slightly more than Italian Days. It was completely overpriced for what it was - I realized this too late as it was mid-tour. Luckily, the experience didn't discourage me from trying other tours...

My husband and I took the Italian Days tour a few years ago and loved it. For such a large group, you might consider contacting the owner of Italian Days to see if you could get a discount.

Very helpful input...thank you so much.