Tour Tuscany in a Chauffeured Mercedes

Once traveled by Amerigo Vespucci and Giovanni da Verrazzano, two celebrated Italian explorers who led expeditions throughout Italy and North America, guests can now relive their journeys on an all-inclusive tour along the Chianti Classico Wine Road.

As part of an aristocratic family, Amerigo Vespucci was born and raised in Florence in the 15th century and later became an Italian explorer, financier and cartographer who worked with Christopher Columbus to navigate the "New World" and the West Indies. Giovanni da Verrazzano was also from a prominent Florentine family and was renowned as the first European to travel to North America since the Norse expeditions. Verrazzano traveled the Atlantic Coast of North America including the New York Harbor, where the bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn is named in his honor.

In honor of their international legacies, the new "Discover the Path of Italian Explorers" offering is available exclusively to guests of Lungarno Collection Florentine hotels: Hotel Lungarno (pictured above); GALLERY Hotel Art; Continentale; and Lungarno Suites.

• Guests will be met at the hotel door to be driven throughout the countryside in a luxurious Mercedes Class S.
• Travelers will tour the Verrazzano Wine Castle Estate, birthplace of 16th-century navigator Giovanni Verrazzano, and witness the winemaking tradition at the castle that dates back to 1150. The tour includes a walk in the beautiful gardens and woods; tastings of the classic wines, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Vin Santo, all accompanied by traditional almond biscuits; and a lunch filled with traditional Italian treats from warm pecorino cheese to fennel-flavored salami.
• Guests can also visit the charming village of Montefioralle, birthplace of Amerigo Vespucci, whose name inspired "the Americas." The path takes visitors for a stroll through the medieval town, considered among the most beautiful in Italy, before returning to Florence via chauffeured ride with views of the Chianti landscape.
• Chauffeured tours to other Tuscan towns including Siena and San Gimignano can also be arranged.

"Discover the Path of Italian Explorers," a full day excursion (approximately 8 hours long), is available until December 21, 2012. Priced at 370€ for four people. The excursions can be combined with all packages available from each of Lungarno Collection's Florentine hotels. For more information or reservations, please visit www.lungarnocollection.com.

Lungarno Collection