We chose the name because that’s what our initiative is all about: helping our guests experience a taste of life in a real Italian village, giving back to our community, and offering a sustainable, immersive, and thoroughly delightful alternative to mass tourism.
We live year-round in the tiny Umbrian village of Allerona, which is your base for exploring nearby towns and villages, visiting food and wine producers, foraging and harvesting seasonal produce, and admiring the rolling green countryside. It’s here that you’ll stay, dine, take a cooking class, sit outside our local bar and get a taste of the slow pace of daily life, or maybe sneak down to an underground cantina for a private wine or grappa tasting. It’s within our 11th-century stone walls that you’ll wake to the tolling of our clock tower, greet residents on our narrow cobblestone streets, get to know our family and friends, and gain a better understanding of the charms and challenges of Italian village life.
Liz was born in Missouri but is a former Florida girl, as that’s where she grew up and spent most of her adult life. She’s been in Italy for 17 years, during which she’s established herself as a respected travel writer, editor and all-around Italy expert. Her writing has been published in The Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, National Geographic, Discover Magazine and many other outlets, and she’s authored several guidebooks on Italy. She tells everyone that her life in Italy isn’t just all about sipping wine in a beautiful piazza, but that’s still one of her favorite things to do.
Born and raised in Allerona, Paolo is a master stonemason who specializes in the restoration of medieval houses. He’s repaired the roof, rebuilt the walls, or crawled through the cantinas of just about every house in town, and he remodeled our Six Keys Guesthouse stone by stone. He loves his hometown, lives to be in the outdoors, and knows all the woods, trails and streams of the surrounding countryside. Paolo is a jokester, a full-time Juventus fan and a sometimes truffle hunter, and he speaks a lot more English than he lets on!
Our experienced tour guides are our partners on the ground, and help bring Italy’s cities to vivid life.
Lucianna is our go-to guide in Orvieto, the city where she was born and raised. She knows every stone-clad alley of her medieval home, knows everyone in town, and conveys her love of Umbria with every tour, especially when she takes guests to “her church” — the Duomo. Funny, passionate and opinionated, she’s our secret weapon in Orvieto.
ORVIETO
Isabella leads all our Rome tours, whether she’s relaying the real human stories from the Colosseum or joining us to marvel at Bernini’s works in the Galleria Borghese. We always do an early morning walking tour with Isa – exploring the empty streets, piazzas and monuments of Rome with her is an unforgettable treat.
ROME
Dina is our delightful, expert guide in Florence. She’s a passionate Florentine, an art and history lover, a devoted foodie, and after about 10 minutes into her tour, you’ll feel like you’ve been friends for years. She steers us away from the tourist traps and introduces us to the real Florence, and to her boyfriend — Michelangelo’s David.
FLORENCE
Luisella leads us through the secrets corridors and along the romantic canals of Venice, her family’s home since the 1700s. A passionate advocate for Venice and its people, she tells us the city’s stories through its literature and history, arts and crafts — whether she’s guiding us through Basilica San Marco or to her favorite chocolate shop.
VENICE
We’re honored to have been covered by some of the world’s biggest travel publications.
Download Liz’s free guide:
5 Roadblocks to an “Authentic” Italy Trip
(…plus how to avoid them, from someone who’s lived here for 17 years).