A Passion for Italy
After more than a decade of extensive travel in Italy, our love for the country has developed into a passion for its small towns, hidden treasures and wonderful people.
It all began on a four month trip with our children. While cherishing all that there is to love about Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Siena and the Amalfi Coast and believing that seeing the major sites is an absolute must, we found that living in the small towns between these cities was what we enjoyed the most. Without even realizing it, we were experiencing a deeper dive into true Italian culture through the connections that we were making with people. Whether it was sisters that we met in Lucca who took us to a secret playground on top of the town wall, the girls we met in Portovenere where after a day at the beach together, one of them pulled out a guitar and we all sang into the evening, the shy master craftsman who is one of three remaining forcola makers in Venice chatting quietly with Greg in his ancient wood shop, or the restaurant owner Carlo who opened his kitchen early and prepared one of the the best meals of our lives before we went windsurfing on the lake next to his restaurant. I could go on and on.
The experiences that we had with these people and others are the memories that we cherish the most.
After a few more exploratory trips, in 2018 I began to work at a travel agency that had specialized in Italian travel for more than 40 years. Along with organizing dozens of trips for clients, I was able to visit Italy several more times. While vetting hotels and restaurants and visiting museums was my primary focus, I also created relationships with guides, drivers, and tour operators. I met many wonderful artisans and experts in la dolce vita: farmers and vintners, cheese makers and bakers, foragers and olive oil producers.
In coastal Tuscany I learned about the amazing Super Tuscan wines with Filippo, a Master Sommelier who contributes to wine magazines, judges wines in Europe and has a distinguished Diploma from WSET. I visited with Daniella for a few mornings of truffle hunting with her dog Billo and later lunched with her lovely mother, who made fresh pasta for our truffles. In Sicily Sebastiano shared his passion for his homeland with the adventures of hiking on Mount Etna and making fresh ricotta and mozzarella at his family’s ancient Watermill near Ragusa. I now rely on these friends and their varied expertise as an integral part of our exploration of Italy.
Based on these and many other connections and friendships, I decided that I wanted to offer travelers a personal experience of Italian culture. I hand selected my favorite adventures and designed itineraries to take travelers Beyond the Sites and deep into Italian culture.
I hope that you come and make some memories with us in 2023!
~ Laura Suski, Founder & Host
Betta, Co-host
Betta was fortunate to be enrolled at an Italian language school in Lucca during the later half of COVID. She was able to improve her Italian skills while making friends and experiencing the Italian life style first hand.
From her experience at Backroads, Betta is very familiar with small group travel. She is an excellent addition to the team at Beyond the Sites Travel.
Betta and Laura have been traveling to Italy together since the trip in 2009 when Betta and her son joined the family for a few weeks. Now they share the dream of sharing authentic Italian experiences with others.
We hope that you come and make some memories with us in 2023!
