At Scappare Travel, we are a small group of people who love Italy. Spending time in Italy over the years has been transformative for each of us in our own way, and we at STC all have a deep love for and profound connection to this beautiful country. We love Italy so much that we want to take you there. We want to show you what spending time in Italy like a local can do to your life too. We want to introduce you to our friends, the language, the food, the wine, and the beauty of this magical country. Benvenuti (Welcome) to Scappare Travel Club. Come on a trip with us and you will be dialed into La Dolce Vita from the second you step off the plane. Travel to Italy by way of Scappare Travel Club’s authentic and insider experiences is a game-changer, and you won’t find trips like ours anywhere else. Get ready to be transformed.

Ciao! I’m Amy.
Ciao! I’m Amy, the founder of Scappare Travel Club, and I love to travel. Going to Italy changed my life, so much so that I learned the language, spend a significant part of the year here, and founded STC so that others can have the same type of transformative experience I did. I am always chasing the feeling of getting on a plane and flying away. Come with us! Fly away from everything you know, land in Bella Italia, and have fun discovering a new culture through history, art, wine, and yes – food! Our premiere travel club can curate the richest of experiences for your desired Italian destination. Our Mission: To help more people travel and experience a culture outside of their own. The world is small and travel is more accessible than you think. Traveling to Italy is magical, it was for me and still is. Immersing oneself in the Italian culture and all it has to offer can be life changing. Get on a plane to Italy with us! We will take care of everything. Your memories will thank you.
Favorite city in Italy: Impossible to answer! Some (and this is only the short list, there are others) of the places I will always go back to are: Treviso, Montepulciano, Sant’Angelo in Colle, Noto, and Firenze – where it all started for me.

Favorite Italian dish: Also impossible to answer! I can say that one of the more memorable food experiences I had was when Vittorio from Rosso Rubino Trattoria in Montepulciano kept coming out from the kitchen one night to show me the black truffles and porcini he was going to use to make my pasta and his wife the lovely Cristiana kept telling him to get back into the kitchen. Also when my best friend and I were in a small locals-only ristorante in the surrounding hills of Montalcino and they brought us out a plate of the most delicious home made antipasti which we ate under the Tuscan sun. Or in Calabria when I took the first bite of the best pizza I have ever had – it had tomato, sausage, rapini. It was divine, literally life-changing. And do I even need to say panelle in Palermo – I could die happy.

Wine moment: When the most beautiful wine maker inside & out in Montalcino greeted us with dirty boots, the best smile, and grace and sat down with my best friend and I to taste, talk, laugh for as long as we wanted to stay. It was unforgettable.

Italy shopping story: When I was in Firenze and shopped for 3+ hours to find a weekender bag of true genuine Florentine leather. I found it, bought it for 350 euro (it was beautiful), then promptly got out of my cab when he dropped me off at my apartment at Palazzo Belfiore, and as soon as I shut the door I realized I left the shopping bag with the weekender bag in the back seat of the cab. I screamed at him and was jumping around in the street like a lunatic, to no avail. I didn’t even enter the apartment, I walked all the way back to the shop, bought a 2nd bag, and told myself it cost 700 euro. Yes I did that.
Italy mishap: When I was in Venice and still learning Italian, and walked into a local Bar at 10:30am which was the pausa “break time” for our lesson that morning and promptly and with confidence ordered a spumante (alcoholic sparkling wine). What I meant to order/thought I was ordering was a spremuta (fresh squeezed blood orange juice) but what came out of my mouth at 10:30am was “spumante”. The barista looked at me like I had three heads, and I kept assuring him that I wanted a spumante. So I was served one, in a champagne glass, at the bar, at 10:30am when everyone around me was drinking coffee and juice. When I realized my mistake and told them I meant spremuta, they gave it to me for free and we all had a delicious laugh.
Italian “rule” I break all the time: Asking for ice for my cold drinks. I can’t help it.

Place I dream about in Italy when I am not here: sitting on the deck at sunset at a particular Tuscan wine bar that is open late, has the most magnificent view of the Val d’Orcia, and the most delicious wine list.

Ciao! I’m Maria.
Ciao a tutti! My name is Maria, founder of STC, and I have been traveling throughout Italy for several years, and now spend part of my year here. Having become completely enamored with the culture, people and the language I look forward to sharing the joys of travel to Italy’s known and lesser known jewels. Speaking the language and having developed contacts and new insights we here at Scappare Travel Club would love to launch you on your next travel Adventure.
A favorite Italy moment: Relaxing in the small agriturismo near Spigno Monferrato after being on my bicycle in the Dolomites for 10+ hours. They called their friend at a local trattoria and had delicious food prepared for us which went with the wine they made on site. It was truly a special night.

Italy Mishap: In Cremona, I was trying to exit a paid parking under ground garage and got up to the exit gate, dutifully inserted my ticket only to find that the gate would not open no matter what I did, pressed, or how many times I tried to pay. Meanwhile, a line of cars started to pile up behind me and they did not look happy. I pressed the “help” button on the meter only to hear a very agitated Italian woman on the other end yell at me “Non potete pagare in uscita grazie buongiorno!” CLICK. (“You can’t pay at the exit!”) and she hung up. The gate still did not open and after a few more colorful words from her on the intercom, I had to walk the ticket down on foot while leaving the car at the exit gate, blocking all traffic and walking past each vehicle I was blocking and pay on the inside. I will never make that mistake again and now always check!

One of the best meals I ever ate in Italy: I was in Montegrosso di Asti, on another self-supported cycling trip, and pulled over hungry and tired and stumbled on this beautiful restaurant with a panoramic view of the valley we just rode through. We were served a warm zucchini flower torta. It was perfect, the zucchini was from their garden and it was the most perfect unexpected lunch.

Favorite aperitivo drink: Limoncello spritz to accompany my taralli.
Favorite city in Italy: Napoli, because it is gritty and real. I go every time to Sorbillo to eat pizza fritta.

Italy Shopping Story: Walking along the pedestrian mall in Salerno and came across Falconeri’s big sale. I bought a beautiful sweater that I still wear all the time.
Italian rule that I love and follow religiously: I have learned that hellos and goodbyes are very important in the Italian culture and part of basic courtesy in Italy. I always make sure to acknowledge and greet people formally, such as shopkeepers and others I encounter during the day.
Things I dream about in Italy when I am not there: The food, especially the idea of “chilometro zero” which means “zero kilometers” and indicates that all ingredients are found in the area and I know I am supporting local small businesses and families.
Favorite hike I ever took in Italy: hiking to all five towns of the Cinqueterre in one memorable day.

