Olive harvest experience at a Tuscan grove
Wine & Food ToursDuration:5 hours - From mid October to mid November 2022
Rates
A WHOLE TREE MAKES JUST 4 BOTTLES?
An olive harvest is one of the most fascinating experiences you can enjoy in Tuscany. It is a wonderful way to learn a lot not only about the local wine & food traditions but also about the local culture. Those who tried it report that the atmosphere of a working oil mill and the enthusiasm of olive farmers during the harvesting season is something definitely unique. You can experience the olive harvest, be part of the olive oil production process and learn about the strive to make a high quality extra virgin olive oil!
An olive grove covered by nets
Our olive harvest experiences for visitors to Tuscany are available in the second half of October and in the first part of November. You meet our guide in the morning and you reach a beautiful olive grove where you have a general introduction to the world of extra virgin olive oil and to the harvesting techniques. Then you start collecting olives from some selected trees assisted by your guide and by the olive farmer for approximately 1 hour.
During the whole harvesting experience the guide gives you facts and information about extra virgin olive oils and the culture of olive oil making in Tuscany.
A rustic lunch with local specialties completes this experience.
A visit to an oil mill
After lunch, your guide leads you to a nearby oil mill, where you see the machinery involved in the process for squeezing the olives and extracting the extra virgin olive oil. You will learn the little yeald that the production is able to reach and how all leftovers are treated to obtain side products.
Locations could be Terricciola, Peccioli, Volterra or San Miniato, depending on who is available for the harvest.
What you taste
This is a list of specialties that you are likely to sample as part of the program of this tour. Please, note that the specialties of the tasting session and/or lunch may vary according to the season and the availability of the products in the day of the tour.
In our tour we like showing you places off the beaten track and introducing you to Tuscan people with their personal stories, careers and characters.
You will have one of our guides with your party during the whole tour. Please, see below all the guides who can be with you.
During this experience you can also meet some of the Tuscan friends involved in the events. Please, see below which friends you are likely to encounter.
Anna Maria is one of the members of the official panel of olive oil testers of Tuscany for the district of Pisa. She runs one of the most renowned oil mills in the area of Volterra and she has a great personality. Her mission is to make products available in most supermarkets. 
Gianni is a very friendly assistant at one of the oil mills of our tours focusing on extra virgin olive oil. He is a great chef with a fantastic personality and he welcomes visitors to the butcher's shop right next to his oil mill. 
Video Gallery
The total rate for this activity varies according to the number of people in your party.
Check rates in the table below.
PRIVATE OLIVE HARVEST EXPERIENCE
|
|
|---|---|
NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN YOUR PARTY |
TOTAL RATE |
| 2 persons | € 400 |
| 3 persons | € 480 |
| 4 persons | € 560 |
| 5 persons | € 640 |
| 6 persons | € 720 |
| 7 persons | € 800 |
| 8 persons | € 880 |
| Extra Adult | € 80 |
| Extra Teenager (12-17 yrs) | € 60 |
| Extra Child (4-11 yrs) | € 30 |
Rates include
- A private English speaking tour leader for the whole tour. Also available in French, German, Spanish and Russian
- General introduction + 1 hour of olive harvest on an olive farm
- A guided visit to an operating oil mill
- A guided blind tasting of freshly pressed extra virgin olive oil on the farm
- A full lunch at the mill with local delicacies, wines included
- Tax
Rates do NOT include
- Transportation is not included in the rates above. For more info on transportation, please see the box “Transportation options”.
- Tips to the staff. Not included, not obligatory but very much appreciated
Here a message from Maria, who visited us in Autumn 2019:
Hi everyone!
I wanted to let you know how much we (Cheryl and myself) enjoyed the olive picking experience and the cooking class. It was absolutely the best part of our trip! I want to come back and take more cooking lessons! I am sorry that I didn’t write the recipes down at the time. Is it possible to get the recipes for the dishes we made? We made Pasta e fagioli soup, spinach and ricotta raviolis and chocolate salami. I would love to make the chocolate salami for Christmas. I was wondering if you had a cookbook of the recipes from the cooking classes? I would have never known to make the pasta e fagioli the way we learned. I think we have always used an Americanized version! It was so delicious and I would love to make it again now that it is soup weather. And we look forward to using the perfect olive oil we learned about while we were there. Is it possible to order extra virgin olive oil through the same farm next year even if we don’t come to Italy?
Wanted to thank you again for offering these wonderful experiences! I feel like we got to know a little bit more about Tuscany than just tourist sites. I long to come back. Next time I would like to take Italian language lessons also. I miss Italy and want to come back as often as possible. You brought it to life for us.
Thank you so much!
Maria
This is a series of pictures we received from Lis, who enjoyed our olive harvest experience in November:
Pictures from Lis:
Hand picking olives in Tuscany
A moment of the olive harvest
A delicate phase of the squeezing of the olives
A small group for the olive harvest experience
A visit to the oil mill after the olive harvest
A farmer on a ladder reaching olives on the tree
This tour takes place in the area of Terricciola, Peccioli and Volterra, a rural district between Pisa and Volterra, or in the area of San Miniato, near Florence.
MEET-UP LOCATION:
Unless differently specified, the tour guide meets you at a meeting point in or near Peccioli.
DURATION:
This program takes 5 hours. Time for transportation not included.
AVAILABILITY:
Available between mid October and mid November. Availability is subject to the havesting plans of the olive groves involved in the program. The olive harvest is in the middle of the fields and is strictly related to the weather conditions of the day. If you are booked in for this experience in a day in which it is impossible to harvest, we will arrange for you an alternative program to get the best from the day.
LANGUAGE:
This tour is available in English language. German, French, Spanish, Russian or Italian are also available with no surcharge.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL:
Medium
CHILD FRIENDLY:
Ideal for children
CLOTHING:
Comfortable shoes and clothes recommended. As we walk in olive groves, we recommend to wear no shorts nor sandals. The time we spend in the grove can be quite cool.
FOOD RESTRICTIONS:
The foods served during this tour might contain gluten, lactose, nuts and alcohol. If you have any food restriction, please inform our personnel during the enquiry process.
TRANSPORTATION:
This program and its rates do not include transportation and are set on a self-driving base. For further information see the box "transportation options".
OBLIGATORY INSURANCE:
A personal insurance is necessary for the harvesting experience. Rates may vary depending on your nationality and age. Please, see table of rates.
The destinations reached during this activity are in the Tuscan countryside, in areas off the beaten track that cannot be reached by public transport. We highly recommend renting a car or a scooter in order to reach them. As an alternative, we can offer a valued service by chauffeured car, van or minibus. Any cost of transportation is to be added to the rates displayed on the rate table of this page.
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