Olive harvest experience at a Tuscan grove
Wine & Food Tours Duration: 5 hours - From mid October to mid November
Rates
DOES A WHOLE TREE REALLY MAKE ONLY 4 BOTTLES?
An olive harvest is one of the most fascinating and authentic experiences you can enjoy in Tuscany. It’s a unique opportunity to discover not only local food and wine traditions, but also the deeper agricultural culture that shapes this land.
Those who have taken part in the harvest often say that the atmosphere inside a working olive mill: the scent of freshly pressed oil, the sound of the machines, and the passion of the farmers, is truly unforgettable. During this experience, you won’t just observe: you will actively participate in the harvest and learn firsthand how high-quality extra virgin olive oil is produced, from tree to bottle.
The Olive Grove Experience
Our olive harvest experiences take place usually between the second half of October and mid-November, during the peak of the season.
You will meet your guide and head to a beautiful olive grove nestled in the Tuscan countryside. Here, you'll receive an introduction to the world of extra virgin olive oil, including harvesting techniques and the characteristics that define top-quality production.
Then it's time to get involved! Assisted by your guide and a local olive farmer, you will collect olives from selected trees for about one hour. Throughout the activity, your guide will share stories, insights, and fascinating facts about Tuscan olive oil culture and traditions.
This hands-on authentic experience concludes with a rustic lunch featuring local specialties, a delicious reward after your work in the grove. During lunch you'll also taste some different olive oils to distinguish between good and healthy olive oil and the commercial one.
Inside the Oil Mill
After lunch, you will visit a nearby olive mill to witness the oil extraction process. You'll see the machinery used to crush the olives and extract the precious oil, and you'll learn why the yield is surprisingly small, sometimes a whole tree produces only a few bottles of oil.
You'll also discover how every part of the olive is used and how by-products are transformed, ensuring a sustainable and respectful production process.
Harvest locations may include Terricciola, Peccioli, Volterra, or San Miniato, depending on seasonal availability and harvesting schedules.
What you tasteThis 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.
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 | € 440 |
| 3 persons | € 540 |
| 4 persons | € 640 |
| 5 persons | € 740 |
| 6 persons | € 840 |
| 7 persons | € 940 |
| 8 persons | € 1040 |
| Extra Adult | € 100 |
| Extra Teenager (12-17 yrs) | € 80 |
| Extra Child (4-11 yrs) | € 50 |
Rates include
- A private English speaking tour leader for the whole tour. Also available in French, German, Spanish
- 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
- Taxes
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 includes a walk through the olive groves on terrain that is not always flat and a few more challenging stretches. If you have any accessibility needs — whether mobility-related, sensory, cognitive, or any other requirements — please let us know in advance and we will do our best to adapt the itinerary for you.
LOCATION OF ATTRACTIONS:
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 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".
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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