Ice Cream University's Gelato Tour of Italy!

Bologna, SIGEP, and Florence

At SIGEP, you can find almost everything you need to better market your ice cream/gelato business and Ice Cream University can take you there! Sigep is the point of reference for innovations in the dessert industry, and provides a complete overview of all new market developments: raw materials and ingredients, machinery and equipment, as well as furnishings, packaging and services. JANUARY 17-25, 2024

Join us for our Gelato Tour of Italy for an exciting travel and learning experience! Our passion for gelato and Italy gets better every year. The year 2024 will be our 23rd Annual Gelato Tour Of Italy, and yes, we too are excited! If you have a passion for producing, selling, and tasting gelato, then joining us on our Gelato Tour of Italy 2024 will be a dream trip come true. Imagine tasting gelato, eating incredible dinners, and enjoying fine wine, plus having a learning experience at the SIGEP Gelato Trade show in Rimini that is the best in the world. 

We are also proud to announce that Carpigiani will again be our sponsor for the tour, and as part of this sponsorship, many benefits are offered including private classes of their equipment at SIGEP, and discounts on future equipment purchases. 

The all-inclusive cost of the trip includes roundtrip airfare from Liberty Newark International Airport to Italy, 4-star hotels, 6 days of breakfast and fantastic dinners, entrance to the SIGEP Convention and private hands-on gelato workshops with Italy’s largest and oldest equipment maker.  Join us and you won’t have to worry about the Euro and other worrisome details.  Once you board the airplane, you won’t have to reach into your pocket and spend one more penny, except for your own shopping, incidentals, and gratuities. Below is a description of the trip, including some of the gelaterias and restaurants we will be visiting. For more information, call Malcolm Stogo at 973-669-1060, or email at mstogo79@gmail.com.

Early Registration Discounts

We will begin accepting early registration March 1, 2023 with following discounts applied

DISCOUNT POLICY

Below is our discount policy off the total cost of the trip ($4,995) with a deposit of $1,500 by:

March 31, 2023 - $600.00 off

April 30, 2023 - $550.00 off

May 31, 2023 - $500.00 off

June 30,2023 - $450.00 off

July 31, 2023 - $400.00 off

Reviews

REVIEWS FROM 2023 GELATO TOUR OF ITALY

  • Purple Door Ice Cream- Wonderful trip!
  • Ice Berg’s, Teresa Stryker- Yes it was a great trip with great food. So nice getting to meet everyone and learning from others.
  • Samantha Evans- Great Food, great company
  • Neal Gothenthal, Springers Ice Cream, Stone Harbor, NJ- Fabulous trip! Dinner at Fabio I will never forget  

This tour includes Bologna, Rimini, and Florence, with a day trip into Tuscany, so if you desire to stay longer in Italy, you can make your own arrangements to travel starting from Bologna on January 25, 2024. Our driver Alex can also help you make arrangements.  

Anyone wishing to join the 2023 To reserve your space, a deposit of $1,500 per person is required by check or credit card (3% credit card fee). 

Schedule

BOLOGNA-RIMINI

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

As a group, we will depart the USA from Newark Airport.

Thursday, January 18, 2024

When we arrive in Bologna, we will be met by Alex, our long-time bus driver, who will meet us at the Bologna airport. We will drive into downtown Bologna and have lunch at Tamburini, one of the most fabulous gourmet shops in all of Italy. After lunch, we will walk to nearby La Sorbetteria for our first taste of gelato--not just any gelato but the very best! Late in the afternoon, we will arrive at our hotel in Bologna.

Giovanni Tamburini (Tamburini) & Giacomo Savionne (LaSorbetteria), Carole & Malcolm’s Two Best Friends 

Art Hotel Commercianti

(4-star hotel-Via de' Pignattari, 11, 40124 Bologna BO, Italy•+39 051 745 7511)

The hotel is located in the heart of historical downtown Bologna surrounded by the University of Bologna, the oldest university in continuous operation in the world founded in 1088, and near shops and restaurants. 

Dinner to be determined. 

Friday, January 19, 2024

You will be free to spend at your leisure the morning in Bologna. At 1:30pm, we will go by bus to the Abner Hotel in Riccione. Dinner will be casual at a typical Italian restaurant.

RIMINI

Saturday, January 20, 2024

We will leave our hotel to arrive at 9:00 AM to go to the SIGEP Convention Center with Alex as our guide. At the convention you will have all day to roam, smell, and taste incredible gelato, coffee, pastry and bread, and see all sorts of novelty frozen dessert equipment. You will experience why Italy is the leader in the world of gelato. We will leave the convention at 5:00 P.M. and go to our hotel.

Dinner Saturday night will be at Datodro

Best bread in Italy! Review from customer: The wine and the food were very delicious. I ate four servings of formaggi gnocchi. They had the BEST bread before the meal that I have eaten in Italy. I wanted to visit them again, just because of their extraordinary bread, but unfortunately, they are not open on Monday....

Sunday, January 21, 2023

We will spend the day at the convention, or if you decide to spend the day on your own touring Rimini, meet us at the convention site at 5:00 P.M. where we will leave for Florence.

Dinner-TBD- in Florence or outside the city. 

Monday, January 22, 2023 

FLORENCE

Leave the Abner Hotel for a bus ride to Florence to arrive at Baglioni Grand Hotel late Monday morning. In Florence you will be free to venture on your own both days or join us on Tuesday, January 25th for a drive through the Tuscany countryside and wine tour with Alex. 

Hotel

Grand Hotel Baglioni, located in the heart of Florence, has been synonymous with hospitality and quality for over 100 years. It is housed in a magnificent 19th-century building, in which past and present coexist in perfect harmony, bearer of the values inherent to Florentine tradition. This  four-star hotel offers 192 guest rooms, equipped with all the comforts and facilities of a high-standard hotel. On the fifth floor, you can discover the beauty of our splendid B-Roof panoramic restaurant from which you can admire the skyline of Florence, taking in the whole city with a single glance.

Breakfast at Hotel Baglioni, Florence

Free day in Florence. You can visit the museums, the Duomo, stroll along the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio, and shop the day away. (January is sale time in Italy!) And there are no lines to get into any museum and places of interest. 

Dinner- Omero.-On the hills outside Florence 

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

We will visit two wineries outside Florence in Tuscany plus a visit to our friend Sergio Dondoli at Gelateria Dondoli in San Gimignano.a tour of the countryside. Or, if you prefer, you can spend the day in Florence visiting museums and places of interest, and shop.

Dinner- Join the group for dinner- Restaurant TBD.  

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

We will go to Bologna after breakfast, and you will have a free day to explore Bologna.

Art Hotel Commercianti

(4-star hotel-Via de' Pignattari, 11, 40124 Bologna BO, Italy•+39 051 745 7511)

The hotel is located in the heart of historical downtown Bologna surrounded by the University of Bologna, the oldest university in continuous operation in the world founded in 1088, and near shops and restaurants. 

Dinner- Wednesday night at Fabio (our favorite Italian restaurant in Bologna)

On the corner between via Castiglione and via del Cestello, three steps take you into two rooms of Ristorante da Fabio. Intimate, cozy with a clientele of friends, artists, and professionals that all share good taste, not only for good cuisine but also for life-lived to the fullest.

Thursday, January 25, 2024   

NEWARK FIGHT PLAN

Depending on your flight schedule back to the USA, we will leave Baglioni Hotel at 10:00 A.M. to arrive at Bologna airport for flight to Munich, Germany, and transfer for flight to USA, arriving at Newark about 7:40 pm. 

Cost

January 17-25,2024 BOLOGNA, RIMINI, LORENCE,& TUSCANY)

Cost of Trip: 4,945.00 per person

Registration Fee:   50.00 per person (non-refundable) 

TOTAL $4,995.00

Single Supplement:       450.00 per person 

 

CANCELLATIONS & REFUNDS: Cancellations received in writing for a refund of a deposit, or a refund of a full payment for the tour are subject to: BEFORE 10/31/2023, a per person $100 cancellation fee; FROM 11/1/2023 and BEFORE 11/30/ 2023, a per person $200 cancellation fee; FROM 11/30/2023 to 12/10/2023, a per person $500 cancellation fee; AFTER 12/10/2023 there will be no refunds whatsoever. Please allow 14 business days for processing and include any unused documents with correspondence.

AIRLINE FLIGHT INFORMATION

BRITISH AIRWAYS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2024

LEAVE -18:25 EWR

ARIVE JANUARY 18, 2024 -18 Jan, BOLOGNA ,11:40 BLQ

Thu 18 Jan

Bologna (Bologna) To New York (Newark)

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2024

LEAVE 12:45PM

ARRIVE NEWARK 7:40PM 

BAGGAGE: Each person is allowed one piece of baggage as well as one carry-on piece.

TRAVEL INSURANCE- Airline ticketing does not include travel insurance. If you desire this travel insurance for your airline travel, please contact a travel insurance company

If you would like to book your own air, please deduct $800 of the total cost ($4,995) of the Gelato Tour of Italy total cost.  

We recommend you bring the following items:

  • Passport (required)
  • Vaccination card (required)
  • Extra mask (s) (required)
  • Business cards
  • Umbrella (that can fit into your suitcase)
  • Cell phone/camera and lots of film card and battery
  • Converter for charging cell phone
  • Warm socks, sweaters, and winter coat (important)
  • Comfortable walking shoes (especially for SIGEP Convention)
  • Secure handbag to carry your money or travel checks (everyone accepts credit cards)
  • Adequate toiletries
  • Anti-acids tablets (guess what for)
  • Extra empty suitcase or bag to bring back goodies.
  • Clothes that you can layer in case the weather is cold or warm.
  • A wish list if you want to buy something at the Rimini Gelato Show (SIGEP) for your business.
  • Don’t bother bringing a hair dryer; every hotel supplies one.

FEATURES NOT INCLUDED

  • Gratuities and personal expenses
  • Meals (lunch), except as specified under trip features
  • Travel insurance (if you want to purchase, need to know at time of signing up for tour)
  • Travel to and from Newark Airport
  • Price per person based on double occupancy. Single travelers can share a room or have the option of single occupancy by paying a single supplement of $450, depending on the trip chosen
  • Any travel outside the stated trip itinerary is at the personal expense of each individual traveler  

Throughout the trip we will have our own private modern bus to relax in with an experienced and knowledgeable driver who speaks Italian and English. As a reminder, it is appropriate to tip the bus driver at the end of the trip an average of $25 per person for his gracious service to us. I say this because you will see that by the end of the trip, Alex will be your best friend! In general, the big meal of the day is dinner, usually at about 8:00 P.M. There is no such thing as a bad meal in Italy so space your eating accordingly! Breakfast is served each day at the hotel. Generally, for lunch you are on your own except at Tamburini and La Sorbetteria. Dress for dinner is casual. Credit cards are readily acceptable in Italy. Bring US dollars, and/or traveler checks that can be converted into Euro dollars. 

We are excited to welcome you to our Gelato Tour of Italy. We know it will be a trip to remember! 

Ciao,

Malcolm and Carole