Lisa Redburn during a cooking lesson at Tatjana Ciciliani’s home in Trojir, Croatia. Photo: Tom Redburn

Lisa and I have had a lot of wonderful adventures in our more than 50 years together, but for our 50th wedding anniversary trip to Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Switzerland, the extraordinary planning of Claudia Schwenger and Luisa Grigoletto took our travel experience to a whole new level. It’s true that Europe was already getting overrun with tourists during our six-week trip, which began on May 23 in Venice and ended on July 4 at Lake Como, but we rarely felt it because time after time Claudia and Luisa arranged guides and outings that took us away from the crowds and to hidden corners we never would have found on our own.

There are too many highlights to include all of them, but some of our most memorable moments were a gastronomic walking tour of Bologna with Giacomo, a guided E-bike ride along the Appian Way in Rome with Gioia, who spontaneously added in a visit to the multi-layered Church of San Clemente when we expressed interest in it, a guided cable-car ride and walk to the top of Anacapri with Melania, and two hikes in the Dolomites with Paola, who revised her plans to reflect our own capacities for strenuous walking (there’s a theme here: nearly all our best guides were women). And that’s just Italy.

In Croatia and Slovenia, we enjoyed a guided walk up Mt. Srd above Dubrovnik, where two women from Piknik Dubrovnik had set up an extraordinary sunset picnic dinner just for us, two guided trips (one by E-bike, the other walking) in the backcountry of the islands of Korcula and Hvar that both included amazing private lunches far from the madding crowds, and an extraordinary tour by the charismatic Mario Bartulovic of his family’s winery and steep-sided vineyard on one of our only rainy days. We nearly cancelled but are so thankful that we didn’t.

And the discovery of the trip, for us, was Slovenia, where we dined at the famous Hisa Franko (a 3 1/2-hour, 18-course tasting menu from chef Ana Ros), with a stay at tiny Chalets Nebesa, which is not to be missed if you are anywhere in the area. Four-room Nebesa (reserve far in advance!) is owned and run by Ana’s charming mother, father, sister and brother-in-law, and enjoys an extraordinary view in the Julian Alps over Kobarid, where there are still trenches from the devastating fighting along a front of World War I.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that, with only one or two exceptions, every guide was sensational, just about every accommodation was terrific, and nearly all the reserved dinners were a delight. And that’s not to mention our WOW Moment, sponsored by Wendy, of a lunch and wine tasting at the extraordinary BIBICh Winery, on a day when we traveled from Split to Zadar, right after visiting Krka National Park.

Claudia and Luisa are extraordinary travel planners who I would recommend unequivocally. And based on a couple of other experiences with their team as well, I can’t say enough about the talented personalities they have recruited as travel planners. Luisa and Claudia took my idea of following in some of the footsteps of our original honeymoon trip to Europe (10 months on $6,000 in 1973-74 to Italy, Yugoslavia, Austria, Greece, Switzerland and France) and built it into an equally memorable highlight in our lives together. We spent our actual anniversary at a pension in the car-free Fex Valley in the Engadine that was one of the top places we stayed on our honeymoon, but which now paled in comparison to the numerous hotels/B&Bs (admittedly more expensive but not the well-known 5-star names, either) that Claudia and Luisa found for us.

Despite its length, which could easily have been very wearing, the trip was extremely well-paced, allowing us time for rest and recovery when needed. We looped from Venice down to the Amalfi Coast, taking a flight to Dubrovnik, then working our way up the Croatian coast and islands before heading into Slovenia, the Dolomites and Switzerland. We rented a car twice (from Venice to Orvieto, and Trieste to Milan), but relied on car and drivers and trains when appropriate. We focused mostly on culture and cities for the first couple of weeks, the Mediterranean coast for the middle portion, and ending with mostly outdoors and physical Alpine experiences.

Our trip lived up to everything I had been dreaming about since we first thought of the idea more than two years in advance.

My husband and I travelled to Sicily this past May and Luisa Grigoletto helped us put together an amazing itinerary. She suggested we start with a few days in the Aeolian Islands, a place we’d never heard of and wouldn’t have thought to go. It ended up being one of the highlights of our trip! We hiked, e-biked, rented mopeds and took a boat to Lipari and Vulcano, all while staying at the fabulous Capo Faro resort on Salina.

After returning to the mainland we picked up our rental car and spent time visiting: Taormina, Syracusa/Ortigia, Mount Etna, Ragusa, Modica and Palermo. Along the way we saw spectacular Greek temples and amphitheaters in Agrigento and Selinunte, visited wineries on Mount Etna, made some unbelievable Pomodoro sauce in a private cooking class in Ortigia and saw the incredible landscape artwork, Cretto di Burri, as well as the amazing mosaics at Monreal Cathedral and Villa Romana del Casale. All our hotels were top-notch, the food everywhere was great and the local guides we picked up in various spots really helped bring alive the history of the various peoples who conquered and ruled Sicily over the centuries, all leaving behind architectural and culinary influences. For our WOW Moment we were welcomed into a private home and cooked a fabulous multi-course meal by a professional chef; a very unique and enjoyable experience. All-in-all a wonderful trip; thank you Luisa!

We had an amazing trip to Venice, Bologna, and Florence, courtesy of Luisa and Katrina. Luisa’s in-depth knowledge of the locations, restaurants, hotels, tour guides, and walking times (so important in these crazy walking cities) was instrumental in our celebration trip. We had vetted other agents, but Luisa was so personable and listened to our wants and desires so well, that we were able to have as much (or as little) to do as we needed. We were able to go to Murano with a person who grew up there, even met his mother from her window, and saw his uncle’s Murano glass showroom/storage facility. We also did a day trip to Bassano del Grappa (Luisa’s hometown), where we had a guide from the US who had been local to Bassano for at least 20 years. In Bologna, we had a free day (which was a tad difficult since we didn’t know the area well), but had a great dinner and foodie tour the next day prior to departure. In Florence, we had several guided private tours, including an artisan tour and a tour through the towns of Greve, Castellino di Chianti, and Siena. That’s a show-stopping trip, minus the slight backroad weaving (take some Bonine if you do this tour). Our guides were phenomenal and taught us so much about the culture, history, and food and wine scenes. We even did an olive-oil tasting in Greve, which was extremely interesting.

I had some aggravated back pain while in Italy, but Luisa was on it and had some docs on standby in both Venice and Florence if we needed them. She also did an exceptional job of selecting hotels and restaurants for us — we gave some guidance and made final selections, but all hotels were A+ and each had something special and unique about them. I’d highly recommend staying in the smaller, boutique hotels that we did because the service is so excellent.

Luisa curated an amazing trip for us, and we were able to enjoy, relax, and know that we were well taken care of at all times. We even met another group in our hotel who was utilizing Luisa’s office, and they were on their 3rd or 4th journey with them. I can’t imagine having done this trip without Luisa’s help and guidance, which made for an exceptional milestone birthday trip for my mom.

We loved our curated experience. Together we planned a weeklong soccer trip for me and my teenage son that took us to 2 different countries (France and England) to watch 4 professional games including 3 different cities (Paris, London and Manchester). It was awesome! Everything was perfect. From the pre-arranged transportation to the accommodations to the restaurants to the fun stuff – it was all bespoke. We had some tight connections, and Luisa’s office ensured we were in constant communication with drivers who shuttled us from stadium to train to airport as needed. They were also able to get us tickets to the matches. Every detail was attended to and upon arrival at one of our hotels, even the staff there was aware of our soccer-focused trip and had Champions League team cookies waiting for us. The fact that they also provided a phone number to reach them 24/7 was key for us too, so when we had questions or concerns we could call at any time and they were on it! I would absolutely hire them again.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  Luisa did a fantastic job helping us plan our recent trip to Italy! With her help, we stayed in lovely hotels, had great meals in local restaurants everywhere we traveled, and had tickets and very knowledgable guides lined up for every museum/site we wanted to tour. Everything was top notch! On top of that, she checked in with us along the way to ensure we were having a great time (which we were!).
Luisa had lined up a great WOW Moment in Florence, but due to an unexpected Covid case on the part of the “host” we weren’t able to experience it; but we look forward to something extra special on our next trip.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  During our initial phone consultation, Luisa listened carefully to all our preferences and worked quickly to line up airport pickups, our preferred hotel (based on our conversation), guides, and restaurants and made suggestions for things to do during our free time. She was extremely flexible if we decided we wanted to make slight alterations.

My only complaint is that we only had five days – our choice, not theirs! (And they were flexible enough to adjust their minimum of a 10-day trip to accommodate our inability to spend more than five days.)

The hotel, Ca’ Sagredo, was absolutely what we wanted – a former palazzo, on the small side, so I would put it in the boutique category. We had a gorgeous junior suite with 3 huge windows on the Grand Canal and it was an easy walk to most parts of Venice, other than the St. Marks area and the Biennale. We loved exploring Canareggio and Dorsoduro on our own and of course got lost, even with Google maps trying to help us.

The restaurant suggestions were all wonderful and each one had impeccable service and lovely food. The two guides Luisa lined up were both helpful and knowledgeable – and very different. One had grown up on Murano, so knew much about Venice from the perspective of a local; the other was a Brit who has lived in Venice for about two decades. Both provided a wealth of information about art, architecture and history and gave us great insights without overwhelming us with details. It was such a pleasure to experience Venice as I remember it 25 years ago, before the crowds became overwhelming and floating skyscrapers were allowed to anchor in the lagoon. We were thrilled to learn that cruise ships are now permanently barred from anchoring in the lagoon and it is likely to be some time before the big tour groups return and make it impossible to walk across the Rialto Bridge. These moves might just “save Venice”!

I am a very particular person and quite observant of details that turn out to be much less than expected and I have absolutely nothing to complain about during this trip – except not having enough time to do all we wanted, even in five days. Thank you for connecting us with Luisa; I would highly recommend her for your WOW List!

Luisa deserves the highest rating possible. She planned our family’s trip to Italy over the winter school break period and did an outstanding job. During the planning phase, Luisa and I had a number of conversations and exchanged emails so she could have the information she needed to put together the right itinerary for our family, which includes a fifth grader and a seventh grader. She listened carefully to our requests and made the right selections regarding locations, guided tours, restaurants and pace. This was not the easiest trip to plan because two of our ten days fell on Christmas and New Years Day, when many places were closed. Notwithstanding this challenge, Luisa planned great days for us on both holidays. She was also able to find experiences that could be enjoyed equally by both children and adults, which is not easy. Also impressive was how Luisa checked in with us during our trip to make sure that everything was going smoothly (which it was). I will definitely recommend Luisa to my family and friends because she planned an amazing trip for our family. Thank you to Wendy Perrin for connecting us with Luisa!

We cannot praise Luisa Grigoletto and Evan LaRocque highly enough for planning our family’s spectacular post-Christmas visit to Rome!! It was our teenage son’s introduction to the Eternal City, yet he’s not keen on the more traditional museum/monument tour model. Luisa worked extensively with us to learn his interests and suggest more off-piste activities that would showcase Rome through his personal lens. Not only were the guides she arranged superb and highly engaged with him, but she also designed self-guided tours full of amazing, insider-Rome enotecas, street food, and vintage clothing shops. The combination of professional and self-guided exploration of Rome’s neighborhoods was genius (and delicious)! His highlights were seeing the city by Vespa and photographing the street art; our highlight was that he loved his Roman experience SO much he fell in love with the city and wants to return! We owe our trip’s epic success to Luisa’s highly personalized itinerary based on her knowledge of our travel preferences and interests. We cannot wait to work with her in future adventures!