Walks of Italy
Travel Services, Italy | |
Industry | Travel |
Founded | 2008 |
Founders | Jason Spiehler, Stephen Oddo |
Headquarters | Rome, Italy and Austin, TX |
Area served | Italy |
Number of employees | 20 |
Website | walksofitaly.com |
Walks of Italy is an American-owned and operated walking tour company specializing in Italy. It was founded in 2008 by Jason Spiehler, tour guide and art historian with a master's degree from Yale in historical theology, and recommended by name in the New York Times travel section[1] Jason and his organization have been featured in the Rick Steves guidebook series (esteemed writer of America's top-selling[2] Europe guidebooks and a travel writer for CNN[3]) on Rome, Italy & Best of Europe since 2009.[4][5][6] It was noted as a walking tour worth watching after its appearance at the 2010 Las Vegas Luxury Travel Expo.[7] The company offers an array of walking tours in the major tourist areas in Italy, as well as several off-the-beaten-path tours.
In April 2011, Walks of Italy worked in partnership with Showtime's "The Borgias" television series to provide a grand prize sweepstakes winner a Borgia family-themed tour of Rome, custom-made for the show's viewers.[8]
In 2014, Walks of Italy launched a new brand extension, Walks of New York, based in New York City, NY. In 2015, the group launched Walks of Turkey, based in Istanbul, Turkey.
Tours
Walks of Italy provides historical and thematic full-day and half-day walking tours of important Italian tourist destinations, specifically areas significant to Italian and Roman art history, archaeology, culture, history and antiquity. They specialize in small group and private walking tours, and operate 12 months a year. Tours meet at several central locations in major Italian cities and range between two and seven hours long. The guides are selected by Jason Spiehler and his Rome-based team, and are a mixture of local Italian guides and expert foreign expatriates. They are featured within the Top 20 "attractions" for Rome on independent aggregate review site Tripadvisor.com [9]
Walks of New York has partnered with Chef Mario Batali to provide culinary tours of Greenwich Village, New York.[10] In 2015, Walks of New York partnered with Disney Theatrical Group to provide an exclusive Behind the Magic Tour on Broadway, including the historic New Amsterdam Theater.[11]
See also
- Archaeological tourism
- Cultural tourism
- Heritage tourism
- Guided tours
- Tour operator
- Tour guides
- Walking tours
Notes
- ↑ Press Article by New York travel writer Danielle Pergament whose reputable list of contributions can be found at Danielle's website
- ↑ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1901473,00.html Time article on Rick Steves
- ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/news/ricksteves/ CNN Rick Steve's Articles
- ↑ Steves, Rick (2008). Rick Steves' Rome 2009. Berkeley, California: Avalon Travel. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-59880-283-2.
- ↑ Steves, Rick (2009). Rick Steves' Italy 2010. Berkeley, California: Avalon Travel. p. 684. ISBN 978-1-59880-286-3.
- ↑ Steves, Rick (2010). Rick Steves' Best of Europe 2011. Berkeley, California: Avalon Travel. p. 782. ISBN 978-1-59880-656-4.
- ↑ December 2010 Kaleidoscopic Wandering website
- ↑ http://www.theborgiasitaliangetaway.com/ Showtime's The Borgias Italian Getaway Sweepstakes
- ↑ Tripadvisor website Accessed August 25, 2015.
- ↑ http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/25/a-new-york-food-tour-with-a-batali-touch A New York Food Tour With a Batali Touch
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/13/travel/mondays-travel-news-a-broadway-tour-caribbean-hotel-deals.html Monday’s Travel News: A Broadway Tour; Caribbean Hotel Deals