Eating your way through Italy is a real itinerary, not a slogan, because Italian food is fiercely regional: carbonara belongs to Rome, ragu to Bologna, bistecca to Florence, and ordering the right dish in the right city is half the trip. A guided food itinerary earns its keep in the rooms you cannot get into alone, the market stalls with no sign, the pasta grandmother's kitchen, the cellar under a Florentine palazzo.

Three rules travel well here. Eat lunch as the big meal; the same kitchens charge less at noon. Never eat within sight of a major monument, walk three streets in any direction and quality doubles while prices drop. And the gelato test is the pistachio: if it is dull olive-brown, the shop is honest; if it is bright green, keep walking.

Come hungry, book dinner late like the locals, and let the itinerary breathe.