JEWISH ITALY
School trips where the diaspora began
Rome. Venice. Florence. And the hidden gems of Italy in between.
Italy, the destination
The Jewish community of Rome is the oldest continuous Jewish community in Europe. It was already there a century before the destruction of the Second Temple, and it never left. Twenty centuries of Jewish life stand in Italian cities: the Roman ghetto, the Venice Ghetto that gave the world the word, the great synagogues of Florence and Milan, communities that are alive today.
Italy carries the whole arc in one country: antiquity, the first Ghetto, the Renaissance, the Shoah, and Jewish life continuing today.
Students meet a history of presence and continuity, standing in the places where it happened.
It also meets a school's practical needs: active communities in every major city, kosher dining, short distances, one country, one team.
What makes us different
- 01
You talk to the people who run your trip.
Most Italy programs pass through four hands before they reach the ground: an American organization, an Israeli operator, an Italian subcontractor, local guides. We are the ground. We design the program, we book every supplier, and we stay with your group throughout the journey.
- 02
Your group gets a scholar.
Most groups in Italy get a guide. Yours is guided by a specialist in Jewish iconography and Renaissance art, who shows students what is Jewish inside the paintings and buildings they already study at school.
- 03
Doors open that stay closed to tourists.
Decades of relationships with Italy's Jewish communities mean synagogues, archives and community spaces no tour operator can book.
- 04
Your observance level is where planning starts.
The week is built around Shabbat. Kosher standards, prayer and service format are agreed before anything is booked, never discovered on arrival. Throughout the journey, experienced security professionals provide a discreet, continuous presence, trained to the high standards of the Israeli security tradition.
- 05
Proven with schools.
Three decades of group travel in Italy, and complete programs already delivered for American Jewish day schools from Boston, New York, Chicago and the Washington area, groups of up to 75. Between the heritage sites: treasure hunts through ancient Rome, Murano glass with a master artisan, Formula One simulators in Maranello.
Days the students look forward to
Every program leaves room for fun, chosen for the age of the group, with staff and security alongside.
Rome treasure hunt
Teams, each with a teacher, solve clues at the sights on paper or tablets.
A heritage students can stand inside
Students already study Rome and the Renaissance. In Italy they find their own history inside it: Hebrew inscriptions in the Vatican Museums, Jewish patrons and motifs in the paintings of Florence, the quiet dialogue between the Jewish and Christian worlds running through some of the most famous art on earth.
And some doors open only through the communities. Decades of relationships with Italy's Jewish communities mean synagogues, archives and community spaces that are otherwise closed to visiting groups. An Italy tour groups never see, kept by the people who live it.
An Italian team, start to finish
Jewish Italy was created as a collaboration between an Italian event-production team and the Italian Jewish community.
Most Italy programs reach a school through a chain: an American organization, an Israeli operator, an Italian subcontractor, local guides. By the time the school's requirements reach the person standing in front of the students, most of them have been lost along the way.
We are based in Italy. We design the program, we contract every supplier, and we travel with the group. You speak directly with the people who run your trip.
Who we are
Program design and operations
Thirty years of group travel in Italy: hotels and restaurants first, then congresses, incentives and educational programs in every region of the country. Designs every itinerary and travels with the group.
Jewish art and heritage
A specialist in biblical exegesis and Jewish iconography in Italian art, with a Renaissance specialism and long relationships inside Italy's Jewish communities. The reason doors open, and the reason students remember what they saw.
Security
A Milan firm working entirely to the Israeli school: instructors certified in Israel, thirty years of operational experience protecting Jewish institutions and events. Protection scaled to each group and coordinated with local authorities.
Hotels and hospitality
A career spent inside Italian hotels, and long experience with American school groups. The reason our groups hold rooms, rates and configurations that are genuinely hard to get in high season.
How a trip comes together
- 1
It starts with your community.
Before anything is booked, we talk: observance level, kosher standards, prayer and service format, grade level, what the students are studying this year, and who they actually are.
- 2
We build the flow.
The week is shaped around Shabbat first, because in Italy every Jewish site closes from early Friday afternoon. Guides are tested in English, proven with teenagers, and briefed on your group. Security is present around the clock, working to the Israeli school. Every supplier is contracted by us.
- 3
We travel with you.
The people who designed the program are on the ground with the group, from arrival to departure.
Trips already delivered
The team behind Jewish Italy has been designing and running group travel in Italy for thirty years: incentives, congresses and educational programs in every region of the country, for clients including American Express, Coca-Cola, Deloitte and BCD Meetings & Events.
In recent years that experience has been focused on one thing: educational programs for American Jewish day schools. Complete itineraries for groups from Boston, New York, Chicago and the Washington area: heritage sites, kosher dining, Shabbat, prayer, security, hotels and transport, up to 75 students and staff at a time.
Those programs also showed us exactly where such trips break: guides who are not briefed, activities pitched at the wrong age, observance levels discovered on arrival instead of agreed in advance. Every one of those failures is now a written standard in how we plan.
Let's create the trip together
Write us an email, or book a free 30-minute introductory call.
Write to us
Tell us about your students and your dates. We will build the trip around them.
Book a 30-minute call
Free, no obligation. Pick a time that suits you and we will talk it through.
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