Rasna: Plan Your Expedition in Blera, Italy

How Rasna works

Planning, experiencing, remembering.

"Rasna" is what the Etruscans called themselves, the people who carved this land into volcanic rock nearly three millennia ago. We take small groups to live among what they left behind. Pick the experiences that excite you below, and we'll build an all-inclusive itinerary, lodging, meals, transport, everything, and send you a quote within days.

Work the Land

Get into the groves and fields. Harvest olives, crush tomatoes, forage wild asparagus, seasonal, physical, unforgettable.

Explore the Ancient

Descend into rock-cut tombs, ride through ruins, walk the Via Clodia, paths carved before Rome ever existed.

Make Something

Cure meat, press oil, make cheese with a master artisan. Take home what you built with your own hands.

"Blera has stood on this tufo cliff for three thousand years, and it still looks like it."

Step 1 · Build your trip

Select your experiences.

Click any activity to add it to your itinerary. Mix and match across categories, we'll handle the logistics.

Farm & Field Artisan & Food Culture & Outdoors Festivals & Sagre Day Trips

Farm & Field

Olive Harvest

Pick olives by hand in the morning, then relax at the terme after lunch. The next day, visit the frantoio to collect the oil pressed from what you harvested, then taste it on bruschetta, the way it's meant to be.

Oct to Dec, 2 days

Tomato & Sauce Day

Harvest tomatoes and make passata from scratch with a local family, a real Italian summer tradition.

August

Grape Harvest

Join the grape harvest in the vineyard rows, cut bunches by hand and taste the season's first pressing.

Sep to Oct

Wild Asparagus Foraging

Walk the Tuscia woods in spring, foraging wild asparagus, a living local Easter tradition.

Mar to Jun

Mushroom Foraging

Head into the Tuscia woods after the autumn rains to hunt porcini and other wild mushrooms with a local forager, then cook the day's find together.

Sep to Nov

Artisan & Food

Charcuterie Tasting

Taste local, homemade salumi and cured meats with Emiliano, made the traditional way, right here in Blera.

Year-round

Cheese Making or Tasting

With Davide Paolocci in Civitella Cesi, go hands-on and make your own cheese, or keep it easy with a guided tasting. Your call on how involved you want to be.

Year-round

Pasta Making

Roll, cut, and shape fresh pasta by hand with a local nonna, using recipes passed down for generations.

Year-round

Gnocchi Making

Learn to shape potato gnocchi the traditional way with a local nonna, then sit down to eat what you made.

Year-round

Wine Tasting

A guided tasting of local Tuscia wines, poured by the people who make them.

Year-round

Cantina Tour

Step into a working wine cellar and see how the region's wine is actually made, any time of year.

Year-round

Culture & Outdoors

Etruscan Tombs & Via Clodia

Walk among rock-cut tombs carved 2,800 years ago and follow the ancient Roman road through the countryside.

Year-round

San Giovenale by Donkey

Trek by donkey to the Etruscan ruins of San Giovenale, stopping along the way for panonto — a typical Bleran barbecue of bread roasted over the embers, drizzled with fresh local olive oil.

Year-round

Horseback Riding

Ride through the hills around Civitella Cesi, a beautiful way to see the landscape the slow way.

Year-round

Il Mignone Hike

Walk the wooded banks of the Mignone river, a quieter, wilder side of the Tuscia countryside.

Year-round

Tomb Raiding

Blera's tombaroli were real: for generations, locals dug through these necropoli by night, hunting Etruscan treasure long before archaeologists ever arrived. This is a scavenger hunt built on their story — it starts in the medieval village and leads you down into the tombs, following clues to track down what's hidden, with your host on hand to help along the way.

Year-round

Terrarte Sculpture Park

Wander Sandro Scarmiglia's open-air sculpture park, then stay for lunch in the olive grove or an aperitivo among the artwork.

Year-round

Pick-Up Football with Locals

Join the village for a casual game: no spectating, you're on the pitch with the people who live here.

Year-round

Festivals & Sagre

Il Pellegrinaggio

A springtime procession through Piazza Santa Maria on Easter Monday, one of Blera's oldest living traditions.

Easter Monday

L'Infiorata di Blera

For Corpus Domini, the whole town, kids, elders, everyone, lays elaborate flower-petal carpets through the streets for the procession.

Corpus Domini (May/Jun)

Festa di San Senzia

Blera's co-patron saint is honored with three days of traditional food and community celebration.

Jun 16 to 18

Coda alla Vaccinara & Porceddu

A weekend built around two hearty traditions: Roman oxtail stew and Sardinian roast suckling pig, cooked for the whole town.

Jul 24 to 26

Festa del Volontariato

A community festival run by Blera's volunteer associations, food, music, and the town out in force.

Aug 2 to 4

Stratto al Tartufo & Gnocco al Castrato

Handmade stratti pasta with truffle and gnocchi in castrated-lamb ragù, run by Blera's horse-lovers' association in the main square.

Aug 4 to 6

Fettuccine al Tartufo

In the hamlet of Civitella Cesi, long communal tables fill with truffle fettuccine, local meat, and live music.

Aug 11 to 14

Festa di Sant'Ermete

Blera's biggest weekend: mass and a relic procession for the patron saint, followed by fireworks, the town band, a livestock fair, ottava rima poetry, and the truffle and organic-produce festival.

Last Sun of Aug

Festa delle Cantine

Blera's wine cellars throw open their doors and everyone eats and drinks inside them, alongside tastings of the season's new wine and just-pressed olive oil.

2nd weekend of Nov

Day Trips

Lago di Vico

A volcanic lake ringed by forest in the Cimini mountains, swim, hike, or just take in the view.

Year-round

Viterbo

The medieval papal city, thermal baths, a stunning stone old quarter, and some of the best food in the Tuscia.

Year-round

Tarquinia

UNESCO-listed Etruscan painted tombs and a hilltop town overlooking the sea.

Year-round

Villa Lante & Palazzo Farnese

Renaissance water gardens and one of Italy's great fortified palaces, both a short drive away.

Year-round

Tyrrhenian Coast

Beaches and seaside towns along the coast, an easy escape for a day by the water.

Year-round

Terme della Tuscia

The Tuscia's thermal springs, from spa resorts to free open-air sulfur pools near Viterbo. Tell us your pace and we'll pick the right one for the day.

Year-round

Wherever You Want to Go

Have somewhere else in mind? Tell us in the notes and we'll build the day around it.

Year-round

What's included

You show up. We handle everything.

Accommodation

Nights at a local B&B or agriturismo, no chain hotels, real places run by real people.

All meals

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, cooked by local families, at farms, or at the sagra festivals.

All experiences

Every activity you select below: harvesting, workshops, farm visits, guided hikes, day trips.

Local transport

Pickup from Rome or Viterbo, plus all transfers between sites and villages during your stay.

People max

100%

Hands-on

Tour buses

2,800

Years of history

A few moments

What it actually looks like.

The vicoli of Blera

The path to the tombs

Inside a 2,800-year-old tomb

A local tradition, still alive

Descending into the via cava

Festa delle Cantine, the cellars open

Vendemmia, grape harvest season

Straight from the vine

Up in the olive trees

The whole grove turns out for the harvest

Fresh cheese, shaped by hand

Aging on the shelf

Passata, jarred by afternoon

Tomatoes in by the crate

Worth the detour

And when you want to range further.

Rome is close, but so is a different world of hilltop towns, papal palaces, and Renaissance gardens, all within an easy day trip.

Palazzo Farnese, Caprarola

Villa Lante's Renaissance water gardens

Palazzo dei Papi, Viterbo

Painted tombs of Tarquinia, 6th century BC

Viterbo's medieval quarter

Civita di Bagnoregio, the dying town

Why we stay small

This is not mass tourism.

We take up to 8 people at a time, enough to fit around a family's table without turning it into a show. No staged performances, no gift shops, just real work and real meals with the people whose land you worked that day.

Investment

Priced around your trip.

€1,400–1,800per person, all-inclusive

There's no flat rate, your price depends on how many days you stay and which experiences you choose. Tell us your picks and we'll send a custom, all-inclusive quote.

Accommodation for your full stay
All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
Every experience you select
Guided Etruscan site visits
Transport from Rome or Viterbo
All local transfers
English-speaking host throughout

Not included: flights, travel insurance, personal purchases

Get Your Custom Quote

Step 2 · Your details

Tell us about your trip.

We'll build a custom all-inclusive package around your selections above and send a quote within a few days.

Your Selected Experiences Click the activities above to select them

Your name

Number of guests

Preferred dates / month

Anything else we should know?

Grazie!

We've received your selections. We'll put together a personalized quote and get back to you within a few days with your all-inclusive package and payment link.

or email us directly: nikolai.fissenko1@gmail.com

Fixed Departure · Nov 9 to 15, 2026

Rasna's first pilot expedition

Italian Autumn Experience

Cantine Festival Week

One set week, one small group, everything arranged. Land in Blera in time for the town's biggest weekend of the year, when every wine cellar throws open its doors and the whole town eats and drinks together, bookended by six days of olive harvesting, Etruscan tombs, thermal baths, and hands-on cooking with local families. Capped at 8 guests.

Mon9

Arrival in Blera

Tue10

Tomb Raider & Tarquinia

Wed11

Olive Harvest & Thermal Baths

Thu12

Olive Mill & Pasta Making

Fri13

San Giovenale Hike & Panonto

Sat14

Cantine Festival

Sun15

Departure

Morning

Airport pickup and transfer to Blera.

Scavenger hunt from the medieval village into the rock-cut tombs.

Farmer's breakfast, then hand-picking olives.

Frantoio visit for yesterday's pressed oil.

Guided hike to the Etruscan site of San Giovenale.

A slow morning.

One last breakfast together.

Afternoon

Free time to settle in.

Day trip to Tarquinia's painted tombs.

Focaccia lunch, then Tuscia Terme's thermal baths.

Hands-on pasta-making class.

Panonto, Blera's traditional BBQ: bread roasted over embers, new-pressed oil.

Free time to wander the Cantine Festival.

Farewells and transfer to the airport.

Evening

Welcome aperitivo, dinner at a local trattoria.

Dinner in Tarquinia.

Home-cooked local dinner.

Sit down to the pasta you made.

Dinner at Cantina Il Cavone as the festival kicks off.

Goodbye dinner at a local cantina.

Mon · Nov 9

Arrival in Blera

MorningAirport pickup and transfer to Blera.
AfternoonFree time to settle in.
EveningWelcome aperitivo, dinner at a local trattoria.

Tue · Nov 10

Tomb Raider & Tarquinia

MorningScavenger hunt starting in the medieval village, following clues down into the rock-cut tombs.
AfternoonDay trip to Tarquinia's painted tombs.
EveningDinner in Tarquinia.

Wed · Nov 11

Olive Harvest & Thermal Baths

MorningFarmer's breakfast, then hand-picking olives at a local grove.
AfternoonFocaccia lunch, then relax at Tuscia Terme's thermal baths.
EveningHome-cooked local dinner.

Thu · Nov 12

Olive Mill & Pasta Making

MorningFrantoio visit for the oil pressed from yesterday's harvest.
AfternoonHands-on pasta-making class.
EveningSit down to the pasta you made.

Fri · Nov 13

San Giovenale Hike & Panonto

MorningGuided hike to the Etruscan site of San Giovenale.
AfternoonPanonto, Blera's traditional BBQ: bread roasted over embers, drizzled with new-pressed oil.
EveningDinner at Cantina Il Cavone as the festival kicks off.

Sat · Nov 14

Cantine Festival

MorningA slow morning.
AfternoonFree time to wander the Cantine Festival.
EveningGoodbye dinner at a local cantina.

Sun · Nov 15

Departure

MorningOne last breakfast together.
AfternoonFarewells and transfer to the airport.

The path to the tombs

The whole grove turns out for the harvest

Tarquinia's painted tombs

Festa delle Cantine, the cellars open

Fresh-pressed olive oil at the frantoio

The piazza in Blera

Tuscia Terme, at sunset

Fresh pasta, made by hand

Reserve your spot

Book the November 9 to 15 departure

Only 8 spots left for this departure · €1,450 per person, all-inclusive. Full payment is collected securely via Stripe and your spot is confirmed the moment payment goes through.

Grazie!

Taking you to secure checkout now…

Customer Support & Policies

Operated by: Nikolai Fissenko, Blera (VT), Italia

Contact: nikolai.fissenko1@gmail.com · +39 349 101 6416

Cancellation policy: Cancel 30+ days before your departure date for a full refund. Cancellations 15–29 days before departure receive a 50% refund. Cancellations within 14 days of departure are non-refundable, as accommodation, transport, and local partners (farms, artisans, guides) are booked and paid on your behalf in advance.

Refunds: Approved refunds are issued to your original payment method within 5–10 business days.

Disputes: If something's wrong with your booking or payment, email us first at the address above — we respond within 48 hours and will make it right directly, before you need to contact your bank.