My son and I contacted Danilo Verta because so many people have shared their good experiences with him. I still was not prepared for how moving it was to visit the town where my family lived before moving to the United States. I also over-estimated my ability to accomplish our mission without professional help. Danilo warmly and expertly guided us through modern Italy and into the past. He understood our desire to explore our ancestry while experiencing Calabria today. He found birth records, arranged a home-cooked meal, and sent us on a nature hike. He is a delightful person who loves his work.

Let Danilo Guide You Through the Present into the Past I have relied on guides in more than 30 countries, and Danilo is one of the best. Danilo’s many 5-star reviews share the themes of warmth, knowledge, helpfulness, and exceeding expectations. For many of us, returning “home” to Calabria for the first time is an emotional experience. It also can be complicated and logistically difficult to discover the past and navigate the present. My son and I felt like Danilo was gently holding our hands, from guiding the initial family research to walking us into city hall to receive my grandfather’s birth certificate. He also arranged a home chef and a wilderness hike. Despite the very professional marketing material, this is an owner-operated business. If you hire the company, you get the boss.

Danilo spent two days with us providing us with fabulous experiences and understanding the culture and life of people in Calabria specifically in Fagnano or Fano Costello Danilo also helped us to connect with a long lost family member which we didn’t even think would be possible. I can’t say enough good things about our experience and what he provided for us I recommend, using him highly if you want to get to know the people and the life of someone in Calabria

Fabulous time in Calabria Danilo Virto Took us on a spectacular tour of Calabria to an olive farm and watch the process of olive oil. Then he spent the next day with us in Fagnano and we learned about my husband‘s ancestors and even got to meet up with one of them. We spent the day with our long lost relatives. More than my heart could’ve been imagined all thanks to Danilo and his hard work creating a magical experience for us.

Well Organized and Exceed Expectations. Danilo did a fantastic job organizing our visit, which exceeded our expectations. He made arrangements at the best hotels and restaurants and arranged ag tours. He led us on an informative walking tour of Altomonte. Through his deep research, he was able to locate my grandfather's birth certificate and childhood home. Also, he located extended family members living in the area and set up a meeting. Overall, it was an excellent tour that went smoothly and had no issues. We recommend Danilo and hope to revisit Calabria soon.

Such great personalized Service! Our days touring with Danilo and Vita Calabria Tours, were the highlight of our 3-week trip. The attention to details, personalized service, historical knowledge, and overall flexibility was amazing. We felt right at home, as Danilo helped us uncover the details of my husband's Catanzaro family roots. He helped us in so many ways. Above & beyond what we expected. It was a pleasure being guided by him and his tour team. We certainly look forward to working with them all again! Such a Great experience!! Ciao!

San Giovanni in Fiore We traveled to Sicily and southern Italy last month. Our son planned our trip which included a stop in San Giovanni in Fiore. It was one of the highlights of our trip because it was the town where some of my ancestors lived. Our son booked a tour for the day with Vita Calabra Tours. Danilo Verta and Tania Pascuzzi were our guides and they surely didn’t disappoint. We had so much fun exploring the town. Not only were we shown San Giovanni in Fiore, but our guides also did some research including finding birth records of my grandfather and great-grandfather. One peak moment was when Tania told us that she located the street where my relatives both were born.The guides not only took us for a walk on the street, but they also took us to the municipality. Danilo was able to secure my relatives birth documents and he translated the document into English for my family. Thank you Danilo and Tania! You both exceeded our expectations!

Danilo & Vita Calabra Tours provide wonderful 5 star service! Danilo from Vita Calabra Tours is a true gentleman who takes great pride in providing the most wonderful experience. We had been in discussions for nearly 6 months to arrange a private drive to visit two towns in Calabria where our family had historical connections with. Danilo felt like a friend immediately and nothing was too much trouble for him. He arranged a wonderful lunch at a local agriturismo restaurant that was a true highlight. On the day, there was an accident on the motorway, so we had to take an alternate route through the mountains that added an extra 1.5 hours and a much more difficult drive.Danilo was a safe, calm and patient driver and his flexibility and generous nature to make our day absolutely perfect was appreciated. We have a friend for life and would recommend everyone to book Vita Calabra tours for ancestry assistance, private or group tours or any tour bookings in the Calabria region.

Unbelievable Exerience Vita Calabria Tours met all of our expectations and then exceeded them. Our family wanted to see where are family came from in Calabria, and Danilo our tour guide went above and beyond to ensure he had everything planned for us, plus many unexpected surprises. It was more memorable than anything I could have imagined. Our next trip to Italy, we would definitely reach out to them to help make our vacation spectacular!

Heartfelt Thank You My daughter and I found Danilo’s website and decided to make his tour part of our trip to Italy to try to find information about our ancestors who immigrated from Policastrello and San Donato di Ninea to Pennsylvania. It was the best day of our 10 days in Italy! He customized our day around transportation we needed and he researched and located my grandmothers birth record, as well as my great-grandfathers birth and marriage records. He was kind, professional, knowledgeable and provided us with all that we asked for. Although we didn’t find any relatives still living there, we do hope to return one day and we will definitely contact him to coordinate our trip to the villages of our roots. He gave us one of the most unforgettable days we’ll ever experience and helped us accomplish a life goal of returning to see our Italian heritage. If you’re thinking about this but are unsure, just do it! You will be so glad you did!! Thank you Danilo from the bottom of our hearts!

Ancestral homelands tour We asked Danilo of Vita Calabra tours to guide us visiting my ancestral homelands in southern Italy. Not only was this done professionally and beautifully, he also arranged for me to meet a distant cousin and his family which proved to be the highlight of the trip. We truly appreciate Danilo for what he did to make this trip the wonder that it was.

Due cugini retracing our family's roots in Calabria and their journey to North America We wanted to visit our family's hometown of Mammola and retrace their journey from Messina to Canada, experiencing life in Calabria. While my cousin and I were vacationing in Tropea, we saw this as the perfect opportunity. Danilo organized a fantastic 2-day excursion with authentic food that exceeded our expectations. Over those two days, we immersed ourselves in the richness of Calabria, enjoying its kindness and hospitality. Danilo introduced us to Scilla and Gerace, showcasing his professionalism, knowledge, and creativity. He even adapted our itinerary to include a visit to the Riaci bronzes exhibit in Reggio and made a detour to a small abandoned area in Monte di Limina, which I recalled from family conversations.

The most amazing trip of my life-Calabrian Roots My cousin and I grew up with our Calabrian nonna in Pittsburgh, PA . We had always wanted to explore our roots but couldn’t settle for Ancestry alone. As fate would have it, we found Danilo Verta through a Calabrian consultant (Abi Johnson at iitaly.Calabria, who would help us plan a 3-4 week long trip starting in Sicily and ending in Calabria. She put us in touch with a personal guide in Calabria. The trip was amazing but reached it pinnacle with a 5 day personalized tour with Danilo from Vita Calabria Tours. Danilo spent hours working to create the perfect tour for our combined needs. First of all he is from Altomonte, a lovely town in the mountains near Cosenza Calabria. So he knows the area and all its little gems. The heart and soul of the area. He is passionate about his work, his country and the preservation of the ancient ways of cooking and living in the area. He contacted the town office in the town of Celico where our grandparents both grew up before they migrated to America. He arranged a meeting with the record historian in the town office along with a few very special surprises. We cried and laughed with joy as we saw the names, signatures and witnesses of our origins in an ancient book that records the births of the town. We met the mayor and were guided by a walking tour with a local attore and personality who filled our hearts with the history of this beautiful little mountain town. Our family is about the preservation of tradition through cooking and stories of our family. Danilo used this information to bless us with the ultimate culinary and cultural tour of the area: Altomonte, Consenza, Celico, Morano Calabro, Civita and farm culinary and musical adventures in Pollino National Park with La Locanda del Parco eating the food, drinking the wine, hearing the music and dancing with the family. We traveled to Biodiversità wineries and olive oil farms meeting their passionate proprietors, ate at both Michelin star and true Albanian, Greek, African and Turkish influenced nonna style Italian food restaurants. Danilo senses your soul and creates an experience that speaks to your heart, needs and budget. When each place we went saw him, smiles, hugs and kisses were shared. It has been the most personal and heartfelt experience of our lives thanks to Danilo. There will be more trips as life allows but they will always start with Danilo because it is just not Calabria that he knows. He knows and feels the heart of all of Italy.

Tell Danilo what you want and he will make it much better than you hoped for! Just finished our first trip to Calabria and it was so wonderful... loved Tropea - wish we'd spent even more time there. Side trips to Scilla and Altamonte were wonderful. Danilo at Vita Calabria Tours took incredible care of us!! He really specializes in helping people with ancestry tours and finding their families. Unfortunately, we're from Scotland and England, but hoping a Nonna & Nonno will adopt us I loved that I could tell him what our timing was, how we like more relaxed vacations and not up at the crack of dawn, and he arranged everything around our style. Tropea was our favorite, but Altamonte absolutely charming! Now in my beloved Praiano, but thinking about those Calabrian prices and peperoncino cruschi lol!!

Thank you for the experience of a lifetime! I would rate our experience even higher than a five, if possible! Nine of us traveled to Calabria to meet our lost family and see the village where my great grandfather was born. Danilo organized a full day where we met relatives, the village administrators including the Mayor, and others who guided us through the town. Danilo also arranged an authentic lunch for us all. Danilo is wonderful and is the sole reason we were able to find our family. His thoughtfulness and caring shines through each and every correspondence and detail from the beginning to end. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to meet relatives in Italy, as well as Danilo. I feel as if we made a lifelong friend!Thank you for everything. Carrie