Cinque Terre & Lake Como

Oct  4 – 11 /2026

Photography / Plein-Air Painting Workshop
Led by Scott Williams & Niki Gulley

Expanding the scope of our travel again this year, we are revisiting the stunning landscape of Cinque Terre. This gives you the opportunity to explore these 5 coastal towns with distinctly iconic locations. There is also the option of combining this with our Tuscany Foodie trek for an amazing two week Italian adventure, see the bottom of the page for more details!

Brightly colored homes stacked one on top of the other, looking like they were carved into the hillside with the ocean lapping at their doorstep, is what awaits you in Cinque Terre. Translating into the “5 Lands”, you get to experience the beauty that each city has to offer. From the southern most stop of Riomaggiore with its vertical ascent of pastel homes, to Vernazza with its medieval fort protecting the harbor and finishing along the beach at our home base of Monterosso in the north.

This trip literally has almost every form of transportation to heighten your traveling adventure. You will ride the rails  from one city to another, take a boat between them if water is more to your liking or to truly experience Cinque Terre in all of it’s glory, you can hike cliffside trails with the landscape spread out before you. These are your many options as you expand your creativity through paint and film capturing this stunning setting.

There will also be a day trip to the harbor town of Portofino, one of the most picturesque resort towns on the Italian Riviera. Imagine sitting at a cafe’ along the water with waves gently lapping the shore with sailboats as a backdrop, it truly is “La Dolce Vita”! Of course no Trek would be complete without a sampling of the local wines during a tasting, along with some of the best restaurants  in the area and you have one stellar trip!

Niki will conduct the Plein-Air Painting Workshop from different picturesque locations daily, teaching through a combination of demos, discussions, assistance and critiques.

Sessions will be broken into different morning and afternoon locations, with plenty of time in between for shopping, sightseeing or to dine al fresco for a leisurely lunch.

Scott will take the photographers on a daily walking tour through Cinque Terre, venturing into all of the nooks and crannies, hidden stairways and amazing vistas of this fabulous destination.

You will have the opportunity to experience these areas through your lens as Scott guides you to use your camera to define what you see while achieving your own artistic vision. As with the painters, there will be daily destinations with time allowances for exploring on your own.

This unique Workshop affords you the option to choose which aspect interests you, whether it is painting, photography or both. Thereby giving you an opportunity to make the most of your Tuscan experience.

 

So come join us as we take you on an inspirational exploration of Cinque Terre with an emphasis on observation and perception as we help you develop your own style – or just ride along to enjoy the Italian countryside, as artists and non-artists alike are welcome.

Space is limited to 12 participants on a first-come basis, so we encourage you to enroll as soon as possible. There will also be space open for non-participating partners at reduced rates on a limited basis. 

Work Shop includes:

•  Lodging for 7 nights in the beach town of Monterosso  (Pricing is for shared rooms)
• Breakfast throughout the trip
  
•  Train tickets in Cinque Terre
• Hiking Pass for the trails in Cinque Terre
• All transportation throughout the trip after arriving at the hotel, including side trips to Portofino
  
• Wine tasting in Cinque Terre
• Boat transportation in Cinque Terre
•  Emergency Medical insurance
•  Instruction, guidance, experience and fun

Your cost for all of this is $3,895 and to reserve a spot, simply send a completed application form (the forms will be provided by email upon request) along with your deposit of $1,500 per person by 4/26/25, after that date the prices goes to $4,495. There is also a final application cut off date of 5/10/25 for the workshop to make.

A second payment of one half of the remainder after deposit is due 6 weeks after the deposit, with a final payment due 12 weeks after the deposit. We can take credit card payments, however it will incur a 3.7% fee.

For those wanting a single occupancy room, there will be an additional cost of $900.  There has to be a minimum of 6 people for the workshop to make. If the 6 person minimum is not met by the  deadline, all money will be refunded.

There is a discount of $350 for partners wanting to accompany participants on the trip, but not take the workshop. We will also setup optional spa tours and food, wine or cooking classes where  available at an additional cost for participants not interested in the painting/photography sessions.

Airfare to the workshop is not included, you are responsible for your own travel arrangements. We will provide transportation once you arrive at the hotel in Cinque Terre.

We also suggest that you arrive a day or two early on the front end to get over jet lag in order to make the most of your Tuscany experience. We started doing that years ago and it has made a huge difference.

There is also the option of combining the Tuscany Foodie trek with this one, thereby making both our Italy Workshops into one fantastic two week Italian adventure. The cost for that would be $8,590 with a $2,500 deposit per person. You will also receive an extra night of hotel between the two treks, as well as train transportation to Cinque Terre.

Our trips, while not overly strenuous do require a reasonable amount of physical fitness. In order to derive the greatest experience from our destinations, we spend a fair amount of time walking within each location. Our goal being that each person should see and experience as much of the scenery and culture as possible during our excursions.

In the event of inclement weather during the trip, arrangements will be made for museum visits, etc. Once deposits are received, there will be no refunds for cancellations as trip arrangements will have been made. We suggest trip insurance for travel difficulties or unforeseen illness.

Please let us know if you have any questions or if we can help you in any way and we hope that you will be able to join us!

Scott Williams      214-289-8512         /         Niki Gulley     214-803-5812

                                                                  

Email Scott at,  [email protected]  if you are interested in joining us.