Have you seen those photos of tiny Italian villages where people are laughing, eating, and living like time has slowed down — and wondered how to find that for yourself? Today’s guest has the answer. Elizabeth Heath left Florida, moved to a hilltop village of 200 people in Umbria, and built a life so rich that she now invites small groups to live it alongside her. In this episode, Elizabeth walks us through what authentic Italian immersion actually looks like — truffle hunts, olive harvests, cooking in a grandmother’s kitchen, and going-away dinners that end in tears.
Elizabeth founded Villaggio Tours with a mission to connect travelers with the authentic rhythms of rural Italian life — the harvests, the feasts, the folklore, and the families. She lives in Allerona, Umbria with her husband Paolo, a traditional stone mason, in a restored 13th-century home that now serves as Six Keys Guest House, the home base for all her tours.
Guest Bio
Elizabeth Heath is the founder of Villaggio Tours and co-owner of Six Keys Guest House in Allerona, a medieval hill town of roughly 200 residents in Umbria, Italy. Originally from Florida, Elizabeth came to Italy to pursue a PhD in anthropology and archeology, fell in love with the land and the people — including her husband Paolo, born and raised in Allerona — and never left. After 15+ years immersed in rural Italian life, she now leads intimate small-group tours that weave together food, harvest traditions, history, and genuine human connection. Her tours include cooking classes in a real Italian grandmother’s kitchen, truffle hunts on private reserves, olive and grape harvests, visits to a 17th-century noble family’s palazzo, and day trips to some of Umbria’s most dramatic and lesser-known sites. When guests leave crying, she knows she’s done her job.
Host Bio
Karen Cleveland is the creator and host of Travel That Touches Your Soul. She is a safari host, spiritual teacher, and animal communicator devoted to helping people reconnect with what matters most through meaningful travel. Her work centers on connection with animals, land, culture, and inner truth, and the quiet inner knowing that says, this is the kind of life I came here to live.
Episode Topics and Timestamps
Those Italian village photos — and how to actually live that experience
Welcome and introduction — Karen introduces Elizabeth Heath and Villaggio Tours
From Florida to Umbria — archeological digs, a summer in Orvieto, and meeting Paolo
Life in Allerona — a medieval hill town of 200 inside a curtain wall from the 1100s (02:27)
Why field archeology is a young person’s game — and how Elizabeth still shares her passion
The going-away dinner — family, friends, food, and why guests cry when they leave
Paolo, the family, and the difference between performing Italian culture and living it
Harvesting grapes with a friend — and how everything begins and ends with food
Olive oil from tree to mill to table — and what an olive oil tasting actually teaches you
The first Villaggio Tours group — launched with one Facebook post in 2023
Truffle hunting on a private reserve with trained dogs at dawn
The cooking class — fresh pasta, ravioli, and lunch with wine in a grandmother’s kitchen
Six Keys Guest House — the 13th-century home Paolo restored stone by stone
Dining in a nobleman’s palazzo that’s been in the same family since the 1600s
The ethnobotanical hike — edible plants, abandoned farmhouses, and ruins on a Vatican map
Civita di Bagnoregio — the dying city with a population of five
One-day cooking class options for travelers already in the Orvieto area
Upcoming tours — April springtime, May folk festival, September island + countryside, fall harvest, Venice
Where to find Villaggio Tours and Six Keys Guest House
Villaggio Tours
Six Keys Guest House
https://www.sixkeysumbria.com
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