About Us

We create intimate tours, leading you deep into the fabric of a culture through its history, food, art, wine and personal contact with its people. Our connections abroad have been made through years of personal travel; living, working and studying internationally; and, most significantly, through making friends with talented chefs, musicians, academics and artists, Resistance fighters, villa owners and families who are waiting to open their doors to those who are curious enough to knock.

We take you far beyond the limits of the guidebook, travel agent and ordinary tour company. Farfalla Travels leads you to discover the most beautiful and nurturing hidden secrets of the world. You will most likely find that the “unknown” was actually known…. it was just waiting for you to show up.

Each trip is designed with a unique focus in mind so that your time abroad is spent richly and creatively. We want you to be transformed by the cultural, intellectual, and gastronomic discoveries that you will make. And even more, we want you to enjoy and relax, to be transported by your destination and to bask in its sweet life so that when you return home you will take your journey with you.

Farfalla Travels was founded by Elana Horwich upon request from her friends and colleagues who wanted a taste of her passion for Italy. It started with a yoga retreat in Tuscany in 2004 and where it will end we do not know. Elana will accompany you on your trips, using her knowledge of world cultures, love of good food, and zest for life and languages to enrich the experience of your journey.

Elana has lived in Italy on and off for ten years and has also spent a considerable amount of time organizing community health projects in Latin America. She has a BA from Brown University and an MA from Middlebury College in Florence, both in Italian Studies with a focus on Jewish Italian history and culture. Elana has travelled to Israel and Northern Italy as an oral historian for the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation, the latter which led to the formation of the Jewish Heritage Trip to Piemonte. In addition, Elana is a certified in the art of Thai Massage, which on certain trips (i.e.yoga retreats) tends to come in pleasantly handy.