YOUR FEE-ONLY ITALY TRAVEL CONSULTANT
Milan-based, no commissions

Hi, I’m Vanya. If you’ve found your way here, chances are Italy has been on your mind for a while, and you want more than what everyone else gets. I’m a fee-only Italy travel consultant and long-time hospitality professional, specialising in family and adults-only trips, and Italy has been my home since 2010. Back then, I worked for an international hotel chain opening a new location in Milan. I was transferred here for what was supposed to be just a month, but I never took that plane back. Instead, I made Milan my permanent home.

For many years I had a simple idea for Design Your Italy, but I did not have the courage to leave my comfort zone. That changed in 2018 when my daughter was born. I wanted a better balance between my private and working life. In 2019 I founded this company, driven by a genuine eagerness to plan Italy trips that actually work, built around the people taking them, not around a standard itinerary.

My expertise has since been recognised beyond Italy. I have shared my insights as a contributing expert for Forbes Bulgaria, analysing the resilience of Italian tourism, and have appeared as a guest on RTL 102.5, Italy’s most listened-to radio station, with over 9 million listeners. I also share my Italy knowledge on my YouTube channel, where I talk honestly about planning Italy trips that go beyond the obvious.

I believe any trip is personal.

Over fifteen years I have built a network of people I genuinely trust across the country. Hotel general managers, private guides, drivers, people who know their corner of Italy better than anyone. This is not a contacts list. These are people I trust and call. I speak to suppliers directly, in Italian, meet them in person, and travel through Italy constantly. That is not something you can do remotely. That is how I know what I am recommending and why.

They are what allow me to arrange a private after-hours viewing of The Last Supper, a cooking class with a Nonna on the island of Salina, or tickets to a rugby match in Rome that most visitors would never find. I do not promise the impossible, but I know who to call when it matters.

I am also a mum to two wonderful kids, Martina and Edoardo, and our dog Evey. We explore Italy together constantly, Evey included. She has been on the ski slopes of Trentino and underground in Orvieto. This is not just professional knowledge. It is what I do with my own family, which is why I understand what planning Italy for a family or an adults-only trip actually means in practice.

I know that feeling when you want to experience Italy in a way that feels personal, not like something that could have been planned for anyone. That is exactly why I started Design Your Italy. I use what I know and who I know to plan something that fits you specifically. As a fee-only Italy travel consultant, nothing comes to me from hotels, guides or suppliers. My only interest is your trip. That is a significant difference. I work for you, not for supplier incentives.

See how that works in practice.