Cookery in Umbria – Traditions of Umbrian Cuisine
5 night holiday featuring cookery in Italy with hands-on classes at the Villa di Monte Solare near Perugia plus wine-tasting, visits to local vineyards and the historic city of Perugia. During your stay dinner with wine is included, you enjoy a concert of classical Italian harp music and you can join a guided walk to discover the homeland of the painter Perugino. This holiday operates with a total of 8 people.
About the cookery
The cookery classes are held at Villa di Monte Solare and are taken by the English-speaking chef, Nicola Fanfano, who cooks using mainly organic produce. The classes are hands-on with each of the 8 participants having their own work station. The emphasis is on explaining and instructing you in traditional cooking methods and regional dishes. Each of the three courses lasts approximately three hours and is followed by a meal together. You are provided with a recipe booklet.
Where you stay
The Villa di Monte Solare, a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, is in the countryside near the village of Tavernelle di Panicale and a few miles south of Lake Trasimeno. Surrounded by undulating hills, woods, fields and olive groves, the Villa was the residence of a noble family and dates back to the 18th Century. Today it focuses very much on cookery in Italy as a small hotel of just 25 rooms, it's family-run and combines a charm and cosiness with high standards of service and comfort. Antique and traditional local furniture complete the picture of terracotta floors, murals and original fireplaces.
Facilities at the hotel include two swimming pools for summer use, clay tennis court, spa and cycle hire. The hotel is about 2 hours’ drive from Rome Fiumicino airport.
All rooms have bath or shower and WC, air-conditioning, heating, telephone, wi-fi internet access, in-room entertainment system with satellite TV, mini-bar and safe.
We include a classic double in our basic price but superior rooms and suites are also available at a supplement.
Day by day itinerary
Day One: Depart from London Heathrow on the British Airways flight at 09.10 arriving in Rome Fiumicino at 12.40. You are met by your English-speaking driver from the Villa di Monte Solare who takes you to the hotel in their luxury Mercedes Sprinter deluxe minibus. The journey time is about two hours. If you want to travel by another airline, or on a different flight or meet at the hotel, we can adjust the details and the price for you. Once you have checked in, there is time to explore the villa and its grounds, perhaps enjoying a sandwich or tea and cakes before your invitation to join a guided tour at 6.30 taking you through the history of Villa di Monte Solare and its gardens. This is followed by an appetiser with the family who own the villa and then at 7.30 you enjoy a seasonal gourmet dinner, with selected wines to accompany each course.
Day Two: After breakfast your first cookery class starts at 10 am. This three hour session is hands-on and provides an insight into the preparation of regional dishes as well as traditional cooking methods. At the end of the session, you share a meal together. In the early afternoon there is an excursion to the Castle of Monte Vibiano, where you visit ecological vineyards and the winery on board electric vehicles. You enjoy a wine tasting and an olive oil tasting at the local Green Wine Bar before returning to the hotel for an A la Carte dinner with wine included.
Day Three: This morning after breakfast you head out in the Mercedes minibus for an excursion to the famous wine town of Torgiano and a visit of the Lungarotti Wine Museum, one of the best in the world. There is also an olive oil museum to visit. You enjoy a wine tasting and snacks at the Osteria del Museo before continuing to Assisi, birthplace of St Francis, World Heritage Site and a symbol of peace. Later there is dinner with wine included back at the hotel and then a classical music concert “The magic of Italian harp music: from Paradisi to Ennio Moricone”.
Day Four: Your second cookery class starts after breakfast this morning at 10 am. Once again it is hands-on and will focus on yet more aspects of regional dishes and traditional Italian methods of cooking. A meal together follows the course before you are taken in the early afternoon to the famous chocolate factory of Perugina and then into Perugia, the historical capital city of Umbria for time to explore. Dinner with wine is once again at the hotel in the evening.
Day Five: The third cookery course starts again after breakfast at 10 am. Hands-on and three hours of instruction into local dishes. At the end you celebrate with the chef, have lunch together and you are presented with a recipe booklet. The afternoon is at leisure: enjoy a guided walk to discover the local countryside, home to Perugino, relax at the hotel’s spa and enjoy a massage or beauty treatment or arrange for a taxi to take you out and about nearby for shopping or sightseeing. In the evening enjoy a final dinner and ‘arrivederci’ toast at the hotel.
Day Six: A leisurely breakfast and then some free time before a departure about midday in your luxury Mercedes minibus for the journey of about two hours back to Rome Fiumicino airport for your flight which departs at 17.15, arriving in London Heathrow at 19.00 hrs.
Dates and prices
The holiday operates in 2012 on the following dates:
April 24
May 8, 22
June 5, 19
July 10, 24
September 4, 18
October 2
Price per person:
£1870 in March, April, May, October
£1970 from June to September
Supplements per person:
£90 for a superior double room
£205 for a suite
£140 for single occupancy of a double room
Reduction per person per stay:
£175 for not participating in the cookery course but still joining in with the group lunches
Deposit payment required:
£250 per person
What’s included:
• Flights in Euro Traveller with British Airways London Heathrow to Rome return
• Transport by luxury Mercedes mini-bus from Rome airport to the hotel and back
• Five nights in a double room with buffet breakfast
• Five dinners with wine included
• Three cookery classes each of 3 hours’ duration
• One full day excursion and two half day excursions as described above, with entrance fees and wine tastings included
Prices are based on two people sharing a double or twin room and are based on 8 people taking part. If there are fewer than 8 participating, the price may be increased.
Alternative travel arrangements
If you want us to arrange flights on other dates allowing you more time in Italy before and/or after the course, if you want to fly into and out of a different airport or fly at different times to the ones suggested, if you want the use of a hire-car for your holiday or if you want to travel out and back by train instead of flying, all this is possible. Just discuss your travel plans with us and we will adjust the details and the price accordingly.
Important information
This holiday is based on 8 people participating. Flight times are subject to alteration and are confirmed at the time of booking. We reserve the right to consolidate departure dates if there are insufficient numbers for any of the departure dates. Our booking conditions apply to this holiday.