Wine & Cooking Under the Tuscan & Umbrian Sun
Contact
Culture Discovery Vacations
Via Santa Maria, 12
01038 Soriano nel Cimino VT
Italy
Highlights
Our Italian Culinary, Cooking & Wine Vacations in Italy:
Amalfi Coast:
- Amalfi Coast Culinary Vacation – A hands-on experience filled with coastal flavors, seafood feasts, and traditional Italian cooking.
Tuscany & Umbria:
- Small Group Cooking Tour in Tuscany – Cook with locals, explore vineyards, and live like family.
- Chianti & Florence Wine & Cooking Experience – Immerse yourself in Tuscan wine country and traditional cooking.
Sicily:
- Sicily Food & Wine Tour – From street food in Palermo to wine tasting at ancient estates.
Northern Italy:
- Barolo & Roero Wine & Culinary Adventure – Truffle hunting, Michelin-starred dining, and wine cellar visits.
- Gourmet Food & Wine Tour of Bologna & Venice – Indulge in rich flavors, handmade pasta, and top-tier dining.
Featured Itinerary:
Wine & Cooking Under the Tuscan & Umbrian Sun
Discover our Immersive Small-Group Cooking Vacations in Italy.
- Live Like Family in an Italian Village: Live Like a Local in Italy – Stay in traditional homes in medieval Soriano, where you'll become part of the community, sharing morning cappuccino with locals and shopping at village markets.
- Four Hands-On Cooking Experiences:
- Two traditional 5-course Sunday family meals
- Wood-fired pizza making in our 500-year-old oven
- Fresh Pecorino & Ricotta cheese making with a local shepherd
- Grappa-Making on our Villa Cellar
- Take home our cherished family recipes
- Exclusive Wine & Food Adventures:
- Visit "the most beautiful wine cellar in the world" in Montepulciano
- Private Brunello Wine & Cooking Experience in Tuscany at a tiny family estate
- Private lunch at an artisanal olive mill & winery
- Dine with a duchess in her medieval castle
- True Farm-to-Table Living:
- Cook with vegetables from our villa garden
- Use olive oil from our own trees
- Make cheese from local sheep's milk
- Learn traditional recipes using ingredients sourced directly from neighboring farms
- Off-the-Beaten-Path Treasures:
- Try your hand at centuries-old pottery making in Deruta
- Explore the mystical Monster Park of Bomarzo
- Visit Viterbo's medieval papal quarter
- Discover hidden corners of Tuscany and Umbria
- Intimate Group Experience:
- Maximum of 18 guests
- Personal attention from local hosts
- Make lifelong friendships
- Become part of our Italian family
More Ways to Experience Italy With Us
While Tuscany and Umbria hold a special place in our hearts, you might be dreaming of a different Italian destination. We bring our signature family-style hospitality to Chianti, the Amalfi Coast, Bologna, Barolo (Piedmont), Sicily, and more. Each location offers the same intimate group size, hands-on cooking, deep sense of family, and local immersion that make our experiences unique. Explore Our Small-Group Cooking Vacations in Italy.
Book Your Culinary Adventure
Spaces fill up quickly! View Dates & Prices for Our Tours and reserve your spot today.
Description
Welcome to our Italian family – where lifelong friendships begin around the kitchen table. Since 2006, we've been opening our hearts and homes in Soriano nel Cimino (right at the border of Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio), inviting small groups to experience the true soul of Italian living. This isn't just a cooking vacation in Italy; it's a week of becoming part of our extended family in the heart of Tuscany, Umbria, and Alto Lazio.
In our intimate group of just 14 to 18 guests, you'll share laughter and stories while making pasta in our 18th-century villa kitchen, learn family recipes passed down through generations, and join in the joyful chaos of traditional Italian Sunday meals. Each day brings new connections – making pizza with local families in their homes, sharing morning cappuccino with villagers who quickly become friends, and celebrating life as Italians do – around tables filled with food, wine, and warm conversation.
Your days unfold like chapters in a cherished family story. Join our friend the local shepherd to make fresh ricotta, visit family-run wineries where owners welcome you like old friends, and gather around our wood-fired oven for a pizza night that feels like a family reunion. Every meal is a celebration, every glass of wine comes with a story, and every experience is authentic – from cooking with vegetables from our garden to dining in the home of a duchess.
This is how our tours outshine Tauck & A&K – you travel not as a tourist, but as part of the family. Whether you're learning secret family recipes, sharing stories over home-distilled grappa in our cellar, or joining impromptu dinner parties with neighbors, you'll discover the heart of Italian living through the bonds of friendship and family that make this experience truly unforgettable.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Welcome to Soriano nel Cimino – Arrive via our shuttle from Rome FCO Airport or Orte Train Station. Settle into your village home in medieval Soriano. Evening welcome aperitivo in the main piazza, followed by local street food tasting of Soriano's famous porchetta. Visit the majestic 11th-century castle before dining in ancient caves at Rotezzia restaurant beneath the village.
Day 2: First Cooking Class & Orvieto – Begin with traditional breakfast at Bar Roma in the village piazza. Full morning cooking class at our 18th-century Villa Eddarella, preparing a complete 5-course Sunday family meal. Special cheese-making experience with local shepherd Antonio. Afternoon visit to Umbria's breathtaking Orvieto, with its magnificent golden-facade cathedral. Evening dinner at local favorite Tre Scalini Trattoria.
Day 3: Tuscan Wine & Cheese Experience – Journey to picturesque Pienza for world-famousPecorino cheese tasting. Continue to Montepulciano for lunch in the vineyards with our friends Enrico and Antonella. Visit their Cantina DeRicci, widely considered the world's most beautiful wine cellar. Evening dinner in a lovely Trattoria in Soriano.
Day 4: Second Cooking Class & Medieval Viterbo – Morning hands-on cooking class at Villa Eddarella, crafting regional specialties. Experience traditional grappa distilling in our cellar, tasting our house-made liqueurs. Evening exploration of Viterbo, the "City of Popes," including its perfectly preserved medieval quarter, San Pellegrino. Visit the historic Gran Caffè Schenardi (est. 1818) and the Papal Palace. Special dinner in Katia's private family taverna.
More Ways to Experience Italy With Us
While Tuscany and Umbria hold a special place in our hearts, you might be dreaming of a different Italian destination. We bring our signature family-style hospitality to Chianti, the Amalfi Coast, Bologna, Barolo (Piedmont), Sicily, and more. Each location offers the same intimate group size, hands-on cooking, deep sense of family, and local immersion that make our experiences unique. Explore Our Small-Group Cooking Vacations.
Book Your Culinary Adventure
Don't wait—our tours sell out months in advance! Secure Your Spot on Our Next Italian Culinary Adventure before it’s too late.
Special services
What Makes Us Different
We're not a traditional tour company - we're your Italian family waiting to welcome you home, and that is what brings so many of our guests back over and over.
From the moment you arrive, you'll discover an experience that breaks all the rules of traditional travel:
- Family, Not Tourists - We don't have "guides" - we have hosts who become your Italian family. They don't walk ahead with a flag; they sit beside you at dinner, share stories over wine, and treat you like a long-lost relative coming home. Want to help stir the sauce or set the table? Jump right in - that's what family does!
- True All-Inclusive Philosophy - When you visit family, they don't charge you "extra" for dessert or keep track of how many glasses of wine you drink. Everything is included because that's how family works. The wine rack is yours to explore, the kitchen is open to all, and there's always room for seconds (or thirds).
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A New Way of "Service" - Forget traditional customer service - this is family service. Need more wine? You know where the bottles are - grab one for everyone! Want to help wash dishes or serve lunch? Come on over! This isn't about being waited on; it's about being part of a household where everyone pitches in and shares the joy of Italian living. Of course, if you don;t want to, nobody will force you to do the dishes!
- Living Like Locals, Not Looking Like Tourists - You're not following a tour guide's umbrella - you're shopping at the market with your Italian "cousin," learning family recipes passed down through generations, and becoming part of village life. Our neighbors become your friends, our home becomes your home, and our traditions become your traditions.
This isn't a vacation - it's coming home to the Italian family you never knew you had. If you're looking for white-glove service and formal guides, we're not for you. But if you want to experience the real soul of Italy through the eyes of family, pull up a chair. There's always room at our table.
What's included
True All-Inclusive Culinary Travel—Because You’re Family, Not Just a Client
- 7 nights accommodation in traditional village homes
- 4 hands-on cooking classes, including:
- Two traditional 5-course Sunday family-style meals
- Wood-fired pizza making class
- Fresh cheese-making experience with local shepherd
All meals with wine included:
- Traditional Italian breakfasts in the village piazza
- Family-style lunches and dinners
- Dining experiences in local homes
- Vineyard lunches in Tuscany
Unique Experiences:
- Private winery tours and tastings in Montalcino, Montepulciano, and Castiglione
- Olive oil mill visit with tasting & lunch
- Hands-on ceramics experience at family-run Deruta ceramics factory
- Private castle tour with the resident Duchess
- Visit with the owners of to "the most beautiful wine cellar in the world"
Local Transportation:
- Transfers to and from Rome FCO Airport (Scheduled Times)
- All ground transportation during the week
- Transfers to/from all activities and excursions
- Comfortable air-conditioned vehicles
Authentic Cultural & Culinary Experiences in Italy:
- Local hands-on cooking classes
- Ricotta & Pecorino Cheesemaking
- Visit to local dairy farm
- Visits to Assisi, Orvieto, Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Deruta, Viterbo & more
- Monster Park of Bomarzo
- Local village integration activities
- Shopping at local markets
Take-Home Items:
- Bottle of homemade Limoncello cream
- Recipe collection
- CDV apron
- Special Gift
Additional Services
- Full-time host
- Small group size (maximum 18 guests)
- All entrance fees and local taxes
What's not included
- Airfare
- Personal Expenses
- Transportation outside scheduled airport transfers and itinerary.
- Travel Insurance
Duration
8 Days / 7 Nights
Location
Service type
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