Hands-On Cooking Classes and Culinary Tours in Italy’s Umbria Region

Italy’s central Umbria region touches neither a sea nor another country’s borders, saving many of its Old-World traditions from outside influence. You can taste these authentic flavors on this 7-day culinary tour from Epitourean, which includes three hands-on cooking classes and visits to local wineries and chocolate factories. For the duration of your trip, you’ll stay in Monte Castello di Vibio, one of Umbria’s many picturesque medieval towns. See the full itinerary here. This tour includes:

• 6 nights of accommodations at Relais il Castello in Monte Castello di Vibio
• All meals including wine
• English-speaking tour coordinator
• Three cooking classes at Relais il Castello
• Round-trip transfer from the Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO) in Rome
• Return transfers to Deruta, Perugia, Assisi, and Florence
• Chocolate-factory tour
• Lunch in a “prosciutteria” in Florence
• Entrance fee to Concordia Theatre, known as the smallest in the world
• Granarium tour
• Olive-mill visit with lunch
• Wine-tasting tour
• Visit to a luxury outlet mall
• One one-hour yoga session
• Cooking certificate

Culinary Classes and Trips

Hands-on cooking classes: Guided by a gourmet chef, you’ll learn to make classic Italian and Umbrian dishes. You’ll make each dish yourself, and a sommelier will offer wine pairings to bring out your meal’s flavors. Afterward, you’ll sit down with the entire class to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

• Ravioli and Umbrian soufflé class: This three-course menu includes pasta all’uovo (housemade egg noodles) stuffed with local mushrooms and cheese, potatoes soufflé, and a simple dessert fashioned from chocolate and biscotti.
• Gnocchi-and-parmigiana class: Next, you’ll learn to make classic potato gnocchi with eggplant, cheese, and fresh tomato sauce. Finish this meal with torta della nonna, or grandmother’s cake, a sweet, creamy cheese tart.
• Umbrian pasta and panna cotta class: In your final class, pork sausage adds a kick of flavor to the pasta alla norcina’s light cream sauce and orecchiette pasta. A thinly sliced veal escalope and indulgent panna cotta follow.

Culinary tours: Foodies will have the chance to taste many products while learning how these Italian delicacies are made.

• Chocolate-factory tour: Visit the Perugina Casa del Cioccolato in Perugia, which CNN named as one of the top five destinations for chocolate lovers. Watch factory workers produce the tasty morsels, visit the onsite museum, and taste some of its most popular chocolates.
• Granarium tour: See how a farmer turns grain into breads, seasonal sweets, cakes, and other local delicacies.
• Wine-tasting tour: Monte Vibiano Winery is home to a castle, the oldest walls of which predate Christianity by two centuries. Taste its wines in the cellar, where the sangiovese, colli perugini, and grappa are kept.
• Olive-mill tour: Learn about different olive oils with a tasting and enjoy a light lunch of bruschetta and rice salad or soup.

City Tours and Hotel

Florence day trip: Explore this historical art hub on your own or with a guide (additional fees apply); you may want to reserve tickets to certain attractions in advance. Among the city’s many draws are Michelangelo’s David at the Galleria dell’Accademia and the Uffizi Gallery, home to Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and works by Caravaggio and da Vinci. Have lunch with the tour group at a traditional prosciutteria to taste fresh prosciutto, salami, and cheese. Before heading back to the hotel, you’ll stop at a luxury outlet shopping center.

Assisi afternoon excursion: Amid this city’s medieval streets is the 13th-century Basilica di San Francesco, where you’ll see sacred relics of Saint Francis of Assisi and ornate frescoes that tell his life’s story. At night, return to the hotel for a three-course meal made with local ingredients and paired with local wines.

Stay in a medieval village: You’ll spend all 6 nights at Relais il Castello, a hotel in the charming village of Monte Castello di Vibio. Here, you can enjoy a relaxing body scrub, massage, and sauna session in the spa and head to the onsite restaurant for an upscale snack. Your rustic room overlooks the village, where narrow cobblestone streets wind between picturesque stone buildings.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. From what airport does the deal depart? Airfare is not included in this deal.

2. Can we extend our trip before or after the promotional dates for the deal? Yes. Epitourean can arrange for lodging in Rome either before or after the main tour, plus any day excursions requested.

3. How do I find out if the dates I want to travel are available? Groupon customer should call 800-390-3292 or email customerservice@epitourean.com to inquire about desired dates. Customer should be a little flexible in choosing their dates. Epitourean will do everything possible to accommodate the requested dates, but we also run this tour virtually every week throughout the year.

4. Does my child need a Groupon, and can they stay in my room? This package is sold on a per person basis regardless of age. Due to the nature of the cooking class focus of these tours, we do not recommend kids under the age of 10. But kids pay the same price as adults in this particular package.

5. What happens if I buy the Groupon and my travel dates are not available? If the dates requested by the customer are not available, they can request flexible dates so that they can use their voucher for a future date (where we honor the discounted price and pre-paid status), or they can request a refund through Groupon, as long as it is within the Groupon refund period.

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