7 Day Tuscany Villa Cooking Vacations in Florence, Italy
Italian Culinary Holiday
The Italian cooking courses at the Villa in Tuscany invite you to explore Italian cuisine under the guidance of a professional and creative chef while enjoying a relaxing holiday in the Tuscan hills just outside Florence. The cooking lessons can be taught in English and Italian. These Italian cooking courses at the villa give you a good insight into the Italian and Tuscan cuisine as well as a great opportunity to combine a relaxing holiday in a nice resort area with a park, a panoramic terrace, and a swimming pool, and visits to the beautiful city of Florence.
Highlights
- 5 cooking lessons
- Full course menu preparation
- Traditional Italian and Tuscan recipes
- Certificate given after course completion
- 6 breakfasts, 5 dinners or lunches
- 6 nights luxury accommodation
Pisa International Airport (Galileo Galilei Airport) (US$ 170 per person)
Florence Airport, Peretola (Amerigo Vespucci Airport) (US$ 62 per person)
Accommodation
During this holiday, you will be accommodated in a beautiful villa on the hills of Florence. Surrounded by centuries-old woods, the villa offers its guests a harmonious experience of elegance and peaceful rest. It is an ideal place to stay for those looking for relaxed and warm Tuscan hospitality, only a few minutes away from the center of Florence. It is doubtlessly one of the most enviable positions in Florence.
The villa's atmosphere created by the antique furniture and beautiful frescoes which have been completely restored to their original colors will wrap you in the beauty of its warm walls. All interiors are decorated with a soft elegance and extreme care for details. Its 32 rooms are all equipped with the modern comforts one would expect in a world-class hotel in Florence. Peaceful, elegant, and exquisitely decorated, the villa offers a breathtaking view of Florence, which lies only three kilometers away from it.
The villa also offers extensive gardens, a refreshing swimming pool, a unique panoramic terrace overlooking the city of Florence, and a convenient parking lot. The villa has 32 large and comfortable bedrooms equipped with the most modern conveniences. You can choose between different room types, some have marvelous frescoed ceilings, others have a great view over Florence, and others have a private terrace or patio over the internal courtyard. Four are the Junior Suites, to grant you the maximum comfort and relaxation.
Program
Cooking for all seasons
This cooking course at the villa gives you a good insight into Italian and Tuscan cuisine as well as a great opportunity to combine a relaxing holiday in a nice resort area. The cooking course program varies with the season and always covers the whole menu from antipasti (starters) to dolci (desserts).
Come in summer when a soft wind refreshes the air on the hill; when the sun lazily caresses the tips of the pine trees and the crickets celebrate the warm season with their anthem. Come and learn to make refreshing salads, a great range of starters, and delicious desserts.
Come in autumn/winter when the fog rises mysteriously in the early morning from the valley and comes up the hill, revealing Florence with the Dome's cupola in the distance. These are good days to prepare some of the warm Tuscan soups that keep your heart and stomach cozy and warm.
Come in spring when all nature wakes up and rejoices; when its fragrance emanates from the flowers and flourishing trees in the gardens. Prepare and eat on the terrace, first courses of pasta (lasagne, carbonara, trenette al pesto), and the huge variety of vegetables and legumes, not to mention the local meat (the Florentine steak). If you are vegetarian, you will find a great variety of choices and you will be taught only vegetarian dishes.
Course outline
- Each session lasts three hours, either in the morning (10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.) or in the afternoon (3:30 - 6:30 p.m.).
- Each lesson ends up with all the participants, having lunch/dinner on the dishes they have prepared.
- The course is organized for small groups of a maximum of 4 participants.
- The course will be taught in English and Italian.
- The course can be attended from a minimum of one week to a maximum of 4 weeks.
- All students will receive a certificate of participation.
Galilei Institute encourages participants to tell them in advance which Italian dishes they would like to learn and prepare so that Galilei Institute can satisfy some of their personal expectations and tastes.
Please have a look at some of the dishes that compose the course program at the villa.
Location
The villa is located in the heart of Tuscany, on one of the hills overlooking Florence, giving you a magnificent view of the city. Situated in an oasis of green a 20-minute ride (bus) from downtown Florence and the old historical center, this is a perfect place to live some very special moments taking a rest from the daily routine, and learning the Italian cuisine.
Florence is also the perfect city for studying Italian. Among the varied and important reasons is the purity of the Italian language spoken here, Florence's extraordinary cultural past, the great number of museums and monuments, Florence's central location which allows easy travel (one or two hours) to cities like Siena, Pisa, Venice, and Rome.
Food
Italian cuisine sample menu
Antipasti (Starters)
- Sformatini di ricotta con salsa, crostino al tartufo e crostone al fagiano marinato
- Bruschetta agliata al pomodoro
- Carpaccio di pesce spada
- Crostini misti della casa in terrine
- Crostone al lardo di colonnata
- Antipasto toscano: prosciutto, sbriciolona, lardo di colonnata e crostini al pat di fegato
- Gamberoni al forno con erbette, pecorino con salsa di noci, fagioli con caviale e brioche con burro di tartufi
Primi piatti (First courses)
- "Gnudi " al sugo di piccione o al burro e salvia
- Gnocchi rossi alle code di gamberi
- Malfatti ai freschi sapori dell'orto con dadini di pomodoro fresco
- Orecchiette zucchine pinoli e noci orecchiette
- Risotto con verdure, funghi e taleggio
- T*agliatelle speck ed asparagi
- Tortelli del "Mugello" al sugo di anatra
- Spaghetti al pomodoro
Secondi piatti (Main courses)
- Bistecca alla fiorentina
- Tagliata di bistecca su rucola oppure con grana
- Bocconcini di pollo al vino bianco e mandorle
- Bistecchina di maiale alla griglia farcita
- Anatra
- Entrecote al chianti e pepe rosa
- Fagottino vegetariano
- Filetto di manzo alla griglia, al pepe verde o alla voronoff
- Piccione nostrano alla griglia
- Straccetti di vitella
- Baccal
- Carpaccio di manzo del chianti
- Gran piatto di ricciola affumicata
Contorni (Garniture)
- Bietola all'agro con limone o saltata
- Ceci o fagioli all'olio
- Cipolline e carotine novelle aromatizzate
- Gran fritto di verdure
- Insalata verde
- Insalata mista
- Patate fritte
- Sformatino di spinaci al formaggio fuso
Dolci (Desserts)
- Cheese cake
- Tiramisu
- Semifreddo al limone
- Sfogliatina alla mela o pera e cioccolata fusa
- Bab al rum
- Cantuccini di prato con vinsanto
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
Things to do (optional)
Optional tours
- Explore the beauty of Italy
Each excursion takes place every day. This private tour program to the most notable and beautiful sites in Tuscany and Italy represents a natural continuation of the art history course outside Florence. It can also be considered just as a program of excursions by itself.
This program of excursions is recommended for everyone who wishes to enjoy scenery while gaining a more complete view of Italian historical beauties. Depending on the distance from Florence, some excursions last half-day (4 hours) while others require a full day (7 hours).
- Guided visits
This is a program of Florence where you will have guided tours and visits to the main museums, churches, and palaces of the city. The visits and guided tours can either be followed in the morning or in the afternoon and are recommended for anyone who is seeking stimulating and less standard information on the greatness of the Renaissance period.
Among the places you can visit are The Accademia Gallery, Uffizi Gallery, Bargello, The National Museum, and the Pitti Palace and Boboli garden. Among the churches are Santa Croce, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella, San Miniato al Monte, or The Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore. You can participate in one or more of these visits.
- Wine tasting tours in Tuscany
Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico, and the Sangiovese wines are some of the most famous Italian wines. If you are planning a trip to Florence or Tuscany, you should take the opportunity to taste them directly in the area of their origin taking one of our Italian wine tasting tours.
A unique experience, which will make you appreciate even more the world-famous wines of the Chianti and Montalcino area and reveal you the secrets of the winemaking process. The knowledgeable guides will make the most complex wine issues interesting, easy to understand, and fun.
Together with their partner, they propose three different itineraries for wonderful wine tasting tours in Italy, all held in English and Italian. If you prefer to have a wine tasting tour in another language, please let them know so that they can provide you with a personal translator who will accompany you on the tour.
The wine tasting tours, starting from Florence, are conducted in comfortable mini buses. Riding along some of the most suggestive roads, these day trips will make you discover the Tuscan countryside, one of the most beautiful regions of Italy. You will visit different vineyards that will give you a great flavor of the area.
In some of the best wineries, you will meet personally with the farmers or winemakers, who will show you around. You will live some unforgettable moments of fun and excellent wines! Like all programs, these tours are proposed for small groups of a minimum of 2 persons. Such self-formed groups can do the wine tasting tours without having to be enrolled in one of our courses.
What's included
- Cooking course
- 6 nights accommodation with breakfast at the villa
- Dinners or lunches included in the course
- Ingredients for cooking
- Books and notebooks
- Enrollment fee
What's not included
- Airport transfer
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Pisa International Airport (Galileo Galilei Airport)
70 km
Transfer available for additional US$ 170 per person
Florence Airport, Peretola (Amerigo Vespucci Airport)
5 km
Transfer available for additional US$ 62 per person
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 10% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
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