Guest can learn genuine Southern Tuscan dishes and the secrets passed down from grandmothers and grandfathers. All classes are hands-on and include local wine. The cooking course teaches the traditional Tuscan “Cucina Povera” (country cooking of the peasants). The course is taught in a rustic setting and the informality of the course makes it a recreational experience. A glass of wine is always within arms reach so you can relax and enjoy! These cooking classes are designed to take you through a classic Italian menu which includes: antipasti and “primi” (the first dish and also the first course) and then in the next class you will learn the “secondi and contorni” (the second dish with additional side dishes).
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival in Cortona and transfer to Bagno Vignoni. We will pick you up at 2 pm at the train station in Cortona and transfer you to Bagno Vignoni. After settling in, your hosts will show you around the residence and explain some of the history! Then you can either relax or take a walk around the enchanting hamlet that is surrounded with beautiful views of warm vineyards and olive groves. For dinner you will experience your first Tuscan meal prepared by the chef at the Loggiato enoteca (wine bar).
Day 2: Cooking course followed by wine-tasting in Montepulciano. Your day will begin at a leisurely pace soaking in the mysterious and fascinating Bagno Vignoni. The cooking course will take place between 10:30 am and 1:30 pm where you will learn some dishes that make up the first part of an Italian menu: antipasti and “primi piatti” (first courses). The course will culminate with lunch. Then you will go to Montepulciano to visit a wine cellar and partake in a wine-tasting.
Day 3: Cooking course followed by a visit to Borgo di Montichello. Early morning on your own terms with another cooking course from 10:30 am and 1:30 pm where you will learn dishes that make up the second half of an Italian menu: “contorni and primi piatti” (side and second courses). The course will culminate with lunch. Then you will go to the ancient hamlet of Montichello which is fantastic spot for taking photos. You will have dinner at the enoteca “La Porta” in Montichello.
Day 4: A day of wellness with spa treatments and massage. Today is the day you will fully immerse yourself into what it means to be pampered and actually what made Bagno Vignoni such an attractive destination in the first place. You will spend the day at the pool which has the natural healing waters. And there you will have the option to get Shiatsu massage, ayurvedic massage, reflexology and more. In the evening at 6:30 pm you will go to Siena and at 8 pm near Siena’s Piazza del Campo for dinner and experience this famous piazza at sunset and after dinner.
Day 5: Pienza. You will set off at 10 am for Pienza to go visit a “pecorino” (sheep) cheese-making factory and experience the extraordinarily charming town of Pienza. Pienza owes its beauty and fame to Enea Silvio Piccolomini born in Corsignano on 18 October 1405 and elevated to Pope in 1458 taking the name Pius II. During the course of his Papacy, he changed the ancient Castello di Corsignano (first mentioned in 828) into a Papal residence in the Renaissance style, planned and constructed under the supervision of Bernardo Gambarelli called il Rossellino, a student of Leon Battista Alberti, and renamed it Pienza ("Pius"). You will have lunch at about 1 pm in Pienza. After returning to Bagno Vignoni, you will begin your third cooking course at approximately 5:30 pm followed by dinner at 8 PM, all at the Loggiato wine enoteca-bar.
Day 6: Departure. Enjoy your final breakfast in Bagno Vignoni before heading back to Cortona.
Faculty Information:
The cooking course teaches the traditional Tuscan “Cucina Povera” (country cooking of the peasants).
Other Activities:
The tiny medieval hamlet of Bagno Vignoni is a 40 minute drive from Siena and about an hour from Florence, Arezzo, Orvieto and Perugia. Around this hamlet, Tuscan Way guests can relax by the thermal pools or bathe in the famous chalky waters, which are reputedly beneficial to bones and skin. The area has a number of famous spas with these magical healing waters - each noted for a different curative property - Bagni San Filippo and San Casciano dei Bagni are both within half an hour's drive.
A small spa (306m) of medieval origin, although it was already know in Roman times, the fascinating tiny village is clustered around a large pool closed on three sides by the town walls, one meter and a half tall with water that flows at 52°. Besides the thermal waters, the characteristic of Bagno Vigoni is its unchanged structure. All around there are some buildings realized by Bernardo Rossellino in Pope’s Pio II honor, and the open arcade where S. Caterina da Siena stopped. Behind Bagno Vignoni, immersed and hidden in the green of the hill there is the small village borgo Vignoni Alto in a position that dominates the entire Val d' Orcia and the Monte Amiata.
Facility Information:
There are six bedrooms, each with a distinctive feature - an ancient coat of arms brought to light during restoration, a canopied bed, or a breathtaking view of the village and its thermal pools. The rooms, which have been tastefully and romantically refurbished, are decorated in different colors, have their own bathrooms and are centrally heated and air conditioned.
Notes:
Prices shown are per person double occupancy rates. There is a $350 - $450 Single Occupancy Surcharge.
Price Includes:
- 5 nights in Bagno Vignoni at charming Loggiato B&B, near Pienza, in a picturesque Medievalhamlet. The inn is beautifully furnished with classic Tuscan furniture
- All meals as indicated in the itinerary
- Small groups: 4 to 12 people
- 3 hands-on cooking courses in “La Cucina Povera Toscana” – Tuscan country cooking (6-9 hours of instruction)
- Optional Spa treatments and Ayurvedic massage (60 EURO to be paid directly at Spa)
- Wine tastings in Montepulciano and La Loggiato Wine Bar in Bagno Vignoni
- 4 guided excursions to Siena, Montepulciano (famous for its Red wine “Vino Nobile di Montepulciano”), Pienza (famous for its perfect Renaissance architecture and “Peccorino” sheep cheese)
- All transportation (to and from Cortona).
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