Culinary & Wine Tours featuring Master chef Maria Luisa Scolastra

Join us for a spectacular 8 days savoring the great tastes of Umbrian cuisine and wine. Featuring 3 lessons with Maria Luisa Scolastra of Villa Roncalli

June 3-11, 2023: Discover the Flavor of Umbria

November 4-12, 2023: Including Olive Harvest

Flavors of Umbria: This is your chance to fulfill that dream of learning from a master chef, indulging in exquisite Umbrian cuisine, and sampling our justifiably famous wines. Discover the flavors of Umbria at extraordinary restaurants, cantinas, local farms, and markets.

The heart of our 8-day adventure will be three six-hour (plus) lessons with the amazing Maria Luisa Scolastra in her kitchen at Villa Roncalli. Discover the art of Italian broths, soups, and sauces; master a variety of fresh pastas and gnocchi; learn how to build an Italian feast from antipasti to bread to primi to dolce, and so much more. Without a doubt the best food you’ll experience in Umbria. In addition delicious meals out will fill the week. Meet artisanal producers, visit an organic farm, go on a truffle hunt*, watch cheese being made*, see prosciutto and sausage preparation, tour spectacular hill towns, enjoy fantastic meals, wine tastings, and much more.

Olive Harvest 2020: In addition, our October culinary tour will include a day in the orto collecting olives and enjoying an Umbrian cookout. Then we will go and see the entire process of pressing the oil, culminating in tasting the freshest oil you’ve ever imagined.

Beautiful accommodations in a restored 17th-century palazzo in the heart of Umbria.

In addition to offering small private tours for as few as four people whenever you like, each year aWeekinUmbriaCooks offers 3 all out spectacular weeks. Our customized tours are your opportunity to experience Umbrian cooking up close and personal with a stellar cast of great chefs and cooks. If you’re looking for the best culinary tour of Umbria, this is it. Our hands-on lessons with local chefs and cooks are the authentic culinary experiences guests keep asking for more of. And you will get into the thick of things. Some lessons will be held in the palazzo’s beautiful kitchen and others in the kitchens of local restaurants. In either case, these extraordinary friends will share some of the dishes for which they are renown.

8-Day Tour package: $3000 per person

(Double occupancy in shared apartment or B&B room. If space permits, for groups up to 8, there will not be a single occupancy charge of $250.) Airfare is NOT included

Package includes:
• accommodations for 8 nights at Palazzo Fiumi-LaPlaca in Bettona;
• all cooking lessons – 3 main and smaller lessons if schedule permits;
• daily guided tours, all entrance fees;
• all meals out at extraordinary restaurants;
• wine tasting at up to 3 fabulous local wineries;
• olive oil tasting at the renown Decimi frantoio for spring tour;
• Cheese making demonstration (in season) or cooking lesson at a local agriturismo;
• Tour of local farm to see sausage and prosciutto production;
• Truffle hunt* followed by a wonderful rustic lunch including a pasta dish with truffles;
• pick up and return to airport (to meet one flight each way).

Tour will accept up to 8 people.

(* not available in all seasons)

Plan your own customized tour whenever you want. All-inclusive tours are available mid-April–mid-November. Groups of 4 to 8 people are the norm but can be extended to 14 based on accommodations. 

For more information write [email protected]

For help planning your trip — airline tickets and travel insurance — contact Bill Travers at 212-869-6431 or [email protected] 

Beautiful accommodations are what we specialize in at Palazzo Fiumi-LaPlaca

Stay in a beautifully restored 17th-century palazzo where you’ll find comfortable beds, soft towels, and a welcoming host to help make your visit to Umbria memorable. A variety of options for shared and private rooms are available in one and two-bedroom apartments and B&B rooms. Palazzo Fiumi-LaPlaca is located in the small hill town of Bettona situated between Assisi and Perugia.

Go to accommodations for more info.

Accommodations for additional days are available for those who wish to stay longer or arrive earlier.