Cinque Terre, Italy - 4 nights
Available February to October  - Monday to Friday or Tuesday to Saturday

Learn about Ligurian cooking in your own private cooking classes while you stay in one of the loveliest and most picturesque regions of Italy, Santa Margherita Ligure. You will have guided tours of some of the area's captivating seaside villages in the Cinque Terre, enjoy fabulous dinners and marvel at the breathtaking coastline and beautiful views. Enjoy a stunning seaview junior suite in a 4 star hotel.

Liguria is home to the seaside villages of Santa Margherita, Portofino and Camogli and further south to the Cinque Terre hamlets of Monterosso, Vernazza, Coniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore, not forgetting beautiful Portovenere just below the Cinque Terre. The coastline is truly breathtaking, with pastel colored villages crowned with medieval churches and abbeys rising up on dramatic rocky outcrops, and vineyards and olive groves descending vertically down to the turquoise sparkling sea. Lush pine forests hug the coastline, shading many trekking paths between villages. This land so rich in history, culture, natural beauty, perfumes and mouth-watering cuisine will give you an extraordinary Italy experience.

Ligurian cuisine is the true Mediterranean diet and characterized by its use of fresh herbs and vegetables such as basil, bay leaves, fennel, marjoram, zucchini (courgette), eggplant (aubergine), seafood (anchovies, swordfish, sea bass, etc) and of course extra virgin olive oil and fragrant wines. Local specialties of the area include Focaccia (delicious flatbread) , Pesto Genovese (gorgeous sauce made with basil, pine nuts, walnuts, Parmigiano and Pecorino cheese, and ample olive oil and garlic- all served over pasta), Vegetable quiches, Pansoti (hand made pasta) .

Santa Margherita Ligure is one of the most charming and elegant seaside towns of the Italian Riviera, located between Portofino and the Cinque Terre. This small town is worldwide famous for its wonderful natural landscape and for the charme of its past centuries villas as well as for its special style of life. Santa Margherita boasts a range of things to see, from local antique shops to beautiful cathedrals. The hotel during your cooking vacation is in the heart of the town center, on the " promenade " facing the sea. The Liberty building, dating back to 1901, recently restructured, offers all modern comforts.

During your cooking lessons you will experience the heart and soul of Liguria through food, history, and culture. The cooking lessons are about much more than a list of ingredients and how to cook them, they are the way for knowing the culture and the past of this people. Debora, your teacher, was born and grew up in this small town, and is a former caterer and private chef. Your hands-on lessons will feature typical Ligurian cuisine and simple, yet fresh and flavorful ingredients.

Buon Appetito!

ITINERARY

DAY ONE

Arrival on your own in Santa Margherita Ligure around 11am. Accommodation at the hotel and welcome cocktail and tasting of typical Ligurian gastronomic products (anchovies, focaccia, vegetable quiches, pesto)

Free time to walk to the ancient city center or along the seaside "promenade" .

Dinner in a typical restaurant.

DAY TWO

In the morning, you will attend your first hands-on cooking class with the chef of the restaurant in your hotel. She will teach you how to prepare the most typical Ligurian recipes: focaccia in Genovese style, vegetable quiches, the renowned pesto.

Afternoon on your own : you can easily reach Portofino by public bus or by public boat and enjoy a walk in this wonderful world famous small village. From Portofino you can reach by public boat San Fruttuoso, a small fishing village in a deep inlet along the coastline of the Portofino promontory, one of the most suggestive places in Italian Riviera. In the late afternoon don’t miss the fish market in Santa Margherita where fishermen sell fresh fish and seafood.

Dinner on your own this evening.

DAY THREE

Meet your guide for a full day tour of the Cinque Terre : you will visit the villages of Monterosso, Vernazza, Riomaggiore, Corniglia and Manarola which make up this stunning area of shoreline dotted with villages and rocky cliffs. First you will reach Riomaggiore. In Vernazza enjoy a tasting lunch in the most typical restaurant of the Cinque Terre. Continue by boat or by train to Monterosso, another stunning village, where you will visit an organic farm which produces wines, olive oil and grapefruit.

Back to Santa Margherita Ligure and dinner on your own.

DAY FOUR

In the morning you will attend your second cooking lesson. The chef will teach you how to prepare typical first dishes such as minestrone alla Genovese and pansoti.

In the afternoon meeting with your guide at the hotel for an excursion to Camogli, a city of ancient maritime traditions, famous for its colorful, typical Ligurian tower-houses overlooking the bay. In Camogli you will visit an ancient workshop where you will see how the famous under salt anchovies are prepared.

Dinner in Santa Margherita.

DAY FIVE

Check out and departure before noon.

GROUP SIZE

A minimum of 2 participants is required to run this tour and the tour is limited to a maximum of 12 participants.

(The number of participants refers to how many persons are required to run the tour, not to how many persons you must have in your party. Please inquire.)

HOW TO ARRIVE

Liguria –Santa Margherita Ligure Area : Clients usually arrive at Genova airport or train station, or in La Spezia train station

Distance Genova to Santa Margherita Ligure - 20 miles
Distance La Spezia to Santa Margherita - 37 miles

You can reach Santa Margherita by train. The train station in Santa Margherita is a 3 minute walk from the hotel Lido Palace
From Genova by train it takes 30 minutes ( cost around € 3 ), from la Spezia by train it takes 1 hour or 1:30 ( cost around € 5 )

*Private transfers by car or minibus can also be arranged

*These details are provided as additional information. Please check below to see if transfers are included in this tour.