Cooking Excursions

Excursions are to some of the most beautiful and historically important towns in Italy

The excursions include a number of specialised Umbrian and Tuscan restaurants. A journalist that joined us last year remarked how fantastic it was because the restaurants were unique and would not have been found out by the general tourist.

There will be plenty of free time to relax in and around the hotel, and hotel transport is available to Citta di Castello for anyone wishing to shop. The town has many shops including top designer names. There is also a large weekly market selling everything you could think of.

Situated as it is near the Umbria-Tuscany border, Villa San Doninno is a perfect base for excursions. A selection is listed below.

Our programme changes every year. We usually offer a choice of two programmes for the cooking holiday; Programme A and Programme B which offer different excursion destinations. The excursions include a number of specialised Umbrian and Tuscan restaurants

There will be plenty of free time to relax in and around the hotel. Citta di Castello is a short taxi ride away for anyone wishing to shop. The town has many shops including top designer names. There is also a large weekly market on Saturday mornings selling everything you could think of. Even if there's nothing to buy it's always a pleasure to sit with a coffee and watch the Italian way of life.

The following are some of our excursion destinations. We usually only include two of these destinations in a week together with a wine tasting:

	CORTONA Cortona is a hill town with lots of squares and medieval streets. They say that the Etruscan town of Cortona is older than Rome. The town is famous for it's Etruscan Museum which contains many Etruscan artefacts including a mummy. Cortona has been made famous more recently by the book "Under the Tuscan Sun" written by Francis Mayes and they film based on the book which was made in Cortona.
	LAKE TRASIMENO Lake Trasimeno is the last of the large prehistoric Umbrian inland lakes and the fourth largest in Italy. We will visit Isola Polvese by ferry boat from Passignano. Isola Polvese has been made a scientific/educational park and has been beautifully landscaped with trees, olive groves and orchards. There are remains of a castle and an abbey.
	ANGHIARI Located in the northeast corner of Tuscany near the Umbrian border, Anghiari  is a beautiful and well preserved medieval village. Much art can be found in the Abbey church, the church of San Agostino, and the Palazzo Comunale.  The 6th Century church of San Stefano is one of the oldest in the region. An ideal place for sketching.
	GUBBIO An ancient Umbrian settlement, influenced by the Etruscans. A very picturesque, well-preserved town. The cathedral, a 14th Century Gothic structure, stands in front of the Palazzo.  It was nearby that the meeting between St. Francis and the famous savage wolf of Gubbio took place. Located in Gubbio are several good restaurants and some antique shops, and the town has a wonderful old feeling to it.
	PERUGIA The capital of Umbria was once one of the twelve Etruscan City States. Entry to the city is made through a massive Etruscan wall within which are streets and evidence of house fronts which gives a clear indication to how the city was in Roman times. The National Gallery of Umbria contains a world class collection of paintings mostly executed in Tuscany or Umbria between the 13th and 16th centuries. There are works by Piero della Francesso, Perugino, Fra Angelico and Duccio.
	ASSISI The mystical birthplace of St. Francis. So little change has occurred that the surrounding countryside would still be familiar to him now. We will visit the Basilica of St. Francis. Pope Gregory IX laid the first stone of the Lower Basilica the day after the canonisation of St Francis on July 17th 1228. The walls of the Lower Church are richly decorated and include frescoes by Cimabue,Giotto and Lorenzetti.The Chapel of St Martin is by Simone Martini. The Upper Church is strikingly bright and filled with frescoes which emphasise its perfect proportions. This is one of Italy's most famous freso cycles, Giotto's Life of St. Francis.
	AREZZO, TUSCANY We will be visiting The Church of San Francesco which is a grand church built in the Gothic style in the 14 C for the Franciscan Order. We will see Piero della Francesca's famous fresco cycle 'Legend of the Holy Cross'. The frescoes were painted between 1452 and 1466 and is one of the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance.
	SANSEPOLCRO, TUSCANY This is the birthplace of Piero della Francesca ,1415. It is a small walled town with many old houses some dating from the Middle Ages. We will visit the Civic Museum where we can see 'Madonna della Misericordia' and 'The Resurrection' by Piero della Francesca. The museum also has works by Bassano and Signorelli.
	MONTERCHI, TUSCANY This is a very small town. It is amazing to see a very important Renaissance masterpiece being exhibited in what was the village hall! It is Piero della Francesca's 'Madonna del Parto' which is the only image of the Madonna,pregnant, in Italian art.