Tuscany Cooking Week — 7 Days of Italian Kitchen and Countryside

Florence Airport (FLR), Via del Termine 11, 50127 Florence

Florence Peretola Airport is small — many visitors fly into Pisa (PSA) or Bologna (BLQ) and take a train. From Santa Maria Novella station, the city's historic centre is a 15-minute walk.

Piazza del Duomo, 50122 Florence

Drop bags and walk to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore — Brunelleschi's dome is more arresting in person than any photograph suggests. Walk the perimeter before entering.

Ponte Vecchio, Lungarno degli Archibusieri, 50122 Florence

Walk across Florence's medieval bridge (lined with goldsmiths since the 16th century) into the Oltrarno neighbourhood — the working-class, artisan quarter that still feels like a real Florentine district rather than a museum piece.

Piazza della Signoria, 50122 Florence

Florence's open-air sculpture gallery and historic civic square — the Loggia dei Lanzi houses original Renaissance bronzes including Cellini's Perseus. The square itself has been the centre of Florentine political life for 700 years.

Oltrarno neighbourhood, Florence

Florence has a distinct restaurant culture: linen tablecloths, unhurried service, a mandatory bread cover charge (coperto), and a strong expectation that you order a full meal rather than grazing. Tonight is observational — absorb how Tuscan meals are structured before you start cooking them.

Piazza del Mercato Centrale, Via dell'Ariento, 50123 Florence

Florence's covered central market is a temple of Tuscan ingredients — the ground floor is a working food market with butchers, fishmongers, pasta makers, and cheese vendors. Your instructor identifies key Tuscan products: Chianina beef, lardo di Colonnata, pecorino varieties, cavolo nero, and dried porcini. The instruction that precedes cooking.

Varies by school — confirm with booking

The foundational Tuscan pasta session. Pappardelle (wide egg pasta cut for ragù) and pici (hand-rolled thick spaghetti, a Sienese speciality made without eggs — only flour and water). The pici technique requires practice; the texture when made well is extraordinary. Served with simple butter and sage, then with the school's own tomato sauce.

At the cooking school

Eat the pasta you prepared with a glass of Chianti Classico selected by the instructor to complement each shape. This pairing lesson — the same pasta in two forms with different sauces and wines — is one of the most memorable teaching moments of the week.

Piazzale degli Uffizi 6, 50122 Florence

The world's greatest collection of Italian Renaissance paintings: Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo. Pre-book timed entry — queues without booking are 2-3 hours in October.

San Frediano, Oltrarno, Florence

Florentine aperitivo hour (6-9pm) in the San Frediano neighbourhood — Negroni birthplace city. A proper Negroni at a bar is approximately €10-12. The ritual of a well-made cocktail before dinner is essential Florentine culture.

Chianti Classico zone, between Florence and Siena, Tuscany

30-45 minute drive south from Florence into the vine-covered hills between Florence and Siena — the Chianti Classico zone. Many farmhouse cooking schools are accessible by car or organised pickup. The landscape in October, with vines turning gold and red, is among the most photographed countryside in Europe.

Farmhouse cooking school, Chianti Classico zone

The morning session covers the bistecca Fiorentina: selecting Chianina beef (the native breed), the correct cut (T-bone, minimum 5cm thick), seasoning only with salt and olive oil, and the critical cooking method — high heat, rare internal, never beyond 50°C. The school's own wood-fired grill provides the authentic environment.

At the farmhouse

Ribollita (the great Tuscan bread soup: cavolo nero, cannellini beans, day-old bread, olive oil) and cantucci (almond biscuits, baked twice for hardness, traditionally dipped in Vin Santo). Two dishes that represent the cucina povera tradition — nothing wasted, maximum depth of flavour from simple ingredients.

At the farmhouse

Everything cooked during the day eaten at long communal tables on the farmhouse terrace. The farm's own Chianti Classico paired with each dish. One of the best meals of the year, assembled entirely by your own hands.

Estate vineyards, Chianti Classico zone

An October walk through the Chianti vineyards during or just after vendemmia (harvest) — vines loaded with grapes, the air carrying the fermentation scent from nearby cellars. The farmhouse host typically guides a short walk through the estate.

At the cooking school

Wild boar ragù is the signature slow-cooked sauce of Chianti — richer, gamier, and more complex than beef ragù. The session covers proper braising technique: searing the meat, building aromatics (soffritto), deglazing with red wine, and the 2-3 hour simmer. The long cooking time allows parallel activity.

At the cooking school

While the ragù simmers: the definitive bruschetta lesson. Selecting bread (unsalted Tuscan pane sciocco), proper toast technique over open flame, quality olive oil, correct garlic rubbing, and the restraint of good toppings. Crostini with chicken liver pâté (fegatini) follows.

At the cooking school

The afternoon session: making gelato from scratch — the technique differences from ice cream (less fat, more milk, churned slower, served warmer for creamier texture). Flavours: fior di latte (pure cream) and hazelnut (nocciola). A dessert counterpoint to the morning's savoury intensity.

Fiesole, Metropolitan City of Florence, 50014

Fiesole is a hill town 8km northeast of Florence with Etruscan ruins, a Roman amphitheatre, and views back over the Florentine valley. A completely different pace from the city — and largely off the tourist circuit.

San Niccolò, Oltrarno, Florence

Dine at one of the Oltrarno wine bars that specialise in by-the-glass Chianti — pairing tonight's meal against your memory of the ragù you cooked this morning. A deliberate flavour comparison.

Siena, Tuscany, Italy (Florence to Siena, SITA bus from Via Santa Caterina da Siena)

Siena is 90 minutes from Florence by SITA bus (direct, no train required) and deserves a full day. The medieval city is built on three hills and its centre has been pedestrianised since the 1960s — perhaps the best-preserved medieval cityscape in Europe.

Piazza del Campo, 53100 Siena

The shell-shaped Piazza del Campo is arguably the finest civic square in Italy — divided into nine sectors representing the medieval Council of Nine, sloping toward the Gothic Palazzo Pubblico. Climb the Torre del Mangia (500 steps) for a 360° view of Siena and the surrounding countryside.

Piazza del Duomo 8, 53100 Siena

One of the greatest Gothic cathedrals in Italy — the striped marble exterior and extraordinary inlaid marble floor (52 panels, normally covered to protect them) are unique. The Piccolomini Library inside contains perfectly preserved Renaissance frescoes.

Various contrade, Siena historic centre

Siena is divided into 17 contrade (neighbourhood districts), each with its own heraldry, museum, fountain, and fierce civic identity. The twice-yearly Palio horse race (July and August) is the expression of this rivalry. Walk through 3-4 contrade to see the neighbourhood emblems, painted shutters, and small museums.

Florence historic centre

Return to Florence by bus and dine at a restaurant chosen for its Tuscan wine list — a Brunello or Vino Nobile di Montepulciano after a day in Sienese wine country makes geographic sense.

At the cooking school

Sea bass or branzino baked whole in a crust of coarse sea salt — the Tuscan coastal technique. The salt crust seals the fish completely, steaming it in its own moisture. The drama of cracking the crust at the table is matched by the perfection of the flesh beneath.

At the cooking school

Lampredotto (Florentine tripe) is the city's signature street food — fourth stomach of the cow, braised in tomato and herbs, served in a roll. A genuine Florentine cultural experience; understanding it contextualises the whole cucina povera tradition. Followed by tiramisù (mascarpone, egg, espresso, savoiardi, Marsala) — made to the original recipe.

At the cooking school

Eat the full session menu with wine. The last formal class lunch of the week.

Via delle Porte Sante 34, 50125 Florence

Florence's most beautiful Romanesque church, perched on a hillside above the city with the finest view of Florence available without paying a tower entry fee. The green and white marble facade, the medieval mosaic, and the crypt with its 13th-century frescoes are outstanding.

Piazzale Michelangelo, 50125 Florence

The terrace above the city at golden hour — with the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, and Santa Croce arrayed below. Then down to dinner at a restaurant chosen for its wine list as much as its food.

Piazza Lorenzo Ghiberti, 50122 Florence

Florence's neighbourhood market used by locals rather than tourists — a smaller, less curated version of the Mercato Centrale. With a week of cooking education, you now understand what you are looking at: the cavolo nero varieties, the dried porcini grades, the difference between fresh and aged pecorino.

Near Mercato Sant'Ambrogio or a trusted enoteca

Buy a bottle of new-harvest Tuscan olive oil (olio nuovo, available October-December) — the most immediate expression of the Tuscan landscape in edible form. The peppery, grassy flavour of fresh-pressed Frantoio or Moraiolo olives is entirely different from supermarket olive oil.

Florence historic centre — Trattoria Mario or Buca dell'Orafo

A proper Florentine lunch before departure: antipasto, primo (pasta), secondo (meat), dolce. Order everything. This is the structure you've been learning to cook all week.

Florence Airport (FLR) or Santa Maria Novella Station, Florence

Depart with a suitcase of olive oil, pasta, dried porcini, recipe books, and a week of cooking skills that will outlast any single meal you ate here.

Florence Airport (FLR), Via del Termine 11, 50127 Florence

Evening or afternoon flight home, depending on routing.