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Umbria

Umbria, known as the Green Heart of Italy is a kind of secret that once you know about it you cannot forget. Brimming with untouched nature, oak and chestnut covered hills, waterfalls and lakes, as well as medieval hilltop towns, Umbria is graced not only with amazing landscapes but thanks to its rich Etruscan, Roman and Medieval past it is studded with historic and cultural gems. Off the beaten path, life slows here to reveal an authentic Italy largely free from the modern world. Umbria is also rich with food and wine traditions; local specialties include wild boar used for salumi, prosciutto, and incredible pasta sauces, the most prized black truffle in the world and porcini mushrooms. Salumerie are packed with pork sausages and salamis and the famous capocollo. Perugia has been famous for its chocolate since the early 1900's and has the world famous chocolate festival. Retaining a natural splendor, the land is an ancient tapestry of field and forest, interspersed with delicate olive orchards and vineyards producing delicious Sagrantino wine. Every hill is topped with a castle. Its famous medieval cities include the magnificent Assisi, birthplace of St. Francis, Todi with its charming main square, the walled city of Gubbio with its crenellated palace, and Deruta famous for its fine artisan pottery. Because of these artisan riches Umbria lends itself perfectly to an escape from the modern world into a land of tradition and fine craftsmanship. Our itineraries have been designed to take advantage of the riches of Umbria rooted in its unspoiled artisan traditions. Breathe the fresh air and marvel at the natural landscape that so inspired St. Francis of Assisi. Learn the secrets of Umbrian country cooking in a gorgeous estate with a working vineyard and local chef. Shop for the famed ceramics of Deruta, drink Sagrantino wine at a Montefalco vineyard and tour the evocative hilltop town of Assisi. on truffles, pasta, fine meats and cheeses on a tree-shaded terrace overlooking an unspoiled valley. See the stunning Orvieto Duomo rising above the plains below, holding the Signorelli frescoes that inspired Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. 

Walks in the Historic City Center

Gothic Orvieto

Orvieto towers over the Umbrian plain, safe upon its steep cliffs of volcanic tufo stone. Naturally protected by this amazing geography, its mysteries are still being discovered as archeologists plumb its fifty-meter deep wells, many dug in antiquity using techniques we have yet to understand. First rising to prominence with the pre-Roman Etruscans, it still proudly carries their history forth with an Etruscan emphasis on friendship, feasts and mellow wine.

Home to the largest gothic cathedral in Italy, its architecture is an exquisite mix of medieval and renaissance design. As its size is completely restricted by geography, it is blessedly free of modern buildings and has a coherence rarely found in such a large town. An important economic center since Etruscan times, it boasts many artistic masterpieces, such as the frescoes in its cathedral authored by Signorelli, one of Michelangelo's most influential teachers. These frescoes with their vision of the Apocalypse and the afterlife offer powerful and haunting evocations of the unique moment in history where Europe was beginning to climb out of centuries of darkness.


Your private guide will take you on a day-long tour of this magical city, touring the cathedral and its Signorelli frescoes. You'll stroll through Orvieto's many pedestrian-only streets visiting slow-food delicatessens, shopping and sampling the finest local cheeses, cured meats and DOC wines as well as the fine hand-painted pottery for which Orvieto is justly famous. You'll also visit the ancient underground city with its caverns and frightfully deep wells. Lunch will be at one of Orvieto's famed slow-food restaurants where you'll find ingredients and dishes difficult or impossible to find in nearby Rome. You'll sample unique local cheeses such as "ubriachone", a wine-aged cheese, as well as cheeses aged in Etruscan caves. Umbria is also known as the green heart of Italy for its oak and chestnut covered hills, bringing wild food in abundance such as boar salami, white or black Umbrian truffles and porcini mushrooms. The afternoon takes you on a tour of Orvieto's medieval and renaissance treasures as well as a gorgeous overlook of the Tiber valley from the city's ruined fortress.

The cost for this 7 hour walking tour is €450 (more than 5 people?)
Gothic Orvieto photo
Food & Wine

Umbrian Culinary and Wine Paradise

Have you ever been some where that embeds itself in your memory forever because it is so perfect? Come to Podere Calzone for just that kind of experience, a stimulation to all the senses with its beautiful views, vineyards and gorgeous villa, to the delicious smells of rising dough, roasting meats, and other culinary delights. Hear the sounds of the countryside, from the sweet bird songs to the occasional braying of the donkey from across the valley. Taste the wines made from the vineyard, visit the cantina for a wine tasting and tour the lovely grounds of this private home, opened to you, for an amazing Umbrian cooking experience.

Your host will welcome you with a tour of the property to see her vineyard, pick produce from the organic garden and tour her lovely home, featured in Bon Appetite and Italian Rustic. Off to the kitchen for a hands on cooking class with Paula, the best cook in Umbria, in a wonderful kitchen. Anything that you want to cook is at your fingertips with this extraordinary, down to earth chef.
From hearty soups like pasta and fagioli beans to a light tomato and bread panzanella; Wheat berry salads to Arugula and Bresaola; appetizers such as Deep Fried Sage Leaves or an assortment of battered and deep fried vegetables; Hand made Pizzas in a wood fired pizza oven to Chianina Beef Steaks grilled over wood charcoals; Handmade pastas from Fresh Tagliatelle with Umbrian black truffles to Gnocchi dumplings with a Duck Ragu; Eggplant parmesan to Wild Asparagus; Crostata with home made marmelade to Tortino al Ciocolato with fudge pudding inside. We will send you a full list of possibilities or you can leave it up to the cook. Everything is always based on seasonality.

This is not just a cooking class, but an experience to never forget! With the visit to the cantina to sample the earthy Sangiovese wines the owner produces will be a tasting of delicious accompaniments made on site such as marmelades, jams, stuffed cherrypeppers. At lunch the wine will flow and after wards a delicious espresso, grappa limoncello and walnut liqueur made on the premises will be tasted.

The cost for this 5 hour walking tour is €600 (more than 2 people?)
Umbrian Culinary and Wine Paradise photo

DOCG Feast in Umbrian Paradise

This privately catered lunch or dinner will become part of your most favored memories forever. You will be welcomed to Podere Calzone for an unparalleled dining experience, a stimulation to all the senses. The setting: A beautiful Villa in the green heart of Italy with evocative views of the surrounding hills dotted with ancient ruins, olive orchards and vineyards~In one word idyllic. You will be hosted at this gorgeous rustic, yet refined villa, greeted with a welcome drink and antipasto on the terrace. Once settled in, your charming hostess will take you on a tour of the lovely grounds with olive orchard, Sangiovese vineyard, organic garden and cantina and recount the history of her creation. In the cantina you will meet your sommelier for a vertical tasting of the best Sagrantino Red and Grechetto white wines for which Umbria is justly famous, paired with delicious antipasti. From here you will be taken to a vine covered pergola or in the beautiful dining room for a five course lunch or dinner featuring the seasonal DOCG culinary delights of the region.
A sample of some of the delights of the chef- tiny crepes filled with leeks and porcini mushrooms, puff pastry filled with home made sausage, mushrooms and truffled besciamella, thinly sliced carpaccio with the house olive oil, perfectly grilled Chianina Beef Steaks from a local organic farm, exquisite roast organic duck, the most delightful preparations of organic vegetables from the garden, lovingly handmade breads including olive, walnut and cheese, home made pastas such as delicate shells stuffed with wild boar ragu or hand made gnocchi. And then there are the desserts: Tiny chocolate cake tortina with hot fudge pudding inside, Beignet stuffed with fresh zabiaone, or a light and delicious Mimosa cake. Hear the sounds of the countryside, from the sweet bird songs to the occasional braying of the donkey from across the valley. During your dinner you will indulge in the wines from the vineyard as well as the best DOCG wines of the region, followed by grappa and homemade limoncello and other liqueurs.

Your hostess has created this paradise over 20 years and is unparalleled in her abiity to create a setting of fairy tale dimensions. Her home has been featured in Bon Appetite and Italian Rustic.

The cost for this 4 hour walking tour is €800 (more than 2 people?)
DOCG Feast in Umbrian Paradise photo

Podere Calzone Pizza Making Extravaganza

Come to Podere Calzone for the ultimate in pizza making experience. Not just a cooking class, this is a stimulation to all the senses with beautiful views, vineyards around this gorgeous villa. Smell the delicious scent of rising dough, and indulge sfizzi, delicious fried antipasti, which you will learn to make while the dough is rising. Hear the sounds of the countryside, from the sweet bird songs to the occasional braying of the donkey from across the valley. Taste the wines made from the vineyard, visit the cantina and tour the lovely grounds of this private home, opened to you, for an amazing Umbrian cooking experience.

Your host will welcome you with a tour of the property to see her vineyard, pick produce from the organic garden and tour her lovely home, featured in Bon Appetite and Italian Rustic. Off to the kitchen for a hands on cooking class with Paula, the best cook in Umbria in a wonderful country kitchen with all the modern accoutrements. You will learn to make home made pizza dough, appetizers such as Deep Fried Sage Leaves and an assortment of battered and deep fried vegetables. Next learn the secret to hand made pizzas with fresh local ingredients, cooked in a wood fired pizza oven.
Even dessert will consist of pizza with a delicious chocolate and hazelnut filling. We will send you a full list of possibilities or you can leave it up to the cook. Everything is always based on seasonality and any menu can be changed to meet your dietary needs.

This is not just a cooking class, but an experience to never forget! With the visit to the cantina to sample the earthy Sangiovese wines the owner produces will be a tasting of delicious accompaniments made on site such as marmelades, jams, stuffed cherrypeppers. At lunch the wine will flow and after wards a delicious espresso, grappa limoncello and walnut liqueur made on the premises will be tasted.

The cost for this 5 hour walking tour is €600 (more than 4 people?)
Podere Calzone Pizza Making Extravaganza photo
Chauffeur

Gothic Orvieto with chauffeur

Orvieto towers over the Umbrian plain, safe upon its steep cliffs of volcanic tufo stone. Naturally protected by this amazing geography, its mysteries are still being discovered as archeologists plumb its fifty-meter deep wells, many dug in antiquity using techniques we have yet to understand. First rising to prominence with the pre-Roman Etruscans, it still proudly carries their history forth with an Etruscan emphasis on friendship, feasts and mellow wine.

Home to the largest gothic cathedral in Italy, its architecture is an exquisite mix of medieval and renaissance design. As its size is completely restricted by geography, it is blessedly free of modern buildings and has a coherence rarely found in such a large town. An important economic center since Etruscan times, it boasts many artistic masterpieces, such as the frescoes in its cathedral authored by Signorelli, one of Michelangelo's most influential teachers. These frescoes with their vision of the Apocalypse and the afterlife offer powerful and haunting evocations of the unique moment in history where Europe was beginning to climb out of centuries of darkness.


Your private guide will take you on a day-long tour of this magical city, touring the cathedral and its Signorelli frescoes. You'll stroll through Orvieto's many pedestrian-only streets visiting slow-food delicatessens, shopping and sampling the finest local cheeses, cured meats and DOC wines as well as the fine hand-painted pottery for which Orvieto is justly famous. You'll also visit the ancient underground city with its caverns and frightfully deep wells. Lunch will be at one of Orvieto's famed slow-food restaurants where you'll find ingredients and dishes difficult or impossible to find in nearby Rome. You'll sample unique local cheeses such as "ubriachone", a wine-aged cheese, as well as cheeses aged in Etruscan caves. Umbria is also known as the green heart of Italy for its oak and chestnut covered hills, bringing wild food in abundance such as boar salami, white or black Umbrian truffles and porcini mushrooms. The afternoon takes you on a tour of Orvieto's medieval and renaissance treasures as well as a gorgeous overlook of the Tiber valley from the city's ruined fortress.

The cost for this 9 hour chauffered tour is €780 (more than 4 people?)
Gothic Orvieto with chauffeur photo

Orvieto and Civita di Bagnaregio Countryside

Orvieto towers over the Umbrian plain, safe upon its steep cliffs of volcanic tufo stone. Naturally protected by this amazing geography, its mysteries are still being discovered as archeologists plumb its fifty-meter deep wells, many dug in antiquity using techniques we have yet to understand. First rising to prominence with the pre-Roman Etruscans, it still proudly carries their history forth with an Etruscan emphasis on friendship, feasts and mellow wine.

Home to the largest gothic cathedral in Italy, its architecture is an exquisite mix of medieval and renaissance design with a small town charm. As its size is completely restricted by geography, it is blessedly free of modern buildings and has a feeling of authenticity rarely found. An important economic center since Etruscan times, it boasts many artistic masterpieces, such as the frescoes in its cathedral authored by Signorelli, a great influence for Michelangelo. Orvieto is filled with pedestrian-only streets, slow-food delicatessens, and fine arts and artisan crafts shops such as wrought iron work, beautiful pottery and olive wood kitchen ware.
Here you will sampling the finest local cheeses such as "ubriachone" a wine-aged cheese, wild boar salami and DOC wines for which Umbria is justly famous. You'll also visit the ancient underground city with its fascinating rooms, deep wells and incredible history. Lunch will be at one of Orvieto's famed slow-food restaurants where you'll find an authentic and hearty cuisine intrinsic to the region.

Umbria is known as the green heart of Italy for its oak and chestnut covered hills hiding wild boar, white and black Umbrian truffles and porcini mushrooms. After lunch you will take off on an adventure to the tiny town of Civita di Bagnaregio

The cost for this 8 hour chauffered tour is €780 (more than 3 people?)
Orvieto and Civita di Bagnaregio Countryside photo

Full Day Umbrian Culinary and Artisan Shopping

Have you ever been some where that embeds itself in your memory forever because it is so perfect? Come to Podere Calzone for just that kind of experience, a stimulation to all the senses with its beautiful views, vineyards and gorgeous villa, to the delicious smells of rising dough, roasting meats, and other culinary delights. Hear the sounds of the countryside, from the sweet bird songs to the occasional braying of the donkey from across the valley. Taste the wines made from the vineyard, visit the cantina for a wine tasting and tour the lovely grounds of this private home, opened to you, for an amazing Umbrian cooking experience.

Your host will welcome you with a tour of the property to see her vineyard, pick produce from the organic garden and tour her lovely home, featured in Bon Appetite and Italian Rustic. Off to the kitchen for a hands on cooking class with Paula, the best cook in Umbria, in a wonderful kitchen. Anything that you want to cook is at your fingertips with this extraordinary, down to earth chef.
From hearty soups like pasta and fagioli beans to a light tomato and bread panzanella; Wheat berry salads to Arugula and Bresaola; appetizers such as Deep Fried Sage Leaves or an assortment of battered and deep fried vegetables; Hand made Pizzas in a wood fired pizza oven to Chianina Beef Steaks grilled over wood charcoals; Handmade pastas from Fresh Tagliatelle with Umbrian black truffles to Gnocchi dumplings with a Duck Ragu; Eggplant parmesan to Wild Asparagus; Crostata with home made marmelade to Tortino al Ciocolato with fudge pudding inside. We will send you a full list of possibilities or you can leave it up to the cook. Everything is always based on seasonality.

This is not a class, but an experience to never forget! With the visit to the cantina to sample the earthy Sangiovese wines the owner produces will be a tasting of delicious accompaniments made on site such as marmelades, jams, stuffed cherrypeppers. At lunch the wine will flow and after wards a delicious grappa or walnut liqueur made on the premises will be tasted. For those who just want to relax there is an infinity pool, chairs and umbrellas for lazing.

After the extraordinary lunch an afternoon chauffeured trip will be organized with a guide. Choices range from: a private visit to an enormous historic underground cantina in a tiny borgo; Shopping for artisan pottery in Deruta; Shopping for hand woven traditional textiles in Montefalco; A visit to the stunning hilltop town of Orvieto; a tour of local artisan producers of excellent Umbrian culinary products; A visit to the historic city of Perugia; A visit to the beautiful hilltop town of Todi; a Garden Tour of La Scarzuola, Bomarzo, Villa Lante, or La Caprarola. A full list of possibilities is available in the More Info box.

The cost for this 10 hour €1.200 (more than 2 people?)
Full Day Umbrian Culinary and Artisan Shopping photo