The Unplugged Collection - Umbria™

Join us in one of the most luxurious properties in Umbria for a week in a tour of cooking and relaxation. Relax in Umbria with our Unplugged Collection that offers each guest an experience to check in, detach and unwind at our superb villa property selected for its dreamy location, serene surroundings and spa.  As life’s demands increase, so does our own need to disconnect from the hectic lifestyle and reconnect with our soul.  Experience a week of pampering and total relaxation in the one-of-a-kind Unplugged cooking and spa vacation.  Rediscover the delights of a quiet morning spent reading, stroll through lavender, vineyards and olive orchards, sit on the green grass and meditate, or simply lie by the swimming pool and soak up the sun.

We invite you to join us in healthy cooking, excellent Umbrian cuisine and a wine cellar with hand-selected bottles.  Relax, unwind and unplug at the resort and spa property set in the verdant hills of Umbria.  Surrounded by cypress and olive trees and rolling hills where Mother Nature is at her best, this villa is set in the most beautiful location away from the hustle and bustle.  Slip into a blissful world of total relaxation in the green heart of Umbria.

Umbria, known as Italy’s Green Heart, offers dazzling views of centuries-old villages perched atop sleepy hilltops and myriad vineyards producing award-winning wines and olive oil.  During your stay, opt to visit Assisi, Perugia, Spoleto, Montefalco, Orvieto and Gubbio – known for pottery, wine, lentils and truffles.  In addition to all its beauty, Umbria’s peaceful atmosphere is home to some of Italy’s most important saints:  Saints Benedict, Clare, Rita, Valentine and, most famous of all, Saint Francis of Assisi.  Nuns and monks throughout Italy were the best cooks and pastry makers – creating liqueurs, wine and baked goods.

During your week in Umbria, you’ll not only learn the traditions and culture of this region, but you’ll participate in hands-on cooking classes preparing authentic and typical Umbrian cuisine.  Here in the kitchen, the focus is on farm-to-table ingredients used in authentic seasonal recipes.  The property has its own organic vegetable garden and supplies our chef with in-season vegetables and fruits. The region is also known for its typical cold cuts, prosciutto, pork sausages, wild boar salami, pancetta and dried sausages, along with Pecorino cheese, Castelluccio lentils, famous Perugia chocolate and most famously truffles – that are thinly sliced over pasta and risotto.

Umbria is also one of Italy’s most prized olive oil producers, and this property is no exception to the rule.  Extra virgin first-cold-pressed olive oil is produced on the property and is used in the cooking.  The property also boasts an extensive cantina featuring mostly biodynamic and organic wine.  White wines include Trebbiano, Verdello, Grechetto, Drupeggio, and Malvasia, and the main red wine grape variety is Sangiovese, although Gamay, Canaiolo, Trebbiano and Sagrantino – a native variety found only around the hillsides of Montefalco – are also produced in the immediate region.

Slip into the Umbria Spa, located in the property’s 18^th-century limonaia, a greenhouse built to protect lemon trees and which is encircled by tranquil, idyllic gardens, to be pampered by the professional staff offering treatments with organic cream, oils and scrubs infused with lavender, chamomile, sage and lemon oil.  Let your cares melt away as you enjoy the two spa treatments included in your program, centering yourself while surrounded by natural, calm, Italian beauty. The wellness center offers a tepidarium, a Turkish bath, sauna, hydrotherapy, and a variety of massages with other luxury treatments. And should you wish, you can add on extra days and half-day or full day visits to any one of the nearby towns or cities including Perugia, Assisi, Pienza, Cortona or Lake Trasimeno with a private driver.  This spa resort Umbria is an oasis of for the mind and body – relax Umbria is our motto!

Umbria Villa Accommodations

The luxurious villa set on acres of private vineyards, gardens and green rolling hills is an oasis of beauty.  Once belonging to an 18^th-century aristocratic family, the villa and property maintain original decor and Italian furnishings, including stunning marble fireplaces and authentic tile flooring.  Every room is furnished with modern comfortable bedding, Italian linens, with soft pastel tone sand traditional bedding covers and drapes made of the fabrics in Montefalco.  Each room also has a relaxing sitting area, complete with armchairs and flat-screen HD television. Your luxury room will also include an en-suite bathroom with a spacious shower or bathtub to ensure you have a most comfortable stay with the property’s spa soaps and shampoos.  Delight your soul and pamper your stay with complimentary access the indoor heated pool, solarium terrace, Turkish bath, Finnish sauna, and fountains overlooking the Umbrian hills.  There is a tennis court, an organic vegetable garden along with a gourmet restaurant, outdoor bistro and wine cellar on site!  The property is surrounded by vineyards and olive oil orchards and produces their own organic extra-virgin olive oil.  Daily breakfast includes a hearty fare of local Umbrian delights – artisan breads, country eggs, prosciutto, traditional cakes, coffee, tea, juices, seasonal fruits and cheese.

Unplugged Umbrian Cooking

Tie on your apron and learn the art of Umbrian under the guidance of your chef.  Each cooking class includes the preparation of local in-season ingredients, many of which will have come straight from the property’s organic vegetable garden. Can’t get fresher than that!  Along with Chef Salvatore, you will pick up tips and techniques while preparing healthy and hearty Umbrian cuisine. Let’s start with antipasto, which may be a spicy farro or lentil soup, quick-toasted bruschette with garlic, tomatoes or chicken liver paté, or even sformatino di fave e pecorino, a baked fava bean and pecorino custard.  Fresh pasta, a staple in Italian cuisine, is always part of the hands-on cooking classes.  Learn how to mix and roll out thick strands of pasta served with mushrooms, seasonal vegetables, meat sauce – and even truffles.  Under the guidance of Chef Salvatore, you will also learn how to prepare funaro pasta with porcini, stringozzi with wild asparagus, or umbrici con sugo finto, umbrici pasta with a special sauce and pecorino.  Main courses favor simply prepared meat like rabbit or pork – stuffed with wild fennel and garlic with a Sagrantino wine sauce.  Fish is also plentiful with baccalà with chickpeas and rosemary.  There are lots of vegetarian options too, as local vegetables and grains abound. And each cooking class has a sweet ending with delicious desserts such as: budino di castagne, cold chestnut pudding, amaretti and chocolate tartlets, or the famous torzetti – almond biscuits perfect for dunking in a glass of chilled Sagrantino wine.  Following each cooking class, everyone enjoys the foods that were made in class together with a toast of local red or white wine.  Special gluten-free and vegetarian menus are always available upon request.

Perugia

Perugia, the capital of Umbria is a town known around the world, which still holds on to its ancient past. It is home to the 14^th-century University of Perugia, one of Italy’s oldest and most well-respected educational institutions, a weave of ancient architecture and caffès that bustle with life morning till night. The town’s Piazza IV Novembre is surrounded by splendid ancient buildings and and monuments.  Landmarks include the Fontana Maggiore, a medieval fountain that was built in the 12^th century by sculptors Nicola Pisano and Giovanni Pisano, the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria brimming with local art, and the Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, Perugia’s Gothic cathedral. There are endless bars, caffès and trattorias where you can take a front row seat on the terrace, order an aperitivo, Prosecco, spritz or vino bianco, and watch the world go by. Explore Perugia’s rich history with cooking classes of typical Umbrian fare.

Assisi

Step back into time when you stroll through Assisi, the birthplace of Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order and one of the most popular saints in history.  The 13^th-century Basilica di San Francesco is adorned with frescos painted by a young Giotto where he depicts the life of Saint Francis. You may also visit Saint Francis in the crypt, or meander through its outside areas and inside halls. Assisi is also home to Rocca Maggiore, a medieval fortress, and the Basilica di Santa Chiara.

Spello

Spello is a charming medieval town known for its sand-colored stone houses framed by flower boxes filled with flowers. A competition called, infiorata, an long tradition of where residents compete for the most beautiful flower display throughout the summer months.  Cobblestone footpaths where no cars are allowed weave through this ancient picturesque town.  There are trattorias, gelato shops, wine bars and artisan shops selling Deruta ceramics and olive oil making Spello an interesting stop for every food lover.  Landmarks include the Cappella Tega, a small chapel with frescoes from the XIV century and the Collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore, dating back to the 1200s and famous for the  masterpieces by Pinturicchio, Perugino.  Spello has ancient walls:  the Augustan gates (Porta Urbica, Porta Consolare and Porta Venere); the remains of the amphitheatre and spa, and the Villa of Mosaics. There’s the church of Santa Maria Maggiore with the Baglioni Chapel, admirably frescoed by Pinturicchio, the church of Sant’Andrea from the 13th century and the Church of San Lorenzo. Just outside the town’s walls visit the theArch of Augustus, the Subasio theatre and the Vallegloria monastery, in Contrada Prato, Set on Mount Subasio, Spello offers a panoramic viewpoint overlooking Umbrian green hills, olive orchards and fields of faro, once ruled by the Romans.

Pienza

Travel through Umbrian hills and into Pienza, a delightful Medieval town set just across the border in Tuscany.  Its piazza boasts a curious trapezoidal main square, Palazzo Piccolomini, and a historic Duomo and tiny streets with pedestrian access only.  Pienza is also best known for its Pecorino cheese.  Artisan cheese makers display rounds of their prized sheep’s and goat’s cheese.  Shopkeepers discuss the history of cheese while they dole out complimentary samples of Pecorino – soaked in wine, aged in ashes, wrapped in grape leaves, and spiked with truffles – to name but a few variations.  Continue along cobblestone streets – no cars allowed – lined with artisan shops selling Italian linens and handmade terracotta pottery.  Quaint, quiet and off the tourist track, Pienza makes for the perfect day trip.

Umbria cooking classes in a dreamy villa in the Unplugged Collection is the perfect blend of food, wine and culture!

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Itinerary ~ 5 Days, 4 Nights

Day One:  Check In & Welcome Dinner Featuring Chef’s Tasting Menu

• Arrival transfer with pick up at Perugia Train Station, and check into our Umbria Unplug Collection cooking program.
• Check into the property and  your Cooking Vacations Welcome Bag with Prosecco.
• Welcome Dinner including a Chef’s Tasting dinner with a full-course menu featuring local fare with a toast of wine included.

Day Two: Spa Treatment 1 & Cooking Class 1

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, check into the spa for an unforgettably serene morning. Choose from a variety of massages or treatments and forget about the outside world, soaking up the beauty of the surrounding Italian gardens in the private chalet-like structure.  Enjoy a natural tea from the tea bar and enjoy your treatment.
• In the afternoon, tie on your apron and get cooking in your first hands-on traditional Umbrian cooking class creating a full course dinner.  Dinner follows and includes the foods that were made in the cooking class with a a toast of wine included.

Day Three: Visit Assisi and Spello, and Wine Tasting with Umbrian Dinner 

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, meet your driver for a full day excursion to Assisi and Spello. Discover the two Umbrian towns with your driver.  Spello, nestled  between Assisi and Foligno, holds the prestigious honor as being awarded one of  “The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy” group thanks to its natural beauty, culture and heritage.  This small village is picturesque and famous for its colorful flower boxes that adorn homes, shops, wine bars and restaurants.   You will also visit Assisi, home to Saint Francis.  Explore this beautiful home to the The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi and brimming with small shops, beautiful restaurants, and churches.  
  Following your day tour, return to the villa.
• Later afternoon, get ready for our wine introduction and tasting tour!  Under the expert tutelage of the villa’s sommelier, you will sample the finest wines the Umbrian region has to offer.
• Dinner follows and includes a Chef’s Tasting Diner featuring a full course Umbrian menu, with wine included.

Day Four: Spa Treatment 2 & Cooking Class 2

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, relax and check into the spa for your second treatment.
• Lunch is on your own
• Later in the afternoon, tie on your apron for Cooking Class 2.  You’ll prepare a traditional menu using the freshest ingredients from the property’s organic garden.  Dinner follows and includes the foods that were made in the cooking class with a toast of local wine.

Day 5: Check out & Arrivederci

• Check out and transfer to Perugia train station.
• Arrivederci Umbria!