The Island Of Ischia - Food & Wine™

Tie on your apron for Ischia cooking classes and learn how to prepare Mediterranean recipes with our award-winning Chef Pasquale!  He welcomes each guest to the kitchen and leads in hands-on cooking classes where you will transform farm-to-table products into local healthy antipasto, fresh pasta with seasonal sauces, main course and dessert with a toast of local wine made on the island.  This luxury Ischia food and wine tour is set at a resort hotel overlooking the sea and offers an elegant and relaxing cooking and spa experience.  Check in, relax, cook and indulge in a relaxing spa experience.

In the kitchen, you will prepare two full-course menus featuring traditional local fare – from antipasto, fresh pasta and seasonal sauces, a main course and dessert.  Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with a toast of wine included.  In your free time, relax in the resort’s natural spa and discover Ischia’s many thermal springs, nutritive floras, sea salts, herbs and muds made on the island.  Indulge, relax and learn to prepare healthy recipes in this exclusive luxury cooking program.

Ischia Cooking Classes

Tie on your apron on with Chef Pasquale and his team of sous chefs for a Cooking Vacations Ischia!  You will learn the secrets of island cuisine preparing coniglio alla ischitana, Ischia rabbit recipe cooked in white wine and tomato.  Learn to prepare fresh local fresh sea bass, anchovies, octopus, calamari, totani, a local squid, scorpion fish, mussels, clams, lobster, and other local Mediterranean fish.  After all, Ischia’s nickname is l’Isola Verde, the Green Island, and true to its name, beautiful fruits and vegetables grow in abundance.  Keeping in mind the greens of the island, learn how to make pizza di scarola, escarole wrapped in a pizza-dough crust, peperonata, red and yellow peppers with capers, olives and borlotti con zucca!  Following all cooking classes Ischia, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class to follow with a toast of wine included.

Ischia – The island In the Bay of Naples

Ischia has been a favorite destination dating back to the Roman Empire.  The natural thermal springs were always the attraction.  Relax, dine on a healthy Mediterranean cuisine with the island’s excellent wine.  When you are not cooking, visit Gerone’s Aragonese Castle, dating from 474 BC, and the Archaeological Museum of Pithecusae.  Moving from ancient times to modernity, La Colombaia, summer residence of the film director Luchino Visconti, has now been transformed into an International Cultural Centre, well worth a visit. Discover the island’s nature paths, visit the Maddalena woods and Mount Epomeo, along with the magnificent gardens of La Mortella, created by the English composer William Walton.  For those who want to completely unplug, check into the Poseidon Gardens.  This oasis of sea, land, several cold to hot pools, a natural water spring and with several restaurants, provide a dream-like experience that will heal your body and mind.

Spa~ For Body & Soul

The waters of Lacco Ameno are known for their regenerative and therapeutic properties. The hyperthermal springs here reach 175 °F and are rich in chlorites, sodium, bicarbonate, sulphites and magnesium. The fango, mud, from the springs, gathered from the natural caves, is allowed to remain for about six months in the thermal waters where it absorbs minerals and develops medicinal qualities.

The hotel’s award-winning spa offers an ample range of treatments including essential oil massages, mud therapy, thermal vapor for the respiratory system, osteopathic treatments for bone and joint health, physical therapy and rehabilitation, mind and body balance, facials, vein and skin treatments, lymph drainage and more.  Start with an antistress massage followed by a hammam body bioactive mud treatment and mud mask!  Check in, relax and enjoy the 5 star hotel private amenities.

Ischia Accommodations – 5 Star Luxury Resort

This 5-star Ischia hotel exudes luxury and hospitality. Once the vacation spot of Hollywood’s stars, this hotel epitomises the Italian art of living well, emphasising style and beauty. The surroundings are beautiful – set atop ancient Greco-Roman ruins, this property overlooks the bay and is nestled between artisan shops, fine restaurants, and all the natural joys Ischia has to offer. Inside, the hotel is beautiful and stylish, encapsulating 1950s glam in a unique, Mediterranean way. The resort offers four swimming pools – two outdoor swimming pools, one of which with heated seawater, on the the beach, and the second is a thalassotherapy.  There are two indoor swimming pool – one with a thermal water pool and the other with thermal water inside the spa for a unique treatment of music, chromo-therapy and aromatherapy.  Experience Ischia islands tours & thermal spa visit on our Cooking Vacations Ischia.

Each room at the resort is decorated with hand-painted majolica tiles, and combines mid-century style with modern flair. The beds and linens are deluxe and comfortable, and amenities include private en-suite bathroom, air conditioning, safe, minibar, free wi-fi, and lavish bathrobes and slippers, to name a few. The warm and welcoming staff is attentive to your every need – daily breakfast including a full menu is included, along with daily maid service. Go for a swim in any of the hotel’s three thermal swimming pools, and reap the benefits of Ischia’s famous natural springs. To cap off your trip, visit the hotel’s timeless bar for a cocktail in the garden as piano music softly plays, or choose from their carefully curated cigar collection. Exhale and relax in luxury in Ischia!

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Itinerary: 3 Days, 2 Nights

Day 1: Arrival & Spa Treatment

• Arrival and check into the 5 star hotel.
• Check in and get familiar with the property.
• Later on, unwind and relax with the Resort’s hour long anti-stress massage, decontracting massage, and a calming bath.

Day 2: Morning free & Cooking Class 1

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, take the morning to relax, visit a winery or explore the beach.
• Ask us about adding on a visit to the Ischitan Wine Cellars, where you will learn about the wines grown on the island.  You may also add on a Fishing Trip, where you will sail around the island, fish while discovering the local fish.
• Take time to lunch on your own.
• Later on, tie on your apron with our chefs for your hands-on cooking class.  Prepare a full menu including local fare – an antipasto, fresh pasta and sauce, main course and dessert with a glass of wine included. Following each cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the class to follow.

Day 3: Departure & Arrivederci!

• Breakfast is served.
• Check out and departure.

Note: This sample itinerary schedule may vary due to inclement weather, saints days; festivals. All activities, in the event of rescheduling, are always included during the week.