Inspiration

A taste of Italy: our favourite agriturismi with cooking schools

Guest Expert

5 min read

From its dynamic, cosmopolitan north to its insouciant, sun-bleached south, Italy inspires like no other. Home to some of the world’s finest art, architecture and gastronomy, no wonder almost 4 million Brits visit every year. We love it! To experience an authentic taste of rural Italian life, an agriturismo, or farm stay, is the perfect vantage point. Typically found tucked away in beautiful locations, where crops, vines and livestock are tended; agriturismi allow you to delve deeper into the local food, heritage and culture. Often you’ll stay with a family who have farmed the land for generations and who still cook grandmother’s recipes. Not only will you be treated to exquisite meals, you can also expect warm hospitality, style and comfort. Here are four of our favourite agriturismi, dotted about the country, where you can learn to cook like a proper Italian nonna.

Tagged with:

Ca’ de Memi – Agriturismo

The Scquizzato’s ramblingly elegant old farmhouse is in the middle of town – albeit a small one – its courtyard and big garden at the back. Ottorino looks after their nearby orchard (‘forgotten’ fruits a speciality), the land and the animals. His wife Michela looks after guests, is a sublime cook – try her seasonal, homegrown, regional dishes – and runs cookery courses. If you’ve always wanted to make pasta, Veneto style, now’s your chance. Dinner, at one long table next to the open fire, might be risotto with fegatini, bruscandoli and radicchio, homemade pasta with duck sauce, pollo in tecia with polenta, and apple and cinnamon cake or fruit tart to finish. You sleep in beamed and wooden floored rooms on a comfortable mix of antique and new beds, decked with stripes and checks (and there’s a lift, if stairs are a problem). Visit Piombino Dese’s magnificent Palladian Villa, Cornaro. Oh, and cycle the former Treviso-Ostiglia railway path.

View place >

Agriturismo Barone Antonio Negri

Monica’s grandfather, the Barone Antonio, was a much-loved mayor and the piazza named in his honour is a fine place for an evening passeggiata among the locals. The farm has been in the family for 150 years, and Monica offers cookery classes using regional, farm-fresh ingredients. Delicious dinners are eaten on the terrace (or in the restaurant): local mozzarella, just-picked tomatoes, chicken cooked to grandmother’s recipe, and always, a dessert extravaganza. Soak up the beautiful far-reaching views toward Salerno; the sunsets are divine. Positioned on various levels, each of the good-sized and individually decorated Provençal style rooms, some sporting modern frescoes, keep their original tiles and overlook nine hectares of nut, fruit and olive trees and vines; enjoy a morning stroll before cooling off in the pool. It’s wonderful being high and cool and still within easy reach of the Amalfi coast.

View place >

Fattoria Mosè Agriturismo

Three generations still work this farm where Chiara’s family used to come to escape Palermo’s summer heat; get involved in one of her amazing cookery courses using the freshest ingredients to recreate family recipes or join the olive harvest if you time it right. The town creeps ever up towards the Agnello olive groves but the imposing house still stands proudly on the hill, protecting its private chapel and a blissfully informal family interior. In the main house, high, cool rooms have superb original floor tiles, antiques and family mementos. The stables, now six airy modern apartments, have high, pine-clad ceilings, contemporary fabrics and good little kitchens, plain white walls, no pretensions. Most have their own terrace, all spill onto the lovely plant-packed courtyard (with barbecue). Breakfast is in a huge dining room or on the terrace, and there are Chiara’s olive oils, almonds and fruits and vegetables to buy.

View place >

Casa Fabbrini

Paola is up at dawn making strudel or crostata for breakfast – a lavish affair with fresh ricotta, homemade yoghurt, jams and jellies. You can opt to stay in for supper and watch the cooking and preparation of the day’s Tuscan menu – pastas a speciality – with their own wine, fruit and vegetables. Sign up to learn Paola and Giorgio’s fine culinary art: five days spent kneading, cooking and eating. You feast together at the rustic tables that migrate out under the loggia when the weather’s good (it’s fine to ask for a separate table). You’re surrounded by mature oaks and lavender, beautifully landscaped among the soft hillsides with plenty of places to sit, in the shade, or by the gorgeous pool – big enough for serious laps. Bedrooms (some on the ground floor, some upstairs) have superb linens, wooden floors and views over open countryside or the garden. Walks through the woods will take you to the nearest village.

View place >

Browse our Agriturismo holidays >

Want more travel inspiration? Get our email updates direct to your inbox.

Carmen McCormack

Guest Expert

Carmen is a freelance writer specialising in travel. She once lived in a bus in north Wales, skipped off to study in Barcelona, and now calls Bristol home. When she’s not tapping away on her laptop, she can be found reading (a lot), lake swimming (a little), and pottering on the allotment with husband and two kiddos. She’s currently dreaming about cold cerveza and torta in Mexico.

View more articles by this author