The cooking classes bring you in the kitchen with some of Italy’s most talented chefs for hands-on cooking. Our chefs will instruct and show you the way to make a full course menu during your program. Lunch or dinner follows with the foods prepared in class. Wine, water, dessert and café included. Classes are kept deliberately small in order to ensure more individual attention for each student and promote a warm and relaxed atmosphere.

In each of the women only tours, participants also learn about Italy’s Renaissance Women and how they shaped the culinary, art, music, culture and fashion scenes. Each participant receives a hand-made journal made in Italy, perfect for jotting down your travel notes, musings, sketches and thoughts from your Italian Renaissance vacation so your experience will stay with you forever.

Join us in sunny Positano for our special women only hands-on cooking on the splendid Amalfi Coast. The exclusive “Renaissance Women” program is perfect for women wanting to join a small group and meet new friends; or mothers, daughters & grandmothers, and girl friends getting together for a fun cooking vacation in magical Positano.

The cooking classes bring you in the kitchen with our prized Chefs Rosa, Pietro & Roberto, who range from talented locally trained chefs to local cooks, and know every recipe by heart. You will learn how to create authentic southern Italian cuisine, while picking up important food notes for each recipe. The cooking classes include preparing antipasto, fresh pasta, fish & meat, pizza, artisan cheese & delicious desserts~ all hands-on. This cooking experience features the healthy Mediterranean diet using only fresh organic vegetables from our garden.

This cooking program takes you on a culinary tour of the famed Amalfi Coast and its Mediterranean cooking style; and offers a treasure of creative excursions, such a trip to Capri, watercolor painting, journal writing, travel photography and an informal lecture, specially designed for the woman traveler who loves food, culture, art and fun.

Cooking Classes
The classes take place in our Mediterranean kitchen that overlooks the sea, giving you an authentic cooking tour experience of different recipes, techniques and styles. In each class, you are up close and hands-on preparing delicious and beautiful recipes with our chefs. The warm sun and rich soil of southern Italy grow the heartiest vegetables and fruits, and in this program participants pick them from our garden and head to the kitchen for preparation. After each class, everyone enjoys eating food that was prepared in class on the terrace, while watching the sun set over the Galli Islands. Wine, caffè and dessert included. This exclusive food lover’s cooking tour brings you into our kitchens~from Positano to its hillside, and features classes with the Amalfi Coast’s most celebrated chefs– perfect for real foodies!

Accommodations ~ Renaissance Women-Women Only
Our charming Renaissance Women only program is hosted at a villa-style Bed & Breakfast located in the center of town and overlooking the sea. Each bedroom has its own private terrace and sea view surrounded with flowered pergola and greenery. Cool ceramic tiles line each large bedroom. Each bedroom has a private bathroom, jacuzzi & shower, hair-dryer, safe, refrigerator, and air conditioning. Breakfast is served in your room each morning, and daily maid service is provided for your convenience. The Secret Garden is truly a magical setting. Positano itself is a garden, set under spectacular Bougainvillea and overlooking the sea. Guests sunbathe on the terrace, walk to the beach or relax at a cozy side-walk café with a fresh squeezed lemonade. Step out your door and cafés, bookshops and trattorias spill onto the sidewalk. A panoramic view spans Li Galli Islands and the Amalfi Coast. The Tyrrhenian Sea is literally at your feet, and the beach is just a short walk away. As the sun sets, sit back on your terrace and watch the world-class yachts and local fishing boats ripple through the cerulean waters. Shuttle boats connect from each of Positano’s beaches and sail along the Coast. From Positano’s port you can take a water taxi to Sorrento, Ischia, Capri, Amalfi and Naples.

Mediterranean gardens dot the Amalfi Coast where red cherry tomatoes, plump eggplant, zucchini, sweet oranges, lemons & pink grapefruit, and olives grow in abundance thanks to the warm Mediterranean climate, fertile volcanic soil and salted sea breeze which provide perfect growing conditions. Organic herbs of basil, sage, parsley, oregano, rosemary and mint, line gardens and fill terracotta pots set on terraces. The local organic herbs that we grow are used in our cooking classes, along with our own 100% Extra Virgin, first-cold-pressed, Olive Oil.
View additonal Photos Here!

*The Renaissance Women Rustic – Accommodation Option
Handicap accessible & with swimming pool
The Renaissance Women Rustic, a sea front villa-style B&B, is an accommodation option. The property is set in a very large garden and is a 10-minute walk from the main piazza. The property is handicap accessible, has an outdoor swimming pool, private beach with chairs (no extra charge), a large common terrace, and café bar serving light lunch & drinks upon request. Each bedroom has a private bathroom, terrace, and sea view.
View additonal Photos Here!

Positano~“It’s A Dream Place,” John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck lived in Positano in 1953 and wrote, “Positano bites deep, it’s a dream place, that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.”

Positano is a little Moorish-style village, discovered by American and British troops at the end of World War II. Its small winding streets are filled with tiny cafés, terraces, and artisan shops selling ceramics, limoncello and antiques. Take a walk along the stone pathway, the one little street that leads to the beach. Visit the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta in Piazza Flavio Gioia, a Romanesque structure that was completely rebuilt in 1700. The people of Positano celebrate her feast day every August 15th, when the locals carry the statue along the beach with a parade of musicians. A spectacular fireworks display follows.

In the 10th century, Positano was part of Amalfi’s Maritime Republic, and rivaled Venice as an important mercantile power. It was an important center during the 16th and 17th centuries, when its ships traded in the Near and Middle East, carrying spices, silks and precious woods. The advent of the steamship in the mid-19th century led to the town’s decline; and some three quarters of its 8,000 citizens left for America, with most settling in New York.

Gracing the pathway is the Palazzo Murat, originally built by Prince Joachim Murat, whom Neapolean designated as King of Naples in 1808. Murat wanted to lead the simple life, yet built a grand palazzo. He was killed in battle and never enjoyed his palace.

The majolica dome, Positano’s landmark, is that of the Chiesa Madre, or the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta. It has a green and yellow majolica dome, topped by a cupola. It was built on the site of a former Benedictine Abbey of Saint Vito, a 13th-century Romanesque structure, and was almost completely rebuilt in 1700. The church has a carved wooden Christ, a masterpiece of devotional religious art. At the alter, is a 13th-century Byzantine painting on wood with the Madonna and Child, known as the Black Virgin. Legend claims that the painting was once stolen by Saracen pirates, who, when fleeing during a raging storm, heard a voice from the heavens, say: “Posa, posa!” “Put it down, put it down.” When they placed the statue on the beach near the church the storm calmed, as did the Saracens. Positano was saved, and the town’s name was established. Others claim that she is named after the god Poseidon. The stone footpath along the sea is Via Positanesi d’America.

3 Cooking Classes, Journal Writing & Tea Talk
This special Renaissance program includes 3 hands-on cooking classes with lunch or dinner following, a “Tea Talk,” featuring a discussion on journal writing, travel photography and a final gala dinner, that explores decorating the table for a special occasion. You will experience Southern Italy’s cooking styles, foods & wines in this program created exclusively for women.

Featured in this program is Chef Rosa who will teach you how to make fresh, organic, hand-made Mozzarella and other fresh cheeses. Following is your choice of making either hand-made pasta and sauces or authentic Neapolitan pizza in a wood-burning oven with Chef Rosa by your side.

During the week, you will also participate in additional group activities and excursions where you can tap into your hidden creative talents. Included is an outdoor watercolor class with Positano’s applauded resident artist Pasquale. There is a journal-writing discussion, where you can take your pen and scribe your travel notes. Also set is a morning free to hike through the “Walk Of the Gods,” the hilltop footpath high above the Amalfi Coast: bring your camera and hold your breath for one of nature’s most gorgeous panoramic shots of sea & sky. And if you love to shop, we will take you to our best shopping spots including local artisans who keep the art of hand-made products alive. We visit a fashionable goldsmith, artful ceramic maker, and leading clothing designer. These treasured artisans welcome you into their shops and studios. Who knows, you may walk out with a “new look.”

Program is 8 days 7 nights
~ Saturday to Saturday

Saturday: Benvenute To Positano & Welcome Dinner

• Pick-up and transfer from Naples airport or train station to the property. Arrival and check-in. Relax on your private terrace with your welcome aperitivo. Introduction to the area, meet your host and review our culinary tour program for the week. You will be given a Renaissance Women welcome gift bag, including a hand-made leather-bound journal from Amalfi, a Cooking Vacations’ recipe booklet and apron.
  
• A full course Chef’s Tasting Menu is prepared for you by our Chef. A private car picks you up for dinner. Dine on award-winning southern Italian food set in a charming setting that overlooks the panoramic Amalfi Coast. Toast with a complimentary Prosecco. (Wine not included. Wine, drinks, Grappa and an assortment of after dinner digestives are available at a surcharge).

Sunday: Positano Shopping Tour or Painting & Cooking Class 1

• Breakfast is served.
  
• You may choose from a splendid painting class with resident artist Pasquale Volpe or a Positano Shopping Tour. Take your paper, brush and paints and join Pasquale for a private watercolor class. Start your day with a clean canvas, a brush and a palette of pastel colors. Try your hand and let your mind run free.

Painting Class

• Pasquale Volpe, whose watercolors are so soft and yet so brilliant on the canvas, captures the ever-changing moods of the Amalfi Coast’s sea and sky. Volpe, who has several accolades, and who has exhibited his art around the world, is your teacher in Positano as he shares with you his techniques and sentiments on painting in watercolors. Castles, sunsets, and la bella luna are just a few of his subject matters. With the dramatic and inspiring views of the Amalfi Coast as your backdrop, Pasquale leads you through the two-hour, hands-on class outside in fresh air. After graduating from Galileo Galilei College of Naples, where he studied engineering, Pasquale later followed his passion and dreams, taking a turn in his career to become an accomplished painter. His work is included in private collections in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, France, Japan, Hong Kong and the United States of America.

or

Positano Shopping Tour

• We will take you on a tour of Positano’s best shopping addresses. Positano is known for artisans who make ceramics, Positano moda (the fashionable skirts, linens and beachwear gracing Hollywood types and Italian starlets), coral & gold and handcrafted leather shoes and sandals made the old-world way. We will bring you to each address, from jewels to leathers, linens or shades-this fun shopping tour brings out the new look in everyone. Colorful ceramics, handcrafted cameos, lemon oils and spices are just a few of the town’s specialties.

Cooking Class 1 Your first hands-on cooking class.

• Tie on your apron and get ready for an afternoon filled with creative, fun recipes, advanced techniques and tricks of the kitchen with our Chefs.
  
• The class starts at 4:30pm in our professional Mediterranean kitchen. We start with a basic introduction and a glass of wine, fresh local fruit juice or an Italian espresso. The chef and our team will take you through a hands-on class featuring recipes from traditional southern Italian cuisine with an accent on the healthy Mediterranean diet. You will learn how to make an antipasto, main dish and dessert. After the class, everyone enjoys dinner on the terrace over the sea with the foods prepared in class; wine and water included.

Monday: Capri, Italy’s Glamorous Seaside Island & The Blue Grotto

• Breakfast is served.
  
• A full-day visit to the Isle of Capri, where you can choose to see the Blue Grotto- the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’, or stroll along the port. The Blue Grotto has a special cavern entrance where the sunlight reflects on the water in the cave, tingeing it a dramatic Mediterranean cerulean shade of blue. Capri is Italy's most popular and glamorous seaside island and is just twenty minutes away. Once in the port of Capri, you can choose to take the funicular up to the famous Piazza Umberto. This square, better known as ‘la piazzetta’, is perched high above the sea and offers a panoramic view of the Bay of Naples. You can also choose to visit Anacapri-the highest point on the island and go back in time to narrow streets and white-washed villa properties dotting the way. In town, you can shop at world-class luxury boutiques or simply enjoy a gelato or Prosecco Mimosa in the Piazza Umberto.
• This full day excursion, departs from Positano port at 9:00am, please arrive in the port no later than 8:45am.

***While on land in Capri and if you really want to see all the sites, we suggest that you reserve a private car tour with Signore Pino our personal driver. He will drive and guide you to each point of interest, while pointing out interesting historical facts. He will drive to the highest peak in Anacapri, to hidden gardens and villas where Emperors once reigned. A full 4-hour excursion in his sporty Capri Car is $275 per group, up to 6 people.

After your stay on the Island, we re-embark on board with our Captain for a sail around the Island. The boat tour includes a stop at the Blue Grotto (if open and weather permitting), a swim by the White Grotto (towels included), and a stop for Prosecco, soft drinks and Italian cakes served on board (included).

Tuesday: Food Lover’s Tour, Prosecco Toast & Lunch On
The Beach With Mamma Celeste

• Breakfast is served. Take time out for a cappuccino. Great panoramic views for some snapshot taking of the Coast and Capri. Head down to the beach early and relax or come just in time for lunch.
  
• Breakfast is served. Take time out for a cappuccino. Great panoramic views for some snapshot taking of the Coast and Capri. Head down to the beach early and relax.

Food Lover’s Tour & Prosecco Toast

• We start the day off with a Food Lover’s Tour. First stop the famous pastry shop, with an assortment of daily baked sweets. Next we visit Emilia, owner of our colorful mercato. She greets us with home-cooked foods, baskets piled high with fruits and vegetables, and an assortment of local artisan cheeses. Italians “fanno la spesa” each day, and this little shop is Positano’s most authentic. Its shelves are piled high with everything from over 600 pastas to caffè to daily breads. And Italians carry on their daily lives in these little markets, shopping daily, and exchanging the news of the day. Emilia, chef and foodie, shares her recipes and knowledge on artisan cheeses, wood-oven baked breads, spices. She can also tell you if a melon is sweet from 6 feet away. Figs, cherry red tomatoes, pumpkin, black grapes and zesty yellow lemons along with cedro, the famous melon-size Amalfi Coast citrons, are piled high. Informal discussion and food tastings included.
  
• Next stop is Vincenzo’s. Visit his quaint enoteca, wine bar & shop and more. Vincenzo and Luigi, wine experts and foodies too, will take you on a mini-wine tour through the cellars of Italy’s best regions. Learn about artisan chocolates spiked with candied lemon, orange; and hot chili pepper. Biscotti, chocolate-lemon kisses, and limoncello balls are just a few of the sweets you will taste.
  
• Mamma Celeste, a Renaissance Woman in her own right, prepares a fresh lunch at her restaurant on the beach. At 84 years old, Mamma takes her boat out into the crystal blue Tyrrhenian Sea for her own daily catch. Mamma returns to the kitchen to prepare the daily lunch specials, swordfish slow-baked with potatoes, black olives, capers and white wine, or fresh calamari sautéed to perfection, and colorful Mediterranean salads including the caponata, a local bread salad made with olives. This picturesque beach-spot overlooks Li Galli Islands. (Lunch included. Wine, soft drinks, grappa and digestives are available at a surcharge.)
  
• After lunch, take your pens and scribe your thoughts in your personal journal. In the afternoon, there is a discussion on Italy’s Renaissance Women. Join in the discussion on the life of Italy’s art, Isabella D’Este, la primadonna del Rinascimento, the first lady of the Renaissance. We will focus on the food & art of southern Italy and discuss this immortal figure, Ms. D’Este; spanning her life in the Mantovano to Lake Como. Caffè, tea, or Prosecco and Italian pasticcini, little desserts, created by our local pastry chef help you end the afternoon on a sweet note.
  
• Evening is free and dinner is on your own. Suggestion: Bar Bruno, ask for Nino and tell him you are from Cooking Vacations.

Wednesday: Cooking With Mamma Rosa
Cooking Class 2, Mozzarella~Cheese & Pizza Or Pasta Making

• Breakfast is served.
  
• Early morning departure at 9:00am to the family farmhouse in the hills of Positano. You will see their organic products including olive oils, jams, limoncello and jarred vegetables being made. Cooking class includes an unforgettable opportunity to partake in artisan Mozzarella and old-word cheese making. Mamma Rosa takes fresh milk and works it into a creamy cheese, weaving it into braids and twists. Following is your choice of pizza-making; rolling, kneading, flipping and topping then baking in a wood-burning brick oven; or handmade pasta, mixed and rolled and shaped by hand. Lunch is served on the terrace, and wine is included.
  
• After lunch, stroll the organic lemon grove and pick your own sweet lemons. A tour of the olive groves and olive oil making depot is included, for a taste of the farm’s prized oil. Return to Positano by private transfer.
  
• Evening is free and dinner is on your own. Suggestion: Bar Bruno. Ask for Nino and tell him you are from Cooking Vacations.

Thursday: Amalfi Coast & Ravello

• Breakfast is served.
  
• Morning departure for a ride along the Amalfi Coast to Amalfi. Getting there is the fun, as you will see the amazing panoramic Amalfi Coast, passing Sophia Loren’s home along the way.
  The town of Amalfi is rich in culture and history. The small city, perched on the coastline, is dominated by Amalfi’s Cathedral and its main streets are lined with small shops and elegant bars. Merchants display their wares outside and nothing could be more pleasant than browsing through stalls of herbs and spices, jewelry, shoes, handmade Amalfi paper, and local lemon specialties such lemon soap and lemon liqueurs. Stop in at one of the most famous and oldest pastry makers, dating back to the 1800’s, in southern Italy. A look inside the sweet showcase to chocolate drenched eggplant, flavored with pine nuts, liqueur & orange, fragrant ricotta pear tarts, candied lemon & orange dragged in chocolate or festive pastries of the day! Whatever you decide to order, take a seat outside in the piazza at one of the small café tables that overlook the greatest people-watching site on the Coast.
  
• Ravello follows. This quaint town, often called between ‘Sea & Sky’, is suspended high above the coast, with sweeping views that span the Tyrrhenian Sea to the mountains inland.
  
• Ravello is hailed the ‘International City of Music’ known for its precious panoramic view from the gardens of Villa Cimbrone. Ravello is perched 350 meters over the rocky spur of the Amalfi Coast separating the Valle del Dragone from the Valle del Regina. Today, Ravello is world-famous for its outdoor music concerts. Visit Villa Cimbrone, once the residence of Greta Garbo, wander through the lush gardens and the Terrazza Della Rosa, or stroll down the path that leads to the Terrazzo dell'Infinito (Terrace of Infinity). The natural balcony is adorned with imposing marble busts. From this unique vantage point you can see the distant Cilento Mountains and the Licosa beyond the sparkling sea, the lush Amalfi Coast, its distinctive terraces of colorful lemon trees, and the houses that cling to the rugged coastline. Stroll along the streets and alleyways and discover little gems of churches, chapels, and noblemen's residences. Also see the Cathedral, Villa Rufolo, San Giovanni del Tauro, and Santa Maria.
  
• Visit the piazza and the labyrinth of small streets filled with local ceramic makers, and artisans. You will see old-world artisans paint seascapes, mermaids, suns & moons, and romantic angels in soft pastel shades. Colorful pasta plates, cappuccino & espresso cups, serving platters and giant tabletops decorated in hues of pink, yellow and sky blue are just some of the Mediterranean ceramics for sale. Select a piece or an entire set; the shops ship worldwide.
• *You can also take our private guide, Angela, native Ravello resident and art historian expert on a walk through the gardens, pathways, villas and churches. Ask for avails, prices and group sizes.
  
• The evening is yours at leisure, sip wine or put on your walking shoes, and grab your camera for a peaceful walk on the Path Of The Gods at sunset, the footpath that overlooks Positano. This panoramic view encompasses the Amalfi Coast, to Capri, the Bay of Salerno and the Cilento coast. Follow the path to an amazing walk through with green grass, wild flowers and starlit skies.
  

• Breakfast is served.
  
• Take the morning to relax, do some last minute shopping and have lunch on your own.
  
• In the afternoon, head to the kitchen to start your third hands-on cooking class. We begin with a sampling of antipasti, followed by pasta and the main dish. Executive Chef Roberto & Pietro use their family’s traditional recipes and famous recipes of the Amalfi Coast. Their recipes include an eggplant salad appetizer drizzled with first-pressed, virgin olive oil, Positano-style pasta sautéed with seafood and baby shrimp in fresh tomato sauce and sea bass, baked between green lemon leaves.
  
• Enjoy your special Farewell Gala Dinner with the foods prepared in class on the terrace overlooking the sea. Toast with a cold class of Falanghina or Aglianico. Every meal ends with a sweet dessert. This farewell gala dinner also guides you through the beautiful art of table decorating for any special occasion.

Saturday

• Breakfast & departure
• Ciao~A Presto!
• Transfer to Naples airport or train station.