The Unplugged Collection - Ischia™

Join Executive Chef Gio for our Cooking Vacations Ischia tour, experiencing hands-on Ischia cooking classes and a thermal spa week.  Learn the simplicity and technique from the Chef in small group cooking classes in Ischia, Italy, where you will be preparing antipasto, fresh pasta, risotto, main courses, and desserts.  Learn to prepare local fish, farm-to-table recipes, and the Island’s signature wild rabbit recipe!

During your Ischia vacation stay, you will also visit an award-winning winery and cantina for a wine tour and discussion with tastings. Ischia is a volcanic island noted for its natural springs, thermal spa visits, and medicinal treatments. Visit the natural spa, Negombo, where you may indulge in temperature-controlled swimming pools, saunas, and natural mud baths.  The wonderful micro-climate of Ischia makes for the perfect recipe for cherry red tomatoes, basil, lush vegetables & fruits, fish and wine!

Ischia Cooking Classes

Experience the culinary delights of our Executive Chef and her team of sous chefs while learning how to prepare Michelin-starred recipes and traditional local cuisine.  Her philosophy is based on simplicity, local seasonal produce, and high-quality products.

Traditional recipes are prepared with farm-to-table island products and a modern interpretation by this young, dynamic Executive Chef team.  On the menu is coniglio all’ischitana, a wild Ischia rabbit recipe, the island’s most famous, prepared with white wine, cherry tomatoes, garlic, and chilli pepper.  There’s sgombro, local and wild mackerel; calamari, squid, stuffed, flash-fried, grilled, and in a salad; and alici, small white bait fish, grilled on lemon leaves.

Our Executive Chef for your cooking class in Ischia uses aromatic herbs, basil, oregano, sage, parsley, rosemary, and chilli peppers, along with fresh fruits and vegetables grown in his garden.  He incorporates lemons in local cooking, which are zested on fresh pasta, fish, and meats.  The lemons are also used in making traditional biscotti, as well as in limoncello.  Local cuisine is always paired with Epomeo wine, whose grapes grow in the rich volcanic soil.  There are also Forastera and Biancolella, and the reds, Piedirosso and Guarnaccia.  Following each Ischia cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the class with a toast of local wine included.  Cooking classes on Ischia blend hands-on cooking,

Ischia

First impressions of Ischia generally fall somewhere between awe and wonderment. While Capri, just across the Bay of Naples, wows you with its charm, Ischia gently casts its spell over you. Ischia, volcanic in origin, has a hidden reservoir of seething molten matter from which come the famous thermal springs, said to cure all that ails. As early as 1580, Dr. Giulio Iasolino discovered the mineral wells of Ischia and wrote a book about this magical place.

As you arrive by ferry, the island quickly comes into view, offering its splendor of rolling green hills that line the craggy shore. As you sail closer to the port, you see the bustling port filled with yachts large and small. Lush greenery dotted by ancient ruins gives Ischia its nickname, “Italy’s emerald isle.” Located just 17 miles off the coast of Naples, Ischia was first settled by the Greeks in the 8th century BC, and later became a favorite of the Emperor Augustus. Known for its natural luxuriant landscapes, it has remained largely untouched.

The island’s architecture shows a strong Greek influence, rightfully so, as the Greeks first settled it. Ancient villas in pearly whites dot the green landscape.

The island’s thermal spas attract travellers from around the world.  Each property offers luxurious swimming pools built on natural hot water springs with saltwater and thermal pools, natural holistic baths, and natural beauty treatments.  This Ischia island tour & thermal spa visit will have you feeling relaxed, rejuvenated and healthy.  Our cooking program offers total immersion for an Ischia Island Tour – from cooking and visiting to thermal baths on Ischia.  From sprawling beaches outlining the coast to vineyards blanketing the lush volcanic slopes of Mount Epomeo, Ischia is the perfect vacation cooking get-away!!!  The Ischian locals, warm and welcoming, welcome travellers with open arms.

Ischia Accommodations

The 4 – Star luxury property is set in a private garden overlooking the sea and surrounded by green gardens and thermal water pools.  Luxury, elegance, and beauty surround you with a swimming pool, thermal baths, and a professional spa, an on-site restaurant and bistro, along with professional staff at your every whim.

Each room is elegantly designed with Mediterranean Vietri tiles and ceramics with cool pastel colors overlooking the garden and sea.  Comfortable bedding, fine Italian linens, and a private ensuite bath add the final touch to your stay.  There’s satellite TV, Wi-Fi internet access, air conditioning, complimentary daily newspapers, a minibar, and a safe.  The hotel offers a full spa staff for relaxing treatments, and the natural thermal waters at the hotel are renowned since ancient times for their healing sea waters; the hotel also boasts a state-of-the-art spa where guests can enjoy any number of treatments. Enjoy the views from the scenic terraces and the roof garden pool.  An extensive breakfast is served daily, including cappuccino, espresso, fresh fruit juices, and teas.

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Itinerary ~ 8 Days, 7 Nights

Saturday: Arrival & Welcome

• Arrival at Ischia Port.
• Transfer from Ischia Port to hotel and check in.
• Later in the evening, enjoy our Welcome Dinner featuring a full-course Chef’s Tasting menu with local fare.  Wine is not included.

Sunday: Cooking Class 1

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, tie on your apron for hands-on Cooking Class 1.  Meet our Chef for your hands-on cooking class, which includes preparing a full-course lunch featuring local fare under the guidance of our chef.  Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in class with a toast of local white or red wine.
• Later in the afternoon, enjoy the spa at the property. Services and pricing vary; see host on-site.
• Dinner is on your own with suggestions provided.

Monday: Ischia Wine Tour & Tasting

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, meet your driver for a visit to a beautiful cantina with wine tasting.
• After the wine tour, return to the property, relax by the pool, take a swim in the sea, or enjoy a spa treatment.
• Dinner is on your own, with suggestions provided.

Tuesday:  La Mortella Botanic Gardens

• Breakfast is served.
• Enjoy a morning visit to the beautiful La Mortella Botanic Gardens, created by Susana Walton, the wife of the British composer Sir William Walton.  This garden is known as the most beautiful private garden in Italy.
• The afternoon is free to sit by the pool, enjoy the spa, or shop.
• In the evening, dinner is on your own with suggestions provided.

Wednesday: Negombo Thermal Baths

• Breakfast is served.
• Take the morning to walk the beach or relax by the pool.
• Lunch is on your own.
• Following lunch, we suggest you visit the excursion on your own to the exclusive Negombo Thermal Baths for an afternoon of hot springs, thermal baths, and spa services.
• Return to the hotel in the early evening.
• Dinner is on your own, with suggestions provided.

Thursday: Cooking Class 2

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, tie on your apron for hands-on Cooking Class 2. Meet our Chef for your hands-on cooking class, which includes preparing a full-course lunch featuring local fare under the guidance of our chef. Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in class with a toast of local white or red wine.
• In the afternoon, relax, explore the island, sit by the pool, or enjoy artisan shopping in town.
• In the evening, dinner is served at the hotel.

Friday: Cooking Class 3

• Breakfast is served.
• Following breakfast, tie on your apron for hands-on Cooking Class 3. Meet our Chef for your hands-on cooking class, which includes preparing a full-course lunch featuring local fare under the guidance of our chef. Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in class with a toast of local white or red wine
• In the afternoon, experience the spa for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation.
• In the evening, dinner is served at the hotel.

Saturday: Departure

• Breakfast is served.
• Check-out and transfer to Ischia Port. Arrivederci!