Special-Interest Vacations

Cooking Schools

One of Italy's most respected cookbook authors, and former TV cooking show star, Giuliano Bugialli shares his secrets in summertime weeklong classes, with lodging in Florence and classes conducted in a kitchen in the chianti wine zone. One-week courses run 2,750€ ($3,800) per person, including first-class accommodations and most meals. For more info, contact 252 Seventh Ave., #7R, New York, NY 10001 (tel. 646/638-1099; fax 646/638-0381; www.bugialli.com).

Perhaps the classiest, highest-profile school is the one started by Lorenza de' Medici, author of 30 kitchen tomes (including the coffee-table favorite Tuscany: The Beautiful Cookbook) and star of her own PBS cooking series. Unfortunately, she's hung up her apron and now leaves the lessons to an acolyte. May through October, her 1-week "The Villa Table"-brand courses take place in the 12th-century abbey and wine estate Badia a Coltibuono. The courses aren't cheap -- around 2,824€ ($3,900) double occupancy -- but room and board in the late medieval abbey complex are included. The courses book up quickly. Another option is the half-day cooking course offered Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 3:30pm, which must be booked at least 36 hours in advance at tel. 0577-744-832 or www.coltibuono.com. For more info, contact Louise Owens, 3128 Purdue, Dallas, TX 75225 (tel. 214/739-2846; fax 214/691-7996).

If a week's time or near $4,000 investment are too rich for your cooking-lesson tastes, check out Judy Witts Francini's La Divina Cucina (tel./fax 055-292-578; www.divinacucina.com) for 1-, 2-, and 3-day courses designed to teach you to cook as the Florentines do. You start off each class by shopping in Florence's large central market at 11am, and by 4pm you've put together a meal based on the freshest ingredients available that day. Each day costs 181€ ($250) per person, and classes are offered Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week, year-round. (As a bonus, you get a copy of Judy's From the Market to the Table cookbook to take home.) She also offers Florence walking tours and daylong Chianti tours. In Florence, she's located at Via Taddea 31, 50123, Firenze; in the States, you can get info by writing to 2130 Comistas Dr., Walnut Creek, CA 94598 (tel./fax 925/939-6346).

April through October, Inland Services, 708 Third Ave., 13th floor, New York, NY 10017 (tel. 212/687-9898; www.cookeuro.com), offers a weeklong course, "Love of Italian Cooking," with visits to wine estates and cultural day trips. For a real treat you can take a culinary class or two or an entire cooking course on some of the Chianti wine estates. The Castello Vicchiomaggio (tel. 055-854-079; fax 055-853-911; www.vicchiomaggio.it) may be good for dabblers, offering a 1-day course for 155€ ($202) per person (minimum six people).

Bike Tours

The best way to experience Tuscany and Umbria just may be by bicycle. Bike-it-yourselfers should arm themselves with a good map and make use of the resources of the Club Alpino Italiano, 7 Via E. Fonseca Pimental, Milan 20127 (tel. 02-2614-1378; fax 02-2614-1395; www.cai.it). You can rent a bike by the week or longer at outlets in most cities.

Several operators specialize in setting up itineraries and making some of the arrangements for you or in leading fully guided tours. Ciclismo Classico (tel. 800/866-7314 in the U.S., or 781/646-3377; fax 781/641-1512; www.ciclismoclassico.com) is one of the best operators and has been leading bike and walking tours in Italy since 1988. A weeklong tour of Tuscany runs about 2,173€ ($3,000) per person. April through November, the outfit runs several guided tours through Tuscany and Umbria, always van-supported, and will help you arrange a do-it-yourself tour as well. Six- to 15-day trips usually include Italian-language and cooking lessons along with wine tasting and cultural itineraries. Groups average 10 to 18 people, with all ages and ability levels welcome.

Experience Plus (tel. 800/685-4565 in the U.S., or 970/484-8489; www.experienceplus.com) offers both guided (Sept-Oct) and self-guided (Apr-Oct) biking and walking tours through Tuscany lasting 8 or 9 days. Florence-based I Bike Italy (tel. 561/388-0783 in the U.S.; www.ibikeitaly.com) offers guided 1- and 2-day rides in the Tuscan countryside. The 2-day tour requires a minimum of four participants and ends in Siena. They provide a shuttle service in and out of the city, the bike, and a bilingual guide. The 1-day tour returns to Florence around 5pm. Tours cost around 70€ ($91) per person, lunch included. The same company leads less extensive walking tours in Tuscany.

Walking Tours

If you don't feel the need to cover so much territory, you can appreciate even more of the countryside by walking or hiking (called trekking in Italian). Italy's resource for everything from countryside ambles to serious mountain trekking is the Club Alpino Italiano. Many outfits run walking tours in Tuscany and Umbria. Besides Ciclismo Classico , you might want to try Butterfield & Robinson, 70 Bond St., Suite 300, Toronto, ON M5B 1X3 (tel. 800/678-1147 or 416/864-1354; fax 416/864-0541; www.butterfield.com); or Country Walkers (tel. 800/464-9255 in the U.S., or 802/244-1387; www.countrywalkers.com), which has a rather refined, romantic outlook on Italy and offers several Tuscan tours, one of which divides your time between exploring hill towns on foot and taking cooking and wine appreciation lessons.