Learn about Sicilian food and culture through cookery classes, market trips and private guided tours with Wish Sicily. Instead of staying in a hotel, enjoy the luxury of staying in a private villa in north east Sicily surrounded by all your favourite people! Wish Sicily’s new Cooking & Culture week is available throughout the year for groups of between 10-30 people.
Comments Wish Sicily director, Gioacchino Sortino, ‘We organise a wide range of tours and activities for many of our guests who, increasingly, want to do more than just sit by the pool. We’ve designed this comprehensive itinerary for private groups who are keen to explore but also have time to relax in the comfort of their own luxury villa. The programme encompasses a mix of activities for groups who want to hand over the planning and organising to local specialists.’
Cookery classes include a fish-themed lesson, with a visit to the market in Milazzo, and one that focusses on traditional Sicilian starters, using freshly-picked home-grown vegetables from the villa’s estate. Other culinary highlights include a trip to the renowned panettone producers, Fiasconaro, and a visit to a family-owned producer of sweet treats made from locally-grown almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios. There are also excursions to Mount Etna, with a thrilling 4 x 4 ride to the crater, a private excursion by boat to the spectacular Aeolian Islands, and wine-tasting.
Accommodation for smaller groups (10 guests) is at Villa Dionisio, a striking contemporary villa with a magnificent double-height living space, eye-catching art works and expansive poolside terraces that overlook the Sanctuary of Tindari. For larger groups (11-30 guests), Pizzo dell’Ovo features hotel-style en suite bedrooms and two infinity pools, set amidst olive and oak tree-carpeted countryside.
Prices: Cooking and Culture in Sicily costs £20,500 (for a group of 10), or £2050pp including all meals, cookery classes, excursions and transfers, with Wish Sicily (www.wishsicily.com, 020 7193 7302). Flights not included.
Notes to editors
Price includes:
- 7 nights’ full board in a luxury villa with pool
- 3 cookery classes
- Wine-tasting
- Excursions to Mount Etna, the Aeolian Islands, Milazzo, Cefalù and Tindari
- English-speaking guide
- Private transfers to/from airport
