Cooking in Tuscany is a wonderful program that encompasses much more than cooking. Christina takes you on a personal tour of an area of Tuscany that she knows intimately and clearly loves. Her enthusiasm and knowledge make the program as she shares the history and culture of her country. She takes you to places you would not find on your own and introduces you to local people who share their passion for wine,olive oil, art and more. I highly recommend spending a week with her and as well as GianCarlo,Elena and their other friends!

Overall 4+ stars. Well worth it, a memorable experience. I highly recommend this program. 5 stars for well balanced itinerary with excellent tour guides. Christina and Elena know their stuff and add unique insight to each of the tour stops. There was a wide variety of tour stops with something for everyone. I enjoyed them all, some more than others though. Airport pickup and delivery was seamless. 4+ Stars for the cooking school. We had four wonderful meals all with interesting menus and some unique dishes. Local ingredients were outstanding - too bad I will not be able to duplicate that at home. I would have liked more hands-on opportunities to practice techniques but that is a personal preference. The demonstrations were instructive. Gianluca is a terrific, if not inspiring, instructor. I definitely will try 3-4 recipes at home. I already upped my gnocchi game. 3 stars for the accommodation. The hotel staff was more than attentive and accommodating. The hotel was clean and comfortable. Breakfast was more than adequate. However my single room though overall comfortable was somewhat spartan. It had an open shower area adjacent to the commode - it was fully functional and I had no problems in getting a good, hot shower. Street noise in the early morning was somewhat of a problem, garbage collection was quite noisy. The location of the hotel was in easy walking distance to most of the points of interest in the walled city.

Cooking in Tuscany is an excellent program which I enjoyed very much. It is the perfect combination of cooking (4 lessons) and other excursions in and around Lucca. The group leader Christina was fantastic, and her personal connections made for intimate and rewarding experiences that I will remember forever. Gianluca has a real passion for Tuscan cooking that he enjoys sharing with all. If every Road Scholar program is as good as this one, then I will be attending many more!

Great trip. The hotel and staff were lovely. I really liked the small size of the group. Learned a lot about the area.

Outstanding blend of culture, history, food and wine in one of Italy’s most beautiful locations, perfectly paced.

The opportunity to visit local artisans was exceptional, and the town of Lucca was the perfect place to use as a base for a meaningful Tuscan adventure!

Cooking in Tuscany was the best trip I have ever been on. The cooking with Gianluca was great, as is expected. But the tours of Lucca with Elena, the dinners, the field trips with Christina to wineries, the marble quarry, art galleries and more, were indescribably wonderful. I cannot recommend this highly enough - it was incredible!! Sally, September 2018

This was a fabulous trip and so much more than we were expecting! All the tours were excellent. Loved the town of Lucca and have talked about returning. Hard to recommend this trip highly enough.

The Cooking in Tuscany tour in bella Lucca was a spectacular trip. It was a week full of more sights, sounds, smells, and tastes than I had dreamed I could ever experience: the beautiful Hotel Palazzo Alexander and Mario’s attentive care at breakfast; Elena’s knowledgeable expertise as we toured the churches and ancient cobbled streets of Lucca; Gianluca’s expert instruction as we made fabulous Tuscan meals; and of course, the incredible food, wine, and liquors we enjoyed every day. Our tour organizer, Cristina, was simple amazing. We spent the days exploring Lucca’s streets and buildings, peering beneath its surface to view its ancient ruins, learned about the deep rich history of this place, and experienced the beauty created by the Luchese masters. We experienced the hidden secrets off the beaten path and saw Lucca through the eyes, heart, and mind of someone who knows and loves this gem of a city. Cristina did all of this with grace and patience and expert skill. It’s clear that her deep friendships with the shop owners, artists, chefs, expert guides, and vintners helped to open the doors for us so we could have these intimate and deeply moving experiences that filled up our senses. We spent four fabulous sessions at the International Academy of Italian Cuisine. Gianluca is an expert chef, a talented instructor, and a very personable and engaging man. At his beautiful Tuscan school, we made and savored 4 course meals. My favorites were a delicious artichoke pudding with pecorino cheese, trout fillet with seasonal vegetables and light homemade mayonnaise, risotto with asparagus, gnocchi with arugula pesto, ravioli with Buffalo mozzarella, and truffle-scented veal with fennel gratin. And I can assure you, every bite was foodie heaven! I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who loves to explore, learn, cook, and enjoy experiencing delicious Tuscan food and wine!

Love the cooking school in Lucca we stayed in a refurbished but opulent Boutique Hotel with warm welcoming staff. I've enhanced my knowledge of cooking a thousand fold is every minute brought me to a new level

If you have an interest in Italian culture and food....if you are looking for a more in-depth interaction with the people and the history of a place....if you enjoy getting to experience the hospitality and warmth of a welcoming hotelier then this program is an excellent choice. The tour director, the city guide, the master chef and culinary teacher plus the hotel owner and host were exceptional. We were immersed in the passion for learning and living well...the Italian way.

Learning to cook with GianLuca Pardini at the Italian School of Cooking in Lucca was a 5 star, hands-on, learning experience. Great food, great fun. Our tour leader, Cristina Viti, enthusiastically shared her love of life and all things Italian. This was an outstanding program because of them.

This program was wonderful, very educational, fun, and fabulous food!

Definitely recommend this program to get some hands on cooking experience in Italy. We had four classes over seven days. Each class was about 2 to 3 hours, preparing 3 or 4 courses. My only regret was not being able to be hands-on for each course. The group was broken into teams, each who were hands-on for one or two courses. Gianlucca, the head chef/instructor, would call the entire group together when there was an important point to be made about any dish preparation. The food we made was so good I think it exceeded any meal we had at the restaurants we went to during the 10 days, and went to some excellent restaurants. Cristina Viti, our Group Leader, know Lucca and the surrounding areas quite well, as she is from the area and know the area and many of the locals. It was rather surprising how often during our walks that people greeted here by name and asked about her family.

What an amazing experience! The tour director, Cristina, lined up a knowledgeable team to give us an exciting experience not only in the kitchens of the region but in the history of Lucca and the surrounding area. 5 stars in my book! Thank you Cristina!

I would highly recommend this program if you like to cook and like to try foods that are from the different areas that you will be visiting in and around Lucca. The accommodations are nice and everyone you are in contact with in this program treats you like you are their family.

If you want to learn about Italian cooking and want a "hands on" experience, this is the prgram for you. You will be welcomed by Chef Gianluca to prepare delightful food and eat in his villa. You will be delighted to go on narby field trips to experiece cheese making, lard making, wine making, and host of other food related trips.

The program was exceptionally good overall. Cristina Viti was a marvelous guide and Gianluca Pardini was an inspirational teacher with a wonderful sense of humor and an ability to get everyone involved in the cooking lessons. The meals we prepared at the school were incredible and made me anxious to take some of the lessons and techniques home. The trips to nearby villages and towns were great – very educational and a chance to see some more of the beautiful Tuscan countryside. The one complaint I have is that on a couple of days there were too many activities packed in. Particularly on Saturday, October 6 – we met Gianluca at the market to select some of the produce we were going to use that day, then proceeded to the cooking school to prepare a wonderful “lunch” – more like a 4 course dinner. After cooking for about 3 hours and then eating our wonderful food, we returned to the hotel about 3:30. We were scheduled for another walking tour of Lucca that afternoon about 4:30, but several of us were too exhausted to even think about going. We spoke to Cristina and Elena, the tour leader, about this and they both recognized that there were too many activities packed into that one day. PLEASE consider revamping the schedule to account for people’s energy levels. All in all, the trip was a marvelous experience and I would recommend it to anyone who has a love of cooking and wants to experience new things.

Cooking in Tuscany was a dream come true. With all the arrangements made seamlessly by group leader Cristina, I could relax and enjoy the rich culture, gorgeous views and do some hands-on experiences creating delicious Tuscan cuisine. Far exceeded my expectaions

this was everything I had hoped for and more!

Hurry to sign up for the next Cooking in Tuscany tour! My sister and I travelled together to beautiful Lucca and spent 10 glorious days exploring Tuscan villages, wineries, museums, gardens and farms and cooking delicious four course Italian meals with a charming master chef, Gianluca Pardini. We are experienced cooks and these classes and the entire 10 day tour far exceeded our expectations. We met and got to know other interesting people in our group and were led by the most knowledgable and charming guide. This was our first Road Scholar tour and we can't wait to go again. Maybe Cooking in Sicily!

This program is fabulous. The International Cooking School is fun and the chef is warm and caring. He includes everyone in the cooking experience. The program guide is very good, also.