Foodie tours of Italy?

My sweetie and I signed up for a once-in-our-lifetime foodie tour to Tuscany scheduled for the end of April, which was to include the presence of one of our favorite local chefs and two of his chef buddies to teach us a thing or two, and cook for/with us.

It turns out that not enough people made reservations for the trip, so they've cancelled the tour dashing our dreams of Italy, pasta, wine and bread.

So we're looking for an alternative. I've googled "cooking vacations in Tuscany." The results are staggering. It seems like every
other town offers a vacation with cooking lessons.

We've considered other, stateside options (ya' know, like Louisville), but the airfares to Europe from the east coast (~$400 round trip) make it seem like the time to head to the continent.

I wonder if any forumers here who might have had any experience with tours like this could offer up a recommendation or two?

p.s. I apologize if this is the wrong forum to post this. Please let me know if one of the others would be more appropriate and I'll take it there.

I met a restaurant owner in Charleston that does this, and he and his wife are very nice. I have heard great things about their tours.

http://www.italydiscovered.com

Steve,

Oh, that's so disappointing!

Gourmet Magazine ran an article ( most of the issue) on cooking school vacations a couple of months back- several Italian places were in it. You might want to see if they have it on-line ( or at your library).

Deb

I wonder if any forumers here who might have had any experience with tours like this could offer up a recommendation or two?
.

My sweetie and I have done a ten day self-tour (driving) of Tuscany and would be happy to share our itinerary if you decide to go that route (and I'll be many others here would have similar experiences to share!). I found the driving and staying in very small hotels (most under ten rooms) was really a great way to see the incredible views in Tuscany. Plus, you can easily run up to Florence and do a see just a little bit of nice art!

I did a tour in 2001 with International Kitchens you can find that at theinternationalkitchen.com I enjoyed it a great deal. We stayed at a small winery outside in Tuscany. We would cook in the afternoon, go on several day tours to nearby towns like Pienza, Montalcino and Siene. It was a once in a lifetime vacation. I would highly recommend this company.