Castiglion del lago, Spello & Assise

We loved our time with Debora! She was knowledgeable, patient and easy to converse with. We loved spending our day with her, highly recommend!

Deborah was amazing at giving you a great tour and showing you the full experience of Tuscany. She is very knowledgeable of the history of Italy and Tuscany and knows all the secret local spots. I would highly recommend if you are coming to this area to book a trip with her and learn the history of Italy and enjoy the day. One of the highlights of our vacation.

Such a fun family friendly experience. You get a real taste of not only Italian food, but food specific to the Tuscany. This was a highlight of our trip!

Debora was a life saver in first, making the connections for us to get from Florence to Cortona and then being our personal guide. We also did the cooking class with Ryan who was simply amazing. Cannot recommend them both highly enough.

My wife and I enjoy scheduling cooking classes when we travel to new countries around the world. it's a wonderful way to understand the local culture and often meet some entertaining fellow travelers. I think we should have read more about this class before signing up however. The website warns you this could be a 5 hour experience. In our experience that is too long for a travelers cooking class. (Granted 1 to 1.5 hours are just eating the meal) But we should have clearly read the website and noted the chef is American. Granted he has lived in Cortona for many years and is married to a local, it just takes the luster off the the whole reason for traveling. He is essentially translating what he thinks it is to make an Italian Sunday lunch from an American perspective. Ryan has his students prepare many dishes. And yes, I guess the final product is good...but after 4 hours of being on our feet listening to Ryan talk over everyone continuously is exhausting. Yes, if there was one thing I would advise Ryan is that it's OK not to have to fill every quiet moment with your voice. Even when he wasn't pontificating he couldn't be quiet...he made whistling sounds, grunts, sighs etc...let your guests talk, maybe get to know each other...enjoy their vacation. Stop interrupting their conversations with your opinions. Would I recommend this to another traveler? Well, I'm just one person and I wouldn't have taken his class had I known some of these issues. But don't take my word, take the word of all the 5 star reviews he has on this site.

Debora has a ton of knowledge about the history of the area, about wines, food, architecture and she can answer any questions you might have in planning trips in the area. She makes you feel very welcome , like family! The cooking class with her husband, is a must ! She responds to emails quickly with necessary information on booking trips and what they entail and costs.She will always be my first choice for trips to Tuscany!!! My daughter and I will never forget it!!!

Ryan was the chef teaching our cooking class. He made the experience soooo much fun. He is so knowledgeable about food and making Italian food. He gave us the menu and then explained how each dish was to be prepared. As we were each cooking, he was there to help us every step of the way. Ryan has a gret sense of humor and made us very comfortable cooking in his kitchen. The food was amazing as was the company. If you are in Cortona, taking a cooking class with Ryan.

My experience with Debora started before I even got there!! I was there for several days and she essentially helped me and my fiancé plan out our whole trip - even which trains to take as we landed in Rome. She handled booking us drivers to pick us up at the station, and just everything in between. She truly made the trip come to life. Our first meet up was when we had a cooking class at her home with her husband- to this day the best meal I’ve ever had. The next few days we did several day trips with her to explore Tuscany. One of the days I was a little sick from the day before (too much wine) and she took me to this shop to sit while the group and my fiancé kept going with the tour. She is a delight to spend time with and she loves what she does- making the experience even better. I cannot recommend booking with her enough!! When we left Tuscany and went to Venice we felt a bit disappointed since we felt so spoiled from our days with Debora!!

I could leave it at fantastic, but that doesn’t do it justice. Debora made the trip. Humor, knowledge, personality, fun. We will always remember with great love of our time with Debora and Cortona! Then to top it off we had a spectacular cooking class with her husband, Ryan, at their house. Book it, you won’t be sorry!