Learn Italian skills

Rather than just taking home from your next trip tales of that fantastic tagliatelle alla bolognese, why not return with the skills to recreate all those great Italian meals in your own kitchen? Cooking schools and cooking lessons are a phenomenal way to while an afternoon—or even for a full week. You get the kind of genuine cultural insight no number of museums and monuments could ever give, you can engage locals on a subject about which they are truly passionate, and you will gain a new skill (or at least new recipes to add to your repertoire). And, of course, you get to eat all your mistakes (mmmm...mistakes)..

This fresco workshop provides a hands-on experience in the studio of an accomplished fresco artist, who will guide you through the steps of preparing a surface, drawing and transferring a drawing, and finally applying the paint. At end, you get to take home your own fresco...

Parla Italiano? No problem! With a little bit of training you can be—well, if not fluent then at least better able to make yourself understood and able to understand others. Italians love it when you even try to speak a bit of their language, and are very encourgaing to help you learn more. So whether for a day of basic words and phrases or a week-long intensive course to learn some converstational Italian, why not imparare à parlare italiano in Italia?...

Learn to row gondola-style in an exclusive very small group (maximum 4) with a great English-speaking guide. Glide through Venice's prettiest canals and out into the Venetian lagoon as you learn how to be a Gondolier!..

Master the basics of hand-to-hand combat at a genuine gladiator school on the ancient Appian Way. You'll get hands-on with ancient Roman history as your gladiator instructor teaches you how to fight with authentic weapons used by the gladiators of ancient Rome....

You probably know that masks are worn during Venice's Carnevale, but have you ever bothered to scratch the surface and learn about the intriguing and mysterious legends behind Venetian masks? In this 1 1/2 hour hands-on workshop, you will learn the craft of mask making from a real Mascareri, one of the skilled artisans who, for hundreds of years, have made original Venetian masks in their ateliers located all over Venice...

or centuries artists from around the world have flocked to Rome to wander its shadowy medieval streets and climb through its ruins, looking for that perfect vista. In this three-hour hands-on experience we'll pick up our pencils and join this illustrious group as we use the art of sketching to capture, frame, and ultimately understand better Rome in her many forms. Our guide will be an accomplished artist and art teacher who will take us to several hidden-away spots that we could never find on our own for that perfect perspective or vista. Plein Air Drawing in Rome is set up to accommodate all levels of artist, from experienced drawers to complete neophytes....

Mosaic is an art form that has a long history in the Campania region around Naples, dating from the Greek period and blossoming during the age of the Roman Empire. During this hands-on workshop, visitors learn this ancient art in the company of a professor of medieval art and critically-acclaimed mosaic artist. This is a fun, immersive experience in which participants learn not only about the history and aesthetics of mosaics, but the actual technique of making one. This program takes place in the artist's studio, set in the lovely countryside of Salerno...

Drive a vintage Fiat 500 to a gorgeous 15th-century Renaissance villa nestled in the picturesque Tuscan hills just outside of Florence. Traveling in a convoy behind an expert guide, you’ll drive along quiet private roads and then enjoy 2.5 hours at leisure. Swim in the villa’s pool, indulge in a picnic lunch with wine tasting, or upgrade to include a winemaking session in which, yes, they will let you stomp the grapes. (No one actually makes wine this way anymore, but c'mon: Who doesn't want to try it? Lucille Ball impressions are optional.)...