Umbria · Piegaro & Orvieto
Umbria: The Artisan's Table
Seven days in Italy's Green Heart with Tano, our cheese sommelier — into aging cellars, Etruscan caves and family kitchens.
The region
Italy's Green Heart, between Tuscany and Rome
Umbria is forested hills, olive groves and medieval hill towns, and it has stayed quieter than its famous neighbour — less crowded, more intimate, and still working to the rhythm of the land.
Truffles are hunted at dawn. Bread comes out of wood-fired ovens. Cheese is turned by hand in cool stone cellars, and the potters of Deruta paint much as their ancestors did. Orvieto rises off a plateau of volcanic tufa, honeycombed with caves the Etruscans cut from the rock.
We spend the week between a countryside estate on the Tuscan border and the walls of Orvieto, in the company of the people who keep all of it going.
Your host
"To truly understand a place, you have to eat like a local."
Tano · Cheese Sommelier
Tano is an official cheese taster, certified by Italy's National Organization of Cheese Tasters, and equally at home in wine and the artisan food of these hills. Raised between Italy and the United States, he explains Umbrian cooking from the inside — and in English.
When he isn't hosting, he's with the region's small producers: beekeepers making rare honey, shepherds keeping old cheesemaking alive. Those are the relationships that open the doors on this journey.
He hosts in Italian and English, and stays with the group from the transfer out of Rome to the transfer back.
What stays with you
Four things you couldn't book yourself
A private aging cellar
Aged and fresh cheeses with an artisanal cheese master, explained wheel by wheel and poured alongside Umbrian wines.
Wine inside an Etruscan cave
A private tasting in caves cut from volcanic rock, then a seasonal lunch up on the estate that owns them, hosted by the winemaker himself.
Dinner with a local legend
A local chef, and a friend of Tano's, cooks a seasonal menu around the producers of these hills. Both of them sit down at the table with you.
A kitchen above Orvieto
Fresh pasta with the nonnas in a family home, where the wine and the evening both run long.
Day by day
Piegaro, Deruta, Orvieto
Two boutique stays, one stretch of hill country, and no day that asks you to rush.
The itinerary
Seven days
Tap any day to open it.
Day One Arrival & Welcome DinnerInto the hills, and the first table of the week.
- Private transfer from Rome or Florence, north into the hills.
- Check in to a secluded countryside estate — three restored hamlets across a 500-hectare property on the Tuscan border.
- The afternoon is yours; the grounds start at the door.
- A welcome aperitivo as the sun drops, then dinner on the estate with Tano, who hosts the week.
Day Two Inside Umbria's Culinary TraditionsA cheese master in the morning, a local legend at dinner.
- An exclusive tasting led by an artisanal cheese master — aged and fresh cheeses, cured charcuterie, each wheel explained and paired with Umbrian wines.
- The afternoon is free for the spa, the pool, or the long view to Lake Trasimeno.
- Dinner with a Local Legend: a local chef, and a friend of Tano's, builds a seasonal menu around these hills and the people who farm them.
Day Three Beneath the Surface of UmbriaWine inside an Etruscan cave, then Orvieto.
- On the road to Orvieto, a private tasting inside caves the Etruscans carved from volcanic rock, hosted by the winemaker who works them.
- Back up to the estate above the caves for a relaxed seasonal lunch drawn from the surrounding land.
- Into Orvieto by late afternoon — golden stone, medieval streets.
- Check in to our historic residence, two hundred metres from the Duomo.
- Dinner at a beloved family kitchen known for its handmade pasta.
Day Four Ceramics, Cuisine & the Charms of OrvietoCobblestones, ceramics, and a family kitchen.
- A guided morning through Orvieto's lanes and piazzas, tasting aged pecorino and truffle spreads as we go.
- On to Deruta, where artisans still paint and fire their ceramics by hand.
- A cooking class in a family home above Orvieto — fresh pasta with the nonnas.
Day Five Olive Oil & ChocolateOlive oil at noon, chocolate by four.
- A family-owned olive estate: the harvest and the cold-pressing.
- A tasting that runs from the delicate to the boldly peppery.
- A farm-to-table lunch built around the oil.
- A hands-on workshop with a maître chocolatier.
- The evening is yours in Orvieto's medieval lanes.
Day Six From Forest to TableDawn in the oak woods, and the farewell table.
- An early start into the countryside, where trained dogs and expert hunters lead us through the oak forests.
- A genuine hunt, with no guarantees.
- Back at base, a pasta and bread-making class.
- A feast built around the morning's truffles.
- A festive farewell dinner to close the week.
Day Seven Arrivederci, UmbriaThe road back to Rome.
- A final breakfast.
- Farewells to the people who hosted you.
- Private transfers to Rome.
Take it away
The full brochure, as a PDF
Every day in detail, the producers, the hotels and the practicalities — the document we'd send you if you rang us. Useful for showing whoever you're travelling with.
Thank you.
Your brochure is ready. It opens in a new tab — save it from there and it's yours to keep.
Open the brochureWhere you stay
Six nights, two boutique properties
Piegaro
I Borghi dell'Eremo
Three restored hamlets across a 500-hectare estate with roots in the 12th century, on the border between Umbria and Tuscany. Fifteen individually designed suites pair timbered ceilings and stone walls with contemporary comfort, alongside farm-to-table dining and the Eterea Spa — whirlpools, sauna, steam room and ice waterfall, with views to Lake Trasimeno.
borghidelleremo.itOrvieto historic centre
Palazzo Petrvs
A residenza d'epoca suspended inside Orvieto's ancient walls, roughly 200 metres from the Duomo. Original frescoes, coffered ceilings and period detail meet contemporary comfort, with windows onto the medieval centre and its own bar and restaurant downstairs. Recognised with a MICHELIN Key.
palazzopetrvs.comBoth properties include breakfast. Room assignments and single-occupancy requests are confirmed at booking, subject to availability. Occasionally a property is unavailable for our dates — if that happens we substitute one of a similar standard and character, and we tell you before you travel.
The week, in pictures
Umbria, as our guests found it
The detail
What's included
- Six nights across two hand-selected boutique properties
- Your cheese sommelier host throughout the week
- Six breakfasts, five lunches and five dinners, with regional wines
- Wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks during hosted meals
- An exclusive cheese tasting in a private aging cellar
- A private wine tasting in an ancient Etruscan cave, with lunch on the estate above
- A lunch of artisan products with a local legend, paired with local wines
- Hands-on pasta, bread and chocolate workshops
- A private truffle hunt with expert hunters and trained dogs
- A premium olive oil tasting with a farm-to-table lunch
- Guided visits to medieval towns and the ceramic studios of Deruta
- Private airport transfers to and from Rome or Florence
- Private transport for every excursion
- Every activity named in the itinerary
- Gratuities for local partners and guides
Not included
- Gratuities for your host
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Personal shopping
- Anything not specified in the itinerary
2027 departures
Two dates, twelve places each
Autumn
18 – 24 October 2027
Truffle season, with the olive harvest just beginning.
Choose these datesDeposits & payment schedule
- Prices start at $14,000 per person, based on double occupancy.
- A $2,000 deposit per person secures your place. It is non-refundable if you cancel.
- The $1,500 single-occupancy supplement is payable at booking, so a single traveller pays $3,500 today.
- A minimum of five travellers is needed to guarantee the departure. If we cancel because we don't reach five, everything you have paid is refunded in full, deposit included.
- The balance is due 180 days before departure — or, if you book inside 180 days, 30 days after your deposit.
- Bookings made within 90 days of departure are payable in full.
- We accept credit card, debit card and online bank transfer.
- Travel insurance covering cancellation, medical care and repatriation is a condition of travelling with us.
Good to know before you book
- The group is capped at twelve guests.
- We recommend booking at least six months ahead — the producers and workshops in this itinerary are small, and they fill.
- Occasionally an experience can't run on the date offered. Where that happens we replace it with a comparable experience, and let you know in advance.
- If a hotel is unavailable for our dates we will substitute one of a similar standard and character, and tell you before you travel.
- You're free to skip any excursion, though we can't refund meals or events you choose to miss.
- Tell us about dietary requirements when you book and we'll pass them to every chef and producer we work with. This week is built around cheese, charcuterie and truffles, so we can't promise to accommodate all of them — and we don't recommend this journey for vegetarians.
- Single rooms and supplements are paid at booking, and availability isn't guaranteed.
Secure your place
Six questions and a deposit
Your place is held the moment the deposit clears. Everything else — dietary notes, flights, insurance, passport details — we collect afterwards, at your own pace.
Prefer your own group?
The same doors, on your dates
Every journey we run can be built privately for your family, your friends or your clients — same producers, same hosts, your calendar.
Twelve places per departure
Come and sit at the table
Tell us which departure you're drawn to and we'll come back to you personally — no automated brochure, no sales sequence.