Luxury cookery holiday in Sicily
This four-night luxury cookery holiday at the Eremo della Giubiliana about 20 minutes’ drive from the Baroque town Ragusa includes two hands-on cookery lessons that will instruct you in how to recreate the aromas of Sicily in your own home. A hallmark of Sicilian cuisine is the way the tried and tested recipes of the local aristocracy are skilfully adapted to suit contemporary taste. Only the finest organic ingredients are used to execute a typical Mediterranean diet. The two cookery classes you receive feature hands-on tuition from the chef and allow you some flexibility tailored to your own preferences and experience. The hotel is set on a sizeable country estate near Ragusa in south-eastern Sicily, about 90 minutes’ drive from the airport at Catania. During the cookery holiday you have time to visit the Baroque town of Ragusa and nearby Modica, setting for the Montalbano TV detective series. We can offer you private car transfers or the use of a hire-car.
Highlights
• Two cookery lessons each of three hours’ duration • Explore the estate of the hotel with its farmland and wine production • Visit Modica and Ragusa
It was an excellent holiday - due to excellent planning on your side. Super efficient, very professional.Mrs F, Holiday to Norway, Oct 2023
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 4 nights.
From about
£1,490 Jan-Mar, Nov-Dec
£1,880 Apr-Oct
Holiday Code FHIT15
The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury cookery holiday in Sicily
Arrive at Catania airport, collect your hire-car and drive to Ragusa, about one hour and twenty minutes’ driving time. You stay at the five-star Eremo della Giubiliana, which lies in its own estate on the fertile plains between the historic town of Ragusa Ibla and the seaside resort of Marina di Ragusa. The current owners have had the Eremo since the 18th Century and heirlooms such as portraits and antique furniture feature in both the bedrooms and the public rooms. The hotel's thick stone walls, once used to protect the property from pirates, now create a cool and tranquil atmosphere. The bedrooms, converted from what were once hermitage cells and used by the Maltese Knights of the Order of Saint John, are simple but comfortable and are beautifully furnished. There is a swimming pool, spa, restaurant and cycle hire. If you prefer, we can arrange for you to have a private car transfer from the airport to your hotel and back, but this leaves you less able to explore the region on your own in your free time.
This is a three-hour practical lesson with the chef. Today’s hands-on lesson with the chef is based around your own choice of theme for the three hours’ tuition. You can choose between the secrets of home-made pasta where you learn how to combine the right sauce with the right type of pasta, using only the tastiest ingredients, or a comprehensive course on the cuts and preparation of meat, with suggestions for the accompanying vegetables, or you visit a fish market and learn how to select the best fish followed by a variety of traditional methods for its preparation, or Sicilian desserts!
A day to unwind and relax at the hotel, in the grounds, perhaps taking walk or enjoying a spa treatment. Or take a taxi (or drive yourself if you have the hire-car) into nearby Ragusa or Modica (setting in part for the TV detective series Montalbano).
Today’s hands-on lesson with the chef is based around your own choice of theme for the three hours’ tuition. You can choose between the secrets of home-made pasta where you learn how to combine the right sauce with the right type of pasta, using only the tastiest ingredients, or a comprehensive course on the cuts and preparation of meat, with suggestions for the accompanying vegetables, or you visit a fish market and learn how to select the best fish followed by a variety of traditional methods for its preparation, or Sicilian desserts!
Depending on the time of your flight back to London, spend more time exploring the region, or relaxing at the hotel before the drive to the airport and return your hire-car ready for the flight back.
It was an excellent holiday - due to excellent planning on your side. Super efficient, very professional.Mrs F, Holiday to Norway, Oct 2023
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 4 nights.
From about
£1,490 Jan-Mar, Nov-Dec
£1,880 Apr-Oct
Holiday Code FHIT15
The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.
Our prices include
● Scheduled flights with British Airways London Gatwick to Catania return, economy
● Use of a group B hire-car for the duration of the holiday (private transfers possible at a supplement)
● Four nights’ bed and breakfast in a double or twin classic room at the Eremo della Giubiliana, near Ragusa
● Two cookery classes each of 3 hours’ duration
● Concierge service and Expressions Holidays regional helpful hints
Call us on 01392 441245
It was an excellent holiday - due to excellent planning on your side. Super efficient, very professional.Mrs F, Holiday to Norway, Oct 2023
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 4 nights.
From about
£1,490 Jan-Mar, Nov-Dec
£1,880 Apr-Oct
Holiday Code FHIT15
The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.
Our prices include
• Scheduled flights with British Airways London Gatwick to Catania return, economy
• Use of a group B hire-car for the duration of the holiday (private transfers possible at a supplement)
• Four nights’ bed and breakfast in a double or twin classic room at the Eremo della Giubiliana, near Ragusa
• Two cookery classes each of 3 hours’ duration
• Concierge service and Expressions Holidays regional helpful hints
The journey and how you get there There are scheduled flights with British Airways from London Gatwick to Catania. The flight times may vary from day to day. You collect a hire-car at Catania airport and the drive to Ragusa is about 1 hour and 20 minutes. We can arrange for you to have a private car transfer instead of the hire-car.
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury cookery holiday in Sicily
Special offers
Call to make your booking and save an extra £50 per adult Call us instead of emailing us when you are thinking of booking a holiday and save an extra £50 per adult (in addition to any special offers that might be available). We want to talk to you to discuss your requirements and a phone call is usually the best way for you to define what you want enabling us to respond more accurately. We want to talk to you and you save an extra £50 per adult.
It was an excellent holiday - due to excellent planning on your side. Super efficient, very professional.Mrs F, Holiday to Norway, Oct 2023
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 4 nights.
From about
£1,490 Jan-Mar, Nov-Dec
£1,880 Apr-Oct
Holiday Code FHIT15
The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.
Our prices include
• Scheduled flights with British Airways London Gatwick to Catania return, economy
• Use of a group B hire-car for the duration of the holiday (private transfers possible at a supplement)
• Four nights’ bed and breakfast in a double or twin classic room at the Eremo della Giubiliana, near Ragusa
• Two cookery classes each of 3 hours’ duration
• Concierge service and Expressions Holidays regional helpful hints
The journey and how you get there There are scheduled flights with British Airways from London Gatwick to Catania. The flight times may vary from day to day. You collect a hire-car at Catania airport and the drive to Ragusa is about 1 hour and 20 minutes. We can arrange for you to have a private car transfer instead of the hire-car.
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury cookery holiday in Sicily
About Sicily
An Expressions tailor-made holiday in Sicily allows visitors to discover a unique and captivating island. The rich tapestry of Mediterranean history can be witnessed on the southerly island of Sicily, fascinating not only for its amazing blend of cultures including Greek, Arab, Byzantine and Norman and its architectural treasures which reflect these influences but also for its breath-taking scenery of coast, parched mountains and fertile groves of almonds, oranges, lemons and olives. The people are proud and independent, reserved but sincere and helpful. Traditions thrive to an extent that the atmosphere of Sicily is unrecognisable in the context of other parts of Italy further north. The towns and villages are contrasting with picture postcard scenes of mediaeval labyrinthine alleyways adorned by wrought-iron balconies and baskets of flowers or severe dilapidation punctuated by grand Baroque or austere Norman cathedrals and churches. Additionally, there are of course some of the most important sites of the ancient Greek world such as the temples at Agrigento, the theatre at Taormina and numerous relics at Siracusa, reputedly one of the most beautiful cities of the Greek world. High above the island looms Mount Etna, one of the largest volcanoes in the world and an awe-inspiring sight. Off the north coast of Sicily, the beautiful Aeolian Islands offer escape and remoteness, natural scenery and a startling light, a sleepy way of life and romantic isolation. A holiday in Sicily appeals for those who want typical rest and relaxation with cultural activities at hand, and for those who want to be more adventurous and experience more of this captivating island.
Highlights of Sicily
An ascent of Mount Etna, partly by car and then further on foot (guides available) through the luxuriant vegetation which includes oranges and lemons, bougainvillaea and poinsettias and then higher up the groves of walnuts, cherries, almonds, pistachios and vines. Palermo is known for its street markets, especially Vucciria and Ballaro, where traders and hawkers, pickpockets and shoppers converge amongst narrow streets and stalls of wares. See the traditional costumes and dialect of Piana degli Albanesi, where Albanians settled in the 15th Century. Revel in the splendid site of Taormina above the sea with views to Etna. Local crafts include cork, ceramics, honey, embroidery, raffia. Enjoy the calm and remoteness of the Aeolian Islands with their clear waters, beautiful scenery and peaceful way of life. Enjoy the gardens of the Villa Giulia in Palermo and the Public Gardens in Taormina.
Cultural highlights of Sicily
Palermo contains some of the greatest Arab-Norman buildings in existence - San Giovanni degli Eremiti, the Palazzo Reale with its striking Cappella Palatina and La Martorana. Monreale outside Palermo is the greatest work of Norman architecture in Sicily and contains beautiful 12th and 13th Century mosaics and cloisters. The Doric temples of the 5th Century BC in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. Cefalu has the `Portrait of a Man` by Antonello da Messina, dating from 1465 in its Museo Mandralisca.
Festivals in Sicily
Many Sicilian local festivals are linked to Saints’ Days. A few of the most well-known festivals generally include Carnival celebrations in Taormina and Acireale. Easter is celebrated especially in Trapani, Marsala and Piana degli Albanesi. Messina celebrates Ferragosto on the 15th August with a firework display over the Straits. The Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore takes place in Agrigento in the first and second weeks of February to celebrate the almond blossom. Taormina Arte is a summer festival of music, cinema, ballet and theatre, held in the Greek theatre. The Palio dei Normanni takes place in Piazza Armeria in August.
Gastronomy in Sicily
The gastronomy of Sicily, like much of the culture of the island, has been heavily influenced by its history. Cuscus is a Sicilian version of couscous, and marzipan features heavily in sweets. Local produce includes citrus fruits, almonds, capers, olives, peppers and fish. Local specialities include Maccheroni con le sarde (pasta with sardines, fennel, raisins, pine nuts and saffron), Pesce spada (grilled sword fish), 'alla Siciliana' with capers, red peppers and herbs. Cassata is a popular dessert made with ricotta, candied fruit and pistachios and Cannoli are almond biscuits stuffed with ricotta. Sicily produces a variety of red and white wines including Corvo di Salaparuta and Etna, Marsala and Malvasia.
