A sample Tuscan week with Lucia

Five days in the Val d'Orcia, hour by hour.

Every Your Business itinerary follows the rhythm of the host's actual week — not a tourist schedule. Below is one of Lucia Bartolini's typical Tuscany weeks. Other regions follow the same shape with different recipes and farms.

Region
Tuscany · Pienza
Length
5 nights · 4 cooking days
Group
8 guests max
From
$4,280 per person
i

Day One — Arrivo

The first night is just for landing softly. We meet, we eat, we let the road off our shoulders.

Tuscan farmhouse
3:00pomeriggio

Pickup at Florence Santa Maria Novella

Private van transfer south through Chianti and the Crete Senesi. We stop once for an espresso in Buonconvento, then descend into the Val d'Orcia as the light goes gold.

5:30aperitivo

Welcome aperitivo on the loggia

Lucia greets you with a glass of Vermentino, taralli, fresh pecorino, and the first round of stories. Rooms assigned, jet-lag tolerated.

8:00cena

Dinner at the long table

A simple welcome supper Lucia has been making all afternoon: ribollita, roast chicken with Tuscan herbs, a bowl of olives. We do not cook tonight. Tonight we listen.

ii

Day Two — il mercato

Friday is market day in Pienza. We go early. We come back with arms full, then make pasta for hours.

Italian market scene
7:30mattina

Cappuccino & cornetto on the square

We walk the ten minutes into Pienza for the morning ritual at Bar il Casello — Lucia knows everyone, everyone knows Lucia.

8:30mercato

Pienza Friday market

We move stand to stand: the cheese woman, the sausage man, the porcini wizard who only opens in autumn. You'll buy ingredients for tonight's first cooking class with Lucia narrating every selection.

11:00cucina

First class — pici al ragù di cinghiale

Hand-rolled fat noodles. The ragù has been on since dawn. You'll learn the dough by feel, not weight. Lucia will tell you the story of her uncle's winter hunt.

2:00pranzo

Long lunch under the pergola

We eat what we made. Wine paired by Lucia's son Tommaso, who runs a small enoteca in Pienza.

8:00cena

Light supper in town

Tonight you don't cook. We walk in, eat at a friend's trattoria, and walk back under stars.

iii

Day Three — la fattoria

Out of the kitchen. Into the fields, the pecorino caves, and a long lunch at a working farm.

Tuscan farmhouse vineyard
9:30partenza

Drive to Cinigiano farm

Forty minutes south through cypress and oak. Past the volcanic cone of Monte Amiata.

10:30fattoria

Pecorino cave tour with Massimo

A second-generation cheesemaker. We taste 30, 60, 90, and 12-month wheels. He gives you a knife and a bench. You learn how the rind tells time.

1:00pranzo

Farm lunch — slow-roasted pork, fagioli, focaccia

Three hours at the farmhouse table with Massimo's wife Rosa cooking. This is the meal everyone writes home about.

4:00ritorno

Free afternoon in Pienza

A nap, a walk, a glass of red on the wall above the Val d'Orcia at sunset. No class tonight.

iv

Day Four — la dolce vita

Pasta in the morning, dessert in the evening. The big day in the kitchen.

Hand rolled pasta
9:00cucina

Tortelli mugellani — beet & ricotta

Filled pasta is the master class. We make our own ricotta from yesterday's milk. We pleat the dough by hand. Lucia's daughter joins us.

1:00pranzo

Tortelli with butter, sage, pecorino

The simplest possible sauce, because the pasta is doing all the work. Pair with a Brunello from the cellar downstairs.

4:00dolce

Cantucci & Vin Santo class

Twice-baked almond biscotti — we shape, slice, bake, slice again. While they cool, Tommaso uncorks Vin Santo from a 1994 vintage. We dip and laugh.

8:00cena

Final dinner at the table

Lucia asks each guest for a story. Most people cry a little. Almost no one looks at their phone.

v

Day Five — arrivederci

Long breakfasts. Last walk through Pienza. Tearful goodbyes. A bag of pecorino for the road.

Italian breakfast
8:30colazione

Long breakfast on the loggia

Cantucci from yesterday, fresh bread, ricotta, three jams, and a thermos of espresso. No rush.

10:30partenza

Goodbye & pickup back to Florence

Hugs, exchange of recipes, a small parcel of pecorino sealed for travel. The van pulls out at 11. Lucia waves until you turn the corner.

Everything included

One price.
One full week.

Once your deposit is in, the only thing you book is your flight. Below is everything Your Business covers from the moment we pick you up.

  • Five nights of lodgingFarmhouse or boutique hotel depending on region
  • Round-trip transfersFlorence (or Catania, Naples, Rome) station to host
  • All meals across five daysEleven cooked meals, two restaurant nights, daily coffee
  • Four cooking classesEight to twelve recipes total, all hand-printed at trip end
  • Three field excursionsMarket, farm, winery or olive press depending on season
  • Wine pairings throughoutCurated by the host's local enoteca
  • A leather-bound recipe bookYours to take home, written in your own hand
  • One concierge call beforeDietary, language, and packing prep with our trip team
Hold your seat

Eight chairs, five months out.

Most departures fill 90+ days before the trip. $800 holds your seat across any region or any month. We refund in full up to 60 days before departure.

Reserve your seat — $800