Art & Taste: the perfect union!

Shared or Private 

Experience a day like no other, following in the footsteps of the Papacy. Your day begins bright and early, at 7:10am outside the Vatican Museums. As part of this tour, you are granted super early access to the Sistine Chapel, literally before anyone else. Allowing you to enjoy the magnificent art of Michelangelo and Raphael in peace, with the inspiring knowledge of your local guide.

We’ll then transport you into the Alban Hills, specifically the charming hilltop town of Castel Gandolfo with its spectacular views of the volcanic Lake Albano. Reminiscent of the Tuscan landscape, the Roman hills are brimming with rustic beauty. The emperor Domitian built his summer palace here in the first century AD. Well over 1,000 years later, the Papal State purchased the plot to build the palace that would serve as the Pope’s official summer residence.

Upon arriving in Castel Gandolfo, you will explore the palace, including the Papal Apartments and the celebrated Barberini Gardens, one of the finest examples of landscaped sculptured gardens in Italy. A golf cart or minivan has been arranged for you to get around the estate, and bring you to the most exciting part of the day, a cooking class in the Pope’s personal farmhouse.

The “Fattoria delle Ville Pontificie” covers 55 hectares and features stables, henhouses, orchards, gardens, citrus groves, a vineyard, spices garden, an olive grove and a dairy. At our cooking school in the estate, our chef will welcome you with antipasti and prosecco. Fresh pasta and dessert are on the menu, and chef is a specialist in teaching cookery enthusiasts how to master both. Lunch will be served with the food you have prepared and local wines.

To wind down this exceptional day, you will have time to wander to the sleepy town center of Castel Gandolfo for some souvenir shopping or perhaps take table at the cafe in the piazza and enjoy a final gelato. 

Inclusions:

• Sistine chapel & St.Peter’s Basilica VIP Priority Express Guide tour
• Pope’s Villas & Gardens Escorted Visit
• Ravioli and Sicilian Cannoli making Class
• Lunch
• Transfer from/to Rome