Florence Cooking Class & Tuscan Home Meal with Maria

Learn Your Grandmother's Pasta Recipe in a Tuscan Kitchen

You're picked up from downtown Florence and driven to Maria's countryside home, where you cook two or three traditional Tuscan dishes from scratch (handmade pasta, bruschetta, tiramisu) in her kitchen. You learn techniques you can take home, choose your pasta sauce, optionally tour San Lorenzo Market with her, then sit down to eat what you've made with local wine and views of the hills. Round-trip transport, the class, the meal, and wine are all included for up to six people.

Step-by-step itinerary

Tuscan cooking class and meal

• Pickup from Florence city center
• Drive to countryside home with Maria
• Learn to make bruschetta starter
• Prepare spinach and cheese stuffed pasta
• Make tiramisu dessert
• Enjoy meal with local Italian wine

The experience

You're sitting in a car leaving downtown Florence, and Maria is already telling you something about the city that the guidebook missed: a story that lands differently when it comes from someone who's lived here her whole life. The drive to her countryside home is short, maybe twenty minutes, but by the time you arrive, you're not a tourist anymore. You're a guest walking into her kitchen, where the real work starts.

Maria, a recently retired architect who cooks the way she used to design (with intention and a little bit of joy) teaches you two or three traditional Tuscan dishes in her home kitchen. You'll make handmade pasta from scratch, learn how to shape ravioli or cut tagliatelle, choose your sauce (ragu, broccoli pesto, arrabbiata, or butter and sage with parmesan cream), and understand the techniques well enough to replicate them in your own kitchen back home. There's bruschetta, there's tiramisu, and there's the kind of instruction that doesn't feel like a class because you're standing next to someone who actually knows what she's doing, not performing for a group. If you want to add a market tour, Maria walks you through San Lorenzo Market, Florence's historic food market, and shows you how Italians choose seasonal produce and build a meal around what's fresh that day.

After you cook, you eat together. Maria opens local Italian wine, and you sit down to the dishes you just made, looking out over the Tuscan hills. It's not a restaurant experience dressed up as a cooking class. It's a meal in someone's home, with someone who invited you there. The whole thing (pickup from central Florence, the class, the wine, the food) is included for up to six guests in Maria's car. Vegetarians and guests with dietary requests are welcome. Just let her know when you book. One small note: her home doesn't have air conditioning, and there's a cat, so if either of those things matters to you, know it going in.

If you're thinking about adding the market tour, remember that San Lorenzo closes on Sundays and public holidays. Groups larger than six can arrange their own transport to the house: Maria's car seats six, and that's the limit. For anyone on a gluten-free diet, Maria runs a separate dedicated class, so check that option instead.

What’s included

Round-trip transport from central Florence in Maria's car (for up to six guests), a private hands-on cooking class where you learn to make handmade pasta, bruschetta, and tiramisu, a meal together with Maria and local Italian wine, and the choice to add a guided tour of San Lorenzo Market (closed Sundays and public holidays).

Options for this experience

3 options

Cooking and dinnerGuide in English or Italian · 17:00

Cooking and lunchGuide in English or Italian · 10:00

Market visit, followed by cooking and lunchGuide in English or Italian · 10:00

You pick the guide language when booking.

You'll see the exact price of each option when you check availability.See dates and prices

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDepartures at 10:00 and 17:00

Book up to1d before

AgesAdult (12 and older) · Child (4 to 11 years) · Infant (under 4): free

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish and Italian

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated yesterday

Good to know

Stroller-friendlyPets welcome

Operated by Traveling Spoon

Is this one for you?Right for couples, small families, and food lovers who want to cook in someone's actual home kitchen rather than a commercial cooking school: the intimacy and the ride with Maria are what make the recipes stick.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English and Italian.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Child (4 to 11 years); Infant (under 4): free.

What dishes do you cook in Maria's class?

Handmade pasta (ravioli or tagliatelle with your choice of sauce: ragu, broccoli pesto, arrabbiata, or butter and sage), bruschetta, and tiramisu. The menu may vary by season.

Is pickup from my hotel included?

Pickup is from a central meeting location in Florence, not from individual hotels. Maria drives up to six guests in her car and returns you to the same spot after the meal.

Can I add a market tour?

Yes. Maria offers a guided tour of San Lorenzo Market where you learn to select seasonal ingredients and understand how Italians shop and cook locally. Markets are closed Sundays and public holidays.

Is wine included?

Yes. Local Italian wine is included with your meal after the cooking class.

Can vegetarians or people with dietary restrictions join?

Yes, vegetarians are welcome. Let Maria know your dietary requests when you book. However, this class is not suitable for gluten-free diets. She offers a separate gluten-free pasta class instead.

How many people can join?

Up to six guests can fit in Maria's car for round-trip transport. Groups of seven or more should arrange their own transport to her home.

Does the home have air conditioning?

No. As is common in many Italian homes, the residence does not have air conditioning.

Is there anything I should know before booking?

Maria has a cat at home. The house has no air conditioning. If you're gluten-free, book her dedicated gluten-free pasta class instead.