Alentejo, Portugal - 4 or 6 days
Available year round - Monday to Thursday/Monday to Saturday

Spend a week indulging in delicious Mediterranean cuisine of Portugal as you learn hands-on cooking techniques from your hostess and talented chefs. You will use the local flavors and herbs of the Alentejo. Your home for the week will be in the small medieval town of Évora which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. An Active Gourmet Holidays' bestseller, this culinary holiday is one you will always remember and cherish. 

On arrival day, you will be transferred from Lisbon Airport (or from your hotel in Lisbon) to Évora.

The cooking classes will take place in an ancient kitchen of a traditional farm, just outside of the Medieval 16th century wall of Évora, where your hostess lives, just a 15 minute walk away from the main square.

For those seeking a cooking vacation where you experience the local flavors and discovering authentic Portugal, this is the holiday for you!

SAMPLE ITINERARY 

Day one - Monday

You will be collected from Lisbon and driven to Évora, the charming UNESCO (world heritage patrimony) small town, full of Roman vestiges, medieval churches and palaces. Each street keeps the charm of the past, as a secret for you!

After lunch in a local traditional restaurant, we have the first orientation walk before the first cooking class, in a renovated but traditional kitchen, at the courtyard of the family house, with orange and lemon trees, just outside of the Medieval 16th century wall. 

Then we have our first cooking class followed by dinner: Introduction to Portuguese Gastronomy, a study in influences and seasonings.


Overnight in Évora at your chosen hotel. 

Day Two - Tuesday

After breakfast our second cooking class begins: the importance of fish and olive oil in Portuguese Cuisine. Lunch is a chance to sample your own cooking. Non-cooking partners are welcome to join at the table.

This afternoon we will visit one of the wineries of the Reguengos wine area, the most popular in the south of Portugal, blending ancient and modern winemaking techniques. The grapes of this wine region include Touriga Nacional, Trincadeira, tinta Roriz, and Moreto for red wines; Roupeiro, Manteudo, Perrum, Antão Vaz for the whites - as Portuguese varieties, as well Cabernet Sauvingon and Shyraz. The nearby village of S. Pedro do Corval, is a good example of the best potteries of the region.

This is also the area where we find the oldest olive grove of all the Iberian Península, with olive trees older than 2000 years. A few kms away, we have Monsaraz, a medieval hilltop village, where we will have dinner after visiting, under the shadow of the 13th century castle built by King Afonso III. This is a magical place!

Day three - Wednesday

Today's focus is on local produce: The abundance from local Farms and Ranches. This afternoon, we will tour through Évora, visiting the Cathedral (13th century), Chapel of Bones (16th century), Roman Baths and Roman Temple (1st century AD).


Évora is also a nice place for shopping. There you can find jewelry, cork articles (hats, shoes, aprons, purses, bracelets, etc), tiles, wines and much more.

Dinner on your own and we will provide suggestions.

Day Four - Thursday

Today is your day off from cooking! Today we will drive into the Northen Alentejo, and you learn about the History of Portugal, and what happened to our last king. Before lunch at Vila Viçosa, we will visit its Renaissance Ducal Palace, visiting the place where King Charles spent his last night before being shot in 1908. Wine is a big part of the local economy, so we have to visit one the these wineries and taste this great wine. Passing through the marble area we visit the historical and white town of Estremoz, enclosed whithin its ramparts and overlook a vast plain of gnarled olive trees and wheat fields. Than we return back to Évora, in time for dinner, passing through a cork farm.

Dinner on your own in Évora, (Important information: some of these litlle shops don’t accept credit cards, so take some cash in case you need. No problem in the wineries).  

If on the 4 day itinerary, after the tour you will be transferred back to your Lisbon hotel or Lisbon Airport 

Day five - Friday

This region is known for its Aromatic Herbs and Wild Flowers. This morning we will use them in the dishes that the locals have passed on through generations.

Enjoy an afternoon excursion to visit the fabulous pre-historical megalithic "cromeleque dos almendros", from 6.000 years BC.

This evening, sit down to a farewell dinner at a traditional restaurant. (We prefer having the farewell dinner this day since very often we have people leaving very early on Saturday, due to the flights back home.)
 

Day six - saturday

Today's cooking class focuses on the Flavors of the South.

After lunch we will drive you back to Lisbon so please do all of your checkout procedures before coming to the last cooking class and leave luggage at reception. Then we will pick up your luggage from the hotel. 

Dinner at local restaurant and overnight.

*The content or order of the itinerary may change depending on dates, availability of services or activities, local festivals/holidays, weather constraints, etc. Menus are samples and may vary according to the season 

NON RESIDENTIAL MORNING OR EVENING COOKING CLASS

Take a morning or evening cooking class just outside the walls of Évora, within walking distance from the best local hotels. You will learn an appetizer, fish dish, meat dish, and dessert all accompanied by great Portuguese wines.

Your instructor learned to cook by watching her mother and aunts throughout her childhood (what better way??) and has also learned tradiitional Portuguese cuisine through classes and by cooking in the kitchen of the medieval convents. She graduated from the Escola Hoteleira de Lisboa and ran a restaurant for 15 years with 7 different chefs so has become well versed in the culinary traditions of her home country, Portugal through several different educational experiences. 

Come visit this UNESCO World Heritage site and immerse yourself in the flavors of the delicious and healthy Portuguese cuisine.

GROUP SIZE

A minimum of 2 participants is required to run this tour and the tour is limited to a maximum of 24 participants.

(The number of participants refers to how many persons are required to run the tour, not to how many persons you must have in your party.Please inquire.)

HOW TO ARRIVE

Closest Airports: Lisboa (Lisbon) Airport (one and a half hour drive) 

*These details are provided as additional information. Please check below to see if transfers are included in this tour.

BOOKING INFORMATION

For further inquiries or to register, click here.

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CANCELLATION POLICY

Please contact us for cancellation policy information. Travel insurance is highly recommended.

CLIENT REMARKS

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MAP*

This exciting region is depicted below. You can also access Google MapsTM by clicking HERE. 

*In some cases mapping may give clients a general sense of location due to changes in venue. Please inquire about specific location.

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