Where Hearts Find Home: The Story of Soriano nel Cimino

Why our first location remains the soul of Culture Discovery Vacations

Nearly twenty years ago, in a medieval hilltop village that most travelers have never heard of, a dream was born. While everyone else flocked to the famous piazzas of Florence and the dramatic coastlines of Cinque Terre, we discovered something different in our home of Soriano nel Cimino. Something that would become the beating heart of everything Culture Discovery Vacations represents today.

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You won’t find Soriano nel Cimino on most Italian bucket lists. It doesn’t have the Instagram fame of the Amalfi Coast or the Renaissance grandeur of Rome. But ask any CDV veteran where they believe everyone should begin their journey with us, and they’ll tell you without hesitation: “Start where it all started. Start in Soriano.”

This isn’t just nostalgia talking… it’s geography, history, and heart all coming together in one extraordinary place.

The Perfect Geographic Heart of Central Italy

There’s a reason Soriano nel Cimino remains our flagship location, and it goes way beyond the romantic appeal of its medieval streets. This village sits where the borders of Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio meet. And that gives us something no other single location can offer: access to the most breathtaking treasures of three distinct regions without all the exhausting travel that usually defines Italian vacations.

From our hilltop village, we can reach the Renaissance perfection of Pienza, the wine cellars of Montepulciano, and the spiritual majesty of Assisi… all while coming back each night to the same welcoming village home. This isn’t just convenient. It’s transformative. Instead of living out of suitcases and racing between hotel check-ins, you settle into a rhythm that mirrors how Italians actually live: rooted in community, connected to place.

The village itself tells Italy’s complex history. Above us looms that magnificent 11th-century Orsini Castle… not just any medieval fortress, but the former summer residence of Popes who came here seeking relief from heat in these cooler hills. When you wake each morning to views of this ancient papal retreat, you’re seeing the same sight that provided peace to some of history’s most powerful figures.

More Than a Location, It’s Coming Home

Nestled in these rolling hills where three regions meet, Soriano nel Cimino represents something increasingly rare in our modern world: authenticity that hasn’t been packaged for tourists. This is where our vision of “casa mia è casa tua” (my house is your house) first took root, not as a marketing slogan, but as lived reality. We created our first tour here in 2006, Wine and Cooking Under the Tuscan & Umbrian Sun.

When we say this is where our ethos shines brightest, we mean it literally. The cooking classes don’t happen in some purpose-built facility, they take place in Villa Eddarella, the 18th-century farmhouse built by our founder’s ancestors and where our founders still live today. The herbs we pluck mid-class come from the garden just outside. The olive oil we drizzle over fresh tomatoes comes from trees they nurture year-round, pressed at the mill a few towns over by people who’ve shared countless meals at their table.

Living Among Friends, Not Tourists

Probably nowhere else does our commitment to authentic cultural immersion shine through more clearly than in how our guests live during their week in Soriano. Instead of hotel rooms, you’ll call one of our restored medieval village homes your temporary residence. These homes are scattered throughout the village center so your neighbors are locals, not fellow travelers.

Each morning begins the same magical way: meeting in the main piazza at Bar Roma for cappuccino and fresh pastries alongside the villagers starting their day. By day three, the barista knows your order. By day five, you’re exchanging “buongiorno” with neighbors who wave from their windows. By week’s end, you’re getting dinner invitations from people who started as strangers but have become friends.

These aren’t tourist accommodations! They’re real homes with stories carved into their stone walls. Some date back to medieval times, others to the Renaissance. Each has been lovingly restored with modern conveniences while preserving the soul that makes them special. Vecchio Forno, our “Old Bakery,” was literally the village bakery that served the Pope in the 13th century, complete with a bedroom carved entirely from rock. Casa Bella offers breathtaking views of the Palazzo Chigi’s gardens and that ancient castle. Each home tells its own story, but they all share the same spirit: welcome.

The Rhythm of Real Italian Life

What sets Soriano apart isn’t just where you sleep… it’s how you live. Your days unfold with the natural rhythm of Italian village life. Morning coffee in the piazza isn’t some tourist activity; it’s how every day begins for everyone in town. Shopping for cooking class ingredients means visiting the family fruit vendor who’s been serving the community for generations, learning about fennel pollen and other local treasures that most people back home have never heard of.

When we gather in the piazza after dinner, it’s not because it’s on the itinerary. It’s because that’s where life happens in an Italian village. Children play in the piazza elderly residents emerge for their evening passeggiata, and you find yourself naturally woven into the fabric of daily life.

Where the Magic Happens: Villa Eddarella, A Living Home

The heart of the Soriano experience beats strongest at Villa Eddarella, our cooking location that’s actually our founders’ home. This isn’t a commercial kitchen designed for tourists, it’s where our founders live, love, and create the magic that defines CDV. When we tell you to help yourself to the 90-bottle wine rack or venture down to the 500-bottle cellar for something special, we literally mean make yourself at home. Because that’s exactly where you are.

The 18th-century farmhouse turned spectacular villa breathes with the life of a real Italian family. When a recipe calls for fresh rosemary and we send you to the garden to pick it yourself, it’s because that’s how Italian families actually cook. And when Antonio, our local shepherd friend, arrives with his cauldron to teach traditional pecorino and ricotta cheese-making, you don’t just observe, you stir the pot, help form the curds, and taste the ricotta still warm from the whey. That ricotta you make together? It becomes the filling for the ravioli you’ll prepare later that week, connecting your hands-on experience to the meals you’ll savor.

Our three hands-on cooking classes here aren’t demonstrations where you watch from the sidelines. They’re full-immersion experiences where you become part of the family’s daily rhythm. In the villa’s cellar, you’ll learn the nearly lost art of distilling grappa in our copper still, and then discover how to craft cocktails with the very grappa you’ve helped create. You will try some of countless liqueurs we make here, and no… there is nothing for sale. No “product”, no gift shop, just home. There’s something pretty magical about sipping a drink made from spirits you distilled yourself, in the home of people who’ve become family, surrounded by new friends who shared the experience.

Nearly everything is sourced within our personal orbit: vegetables from our garden, prosciutto specially prepared by friends in Norcia whom you may meet on other CDV journeys. We even use balsamic vinegar from our dear friend Lorenzo in Modena… the same Lorenzo you’ll meet and work alongside if you join us for our Bologna cooking vacation.

The True Farm-to-Table Story: A Network of Friendship

In an age where “farm-to-table” has become a trendy restaurant term, Soriano offers the real thing. But it’s bigger than any single farm or table. It’s a network of relationships that spans Italy and connects every CDV location through friendship and shared passion for authentic food.

The tomato sauce in your cooking class comes from jars we put up each year with tomatoes grown down the road from the villa. The limoncello is made by CDV guests on our Amalfi Coast trips or right here at the villa, often using lemons brought back by our hosts. The salt seasoning your fresh pasta was harvested by previous guests during their Sicily adventures. The Parmigiano Reggiano? Yep, pretty much EVERYTHING.

This interconnectedness, where each CDV location contributes to the others, shows why Soriano remains our spiritual center. It’s the place where all these authentic relationships converge, where the network of friendships that spans our entire company becomes tangible. When you taste that prosciutto specially prepared by friends in Norcia or sip wine from the small family vineyards you’ll visit throughout the week, you’re experiencing the depth of relationships that can only be built over decades of mutual respect, deep friendship, and shared meals.

Beyond Cooking: Exploring Three Regions from One Perfect Base

Soriano’s strategic position lets us explore the best of three distinct regions without the exhausting pace that usually defines Italian vacations. From our hilltop village, we venture into Tuscany’s postcard-perfect landscapes, Umbria’s spiritual heart, and Lazio’s hidden treasures… always returning to the same warm village home each night.

In Tuscany, we experience those rolling hills of Montalcino (home of Brunello wine), Montepulciano and Pienza that define everyone’s mental image of Tuscany. But we don’t just visit… if you are here during the harvest, we harvest grapes with our dear friends Enrico and Antonella, whose family winery produces some of the region’s finest Vino Nobile wine. Their wine cellar, featured in the Twilight sequel “New Moon,” is widely considered the most beautiful in the world. But for us? It’s simply where friends make extraordinary wine.

Our Umbrian adventures take us to Assisi, where the Basilica of St. Francis offers one of Italy’s most moving spiritual experiences. In Deruta, we don’t just observe the famous Deruta ceramics tradition, we try our hands at the potter’s wheel in a generations-old family factory, learning techniques passed down through centuries. These aren’t touristy demonstrations but authentic workshops where local artisans share their craft with new friends.

Lazio reveals its secrets through places like the Monster Park in Bomarzo, where massive 16th-century sculptures created by a grieving prince tell stories of love and loss that most tourists never discover. We explore Viterbo, a city that served as the papal seat when Rome was too dangerous, where the longest papal election in history lasted nearly three years and created the conclave tradition with white and black smoke still used today.

The Magic of Intimate Scale

With a maximum of 18 guests, every Soriano experience feels like a family gathering rather than a tour. This isn’t an accident, it’s essential to what we do. At this scale, relationships form naturally. The quiet person who was nervous about cooking finds themselves laughing while making pasta. The accomplished chef discovers joy in learning techniques they never knew existed. The wine novice becomes confident enough to choose the perfect bottle from the villa’s cellar.

This intimacy extends to every aspect of the experience. When we visit small family wineries, we’re not part of a crowd overwhelming the tasting room… we’re true guests, sharing stories over meals that stretch long into the afternoon. When local residents invite us to join their evening gatherings, it’s because they genuinely enjoy our company, not because it’s their job.

Traditions You’ll Find Nowhere Else

Some experiences can only happen in Soriano because they’ve grown organically from decades of relationships and shared history. Our Thursday night villa parties have become legendary among CDV alumni – spontaneous gatherings where past guests, local friends, and current participants come together for music, dancing, and whatever culinary magic emerges from the kitchen. Sometimes someone brings a guitar and we sing Italian folk songs under the stars. Sometimes we end up teaching each other traditional dances from our respective countries. Always, we create memories that last lifetimes.

Our pizza nights showcase another uniquely Soriano tradition. Making pizza becomes a social event similar to an American barbecue, with everyone gathered around our 500-year-old wood-fired brick oven, sharing stories as we wait for each creation to emerge perfectly crispy from the ancient hearth. You’ll make your own individual pizza, but we’ll also prepare some unique traditional varieties together.

The limoncello cream we make together represents everything special about CDV’s interconnected experiences. Often, the lemons we use were brought from our Amalfi Coast location by previous guests or our hosts, creating a tangible connection between different Italian adventures. You’ll take home a bottle of what you made, but more importantly, you’ll carry the memory of learning this traditional recipe in the kitchen of an 18th-century villa surrounded by new friends.

A Week That Changes Perspectives

By the end of a week in Soriano, something fundamental shifts. You’ve gone from being a tourist observing Italian culture to being a temporary participant in Italian life. You know which café makes the best cornetti and which wine pairs perfectly with the pecorino cheese you helped make. You understand why Italians linger over meals and prioritize relationships over schedules.

More importantly, you’ve experienced what travel can be when it’s built on genuine cultural exchange rather than mere sightseeing. You’ve cooked in a real Italian kitchen with ingredients you helped harvest. You’ve made friends with vintners and shepherds and ceramicists who will welcome you back as family.

You’ve learned that the most meaningful travel happens not when you check famous sites off a list, but when you allow yourself to become part of a place, even temporarily. And more often than we can begin to count, you come back to reconnect.

Why First-Time Guests Should Start Here

We’ve expanded to some pretty spectacular locations across Southern Europe and into South America. Our Sicily trip showcases dramatic volcanic landscapes and ancient traditions. Our Amalfi Coast experience delivers breathtaking views and legendary limoncello. Our Madrid journey in Spain offers vibrant urban culture and incredible culinary traditions. Our vacations in Portugal being you into the heart of the Port wine culture, and our Croatia trips feature some of the most spectacular water on earth. Each has its own magic.

But Soriano remains where we recommend everyone begin. Here’s why:

It’s intimate by design. With a maximum of 18 guests, relationships form naturally. You’re not part of a tour group; you’re joining a family.

It showcases our philosophy in its purest form. Every element that makes CDV special… from meaningful cultural exchange to hands-on learning to farm-fresh authenticity, exists here in its original, undiluted form.

It sets the foundation for understanding Italy. Before you’re dazzled by the famous sights, you learn what makes Italian culture truly special: the primacy of relationships, the art of savoring simple pleasures, the joy found in everyday moments.

It prepares you for the CDV difference. Once you experience authentic cultural immersion in Soriano, you’ll understand why our other vacations feel so different from typical vacation offerings… and why so many people literally will no longer travel “traditionally”.

It offers unmatched geographic advantage. From this perfect central location, you experience the best of three regions without the exhaustion of constantly packing and unpacking, checking in and out of different accommodations.

The Soriano Family Extends Far Beyond Italy

What makes longtime guests return again and again isn’t just the location, it’s the people. When past guests tell us that visiting Castiglione in Teverina’s family winery “is at the top of their list” for return trips, they’re talking about reconnecting with people who’ve become genuine friends. When we say “everyone in the CDV world descends on” Soriano, we mean it: our team from other locations, past guests, local friends… all find excuses to visit when they can.

The relationships formed here extend far beyond the week you spend in the village. Guests regularly return for weddings, anniversaries, and milestone celebrations. They bring their children and grandchildren to meet the Italian family that welcomed them years before. Our local friends have watched CDV guests’ children grow up through their parents’ photos and stories shared over the years.

What You Take Home Beyond Recipes

The recipes you’ll make during your week in Soriano, fresh pasta made from scratch, perfect saltimbocca, authentic tiramisu, these are treasures you’ll recreate in your own kitchen for years to come. But what truly changes your life are the lessons you can’t write down in a cookbook.

You’ll learn the Italian art of “fare bella figura” – not just looking good, but carrying yourself with dignity and grace in all situations. You’ll understand why meals in Italy last for hours and why rushing through them would be missing the point entirely. You’ll discover that true hospitality isn’t about fancy service or expensive amenities, it’s about opening your heart and your home to others.

Most importantly, you’ll experience what happens when travel is built on genuine human connection rather than mere sightseeing. You’ll understand the difference between being a tourist who observes a culture and being a temporary participant in a community’s daily life.

Yes, if you open your heart and mind, you return changed.

The Alumni Stories That Tell the Real Story

Maybe the most telling evidence of Soriano’s impact comes from our guests themselves. One couple met during their first CDV trip in Soriano and returned for their honeymoon. A grandmother brought her granddaughter for her first international experience, knowing that this gentle introduction to travel would shape how she sees the world forever. Multiple generations of families have passed through our village homes, each creating their own memories while becoming part of our extended CDV family.

These aren’t isolated stories… they’re the norm. When guests write reviews like “I miss you guys so much and we haven’t even left Italy yet!” or “Truly family you’d like to see again,” they’re expressing something fundamental about the Soriano experience. It changes your definition of what travel can be. Maybe more importantly, we feel the same!

More Than a Vacation, It’s a Homecoming

Recent guest reviews capture what makes Soriano special: “Amazing experiences, feel like family.” “Thoroughly wonderful. Team focused. Truly a cultural Italian experience.” “Fulfillment of a lifelong dream.” These aren’t scripted testimonials, they’re the authentic emotions of people who’ve experienced something increasingly rare in travel: genuine human connection.

One guest captured it perfectly: “This was unlike anything you have experienced when traveling. You are invited into people’s homes and lives and will be welcomed in as if you have known them for years.“

In our age of curated experiences and social media-driven destinations, Soriano nel Cimino offers something different. It’s not the most famous place we visit, but it’s the most meaningful. It’s not the most photographed, but it’s the most transformative. Perhaps this is why we have so many 5 star reviews and the Hall of Fame award on TripAdvisor.

This medieval village in the heart of Italy, where cobblestone streets wind past the former summer home of Popes and every morning begins with locals sharing coffee in the piazza, remains what it’s always been: the place where strangers become family, where travelers become cultural ambassadors, and where the true magic of Italy reveals itself to those willing to look beyond the guidebooks.

After nearly two decades of helping people fall in love with authentic Italian culture, we’re more convinced than ever: if you’re going to take just one Culture Discovery vacation, start where our hearts remain. Soriano.

Because some journeys change you. And those journeys should begin where love began… in a hilltop village where three regions meet, where ancient stones hold stories of Popes and farmers alike, and where the welcome is always as warm as the pizza from the wood-fired oven.

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