Culture Discovery Vacations - Cooking, Culinary & Wine Vacations in Italy, Portugal and Croatia - Soriano nel Cimino, Provincia di Viterbo

Marco G.

Stupendo e ho detto poco

Vicki P.

Husband and I were not happy for majority of our CDV Porto tour beginning 12th October 2024. I have emailed the 5 owners of culture Discovery Vacations and given them our opinions but decided to post here as well. Been on many larger bus group tours over many years and time now to travel with smaller groups which include food based tours. Liked the fact we stayed in one hotel, group of people were lovely. Just too many home based meals, not that the families weren’t nice but for our Australian dollar this trip did even compare to Sicilian Food Tours we did 24 September 2024 also for one week. Had home based meals with family but variety of food was so different and price was $4,900 Australian per person as compared to $7,700 for CDV tour. Just didn’t see the value and yes, perhaps I shouldn’t compare the 2 but I have an exact tour to compare CVD to. Others in group said they had done CDV before but were not happy with this one of Porto. One couple asked for King bed and they were tall and didn’t get it, so you can imagine how it is not to sleep and have full days out. Yes you go out in the morning and don’t return to hotel till late. There was no going back to hotel. No offence to Marta and her family but we were taken there 3 times. 3 times on a 7 day tour was just too much. Food was repetitive the whole 7 days. What I did love was the salami which I had my fill of as I didn’t eat the other foods. Food preparation I thought was not hygienic. One member of our group was not able bodied and Ines was very good to her. Others who had travelled with CDV said Soriano is the best tour to do. We booked before Covid and were going to Soriano but when Portugal came up, we thought let’s do this tour- how wrong were we. You probably won’t find a bad review as it will probably get taken down. I would not recommend this tour of Porto, definitely not worth the money.

Margaret S.

Just positively perfect in every way! My sister and I went on the cooking in paradise tour on the Amalfi Coast from Sep 3rd-10th, 2022. I cannot express how simply amazing this trip was for the both of us. From our wonderful experience with the great people at CDV, to the villa, the beautiful host family, the staff, our fabulous guide, the excursions, and our amazing group. We truly felt like family during every moment of this vacation. We are all still keeping in touch. Above and beyond our expectations. Not to forget the food! Delicioso! More fun than I could have possibly imagined! Cannot wait to do another CDV vacation. Book it and go... It's incredible!

Cindy P.

I have been traveling with CDV for 10 years now and have done many of their trips in Italy, Portugal and Croatia. I can honestly say that from the very first trip in 2014 to Soriano, Italy I knew I had found exactly what I was looking for and can’t imagine traveling any other way! No matter the location, you quickly become part of the CDV family there, forming lasting friendships with pretty much everyone you meet and having experiences you will never forget. That couldn’t be more true than in one of my favorite CDV locations, Porto. I saw some comments in another review that did not seem to reflect this, so I wanted to share my experience here of this particular trip.
I have done the CDV Porto trip twice and can honestly say it is one of my favorites. Marta and Ricardo, who host the groups several times during the week at their home for the cooking lessons, followed by lunch, and for the party on the final night, are the most amazing, warm, and generous people. Ines, who was our host that was with us throughout the week, is just a pure joy to be around. She has a tough job wrangling the group and keeping everything on schedule, but she always makes everything so much FUN and takes such good care of people!
There are many excursions throughout the week where you get to experience and learn about the culture of this northern area of Portugal. The visit to the Douro valley is amazing! First of all, it is gorgeous and the boat ride on the Douro River is so relaxing and beautiful. Then the visit to Alvaro’s winery just tops it all off! He is probably the most passionate winery owner I have ever met and I learn something new every time I listen to him talk about the region, the history and his wines specifically. The wine tasting over lunch at his home was all so good! The visit to the Vinho Verde region was equally great, going to Arthur’s winery for a tour, tasting and an amazing dinner he & his family made for us! Three of the most fun things were the Cabecudos, the black pottery and the filigree. We went to a local artisan’s house, Antonio, who continues the local tradition of making Cabecudos (the big paper mâché heads used in festivals), learned about this tradition and the step-by-step process, and actually got to make a mini one for ourselves!! I proudly display them in my home! The black pottery making was a blast even though it wasn’t possible to take them home since there is a whole wood-fired “kiln” process they must go through that time just doesn’t allow for. Disappointing, yes, but learning about the black pottery making process was amazing and the dinner Alberto made for us afterward, with his family, was great! Finally, visiting another local artisan and learning how filigree jewelry is made, and even getting to make a filigree heart for ourselves to take home, was fantastic! All of these places are not places any tourist could just wander into and it is what I love about CDV! They are either friends, family or local artisans that CDV has come to know. There is so much more packed into the week, including meals with different families in their homes or in some really fantastic restaurants! And the food is incredible! Between all of this, and the guided walking/foodie tour of Porto on one of the days, I left leaving like I had learned a lot, but more importantly, I had the experience of a lifetime, not to mention the great friends I now have there!
The hotel where CDV stays in Porto is beautiful and in a great location in the city on the river. Makes it very convenient if you want to take some time away from the group to do shopping or wander on your own a bit. CDV provides a detailed itinerary at the start of the trip so you can plan it around all the other activities (i.e. take a morning off and join the group for the afternoon or vice versa). My recommendation would be to go early or stay late a day or two if you want free/shopping time because you will not want to miss anything during the CDV week!
Every CDV location I've been to is equally as fantastic as Porto! Highly recommend them!

janet S.

FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH CDV-
This year upon the recommendation of my fellow travelers from NOLA (who have been on multiple CDV vacations) I took the plunge and booked my solo trip to Portugal with the CDV team. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to the CDV Portugal team for creating forever amazing memories and facilitating friendships for a lifetime. Marta and Daniele could not have been more gracious hosts for our group and what fun they created!

The itinerary, the expectations, and the “know before you go” information on the website and subsequent emails following my booking could not have been more helpful and explanatory of what CDV is offering/creating as a “true” cultural experience/immersion.

Every detail was perfection from our exploration of multiple areas in and around Porto to our accommodations at the centrally located Hotel Porto Nobre (with beautiful views of the Douro River, amazing breakfasts/food, and very well appointed and clean rooms) to the incredible local artisans that the CDV team has gotten to know, to our cooking experiences at Marta and Ricardo's family home to the vineyards in the Douro Valley (amazing wine at these tiny vineyards with the most passionate Vignerons who educated us not only on their winemaking processes but also on their country, their land, their families and their beautiful climate...they sure give Italy some serious competition), to our Land Rover four-wheeling excursion up into the foothills for an incredible sunset with sundowner cocktails (Port-Tonics) and grilled chorizo among Marta and Ricardo's family and friends, to cooking and paper mâché making at Renata's mom's home to our day with Renata and Marta in Aveiro, to the culinary “foodie” restaurants of northern Portugal and everything in between.
Note these experiences are not typical of a Portugal tour which is also what I believe makes CDV trips so special!
There are too many experiences to mention but I will try a few, as these are the moments that differentiate CDV!
- While enjoying our cooking, creating and musical entertainment at Marta and Ricardo's home, Ricardo got out the mixer and began showing me how to make his focaccia! Such a treat and so unexpected.
- Disco in the van with Daniele as our DJ.
- The Wine, Port and Charcuterie were endless!
- Going to the fish market to choose our own fish for preparing Massada de Peixe (fish pasta stew). We even got the full recipe guide to all our creations!
- Enjoying the countryside estate and private home in Baltar where we picked fruits and vegetable for our dinner and made jams from the fresh fruits we had just gathered from Antonio’s well-stocked gardens (he even shared his home-made wines with us!) and the food prepared for our dinner was AMAZING.
- Learning how to make Bifana (lean pork cooked with garlic, wine and many spices and served in Bijou bread), Pastel de Nata (custard tarts), Pitos de Santa Luzia, Toucinho do Ceu, Empadade Frango, Portuguese style Crème Brule, and the most famous sandwich from Porto, the Francesinha which we began preparing days before in Marta and Ricardo’s outdoor kitchen and enjoyed the final preparation and eating while listening to the music of the local university “TUNA” musicians dressed in their “costumes” straight out of Hogwarts!
- Marta’s generosity in reviewing my continued solo travels following the CDV week, where she not only helped me with my itinerary but even called the hotel and booked my stay in the lovely Vila Foz in Porto …truly unexpected and far beyond my expectations…just another example of the CDV family experience.
- My day off for exercising, reading, relaxing by the pool, and doing a little shopping in Porto (you don’t have to do every excursion if you need a little time for yourself). I caught up with the group that evening.

I would do CDV Portugal again in a heartbeat and have already planned my next CDV vacation…Croatia in June!

Laurie G.

Porto was our destination for this year's CDV trip and I was just as impressed with Marta, Daniele, Renate and the entire CDV team as I was with our Soriano trip last year. Our goal is immersion when traveling, and that is exactly what we experienced. The relationships that CDV has with suppliers run deep. Many are personal friends and i feel lucky to be included in these adventures. The memory of our in-home experience with Renate's mother making paper mache and cooking like family warms my heart. I'm in love with Marta and Ricardo and felt honored to be welcomed into their home with their family. They brought in the local university students ("tuna") to to sing and play fado - priceless. I was fun cheering on Team Porto and delighting in Ricardo's cooking and toasting abilities. There is NOTHING like CDV. We are looking into Amalfi or Croatia next year and would not consider going with any other company. Cheers to CDV!

Patty H.

We took our first CDV in Porto and I will not be taking another vacation with this company. We have traveled extensively and have taken many tours with quite a few different companies over the years so I read the information provided for this tour carefully. I liked the idea that they try to promote a "family feel," with some meals at family homes, learning about local culture, etc., and we have traveled like this before. What I felt we got was more of a disorganized hodgepodge of locations and experiences.

Our guide for the week said she was not a tour guide, had no experience with the industry, and didn't really understand how much we relied on her to tell us where we were, the significance of the place, the history, the culture. That is not to say she didn't know anything at all, but to take a tour group of 15 people to a church on a hill and say, "I'm taking you to a church. There's a great view. You have 15 minutes to look around." Okay. And? That said, she was absolutely lovely, personally; she just needed training on how to do her job for people that are PAYING for her knowledge and expertise. That's on CDV.

We stayed in Porto, but we never had free time to actually go into the city except at the end of our walking tour one afternoon before dinner out. The entire trip was getting into the van and driving over an hour to each place, staying out all day, which gives you no opportunity to opt out. Once they leave in the morning, you don't get back until the end of the day. No flexibility.

One experience was pottery making. What they DIDN'T tell us was that we wouldn't get to take home our project. Why make something and not take it home? People don't want to learn something or do something and not have a finished project. If that is the case, perhaps choose another experience for the guests.

We traveled to one home 3 times over the course of our week. We would drive over an hour to get there then sit around for hours. Hygiene was a problem as many were sick and no suggestion to wash your hands before touching food. Ever.

Most people want to travel to learn about things, try things, experience things from this new place and new culture; we went to a fish market which didn't have a whole lot going on. No explanations. We just checked out the fish then stood around for a very long time. Then we walked down to the sea to see if we could see the fishermen with their catch. It was late enough in the day there was nothing going on. We just stood there for a long time then walked back. They took us to a beautiful village for some "free time," to shop. The truth was it was their lunchtime and 95% of the village was closed up tight. Big thanks for that one.

We were excited to go to the Douro Valley, where port is king. Instead of port we had bad wine. We figured it was a given that we would be learning and tasting port at sometime. Nope. Why? This is PORTO!

Look, there were some really nice experiences on our tour, but for the cost, we felt it was a total waste of our time spent in Porto, sadly. We had two weeks prior in Lisbon and Spain. We had 5-star hotels, private guides, fees, transport, Fado and Flamenco dinners, etc., and the daily cost was very close to the same as what we paid for this trip. There were quite a few people who were return CDV travelers and they were just as disappointed as we were. One said she will never do another of their trips. That is saying a lot and I hope they hear our feedback and take it to heart, that this particular product needs to be analyzed and tweaked to fit with the outstanding travel experiences others have raved about in other countries.

K C.

We just completed the Amalfi Coast Cooking week. Omgsh… there are no words, everything was perfect. The food, the hosts and the excursions. We can’t thank them enough and look forward to another vacation with them.