Beautiful Lugano Private Culinary Experience
Learn how to cook an authentic Swiss Risotto and taste local produced wines.
Tour Overview
From $360 | Guided Private Walking & Culinary Day Tour | May to October
Join our Lugano Private Culinary Experience and explore the Swiss-Italian region around Lake Lugano. Use all your senses to witness the beauty of olive gardens, smell the fresh air and savor exquisite local risotto you will cook yourself.
Experience the essence of this Italian-speaking region of Switzerland, the canton of Ticino. Learn about Lugano’s history, fashion, and gorgeous scenery. Cook your own risotto with the help of a local and taste the locally produced wines among the gorgeous scenery and famous sailing spots.
Highlights
- Enjoy the easy 1 hour Olive Trail footpath
- Spectacular views of Lake Lugano and the surrounding Alps
- Enjoy Ticino’s famous high quality Merlot
- Cook your own risotto
- Assistance of a local English-speaking guide
Featured Sites
- Authentic "Grotto" Restaurant
- Gandira Olive Trail
- Lake Lugano Cruise
- Parco Ciani
Book the guided day trip today!
Lugano Private Culinary Experience Itinerary
Embark on a Lugano Private Culinary Experience with a hands-on risotto workshop led by a local expert. Engage in the traditional art of crafting this iconic Italian dish using fresh, regional ingredients. As part of the experience, enjoy a private tour of Lugano, immersing yourself in the local culture and savoring the unique flavors that make this Swiss-Italian city so enchanting.
We meet at 9:00 am at your hotel in Lugano city center.
We will start with the guided tour of the Lugano’s historic town center. This includes:
- The new conference center;
- Santa Maria Degli Angel Church;
- Nassa Street – where all the exclusive fashion stores are located;
- Piazza Riforma;
We will also walk through the superbly landscaped park which sweeps down to the lake to the Lido / Marina area.
We then board a local bus to the beginning of the Gandria Olive Trail Nature footpath. We take a 1-hour walk on the paved historic “Olive Trail” along the lakeside, and reach the romantic village of Gandria nestled along the banks of Lake Lugano.
Afterwards we board the public boat and cruise to our lunch stop at one of the best local restaurants, where we will cook our own risotto. Our host will set you up with all the ingredients and tools for you to enjoy this unique culinary experience.
Local Ticino white or red wine will be served while you can focus on cooking surrounded by beautiful Lake Lugano, the mountains and villages. Your stand-by chef check with guide you and check your progress with you, before your risotto is finally done.
You are then ready to enjoy your self-made excellent tasting grotto lunch.
We return to Lugano by boat and we’ll be back around 3:00 pm.
Book the guided day trip today!
Details and pricing
The price of the trip depends on the number of participants and starts at $360.
Price reductions for children, teens, and Swiss Travel Pass holders may apply.
- Meet & greet at your hotel
- Guided historic walk through Lugano and Olive Nature Trail lakeside
- “Grotto” Risotto Workshop lunch with all you can eat “self-made” risotto and local wine over-looking the lake, the villas and the magnificent mountain scenery
- All local transportation
- Local English-speaking Guide providing first-hand information on Switzerland so you get a sense of the people, the place and how it is to live here
- Items of personal nature
See our Cancellation Policy for more details.
Visa, Maestro, and Mastercard are commonly accepted in Switzerland. American Express is not so popular and many businesses don’t accept it. The country is becoming more and more cashless with contactless and mobile payments (Google and Apple Pay). Still, it’s useful to have some cash on you while travelling. All banks provide currency exchange services at a favorable rate.
- Refillable bottle of water
- Sunscreen & sunhat
- Comfortable footwear
- Click on any of the “Book now” buttons on the page.
- You will be redirected to our dedicated booking platform.
- Choose a desired date for your trip and add number of participants. Select departure time, if applicable.
- Fill out the form with all travellers’ details and click “Confirm booking”.
- Once we receive your booking request you will be sent an email with payment instructions from our partner Flywire.
- Follow the instructions in the email.
- Once the payment is processed, your booking is confirmed.
