GETTING THERE

Flavours (flavoursholidays.co.uk) offers week-long cooking holidays in the Veneto from £1,599pp (€1,878pp). This includes a contribution towards flights, five cookery lessons with an Italian chef, full-board accommodation with wine and two meals in a local restaurant, and trips to Venice and towns such as Treviso. You can get Dublin to Venice return flights with Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) from €137.