Courses at Casale di Clio

Small Group Art Course: May 30th to June 6th 2026

During certain ‘course weeks’, we will be coordinating room availability at Casale di Clio with a selection of teachers/tutors who will be providing courses aligned with our interests and ethos. We will not be directly providing the courses (teaching) ourselves, but during these ‘course weeks‘ we will give priority in accepting bookings for our rooms to those guests who book to attend these courses. The course list follows below.

In addition to traditionally-taught courses, we would like to promote the enjoyment of suitable online courses at Casale di Clio, which when accessed here amount to a special ‘hybrid-retreat‘ experience, since as well as benefiting from the online courses, guests will also enjoy all of the associated benefits of residence here on retreat! For interactive/participatory courses (e.g., Arvon Online Writing Weeks), we will signpost ‘Course Weeks’ here – other non-participatory online courses might be enjoyed here at any time.

Scroll down then, for:

Traditionally Taught Course Weeks;
‘Hybrid Retreats‘, such as Arvon Online Writing Weeks;
Other online course/learning suggestions – to be enjoyed here at any time.

The recently completed ‘Art Barn’ is the venue for our Art Course Weeks

1. Traditionally Taught Courses

Following the success of our 2025 course, we have scheduled another from May 30th to June 6th 2026 with artist/tutor Deenagh Miller – click here for details. If this course fills we will look to schedule another week towards the end of Summer 2026.

Make sure you visit this page regularly to stay up to date with the schedule!

2. ‘Hybrid Retreats’: Online Courses/Learning while in Residence at Casale di Clio!

We would like to promote a new type of experience: ‘hybrid retreat’ course weeks. As the name suggests, these will marry your participation in high-quality courses taught online (that you will have purchased separately) with a week’s residence at Casale di Clio, in the company of fellow retreat participants.

The benefits of this hybrid-retreat experience include:

being distanced from the usual domestic/home distractions, which might otherwise threaten to interfere with the enjoyment of the online course;
residing in the inspirational Casale di Clio environment, with your own study-bedroom, the library, the Art Barn, terrace, balcony, garden, hikes and walks – including to the local bar/trattoria!;
enjoying views of the outstanding natural beauty of the Lima Valley in Northern Tuscany
being inspired by the local cultural history, including the 1818 residences of the Romantic Poets/Writers Mary and Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron, in nearby Bagni di Lucca;
enjoying river-swimming/the public swimming pool in Summer – and the local thermal baths year-round;
enjoying the company of fellow residents at Casale di Clio – maybe enrolled on the same online course as you if you coordinate your stay here with one of the Arvon Online Writing Weeks that we are promoting – cooking together and socialising much in the same way as at a residential course week in the UK (albeit enjoying Italian, rather than British, weather, culture and food)!

There are a great many online learning opportunities currently available in various disciplines. The three providers that we have initially identified as suitable to enjoy here are:

Arvon Online Writing Weeks;
BBC Maestro courses;
MasterClass courses.

We introduce each of these below.

Of course, there is no reason why you cannot access other online courses that you have subscribed to while here on an unstructured retreat, i.e., not attending a ‘course week’ – we only ask that you do so in a way that does not disturb other guests that might be staying here (and/or the hosts/neighbours!). This might just entail bringing effective headphones for your laptop/tablet/smartphone (and respecting Casale di Clio ‘quiet hours‘), though please contact us to discuss your plans if this appeals to you.

‘Arvon at Home‘ Online Writing Weeks – in Italy!

Why not buy an *Arvon Online* Writing Week course – and enjoy it here on retreat in Tuscany?!

The Arvon Foundation is an internationally-renowned organisation that curates writing courses in a wide range of genres – and has done so for many years; they have a winning formula. One of your hosts (Adrian) can testify to the excellence of their courses, having attended three of them over the years. As well as residential retreats in the UK they now offer online Writing Week courses, under the banner ‘Arvon at Home‘.

But why not enjoy an Arvon Online Writing Week course while resident at Casale di Clio, rather than logging on to the course at home?

Although the Arvon online course runs from Monday to Friday, we schedule Course Weeks here at Casale di Clio from Saturday to Saturday, leaving arrival day and Sunday for settling-in and exploring the area, departing on the following Saturday (unless the option of extending the stay at the start and/or end of the week is taken).

NB – You do NOT need to be booked on the Arvon online course to come and stay during these weeks – but be aware that there may be guests here who are booked on the course; although we ask guests to bring their own headphones, it is possible that you might hear them talking as they interact on the course at certain times, despite our thick walls!

We are really excited at the potential of this type of hybrid retreat to provide a unique creative holiday experience for Casale di Clio guests!

3. Other online course/learning suggestions

Here are some ideas for online course/learning content that you might like to enjoy while staying here at Casale di Clio – bringing headphones so as not to disturb other guests here.

BBC Maestro Online Courses

Ken Follett – his *Writing Bestselling Fiction* is just one of the *BBC Maestro* courses available (© *BBC Maestro*)

BBC Maestro masterclasses/courses are very reasonably priced non-interactive online-delivered content covering a range of topics, including many that are suitable for guests to enjoy during unstructured retreats at Casale di Clio (i.e., not needing to be scheduled in ‘course weeks’), such as:

creative writing & storytelling
non-fiction writing
art
photography
film making
cookery/baking
wellness & self-help
business

Certain other course topics – such as Sing Like the Stars, Public Speaking and Communication, or Music Production – might not fit so well in unstructured retreat time here, due to the potential for noise disturbance to other guests arising from course participation required/encouraged by the content. If you are in any doubt about the suitability of a course to enjoy here, please do get in touch to discuss it with us – we will try to work something out if at all we can!

If you have a subscription to BBC Maestro and want to access and enjoy your course here – bringing headphones along so as not to disturb other guests – get in touch via our booking enquiry form.

MasterClass Online Courses

MasterClass online courses cover perhaps a wider range of subject matter BBC Maestro, and have different subscription options. Upskillwise have put together a useful comparison between the two products (and they also review other alternatives). The key thing is to enjoy the content in a way that does not disturb fellow guests/the hosts, in particular by bringing effective headphones!

As for BBC Maestro, some course content might not fit so well in unstructured retreat time here, due to the potential for noise disturbance to other guests arising from course participation required/encouraged by the content. If you are in any doubt about the suitability of a course to enjoy here, please do get in touch to discuss it with us – we will try to work something out if at all we can!