Help yourself to a big portion of ‘La Dolce Vita’ on this fabulous Watercolour Retreat on Italy’s magnificent Amalfi Coast. Soak up the atmosphere whilst sketching and exploring the colourful little towns dotted along the Amalfi Coast. Capture the ‘scorcio’ (focal points) that can be found in the little lanes and view points across the Bay of Naples, before indulging in the typical flavours of the Amalfi. Join us on our visits to the picturesque towns along the Amalfi coast, such as Positano and Praiano. There, we will take time to sketch, journal and gather ideas for painting projects, as well as stopping for visits to the bottegas for tasting the world-famous authentic local Limoncello, admire the traditional local maiolica (ceramics) and treat ourselves to little breaks for delicious ice-creams or aperitivi, fully indulging in the spirit of Italian Life.

About the course

Join us on our visits to the picturesque towns along the Amalfi coast, such as Positano and Praiano. There, we will take time to sketch, journal and gather ideas for painting projects, as well as stopping for visits to the bottegas for tasting the world-famous authentic local Limoncello, admire the traditional local maiolica (ceramics) and treat ourselves to little breaks for delicious ice-creams or aperitivi, fully indulging in the spirit of Italian Life.

Around every corner, you will find views waiting to be captured, from coastal views, beaches with their colourful umbrellas, lemon groves, quaint lanes and classic Italian architecture….. You may want to stop for some sketching and journalling along our morning excursions, gather ideas for future projects with your camera, or sit and enjoy the moment surrounded by the immense beauty of the location. Afternoons, we will be dedicated to releasing your creative forces watercolour painting in the shady courtyard of our elegant location. Your tutor will demonstrate techniques, which you will be able to put to practice during guided painting time.

The evening a là carte menu is the perfect opportunity for sampling the delicious local flavours enjoying fine Italian cuisine in the company of like-minded people. After dinner, your tutor will introduce you to painting techniques and practices that will provide the focus for our artistic exploration the following day.

What can you expect to learn from this course?

Our structured approach to tuition, allows every painter, from beginner to experienced to take their work to a new level during the duration of this course, so that you will be leaving with the satisfaction of having produced some fantastic artwork and lots of future projects to work on.

The tuition is centred around:

• principles of watercolouring

• colour theory

• 5 value maping

• edge quality

• placement

• perspective

• proportion

9:00-12:30 Demonstration and practical session in the gardens and on terraces, overlooking the Gulf of Naples.

Theory and Demonstration sessions

• Drawing foundation.

• Colour theory

• Colour and value map relationships

• 3 value ‘road’ map demonstration of scene in pencil followed on by demonstrations of how to take this into painting

The rooms for this retreat are located in the grounds of Villa Crawford and provide simple comfort with all modern amenities.

🧳 What to pack:

Comfortable casual clothing and sensible shoes for walking, sandals, for the summer and comfortable shoes for when we are out and about all day. It rains even in Italy, and at times heavily. A rain coat, umbrella, layered clothing, a hat and long sleeves for sun-protection are recommended.

Adequate clothing for painting, clothes may get stained. Aprons will be provided.

Spring/Autumn: Days are usually mild and sunny but it can be cooler in the mornings and evenings. We recommend layers and a raincoat as well as a jumper

All art materials, studio & field easels, aprons are provided.

⚡230V 50HZ

2-pin (SCHUKO) & 3-pin Plugs

Find more information here: https://www.tripsavvy.com/electricity-in-italy-1548048

🌤️. Weather forecast:

https://www.ilmeteo.it/meteo/sorrento 

Non-painters: Non-painters are welcome on all our painting excursions and outings where there is plenty of opportunity for sight-seeing and exploring the local area and life-style. 

🛂 Entry requirements for Italy: It is your responsibility to ensure that you meet any entry requirements into Italy with regards to identification, Visa and Health Certificates/Vaccine Prove or any other legal documentation required.

Entry requirements for Italy: It is your responsibility to ensure that you meet any entry requirements into Italy with regards to identification, Visa and Health Certificates/Vaccine Prove or any other legal documentation required.

PLEASE NOTE THAT FROM FEBRUARY 2026, ITALY AND ALL EU COUNTRIES HAVE INTRODUCED NEW ENTRY RULES FOR 3RD COUNTRY NATIONALS. i.e. anyone from outside the EU or Schengen area (incl USA/CANADA/AUSTRALIA, etc) PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOUR ESTA VISA EXEMPTION is filled in and the application made prior to travel. For detailed info motion, consult your airline or the ESTA Information link provided in the Essential Travel Information at the bottom of this booklet.Not sure if you need a Visa or ESTA: find out more here: https://www.italia.it/en/italy/practical-information/travel-document-italy

The ‘Other’ Guests: Our guests come from all over the world and have a multitude of cultural, religious and educational backgrounds. We aim to provide a setting that enables all our guests to share experiences and ideas in order to be able to develop their artistic abilities further in a group setting.              

⚠️ What’s expected from you: We would like all our guests to enjoy their stay with us thoroughly and leave here in the safe knowledge of having created some work to be proud of and to have enjoyed a relaxing holiday and cultural experience in Italy. We kindly request that guests respect day and night-time hours to ensure a peaceful stay for other guests. In shared spaces, we would like to ask that mobile phone-calls, skype calls, pc and internet use, etc may not be undertaken after 22:00 if they are likely to affect other guest’s sleep.

We kindly request, that other guest’s views, religions and cultural backgrounds are respected and no offensive remarks be made. Guests, whose behaviour is causing upset or disruption to the course and enjoyment of other guests’s holiday experience, may be asked to leave and no refund will be given.

Physical requirements: You need to be reasonably physically fit with the ability to walk unaided as you will need to carry your painting equipment in order to work in the urban and semi-rural environment as well as walk on uneven surfaces. A carrier for your art materials will be provided.

Travel and Medical Insurance:

It is the course participants responsibility to purchase travel insurance in case of flight cancellation, trip cancellation, travel delays, repatriation, etc to cover any expenses lost or incured in un-forseen events.

Our Cancellation policy is outlined in the Terms and Conditions received upon booking your painting course.

It is the course participants responsibility to arrange adequate medical insurance covering medical emergencies. EU citizens must carry their EU medical card to be entitled to free emergency medical care but may have to re-claim costs in their home EU country.

📞 Contact Numbers:

Please ensure that you have supplied us with your mobile/cell phone number including your country pre-fix!

Please also give it to your tutor on arrival, so that you can be contacted if need be: Your tutor John can be reached on (0039) 3348939297 by calling, texting or whatsapp.

ALL COMMUNICATIONS DURING YOUR GROUP WILL TAKE PLACE THROUGH THE WHATSAPP APP! Please ensure that you have downloaded Whatsapp and enabled 'getting added to groups' in the App setting. Your tutors will add you to the Group on the morning of arrival day. Your tutor can add you to the group and keep you informed, if you have enabled the group settings!

In case of emergency only, if you cannot get hold of John, please contact Jana with your name, mobile number (incl. International dialing code) stating any problems you need help with, your location if necessary, etc by calling or texting to: (3349034401) call, text or whatsapp.

Free-wifi is available in your accommodation and throughout many free-wifi spots throughout the city. International phone/data cards are available in many tobacco/newspaper outlets. We recommend purchasing an e-sim for Italy or Europe prior to arrival from a phone-operator of your choice. These are available on-line in your home-country and can be purchased for the duration of your travel to provide you with cheap and sufficient data, and can be activated once you have arrived in Italy.

Email contact: theretreat@rocketmail.com

 PLEASE ENSURE YOU PRINT/DOWNLOAD AND TAKE WITH YOU ANY FOR YOU RELEVANT INFORMATION IN THIS BOOKLET OR DOWNLOAD IT STRAIGHT INTO YOUR WALLET APP ON YOUR SMARTPHONE