New Tours: Fall 2025
Puglia, Matera, and Sicily
We’ve just added two new tours to our schedule this fall:
September 28 - October 4, 2025: The Culture of Food in Puglia & Matera with Sophie Minchilli
October 26 - November 1, 2025: The Culture of Food in Western Sicily with Sophie Minchilli
Keep scrolling for summaries of each itinerary. We are also including links to the online brochures, which include details and pricing.
The Culture of Food in Puglia & Matera with Sophie Minchilli
September 28 -October 4, 2025
Puglia is on everyone’s wish list, but this tour is a bit different from the rest. This 6-night tour begins in Bari, the vibrant seaside capital of Puglia, which many people overlook. We love it! It’s where the Italian half of our family lives, and we love to share its hidden corners with guests. After spending the first 4 nights in Bari, exploring the city but also using it as a base to explore the rest of central Puglia, we move on to the nearby region of Basilicata for the final 2 nights. We will be staying in Matera, which is a World Heritage Site and a completely unique town based on a series of caves dating back thousands of years. In Matera, we stay at the famous Sextantio, where each of you will have your own luxurious cave to yourself. Imagine waking up in a stone cave that has been designed with luxurious modern amenities while maintaining the aesthetic of a bygone way of life.
A few of the things you’ll be doing:
Welcome drinks and seafood dinner in Bari
Guided tour and street food in Bari Vecchia and visit to the famous ‘Pasta Ladies’
Spaghetti all’Assassina demonstration (where Sophie took Stanley Tucci!)
A morning learning all about olive oil
Visit to Cisternino and lunch at a butcher’s shop
Cheese-making lesson and lunch at a farm
Visit the UNESCO-protected, Trulli-filled town of Alberobello
Ancient bakery and cheese making in Altamura
Pastries of the ancient monastery of Santa Chiara
Guided tours of Locorotondo, Altamura, and Matera
Dinner in a cave
Details:
When: September 28 - October 4, 2025
Where: You will be based in Bari, Puglia, and in Matera, Basilicata, staying in your own private rooms
Who: The tour is limited to 12 guests
What: The tour is six nights and five very full days, with trips in our private 20-seat bus. But don’t worry, you will also have some downtime in Bari and Matera to explore on your own.
How: If you’d like more information, including the pricing and the full itinerary, just click the button below to view the detailed brochure with booking instructions.
The Culture of Food in Western Sicily with Sophie Minchilli
October 26 - November 1, 2025
Have you been dying to get to Sicily since you saw it on White Lotus? Or maybe it’s just been on your bucket list for a while. I hope you will consider joining Sophie on a six-day feast through Western Sicily. You’ll be based in Palermo (one of our favorite cities in Italy), and you’ll discover the city as well as visit some of our favorite farms and food producers in the countryside. With Sophie and our friend Salvatore, you will feast while exploring this part of the island's food, wine, and history.
Even if you’ve visited Sicily in the past, chances are you may have missed Palermo. In the last 15 years, Palermo has become one of the most vibrant cities in Italy. Whenever I am there (as often as possible) I always think: I could live here. It is the perfect size to manage on foot and is full of churches, markets, museums, artisans' studios, and shops to visit. Another thing I appreciate these days: the ratio of locals to tourists still favors locals. In other words, Palermo is still a ‘real’ city where you can get a sense of Italian daily life.
Like most of our tours, you will be based in one place (Palermo). This will give you a chance to really explore the city both on your own, but also during the two full days we will spend there. The other three days we will be exploring the countryside in different directions: south and west. We will be meeting people who still maintain the strong traditions of the food culture in this part of the world: farmers, cheese makers, salt harvesters, bakers, and chefs.
A few of the things you'll be doing:
Dinner in a private palazzo
Cheese-making at a farm
Market walk, cooking lesson, and lunch in Palermo
Private performance in an antique puppet theater
Couscous lesson and lunch in a private home in Erice
Pastry-making lesson in a bakery
Lunch at a private olive oil estate
Guided visit to the archeological site of Segesta
Guided visit to a private ceramic museum
Guided visit to Palermo’s most beautiful churches
and more
Details:
When: October 26 - November 1, 2025
Where: You’ll be based in Palermo, Sicily, in your own private Deluxe room at the 5-star Grand Hotel et des Palmes
Who: The tour is limited to 12 guests
What: The tour is 6 nights and 5 very full days, with trips in our private 20-seat bus. But don’t worry; you’ll also have some downtime in Palermo to explore on your own.
How: If you’d like more information, including the pricing and the full itinerary, just click the button below to view the detailed brochure with booking instructions.
Spring 2025
Need your Italy fix a bit sooner than fall 2025? No worries, we still have a handful of spots left on the following tours:
March 23-29, 2025: The Culture of Food in Western Sicily with Sophie Minchilli
May 4-10, 2025: The Culture of Food in Eastern Sicily with Elizabeth Minchilli
Hope to see you in 2025!
Elizabeth
PS: This email went out to our Premium Subscribers last week. If you’d like to be the first to know about new tours, make sure you are signed up for the Premium (paying) version of this newsletter.