Welcome to Puglia!

For our first evening together, we will enjoy a delicious welcome dinner in the historic town center savoring traditional culinary delights of Puglia and Lecce.

During dinner, we will introduce ourselves, get to know each other, and discuss the week ahead.

Grab your apron and be sure to have a light breakfast as today we visit a dear friend of ours and take part in our first hands-on cooking class. We will meet our host in Lecce’s main square and he will guide us around the market in Lecce, the Florence of the South. We will visit Lecce’s oldest market where we will learn how to order our ingredients for our class. Learn about legumes, and the importance they have in our diet, and how we should be eating more of them! After our shopping trip, we head back to the kitchen where we will make pasta from scratch, to be paired with the various products we just purchased at the market. But the class doesn’t end there, we will also learn all about the wines from Puglia.

After class and our very abundant lunch, we explore the town of Lecce with our guide, and learn all about the capital of Baroque art. A walk through the magnificent elegance of Lecce will be a great way of discovering the city and getting to know our home base better.

Today we visit one of our favorite masseria and winery for a delicious lunch and wine tasting. The delicious specialties we will feast on are created with fresh, genuine ingredients stemming from ancient traditions and creativity that make up Salento’s typical cuisine. Today we discover the pleasures of Pugliese cuisine, savoring rich, delicious courses paired with five prestigious wines from the masseria. We gather together around a well-laden table to tell our stories, laugh, sing and experience those unforgettable moments typical of Italy’s ‘Dolce Vita’ lifestyle.

After our amazing lunch, we visit Alberobello. Make sure your camera is charged today as an adventure awaits us! Nowhere else in the world will you find such unique towns of charming, narrow streets where the inhabitants live in “trulli,” small conical-roofed houses and picturesque white washed stones. This is an unusual little town indeed, one not to be missed when visiting Puglia.

Return to Lecce in late afternoon for some time on your own.

Today we visit an olive oil mill and learn all the secrets of organic extra virgin olive oil, its production, its preservation, and best use. We will enjoy a guided visit of the Masseria, the underground mill and the millenary olive grove. We will have a technical tasting of 4 different organic extra virgin olive oils with an olive oil sommelier. After a full tasting of the liquid gold, we will enjoy a full lunch in a most beautiful setting.

After lunch, we will walk off our calories during a guided walk in the lovely town in Ostuni, known as the “white city” for its impeccably clean white stone walls.

We return to Lecce in the late afternoon to spend the rest of the day at your leisure. 

Another wonderful experience awaits us today! We will visit another stunning Masseria for an engaging experience that will enrich you in every sense. You will be able to immerse yourself in a journey made of colors and smells. Getting to know the happy animals of the masseria, a love story that begins and ends with milk! You will be able to closely observe the cows, sheep, goats, and their puppies, feed them and even caress them. Conclude the experience with a visit to the “bottega,” a feast for your senses, a riot of cheeses with a thousand flavors and shapes. A delicious full lunch awaits us afterwards. Enjoy the menu of the day with delicious combinations of organic cheeses and dairy products from the owner’s production, Salento frisa seasoned according to tradition, tasty local vegetables, aubergines in oil and much more other.

After our visit to the farm and our ample lunch, we will walk it all off in the lovely town of Gallipoli. Gallipoli, the beautiful city of Greek origins with a Mediterranean style, is a fishing village on the coast. It has a very scenic old town center, built on an island now connected to the mainland by a bridge. Both quaint and very unique to stroll through the maze of alleys and beautiful streets, Gallipoli begs to be photographed.

Today, you will have the day on your own to spend at leisure in Lecce. Do some shopping, visit the hotel exquisite spa, visit the nearby Duomo or arrange with our wonderful hotel staff to be escorted to the beach for the day. The day is yours to spend as you wish! 

​In the evening, we will enjoy a final celebration dinner.

Our time together has come to a close, enjoy a leisurely breakfast at the hotel before checking out.