Cook with a cookbook author · Puglia
Salento & Central Puglia with Sophie Minchilli
Sophie's seven-day, six-night Puglia trip. Cooking, olive oil, cheesemaking and seafood across Salento and the Valle d'Itria with local guide Angelo.
Ask us about this trip →Free to ask. We confirm dates, availability and price before you commit to anything.
What you will do
- Market and cooking class in a Lecce palazzo
- Lecce Baroque walk
- Gallipoli seafood lunch
- Olive oil press tasting
- Butcher-shop fornello grill lunch in Martina Franca
- Bari orecchiette makers and spaghetti all'assassina
- Mozzarella braiding and burrata at a masseria; Alberobello trulli
Before you go
Eat the region first, then cook it. Everything here is free and saves to your trip.
Who leads it
Sophie Minchilli
Elizabeth's daughter. She has led food tours across Italy since 2015, wrote The Sweetness of Doing Nothing and appeared in Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.
Angelo Calianno
Puglia-born photographer, journalist and guide who lives in a trullo.
Giorgio
Bari native.
Day by day
- Day 1Arrival in LecceCheck in after 3 pm, prosecco welcome at 7, meet Angelo, family-run restaurant dinner.
- Day 2Cooking and historyMarket walk and cooking class with Gianna, lunch on the results, evening Lecce walking tour and aperitivo.
- Day 3Galatina and GallipoliMedieval frescoes at Galatina, pasticciotto, Gallipoli port walk and seafood lunch. Dinner on your own.
- Day 4Olive oil and fornelloMove to Monopoli via an olive oil press and Martina Franca; fornello lunch; check in at Don Ferrante. Dinner on your own.
- Day 5BariFish market, Bari Vecchia orecchiette makers, spaghetti all'assassina lunch, sporcamuss. Evening free.
- Day 6Valle d'ItriaMasseria cheesemaking and farm meal, Alberobello trulli, farewell seafood dinner in Monopoli.
- Day 7DepartureCheck out in Monopoli.
Itineraries can shift with weather, season and host availability.
What is included
Included
- 3 nights Patria Palace, Lecce
- 3 nights Don Ferrante, Monopoli
- Daily breakfast
- Listed meals, activities, transport
- Gratuities
Not included
- Transportation to and from Italy
- Transportation to and from the airport/hotel
- Dinners on Days 3-5
Practical details
- Where you base
- Lecce (3 nights, Patria Palace) then Monopoli (3 nights, Don Ferrante); day trips to Galatina, Gallipoli, Martina Franca, Bari, Alberobello
- Where you stay
- Two hotels: Hotel Patria Palace in Lecce and Don Ferrante, set into Monopoli's old walls.
- Group size
- Limited to 12 guests
- Pace
- Full days with afternoon free time; hour-plus walks on uneven ground and stairs, frequent vehicle changes.
- Arrival and departure
- Hotel Patria Palace, Lecce, Day 1 (after 3 pm; welcome 7 pm); end at Monopoli Day 7.
- Who it suits
- Adventurous eaters who enjoy a mix of cooking, coast and towns.
Good to know
- Many dishes include gluten, fish, meat and cheese
- Itinerary may change; final 30 days out
- Page calls it six-day but runs seven days
Dates and prices
March 2027: EUR 6,100 per person double; EUR 7,000 single (EUR 900 supplement). Ask for April 2027 pricing.
More trips in Puglia
Trip details are compiled from the published information of Via Rosa (Via Rosa Italy), who runs this trip. Dates, prices and availability change; we reconfirm everything with you before you commit.
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