Mosaics and Martyrs: The Espressino Travel Guide to the Best of Otranto
Of all the beautiful and fascinating towns in Puglia, none have the rich and dramatic history of Otranto. Perched in a natural harbour on the Adriatic Coast, Otranto has witnessed Byzantine and Norman glory days, suffered a brutal Turkish invasion, gave birth to the castle that inspired the gothic novel and, after all that, somehow reinvented itself as a great town for sun, shopping and seafood. In 2010 the historic centre of Otranto was recognized by UNESCO, announcing its i
Savouring the Salento 2014: Our Puglia Tour is a Triumph!
September’s Savouring the Salento Tour is in the books! And we couldn’t be happier with our 2014 Puglia Tour. Where do we begin? The food was fabulous. The wine was delicious. Lecce, relaxed after the August tourism explosion, returned to its serene best. The sun came out to reveal the innate beauty of Puglia’s most stunning cities – Otranto, Gallipoli, Alberobello and Ostuni – for our visits. Our excursions – Truffle Hunting with Giuseppe and his adorable dogs, and fishing o
Seafood and Splendour: Espressino Travel’s Six Essential Experiences in Gallipoli, Puglia
The first thing you need to know about Gallipoli is that it has nothing to do with First World War campaign or the movie starring Mel Gibson. That’s a different Gallipoli (in Turkey). So forget about that. The second and far more interesting thing you need to know about Gallipoli is that there’s nowhere else in Puglia, or the rest of Italy, that looks or feels anything like it. The clue is in the name. Gallipoli, in Greek, means beautiful place. Founded as an Ancient Greek co
Guest Blog: Mangia! Mangia! The Espressino Travel Guide to Eating in the Salento
When we were approached by Beautiful Puglia to write a guest blog, it didn’t take long for us to decide what we wanted to focus on. Food. Delicious. Nutritious. Fun. Fabulous food. Everywhere in Puglia there are amazing things to eat. But in the Salento, the area South of Brindisi where we’ve based our Italian Food Tours, taste is taken to new heights on a daily basis. Ciceri e Tria. Seafood fresh from two seas. Pizza. Pasticciotti. Gelato. Sometimes it’s hard to say basta! T
Guest Blog: Summer in the Salento
We were honoured to be asked by our friends at Browsing Italy to write a guest blog post about the Salento, the corner of Puglia we’ve chosen to base our Italian Food Tours. As we’re always eager to share our enthusiasm about this amazing, but still relatively undiscovered, corner of Italy, it was our pleasure to reveal our Top 10 Tips for the Best Possible Vacation Experience in the Salento. With so much to choose from – towns, food, wine, beaches, on top of the unique cultu
MurgiAMO Magic!
The Espressino Travel team took a well-earned break from perfecting our Food Tours in Puglia this past week, accepting an invitation to MurgiAMO, a four-day festival celebrating the food, art and culture of another fabulous area within the heel of the Italian boot: La Murgia. North of our beloved Salento, the home of our Italian culinary tours, La Murgia stretches inland from the stunning and historic town of Trani all the way to the famous sassi cave homes of Matera in neigh
Puglia Perfection: Our Lecce Top Ten
Unmissable Puglia Holiday Experiences in the Beating Heart of the Salento Apologies for the radio silence! We’ve been so ludicrously busy perfecting our Puglia Tour since we arrived in Italy, we’ve barely had time to sit down and pen a few words. What have we been up to? What haven’t we been up to? Once we touched down in Rome we pounded the streets of the capital, visiting dozens of hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs. We want to be able to ensure that International guests spending
The New York Times Goes Cooking in Lecce
The travel experts in the New York Times have spoken. And they’re as excited as we are about the unique and spectacular cuisine of Lecce and the Salento. Read all about the art of Cucina Povera and the growing popularity of Puglian Cooking Classes in this story starring our own incomparable instructor, Gianna Greco of Cooking Experience Lezioni di Cucina Salentina, along with our friends at Lecce’s most entertaining restaurant, Alle Due Corte. If you would like to learn the s
Gianna Greco, Star of Salentine Cuisine and RAI TV
You don’t need to speak the language to enjoy this jaunt around stunning Lecce with Italian Travel show Sereno Variabile. A flagship program from Italy’s National broadcaster, RAI, there are plenty of architectural and cultural treasures from the most beautiful city in Puglia. RAI only works with the best, which is why when they wanted to speak with an expert on the food of the region, they chose Espressino Travel’s cooking teacher, our own Queen of Salentine Cuisine, Gianna
2014 is the Year of Puglia!
People have been talking about Puglia (or Apulia, depending on who’s doing the talking) for years now. It’s not surprising. The region’s amazing food, along with its unspoilt cities, towns and beaches have long been favourites among Italophiles searching for a genuine Italian experience, far away from wandering packs of tourists looking to tick another Michelangelo off their lists. It seems like this is the year that the world’s media is finally getting the message that there
