Wellness Cultural and Culinary Travel

in Salento and Puglia Italy

The Salento Peninsula is in the southeastern corner of the Puglia region of Italy. In ancient times it was inhabited by the Messapi a term signifying “land amid the waters” – the Ionian and Adriatic seas. Towns and villages are characteristically made of whitewashed houses in narrow streets with local handicraft shops, immersed in the green of the olive trees and vineyards, bordered by the typical dry-stone walls.

Sun, sea and breezes during a summer season lasting from May to mid-October. The mild winters are always pleasant with plenty of sunshine.

Wellness Bio Dances Holistic Massages Mystical and Healing Practices Influenced by Local Traditions

An enchanting setting along the Salento coastline, Villa Cesarea is on top of four marine grottoes that are the source of its famed mineral waters. It is also a place of pagan and Christian legends. In the former, the waters were created by giant men made of fire and sulfur, whereas the latter, from which name the Cesarea is derived, is based on the young maiden Cisaria whose sacrifice purified and sanctified the waters.

The Salentum Treatment consists of body scrubs, face masks and massages with local ingredients: wine and olives, olive oil, blackberries and pomegranates, Mediterranean citrus fruits.

Accommodations elegant apartments in a beautiful park surrounded by age-old olive and fruit trees and a biological garden; nearby: cycle tracks and an 18-hole golf course.

Baroque Architecture Food and Wine Traditions and Spectacular Coastlines

Culture famous for its soft stones, ideal for making sculptures, and its ceramics products, Lecce is over 2000 years old and renowned for its historic center and baroque architecture, stretching from Roman times to the 18^th Century, the Acaya renaissance quarter, the Cavallino Widespread Museum, the Messapi archeological park and the MUSA University Museum. It is also a major agricultural center specializing in olive oil and wine, hence, numerous opportunities to experience the famed local wines and traditional cuisine.

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Nardò second largest town in the region, takes the concept of sustainability very seriously; it is built on local traditions that are especially manifest in food and wine as well as the arts and culture. The city’s monuments are characterized by different artistic styles representative of its long history. 

Gallipoli is on an island with ancient monuments, tiny streets, and churches surrounded by the pristine waters of the Ionian Sea.

Otranto is the eastern most city in Salento with magnificent sea views and monuments like Corigliano Castle and the Carpignano Byzantine Crypt.

Food and Wine experience Salento’s famed wines and traditional cuisine. Some local specialties: puccia, friseddhre, pittule, rustici, pasticciotti and sweets made ​​of almond paste, accompanied by the local wines: Negramaro, Primitivo and Malvasia.

Connect for Travel to Salento and the Puglia Region of Italy

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Historic Train Rides in Italy

Campania and Sicily Itineraries in Original Locomotives and Railway Carriages

Travel aboard the original Centoporte and Corbellini carriages, which date back to the 1930s and 1950s, to visit some of the historic cultural and culinary sites in Campania region of Italy .

Pietrarsa runs from Naples to Portici along Italy’s first railway track. Inaugurated on October 3, 1839 by King Ferdinand II whose goal was to make his kingdom compete with the technological supremacy of England and France. The workshop was initially used to produce mechanical and pyrotechnical materials for the Navy, but later went on to build and repair locomotives and railway carriages. The very first locomotive made in Italy for the Royal Railroads bore the factory’s name. Pietrarsa was the first industrial complex in Italy, preceding the founding of Breda and Fiat by half a century.

Visit the Bourbon Dynasty Era Factory where Italy’s Rail History Begins

Reggia connects Naples with the Caserta Royal Palace. In 1750 King Charles of Bourbon (1716-1788), later king of Spain, decided to erect the Royal Palace as the ideal center of the new kingdom of Naples on the plains of Terra di Lavoro. The project was entrusted to the architect Luigi Vanvitelli (1700-1773), son of Gaspar Van Wittel, active under Pope Benedict XIV in the restoration of St. Peter’s dome in Rome.

Archaeo Train travels to the Roman and Magna Grecia archaeological sites of this region, including Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum and Velia.

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Sannio stops in S. Agata de’Goti, the region’s most beautiful borgo;

Telese Terme taste Falanghina and experience a wine tour of the vineyards;

Benevento area museums: Streghe, Egizio and Sannio as well as a tour of the Longobard era town; 

Padre Pio’s Pietrelcina, Fragneto Monforte e Pontelandolfo.

Sicily and Food by Train 87 municipalities are involved in the promotion of the island’s extensive culinary traditions along 50 itineraries traveling in carriages from bygone eras with diesel, electric, as well as a 1912 steam-driven locomotive to rediscover mountains and rural areas, borghi, castles, art and archaeological finds, parks and natural oases.

Explore Campania and Sicily Aboard Historic Trains

Italy

City Countryside and Regional Itineraries

Travel Programs for families, schools and theme groups with educational workshops, food and wine tasting and visits to museums, medieval villages, nature parks and archaeology sites.

Abruzzo is located on the Adriatic Coast, east of Rome. It is home to national parks, hilltop medieval and Renaissance towns and numerous nature reserves. The Apennine mountain chain forms much of its interior while the coastal plain has sandy beaches and dunes.

Basilicata, also known as Lucania, is a southern Italian region bordering with Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, with one coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania and Calabria, and a longer one in the Gulf of Taranto on the Ionian Sea.  

Campania the ancient Romans called it Campania Felix. Baia, Puteoli, Pompeii, Stabia and Capri were their favorite destinations. Then and now, Happy Campania is famed for its ancient ruins, coastal resorts and world-renowned culinary traditions. A cultural and national capital for much of its nearly three-thousand-year history, Naples is home to art museums, the San Carlo opera house and a spectacular bay framed by Mt. Vesuvius, affectionately and fearfully referred to by the local inhabitants as The Monster.

Lazio - Latium is mainly flat and hilly, with small mountainous areas in the eastern and southern districts. The coastline is mainly composed of sandy beaches. Behind the coastal strip, to the north, lies the coastal plain of Maremma Laziale. The center is occupied by the Roman countryside, a vast alluvial plain surrounding the city of Rome, and the south is characterized by flatlands. The Apennines of Latium are marked by the Tiber River valley and three mountains of volcanic origin whose craters are occupied by Lakes Bolsena, Vico and Bracciano. South of the Tiber, the Alban Hills, are of volcanic origin.

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Marche is slowly being discovered as the new Italian frontier; an abridged expression of the varied charms of Italy with a variety of attractions offered seasonally and year-round, including: authentic foods, breathtaking landscapes, a lively cultural landscape, artistic and natural treasures.

Puglia borders the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southernmost portion, the Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the boot of Italy.

Veneto Venice is comprised of 118 islands intersected by 150 canals and linked by 400 bridges. Among the neighborhoods to choose for your visit: Cannareggio – Ghetto, Santa Croce, Miracoli, San Zanipolo, Rialto, Frari, Dorsoduro, Giudecca and Castello. This incomparable city is full of secret campos, Gothic palazzos and neighborhood wine bars. San Marco square with its bell tower and the Doge’s Palace, the Grand Canal surrounded by Venetian style palaces, numerous art galleries and boutiques.

Emilia-Romagna Bologna Modena Ferrara and Dozza. Arrival and private transfer from the Bologna airport or train station to a Farmhouse in the countryside. Lunch and guided tour of the city center. Dinner with typical dishes from Emilia. The Food Valley full day excursion and visit to some of the best Emilia food producers:

Langhirano - Prosciutto di Parma production plant and food tasting

Reggio Emilia - Parmigiano Reggiano Dairy with explanation of the production cycle

Modena – Acetaia (vinegar loft) and the aging process of traditional balsamic vinegar.

Milan Italy

Art Architecture Cuisine Design Fashion and Shopping

Milan is located between the Po River, the Alps and Italian lakes region. The concentric layout of the city center has been influenced by the Navigli, an ancient system of navigable and interconnected canals, now mostly covered. There are only few remains of the ancient Roman colony of Mediolanum.

Following the edict of Milan in 313 A.D., several basilicas were built by the city gates, still standing and refurbished over the centuries. The cathedral was built between 1386 and 1577, is the fifth largest in the world and the most important example of Gothic architecture in Italy. In the 15^th century, an old fortress was enlarged and embellished to become the Castello Sforzesco, the seat of an elegant Renaissance court surrounded by a walled hunting park.

Economy the Milan metro area generates approximately 9% of the national GDP and is home to more than 8 percent of all businesses in Italy, including many media and advertising agencies. Milan is a major world fashion center - 12,000 companies, 800 show rooms, and 6,000 sales outlets - and manufacturing center. Other important products made here include chemicals, machinery, pharmaceuticals and plastics. Other key sectors in the city's economy are advanced research in health and biotechnologies, engineering, banking and finance.

Museums and Art Galleries the Brera Portrait Gallery holds one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings. The Sforza Castle hosts numerous art collections and exhibitions, especially statues, ancient arms and furniture. Leonardo Da Vinci worked here from 1482 until 1499 and was commissioned to paint the Virgin of the Rocks and the Last Supper. Milan was affected by the Baroque in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, hosting numerous artists, architects and painters of that period, such as Caravaggio. In the 20^th century, the city was the epicenter of the Futurist artistic movement. The Museo del Novecento is a 20^th Century art gallery with sections dedicated to Futurism, Spatialism and Poor Art.

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Music Milan is a major national and international center of the performing arts, most notably opera. La Scala is considered one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world, hosting the premieres of numerous operas since the mid19^th century. Other major theatres in Milan include the Arcimboldi and the Lirico.The city also has a renowned symphony orchestra, conservatory and is a major center for musical composition.

Fashion and Shopping a global capital in industrial design, fashion and architecture, Milan is the commercial capital of Italy and one of Europe's most dynamic cities, it accounts for the lion’s share of the fashion trade, with some of the most renowned fashion houses headquartered here. Its upscale fashion district and Galleria, the world’s first shopping mall, offer the best shopping opportunities. 

Architecture and Design the city’s modern skyscrapers and unique liberty style office and apartment buildings make it a trend setter in architecture. Milan is also a leader in high-quality furniture and interior design and is home to Europe's largest permanent trade exhibition - Fiera Milano - and one of the most prestigious international furniture and design fairs. Milan has recently undergone a massive urban renewal with several famous architects taking part in projects such as EXPO 2015.

Food and Wine home to a proud culinary tradition, Milan specialties include classic dishes like cotoletta alla milanese, cassoeula, stewed pork rib chops and sausage with cabbage, ossobuco, risotto, busecca and brasato, salami and gorgonzola cheese. Sweets include chiacchiere, panettone and tortelli. World-renowned restaurants and cafés can be found in the historic center, Brera and Navigli districts.

Venetian Countryside Food and Wine Itineraries

 Cooking Classes and Culinary Tours

Veneto is the most productive wine area in Italy and a unique area where the flavors of the local products combine to create delicious dishes, both in traditional and innovative ways. When natural products are put together to create a dish, the choice of ingredients and the way they are combined, cooked, and eaten are a function of identity, lifestyle and social status.

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Cooking classes designed to acquaint you with Venice and its territory by explaining how these local dishes developed and changed over the centuries. Learn to cook a savory risotto al radicchio, sweet white asparagus, baccalà, corn meal with boiled baby shrimp seasoned with Italian dressing, homemade noodles with basil pesto and scampi.

Tiramisù was created in Treviso just 40 km from Venice

Wine tours include an overview of the issues facing winemakers and how they retain family traditions and preserve the local environment. The Prosecco Wine Hills visit includes stops at local wine cellars, an ancient abbey and an imposing medieval castle

Medieval Treviso walk along its narrow, pebbled streets and chic boutiques. Learn the history and mysteries of the city known as the Garden of Venice. Have lunch in a typical restaurant and enjoy a typical Spritz with Cicheti in a local Cicchetteria.

Venetian Villas participate in a typical cooking class, where you will learn some of the secrets of the Venetian cuisine, in a charming Venetian Villa designed by Palladio and walk through the medieval village of Asolo, a widespread museum.

Connect for Travel to Venice and the Veneto Region of Italy

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The Capua Archaeological and Provincial Museum

Capua is an illustrious and antique metropolis in Campania. Its museum contains the most resplendent archaeological and medieval relics from this region of Italy.

The Archaeological Museum stands on one of Capua’s most ancient settlements, first occupied by the Torre di Sant’Erasmo during the Longobard era. Inaugurated in 1995, it contains archaeological finds coming from the excavations carried out in the territory. The complex consists of 32 exhibition rooms, 20 areas for deposit, three large courtyards and a vast garden. 

Twelve halls, illustrative panels and legends allow visitors to retrace the history of the territory from the first millennium BC to the 9^th century AD, a period of decline for the city. From Bronze Age to Iron Age, from the archaic period to the Etruscan civilization, from the Sunnite to the Roman period, a history full of influences and changes retraceable through the objects on display. Votive sculptures, weapons, golden jewels, grave goods, bronze vases, the reconstruction of a tomb crypt with a natural size fresco of the dead, red figure chinaware, votive medals, architectonic elements and many other objects.

The Provincial Museum of Campania in Capua was founded in 1870 and inaugurated in 1874; it is the most significant museum of ancient Italian civilization in Campania. The museum is in the historic Antignano building, whose foundations go back to the 9^th century and incorporate the ruins of San Lorenzo ad Crucem, a church dating from the Lombardic age. The building boasts the splendid Durazzesco-Catalan portal which bears mountings of the Antignano and Alagno coats of arms.

a royal decree led to the museum’s founding to house the region's archaeological and artistic heritage

The first director, professor Gabriele Iannelli, a distinguished archaeologist, historian and epigraphist who, according to the words of Norbert Kamp "possessed a truly unique vision for his time of the entire Capuan tradition "- was a tenacious organizer who managed the museum for over 30 years.

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The museum is a mirror-image of the three millennia old life of a metropolis which has seen rulers that include the Oscans, Etruscans, Samnites, Romans, Longobards, Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese and Spaniards. Its history is linked to names such as Spartacus, Hannibal, Pandolfo Capodiferro and Pietro della Vigna, Cesare Borgia and Hector Fieramosca. By 1956, with the addition of new rooms, the collections had been rearranged with the most modern criteria. The new Museum of Campania is among the most important in Italy and Europe. The layout was realized by prof. Raffaello Causa, responsible for the medieval and the modern section, and by prof. Alfonso De Franciscis and Mario Napoli, responsible for the archaeological section. The museum is divided into an archaeological and a medieval department along with an important library.

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Personalized Travel Programs for families, schools and theme groups with educational workshops, food & wine itineraries and visits to museums, medieval villages, city and country itineraries, nature parks and archeological sites.

Rotterdam Netherlands

Maritime Museums Walking and Boat Tours Original and fascinating professional guided walking tours. The heart of the second-largest city in the Netherlands lies inside a triangle of main roads. This inner city can easily be explored on foot within this triangle. The relatively short distances make a walk along beautiful and interesting sights and exceptional museums, the perfect way to discover Rotterdam. More

Düsseldorf Germany

Walking Tours Castles Fashion Museums and Rhine River Cruises Düsseldorf is the cosmopolitan capital of North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany`s state with the country`s largest population. The city has close to 600,000 inhabitants and is known for its old quarter – Altstadt – with nightlife and buildings which date back to the 16^th century. Here, you can taste the famous Altbier – a dark beer. More

Portugal

Lisbon Porto and the Douro Valley Lisbon a City of Lights and Contrasts is both Atlantic and Mediterranean, illuminated by an extraordinary light that contrasts with landscaped hills tumbling towards the Tagus river. More

Italy

Abruzzo is located on the Adriatic Coast, east of Rome. It is home to national parks, hilltop medieval and Renaissance towns and numerous nature reserves. The Apennine mountain chain forms much of its interior while the coastal plain has sandy beaches and dunes. more

Basilicata, also known as Lucania, is a southern Italian region bordering with Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, with one coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania and Calabria, and a longer one in the Gulf of Taranto on the Ionian Sea. more

Campania the ancient Romans called this region of Italy Campania Felix. Baia, Puteoli, Pompeii, Stabia and Capri were their favorite destinations. Then and now, Happy Campania is famed for its ancient ruins, coastal resorts and world renowned culinary traditions. A cultural and national capital for much of its nearly three thousand year history, Naples is home to art museums, the San Carlo opera house and a spectacular bay framed by Mt. Vesuvius, affectionately and fearfully referred to by the local inhabitants as The Monster. more  

Know More About It

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Lazio - Latium is mainly flat and hilly, with small mountainous areas in the eastern and southern districts. The coastline is mainly composed of sandy beaches. Behind the coastal strip, to the north, lies the coastal plain of Maremma Laziale. The center is occupied by the Roman countryside, a vast alluvial plain surrounding the city of Rome, and the south is characterized by flatlands. The Apennines of Latium are marked by the Tiber River valley and three mountains of volcanic origin whose craters are occupied by Lakes Bolsena, Vico and Bracciano. South of the Tiber, the Alban Hills, are of volcanic origin. more 

Marche is slowly being discovered as the new Italian frontier; an abridged expression of the varied charms of Italy with a variety of attractions offered seasonally and year- round, including: authentic foods, breathtaking landscapes, a lively cultural landscape, artistic and natural treasures. more

Apulia (Puglia) is located in southern Italy; it borders the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southernmost portion, the Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the boot of Italy. more

Croatia

Things to See Hear and Taste during the Holiday Season in Zagreb. More

Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. The first recorded appearance of the name Zagreb dates back to 1094, at which time the city existed as two different city centers: the smaller, eastern Kaptol, inhabited mainly by clergy and housing the Zagreb Cathedral, and the larger, western Gradec, inhabited by farmers and merchants. They were united in 1851. More on Zagreb

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