Sail away to Giglio Island with us, 23-27 September 2026
Come sail away with us on this Culinary Retreat to Giglio island, 23-27 September 2027
We are finally bringing you to our very favourite island in Tuscany, Giglio. We lived on nearby Monte Argentario in 2015 when Marco was head sommelier of the dreamy Il Pellicano resort and I was writing my second cookbook, Acquacotta (which you will get a signed copy of), about the food traditions of the Maremma of this wild, coastal, southern part of Tuscany. Ever since then, Giglio has been our special place where we would zip away for a quiet, restorative beach days whenever we could (here’s one of those trips). We have been dreaming of taking people there for years and here we finally are. It’s a very special place and because of space and wanting to keep it very intimate, we will be only taking a very small group of 7 people.
About Giglio:
Giglio Island, a hop, skip and a jump (16 km or 10 miles and a breezy one hour ferry ride) from Monte Argentario in southernmost Tuscany, is a rugged, pint-sized granite island surrounded by crystalline waters. With the misfortune of being in a desirable position, it has an ancient and turbulent history, suffering centuries of pillaging by Ottoman pirates and changing hands of owners – from the Pisans to the Neopolitans, then to noble families like the Piccolomini from Siena, who sold the island to Eleonora di Toledo, the wife of Cosimo de' Medici I. Today it's a sleepy island for most of the year, until summer time, when beach-goers arrive, seeking the smooth sand and turquoise waters. September is a wonderful time to come here because the sunseekers are long gone, it’s just the locals, but the weekend we happen to be here the Castello will be alive with a wine festival.
There are three ‘neighbourhoods’ of Giglio: Porto (the port), Castello (the ‘castle’ or the main historical centre at the topmost part of the island, where the inhabitants of the island hid from invaders; although it is not a far drive from the port, is so high it can sometimes be shrouded in fog) and Campese (the red sand beach below Castello).
Here’s the plan:
Day 1, Wednesday: Meet us in Livorno. We’ll take you for coffee and a wander of the market. Then we head down the coast into the Maremma by mini van, but we will stop at my favourite little trattoria in the port town of Piombino that serves only whatever fresh fish they happen to have arrive in that day. We will stay the night in an agriturismo where we will have an early dinner and an early night because the next morning we have to get up to meet a fisherman.
Day 2, Thursday: At 7am, we meet Paolo in Talamone for a morning out on the boat for a fishing trip and a beautiful fresh seafood lunch. This is not just any fisherman, he is also an activist who plants sculptures on the bottom of the sea (above) to thwart trawlers and to ‘defend beauty with beauty’. Afterwards, we head to Monte Argentario’s Porto Santo Stefano where we get the ferry to Giglio and get settled in to our beautiful hotel. The evening is yours, so you can rest or explore the port as you wish.
Day 3, Friday. Today we will visit one of our most beloved winemaker friends, Francesco of Altura vineyard. His an ex-mathematics professor who rescued an abandoned vineyard on the island where he makes one of our very favourite wines — a natural, delicious, mineral orange wine. Giglio is also known for its white wine, Ansonica, or Ansonaco as it is known in Tuscany (which is actually the same as the Sicilian grape Inzolia, which is used to make Marsala. The grape made its way to Tuscany via island hopping). It is the principal component of Ansonica Costa dell’Argentario DOC, a dry, slightly aromatic, golden-hued white wine with bright acidity, made on Giglio Island and Monte Argentario. As you might imagine, this white wine is ideal for drinking with the unfussy, traditional seafood dishes of the area.
We will have some rest/beach time before we explore the Castello for a perfect dinner with a birds eye view over the island. The island’s Festa dell’Uva e Cantine Aperte “grape festival and open cellars” event will be on this weekend so there will be lots of food stalls and wines to try in the Castello neighbourhood.
Day 4, Saturday: This morning we have a cooking class in a beautiful property of the owner of La Guardia hotel overlooking the sea, and we will enjoy the fruits of our labour for lunch along with a wine lesson on local wines by sommelier Marco Lami. There will be a bit of time to rest on the beach or explore the port before the late afternoon when we jump on a boat with a local fisherman for a sail around the island and enjoy a beautiful aperitivo on the water. We come back to the port, a short walk from our hotel and the evening is yours.
Day 5, Sunday: We check out of our hotel and ferry back to land. We will make a stop at a nearby organic farm to taste (and stock up on) some excellent cheese before heading back to Livorno where we say our goodbyes.
Highlights:
Market visit in Livorno
Slow Food lunch in Piombino
Day out and lunch with a Maremma fisherman
3 nights at the beautiful La Guardia hotel on the island of Giglio
1 night in an agriturismo in Maremma’s national park
Winery visit with the winemaker
Cooking class and wine lesson
Visit to the local wine festival
Organic farm visit
Transport to and from Livorno to Giglio island
Aperitivo on the boat around the coves of Giglio
All breakfasts, lunches and 2 dinners
Signed copies of Emiko Davies’ cookbook, Acquacotta
About our accommodation:
We will stay in Giglio at the beautiful, serene La Guardia hotel at Giglio porto. The rooms are furnished with natural materials and a minimalist’s dream, the perfect base for a retreat. You also have direct access to the beach club, just steps from the water (don’t forget your bathers!). Some of the rooms have terraces and water views too. There is a restaurant onsite, but all of it just minutes walk from the port where we arrive, which means full access to all the restaurants, cafes and shops all in walking distance. We have two evenings off — one when we arrive, which is a night that some may like to have off to rest and the last night, after our boat aperitivo.
Cost does not include flights, accommodation, travel insurance or transport to/from San Miniato. More details coming soon.
To confirm your place, we require a 30% deposit, the remainder to be paid before the workshop. The deposit is non-refundable, but we understand that plans can change, we can accept someone to take your place or honour it until the end of the following year. We reserve the right to cancel a workshop (with plenty of advance notice) and in this case deposits will be fully refunded.
If you have any questions, email us.