There is another Mediterranean that reveals itself once the last summer yachts have slipped from the harbor and the beach clubs begin folding away their striped umbrellas.
In this quieter season, Palermo’s markets return to their morning rhythms, the vineyards of Puglia take on the burnished tones of autumn, and Marseille’s fishermen arrive at the Vieux-Port beneath a softer winter sun. The tables remain generous, the wine continues to flow, and the region feels less like a destination being performed for visitors and more like a collection of places returning to themselves.
It is this more intimate side of the Mediterranean that Explora Journeys intends to explore during its Winter 2026–2027 season aboard EXPLORA II, with a collection of voyages shaped around the food, wine, markets, and culinary traditions of Southern Europe.
Rather than treating dining as an interlude between ports, the itineraries position it as a way of understanding them. Guests will move from market stalls and fishing boats to vineyards, country estates, and private kitchens, meeting the ingredients of the Mediterranean close to their source before returning to the ship, where the experience continues at the table.
Founded by the MSC Group, Explora Journeys entered the luxury ocean-travel market in 2023 with EXPLORA I, followed by EXPLORA II. Its approach favors spacious all-suite accommodations, unhurried itineraries, and a residential atmosphere designed to appeal not only to established cruise travelers but also to those who may never previously have considered a voyage at sea. More than a third of its guests are reportedly new to luxury cruising, suggesting that the brand’s understated interpretation of shipboard travel is attracting a different kind of passenger.
The new culinary voyages build naturally upon that sensibility.
In Palermo, the day begins at Mercato del Capo, one of the Sicilian capital’s most animated food markets. Beneath striped awnings and among tightly packed stalls, vendors display silver-skinned fish, citrus, herbs, vegetables, and the ingredients that have shaped the island’s cooking for generations. Guests will select seasonal produce before joining a hands-on Sicilian cooking class centered on freshly caught seafood and the bold, uncomplicated flavors of the region.
Marseille offers an equally evocative introduction to place. A private boat carries guests toward the historic Vieux-Port fish market, where the morning’s catch arrives directly from the Mediterranean. The visit is followed by a chef-led bouillabaisse masterclass—less a lesson in following a recipe than an exploration of one of Provence’s most storied dishes. Regional wines accompany the experience, drawing together the flavors of the coast and the vineyards beyond it.
In Barcelona, La Boqueria provides the opening act. The celebrated market may be one of the city’s most familiar landmarks, but its appeal remains immediate: pyramids of fruit, hanging jamón, spice counters, seafood displays, and the constant theater of Catalan food culture. After exploring the market, guests return aboard for a Paella Valenciana cooking class, translating the color and energy of the morning into a dish intended to be shared.
Farther east, the countryside of Puglia presents a gentler rhythm. Excursions lead through vineyards and olive groves before concluding with a locally sourced lunch in the landscape that produced it. Here, luxury is not expressed through excess, but through proximity—the chance to taste olive oil near the trees from which it came, drink wine overlooking the vines, and linger over a meal without watching the clock.
One of the collection’s most distinctive experiences unfolds at Il Palagio, the Tuscan estate owned by Sting and Trudie Styler. Set among vineyards, olive groves, and wooded hills near Florence, the historic property has become known for its organic wines and deeply rooted sense of place. Guests arriving from Livorno will tour the cellars, take part in a guided tasting, and sit down to a lunch shaped by the flavors of the Tuscan countryside.
The experience offers the kind of access that increasingly defines contemporary luxury travel: not merely seeing a celebrated estate, but entering its rhythms, tasting its wines where they are made, and understanding something of the landscape behind the label.
Autumn also brings one of Italy’s most anticipated culinary rituals. From October through November, Explora Journeys will present The Truffle Season across its fleet, a complimentary dining experience inspired by Piedmont’s prized harvest.
A different truffle-focused dish will appear each day, paired with wines from the region and finished tableside with freshly shaved truffle. The gesture may be theatrical, but its appeal lies in the unmistakable aroma released at the moment the truffle meets the plate—a fleeting reminder that the finest seasonal ingredients cannot be separated from time or place.
Together, the voyages offer an alternative to the familiar vision of Mediterranean travel. There are no midsummer crowds to navigate, no rush for a table overlooking the sea, and no need to compete with the heat of the afternoon.
Instead, there are misted vineyards, working markets, quieter museums, and long lunches that stretch toward dusk. The region’s most enduring pleasures—bread still warm from the oven, wine poured by the people who made it, seafood selected at the harbor—take on greater clarity when the season slows.
For travelers willing to trade the spectacle of summer for something more personal, the Mediterranean in winter may be its most luxurious expression of all.
