Two siblings, whose family are of Maltese origin and reside in France, have launched an exclusive cruise that starts from Malta in October and will take guests on a cultural and gastronomic tour of the central Mediterranean.

Reine and Guy Sammut have created “Travelfood” (www.travelfood.fr) which, apart from organising the central Mediterranean tour is also organising a tour to Turkey to sample Turkish culinary delights.

The cruise, which starts and ends in Malta, will take place on a four-masted vessel, the Sea Cloud.

Guests will tour Valletta on Saturday 13 October before boarding the ship which leaves in the late afternoon. They arrive in Taormina on Sunday to partake of an Eolian dinner prepared by the owner of a restaurant in Paris’ Sixth Arrondissement. On Monday, having sailed through the Strait of Messina, they arrive in Palermo where they will have further lessons on Sicilian cuisine. They then go to Trapani where they will visit wine estates and enjoy a Mediterranean picnic.

On Wednesday, they sail for Tunisia where they arrive on Thursday to learn all about Tunisian gastronomy. On Friday they sail for Pantelleria where they will visit another wine estate and, as this will be the grape-picking season, they will see ripe grapes on straw matting drying in the sun before fermentation followed by wine tasting and sampling local produce on the premises of the best growers and producers on the island. On Saturday they arrive back in Malta and the tour is over.

Guests will be hosted in 37 cabins, the best of which have sitting room suites, Louis XIV beds decorative marble fireplace, and a writing desk. Prices range from e3,900 to e7,100 per person.