Overview
Trace an arc across Puglia, the “heel of the boot” of sunny southern Italy, with your own private guide! You’ll enjoy optional hikes of your choice and visits to stunning hill towns, ancient farmsteads, and two World Heritage Sites. The deep south of Italy has surprising layers of history, as you’ll see in the whitewashed hill town of Ostuni, once a Greco-Roman city, and in charming Lecce, a Baroque gem known as the ”Florence of the South.” At the breathtaking World Heritage Site of Matera, you’ll walk a labyrinth of hand-carved rock stairways that connect tiny piazzas and gardens to form a magical world with roots in prehistory. Your countryside accommodations will be beautiful and as unique as Puglia itself, and as always in Italy, you’ll eat locally and well—with olive tasting (Puglia’s orchards are hundreds of years old), cheese tasting, wine tasting, and meals that celebrate the deeply rooted cucina povera tradition of simple and delicious dishes with fresh local ingredients. A fun add-on option is a cooking class at one of the palaces in Matera. Your private guide is the key to all this, introducing you to people and places you wouldn’t find on your own as you explore. Andiamo!
Itinerary at a Glance
Days 1-3
Bari / Valle d’Itria / Alberobello / Lecce / Ostuni / Country Hikes
From Bari, head through the ancient olive orchards of the Valle d’Itria to Alberobello, a unique World Heritage Site of trulli-lined lanes. Roam the narrow streets of Lecce, a Baroque gem and a quintessentially southern Italian town bursting with piazzas and ornate palazzi. Options each day include your choice of visits to charming towns such as Locorotondo, one of the borghi púi belli d’Italia (most beautiful villages in Italy), the hill town of Ostuni, with its ancient alabaster buildings, the coastal village of Polignano a Mare, and countryside hikes with olive-oil tastings and farm visits.
Days 4-7
Matera / Murgia National Park / Lago San Giuliano
Explore the spectacular city of Matera, a World Heritage Site dating to the early Middle Ages and set on a rocky outcrop. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited human settlements in the world, with a cityscape that has been described as “Biblical.” You’ll walk a tangle of narrow alleys between interconnected neighborhoods, see cave homes hewn from tufa rock, and climb hand-carved staircases in this magical realm crowned by a 13th century cathedral. Options each day include a hike among the rock-cut churches of the Murgia plateau, a “foodie” day to visit a dairy, a bread maker, and an ancient winery, or a tour of some of Matera’s grand Baroque palaces. If you wish, you can add on a cooking class in one of the palaces. Depart via Bari on Day 7.
OPTIONAL ADD-ON INCLUDES:
- Cooking Class in Matera
Puglia and Matera Private Journey
Highlights
Highlights
Details
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