Puglia and Matera Private Journey

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!