Trust the Locals….real small group tours!!!

Unknown Puglia & Basilicata Delights

Day 1 – Welcome to Puglia! Early morning transfers from Bari airport and train station, where you will be met by your local tour manager. The day starts with a fascinating walking tour through the ancient alleys of Bari, visiting the “Basilica of St. Nicholas”, one of the most remarkable examples of Romanesque architecture and the magnificent “Swabian Castle” built in Norman times, refurbished by Frederick II and enlarged by Isabella of Aragon in the 16C century. After learning on how to make typical Apulian “Orecchiette” pasta, we’ll drive to the picturesque town of Polignano a Mare, perched on limestone cliffs, boasting stunning views and colorful narrow streets. There’ll be plenty of photo opportunities. Make sure your camera battery is fully charged! Leaving Polignano a Mare, we drive to elegant Lecce, known as “The Florence of the South” on account of its astonishing number of baroque and Renaissance-style public buildings for our three nights stay at the central historical hotel “PATRIA PALACE’” or similar. Over the next few days you’ll have plenty of time to explore this town at your own pace. This evening join your tour director and fellow travelers for a welcome drink followed by an included feast of flavors in a local restaurant where you’ll feel like one of the family. Eat like a real Pugliese! Overnight stay in Lecce. Walking: Light/Moderate

Ostuni

Martina Franca

Day 2 – Lecce and its Baroque splendors Southern Italians have long known Lecce and its glorious profusion of Baroque mansions and churches. Historic Lecce is a beautiful baroque town with a glorious architectural confection of palaces and churches intricately sculpted from the soft local sandstone. The heart of the town is the cobblestoned “Piazza S.Oronzo” where a Roman column can be found together with excavations of part of a wellpreserved “Roman Amphitheater”” dating from the 2nd century AD. In the morning, we take a private tour around the city with a local expert guide to have the key sights explained to us. We’ll visit a wellknown laboratory of “Papier-Mache” for an included demonstration of how the work is done. Lecce is known for its crafts, most notably papier-mache’ figurines and this display is dedicated to explaining the skills and artistry that go into a local product. After a street food experience with a local sweet custard treat called “Puccia” we’ll explore an historical PALAZZO & its GARDENS located in the ancient corner of Lecce. You’ll have the afternoon free to explore on your own. Overnight stay in Lecce. Walking: Light/Moderate

www.secretitalia.it

The Trulli Land

Alberobello

Trust the Locals….real small group tours!!!

Unknown Puglia & Basilicata Delights

Day 3 – The Marvels of Otranto and Castro This morning we depart to Otranto, a charming harbor town overlooking the turquoise Adriatic coast. By the 10th century, there were some 40 villages between Otranto and Gallipoli that were almost exclusively Greek in every way – language, clothing, customs and religion. The Greeks, the Romans, the Angevins and the Aragonese have all vied for control of this important port. With a rich heritage of Greek, Roman and Byzantine occupation due to its strategic port-side location, Otranto came to the fore during the middle Ages when it became a vital trading center between the Adriatic nations. Here you’ll visit the stunning Cathedral where, in the interior you will find a remarkable 12th century mosaic floor depicting the Tree of Life balanced on the back of two elephants. After a walking tour with your local guide to discover the charming town centre and an included lunch in a local restaurant, you’ll move to Capo d’ Otranto to visit a recently restored 19th century lighthouse from where, on clear days you can see the mountains of Albania across a sparkling blue Adriatic Sea. Before going back to Lecce, we’ll take a short drive to the pretty village of Castro for a relaxing boat trip. The evening is all yours to head to the old town for a meal or taking in the atmosphere of the evening passeggiata (stroll). Overnight stay in Lecce. Walking: Light

Alberobello

Polignano a Mare

Day 4 – Manduria wine and stunning Basilicata Leaving beautiful Puglia region, we drive to nearby Basilicata and the town of Matera. With its primeval forests, sandy coves, chic cave dwellings, Castles and ancient rock-hewn churches, Basilicata is both a timeless biblical land and a beguiling new destination. Even for Italians, Basilicata is off the beaten track and little known, despite being portrayed as Biblical Palestine in countless film epics.

Santa Croce, Lecce

Our first stop is a well-known winery located in the Manduria region for a tasting of their local wines “Primitivo” and a visit to the popular Wine Culture Museum. Our hotel for the next two nights in Matera is the “HOTEL LE DODICI LUNE“ or similar, located in the heart of the Sassi district, said to be one of the world’s oldest towns, inhabited since the Palaeolithic Age. This evening you’ll savor an included dinner in a local tavern. Overnight stay in Matera. Walking: Light/Moderate

www.secretitalia.it

Winery, Locorotondo

Trust the Locals….real small group tours!!!

Unknown Puglia & Basilicata Delights

Day 5 – A wander through Sassi of Matera Breakfast in hotel. Matera is a fabulous troglodyte town of prehistoric grottoes, cave tabernacles, abandoned hovels and Renaissance houses, all excavated into the luminous limestone tufa. The rock-cut cave dwellings known as the Sassi, date back to Byzantine times. Up until the 1950s the caves were home to peasants who lived alongside their donkeys in dark hovels. Then the Italian government, embarrassed by the poverty, re-housed the entire population. By the 1980s a number of intrepid Materani started to return, and now the Sassi are the region’s main attraction, recognized by the UNESCO as the finest example of “cave architecture “in the Mediterranean. With the help of a locally-grown expert, we’ll learn the stories of old and new Matera. We’ll visit “Casa Cisterna” an ancient cave dwelling which tells a tale of poverty, hardship and struggle, whose history is best immortalized in writer Carlo Levi’s superb book “Christ stopped at Eboli”, comparing the SASSI to Dante’s Inferno.

Lecce

Church, Matera

Today Matera contains some 3000 habitable caves. After an included street food experience with local “focaccia bread, you’ll enjoy a visit to a “Chiesa Rupestre” (Cave Church) featuring medieval frescoes with their own legends that we will learn about. Rest of the day is on your own. Overnight stay in Matera. Walking: Moderate.

Day 6 – The enchanting Trulli district This morning you’ll enjoy a panoramic drive back to Puglia towards the Murge Hills discovering the “Terra dei Trulli” (The Land of the Trulli), a beautiful region between Fasano, Martina Franca, Ostuni and Alberobello which takes its name from the curious buildings, the TRULLI, found in this part of Puglia. In Martina Franca you’ll visit the white old town with its stunning ramparts and the bustling Piazza Roma, bordered by the 17C Palazzo Ducale. We continue to the town of Alberobello, famous for its district of Trulli (about 1400), spread over the hillside to the south of the town. These square structures have conical roofs covered with “Chiancarelle”, greylimestone roof slabs. Originally built without using mortar, the walls and the edges of the roof are whitewashed. They are crowned by differently shaped pinnacles, each with a magical significance. Here you’ll visit an 18th century small TRULLO house, giving something of the atmosphere of trullo life, with sweet, rounded rooms that include a re-created bakery, bedroom and kitchen.

www.secretitalia.it

Inside a house, Matera

Trulli in Alberobello

Trust the Locals….real small group tours!!!

Unknown Puglia & Basilicata Delights After some time on your own, you’ll visit the surprising limestone CASTELLANA CAVES, with their amazing amount of richly coloured stalactites and stalagmites; a real jewel of millenary beauty. You’ll spend the next two nights in the white village of Ostuni at the central” HOTEL LA TERRA” or similar. Overnight stay in Ostuni. Walking: Moderate

Day 7 – Masseria and Wine tasting in Locorotondo

Vineyards, Puglia

Breakfast in hotel. This morning we take a stroll with our local guide through the narrow alleys and steep stairways of picturesque Ostuni, a town which shines like a pearly white tiara, extending across three hills with the magnificent gem of a late-gothic 15th century cathedral as its sparkling centerpiece. We’ll pay a visit to the “Museo della Civilta’ Pre-classiche della Murgia Meridionale” which was an 18th century monastery but now houses the skeleton of a 25,000 year old woman among other prehistoric finds. After an included wine tasting in a wine cellar, we’ll then visit the small village of Locorotondo, considered one of the most picturesque ones in Italy boasting an extraordinarily beautiful and whisper-quiet pedestrianized historical centre, where everything is shimmering white aside from the blood-red geraniums that tumble from the window boxes. After time on your own for lunch, we return to Ostuni to visit a locally Masseria for an olive oil tastings and viewing an underground olive mill (frantoi ipogei).

Locorotondo

Pizza dinner is included this evening in a local restaurant. Overnight stay in Ostuni. Walking: Light

Locorotondo

Day 8 ‐ Imperial Puglia: Castel del Monte After breakfast, we head north to the Murgia valley. Wide horizons, bold colors, sometimes harsh and a bit lunar. Such is the landscape at Murgia, from the Imperial Puglia, dominated by the presence of Frederick II and by three artistic cities with a glorious past: Barletta, Andria and Trani. Our first stop is the World Heritage site of Castel del Monte which dominates the countryside of Andria from its 540 metres on sea level, where it sits isolated but impressive. It was surely not a defensive fortress; perhaps it was designed as a hunting lodge or a centre where experts of maths and astronomy used to meet. After an included taste of Burrata and Mozzarella di Andria in a local cheese factory, we drive to the attractive fishing town of Trani with its bustling port which a thousand years ago attracted pilgrims and Crusaders and a striking Cathedral dedicated to the pilgrims’ Saint Nicola. Located overlooking the picturesque harbor, the interior of this Romanesque church has been restored to its original Norman state. We’ll spend the last two nights in a central hotel looking over the port” MARE RESORT” or similar. Enjoy the rest of the day on your own. Overnight stay in Trani. Walking: Light/Moderate

www.secretitalia.it

Castel del Monte

Trani

Trust the Locals….real small group tours!!!

Unknown Puglia & Basilicata Delights

Day 9 – Dolce Far Niente in Trani!!! Breakfast in hotel. Morning with your tour guide for a walking tour of beautiful Trani. The rest of the day is on your own. Tonight we’ll celebrate your Apulian adventure with a farewell dinner at one of the typical regional restaurants in Trani. Overnight stay in Trani. Walking: Light

Trani cathedral

Day 10 – Arrivederci Puglia Morning transfers to Bari airport and train station or begin your Sicilian small group tour adventure. Thanks for travelling Secret Italia Tours!

PAOLA OUR TOUR MANAGER IN PUGLIA

www.secretitalia.it

Trust the Locals….real small group tours!!!

Unknown Puglia & Basilicata Delights

www.secretitalia.it