Puglia & the South - Undiscovered Italy

3 Excursions Included
14 Meals Included
Flights Included, 3 Airports (Edinburgh, London Gatwick, London Stansted)
12 Dates from Oct 2023 to Oct 2024

Description
Contacts

ITALY'S ADRIATIC COAST

Enjoy rest and relaxation on the shores of the Adriatic, and take in the often-overlooked delights of Italy’s sun-kissed southern 'high heel'.

Full of included highlights, this hugely enjoyable holiday is based on the shores of the Adriatic and lifts the veil on a fascinating region of Italy. Discover the stunning, ancient, whitewashed hill-town of Ostuni, Alberobello and its conical trulli houses, and visit the extraordinary caves at Matera, as well as Monopoli and Polignano a Mare on an optional excursion. A visit to Baroque gem Lecce – the Florence of the South – and the opportunity to discover Castellana's famous cave network, wine-producing Locorotondo and elegant Martina Franca, on an optional excursion, complete a wonderful stay.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
Spend seven nights beside the brilliant blue Adriatic Sea
Join an optional excursion to enchanting Monopoli and Polignano a Mare
Discover the UNESCO-listed wonders of Matera's Sassi cave-dwellings
Witness hilltop Ostuni’s white walls gleaming in the Italian sun
Take in Alberobello’s traditional, conical trulli houses
Explore Lecce's Baroque buildings and Roman ruins
Visit the medieval village of Cisternino
Discover the UNESCO-listed wonders of Matera’s sassi cave dwellings, inhabited from the Paleolithic Period right the way up to the 1950s
Have the chance to visit the Castellana Caves and Locorotondo on an optional excursion

WHAT DOES THIS PRICE INCLUDE?
Seven nights' dinner, bed and breakfast accommodation at the four-star Hotel del Levante, Torre Canne

A tour of Apulia, Cisternino, Ostuni and Alberobello

Tours of Lecce and the cave network at Matera

Return flights to Bari

Coach travel and transfers throughout

Fully escorted by a friendly, experienced tour manager, with specialist local guides where applicable

YOUR ITINERARY

View a full breakdown of your holiday to help you plan your trip

Day One – Fly to Italy

Fly to Bari, meet your tour manager and board the coach to transfer to your comfortable beachside hotel in Torre Canne. Settle in, and depending on your flight time, perhaps enjoy a refreshing drink on the terrace before dinner.

Day Two – Day at leisure or optional excursion to Monopoli and Polignano a Mare

Today, you're free to rest, relax in the hotel and make the most of your waterside location. Take a dip in the pool, pay a visit to the hotel’s fitness centre or simply curl up with a book on a terrace or in a lounge. If you feel like exploring further afield, you can rent bicycles from the hotel, or stroll into the nearby fishing port and the small resort of Torre Canne to see its tiny harbour and lighthouse.

Alternatively, you can join the optional excursion to visit the white-washed houses and the imposing Bell Tower of Monopoli. After which, it is on to breathtaking Polignano a Mare, perched on a cliff edge overlooking the crystal-clear waters of the Adriatic, it offers some of the best beaches in Italy.

Day Three – Included Apulia tour

The first of our included excursions is a perfect introduction to the unique region of Apulia, or Puglia. It begins with a visit to the stunning hill-town of Ostuni, one of Southern Italy’s most spectacular locations, its whitewashed houses and cobbled streets set on three hills. The town’s maze of alleyways is perfect for wandering and opens out to reveal some spectacular views, while the old town's beautiful squares offer several bars and cafés from which to watch the world go by.

Leaving Ostuni, we'll travel back, across the vine- and olive-covered landscape dotted with conical trulli houses, to Alberobello. Here, hundreds of the whitewashed buildings with their tapered roofs cluster together to create one of Italy’s most arresting sights.

Return to Torre Canne for dinner, at the end of a fascinating day.

Day Four – Included Lecce city tour

The Baroque treasure-chest of Lecce is one of Southern Italy’s most appealing cities. Today’s included tour will include the opportunity to soak up the atmosphere of this historic trading centre, where elegant buildings, ornate churches and marbled courtyards reflect the town’s past importance. Explore the old town, which surrounds the ruins of a great Roman amphitheatre, one of several Roman remnants in the city, before we return to Torre Canne in time for dinner.

Day Five – Day at leisure

Spend another day relaxing at your hotel, perhaps enjoying a dip in the pool or the sea, or catching some sun in the hotel’s gardens.

Day Six – Included Matera cave tour

Saving the best of our included excursions till last, today you'll head into the neighbouring province of Basilicata, to Matera. This enthralling labyrinth of a town is a cultured oasis in and otherwise sparsely populated landscape, and is famed for the extraordinary Sassi. This maze of ancient cave-dwellings was inhabited as recently as 40 years ago, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Arriving in Matera in time for lunch (payable locally), you’ll have the opportunity to discover the history of this fascinating place, with its chiese rupestri (churches hewn from the rocks), and to wander through its ancient streets and colourful piazzas.

After a fascinating day you’ll head back into Puglia and return to the shores of the blue Adriatic.

Day Seven – Optional tour of Castellana, Locorotondo and Martina Franca

The final day of your holiday offers a last chance to rest and relax at the hotel or in Torre Canne, or to join a last optional excursion – this time into the Apulian countryside. First stop on the tour will be the extraordinary caves at Castellana, an underground network of towering stalagmites and stalactites and vast, cool caverns formed over the centuries. Wrap up warm in the cool temperatures then emerge to and head to your second stop – the majestic, whitewashed, circular hill-town of Locorotondo. Here, the surrounding vineyards are famed for their crisp white wines, and you'll visit a local cellar for the opportunity to taste the local vintages, as well as some other regional specialities, before you round off an enjoyable day with a short call in the historic town of Martina Franca, where an enthralling Baroque heart is hidden behind the modern buildings of the new town.

Day Eight - Fly back to the UK

Say goodbye to your Apulian hosts, and board the coach to begin your journey back to Bari airport where you'll check in for your flight home at the end of a fascinating, relaxing tour of Puglia.

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