8-Day Puglia and Basilicata Discovery

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Polignano a Mare is a top destination for many tourists attracted by the charm of these places, hidden between the headlands and cliffs overlooking the crystalline sea. During your free time this morning, you can stroll around the town or hire a bicycle to explore all its little streets. In the afternoon, you will enjoy a superb experience from Monopoli: a Caicco boat tour on a sailing ship, called “caique”, entirely built from a mahogany tree!

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This morning you will travel to the wonderful Valle D'Itria. You will stop at Alberobello where you'll meet your private guide for a two-hour private visit of this UNESCO World Heritage Site! Alberobello is a dense mass of 1500 beehive-shaped houses, white-tipped as if dusted by snow. These dry-stone buildings are made from local limestone; none are older than the 14th century. Later, you will stop for a great wine tasting of four wines with a food pairing at a wonderful winery in Turi.

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Today, you'll embark on a half-day visit to a local Masseria and a superb wine cellar! Your first stop will be a local Masseria (farm), a wonderful place where everything is produced locally. You'll try some oils with lovely bruschetta and immerse yourself in the unspoiled nature of the farm. After the Masseria, you will visit the best winery of Puglia, where the most rewarded enologist operates and gives birth to real “creatures”, great wines recognised all around Italy!

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Today, you'll head towards Matera. On the way, you will pass by and make a stop in Gioia del Colle, a treasure of antiquity with its castle, one of the most beautiful in Puglia. In Gioia del Colle, you will have a nice tasting of the best "burrata", the gold of Gioia del Colle! After the tasting, you'll head towards Matera! Your private guide will take you around this stunning city! Here, you'll see the Rione Sassi, cave houses and rocky churches where time seems to have stopped.

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Today, you'll have the entire day free to spend as you wish. You may want to head off to the nearby town of Monopoli or stay in Polignano a Mare and enjoy this lovely little town known as the 'the pearl of the Adriatic'. Polignano a Mare is famous for its white-pebble beaches, its stunning scenery and its Romanesque church with its 16th-century tower all of which you can explore today. You can also treat yourself to a delicious seafood lunch in a local eatery.

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If Puglia were a movie, Lecce would be cast in the starring role. Bequeathed with a generous stash of baroque buildings by its 17th-century architects, the city has a completeness and homogeneity that other southern Italian metropolises lack. Today, you'll meet with your private guide at Lecce train station for a half-day private walking tour. Known as the “Florence of the South,” Lecce knows how to astonish and intrigue visitors and locals alike.