DEPARTURE FROM THE UNITED STATES
Thursday, June 12, 2025
DAY 1: Friday, June 13 ,2025
Welcome to Lecce
Morning: Arrival at the Brindisi airport and private transfer to Lecce center. Check in to your four-star hotel, your home for the next 3 nights.
Late Afternoon: Orientation walk of Lecce with local, licensed guide.
Evening: Welcome reception in a private Palazzo in the historic center of Lecce.
DAY 2: Saturday, June 14, 2025
Lecce
Morning: Walking tour of Lecce center with local, licensed guide. Lecce is one the most beautiful historic cities of southern Italy. Lecce is known as the “Florence of the South” and it’s famous for having some of the best examples of Baroque architecture in Italy. The tour will include the Roman Amphitheater, the Basilica of S. Croce, and the richly decorated Cathedral.
Afternoon: Spend the rest of the day exploring Lecce on your own.
Evening: Enjoy a leisurely night with dinner on your own.
DAY 3: Sunday, June 15, 2025
Lecce
Morning: Enjoy a full day excursion to Salento, the province at the heel of Italy which extends south-east towards Greece. Visit the small town of Galatina with its famous frescos of the Basilica of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria followed by a visit to the oldest pastry shops of the area and taste the local specialty, the pasticciotto.
Afternoon: Walking tour of Otranto, Italy’s easternmost town (only 40 miles across the Adriatic Sea from Albania). Included in the tour is the Cathedral with the largest mosaic floor in Europe (dated 1163 ) and a stroll through the old Spanish fortification with a gorgeous view of Otranto. Rest of the afternoon at your leisure in Otranto and return to Lecce.
Early Evening: Festive Puglia style aperitif.
Evening: Dinner on your own.
DAY 4: Monday, June 16, 2025
Lecce / Pezze di Greco
Morning: Departure from Lecce to central Puglia with enroute visit to Ostuni, known as La Città Bianca, “white city”, for its beautiful whitewashed buildings. The walking tour of Ostuni will include the outstanding well-preserved old-town with its picturesque tangle of narrow medieval alleyways and the dramatic 15th-century Gothic-Romanesque Cathedral facade with a frilly rose window.
Afternoon: Check in for three nights in our beautiful Masseria, a beautiful country residence. Our new base is conveniently located in between the Itria Valley, with its lovely fields of olive groves, vineyards and the conical trulli houses typical of this region and the stunning Adriatic coast.
Evening: Group dinner at hotel.
DAY 5: Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Monopoli / Polignano a Mare
Morning: Departure for Monopoli with walking tour of town center.
Afternoon: After lunch return to hotel and free time to relax.
Late Afternoon: Departure for Polignano a Mare with its lively and picturesque city center, the terraces offering breathtaking views on the Adriatic sea and the jagged coastline. Polignano a Mare is also the birthplace of the world famous singer Domenico Modugno who composed the beloved song, “Volare”.
Evening: Group dinner at local restaurant in Polignano a Mare.
DAY 6: Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Alberobello
Morning: Departure for Alberobello. Walking tour of the unique town of Alberobello, a small fairy-tale village known for its cone-shaped buildings called trulli and a UNESCO's World Heritage Site. Tour will include a visit inside a trullo house and the unique trullo church.
Afternoon: Wine tasting and light lunch at local winery. Return to hotel with enroute stroll through the wonderfully intact historic center of Martina Franca, with charming piazzas, beautiful baroque architecture and a stunning basilica.
Evening: Group dinner at hotel.
DAY 7: Thursday, June 19, 2025
Locorotondo / Matera
Morning: Departure to Matera with en-route visit to Locorotondo. Walking tour of the picturesque Locorotondo with beautiful views of the Itria Valley. The round layout of the town is what gave the town its name (Rotondo in Italian means round).
Afternoon: Visit and light lunch at a local cheese maker at their farm. Discover the secrets and ancient traditions of cheese making and the art of making fresh burrata, mozzarella and ricotta. After lunch depart for the magical cave town of Matera. Check in for two nights at our four-star hotel in the heart of Matera. Orientation walk of Matera with our guide.
Evening: Enjoy a leisurely night with dinner on your own.
DAY 8: Friday, June 20, 2025
Matera
Morning: Enjoy a walking tour of Matera, one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the world and a Unesco World Heritage site famous for the district of the Sassi, the ancient cave dwellings.
Afternoon: Free time to explore Matera on your own.
Evening: Farewell group dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY 9: Saturday, June 21, 2025
End of Tour
Morning transfer from hotel to the Bari airport or Bari train station.
Itinerary specifics subject to change.