Puglia - Discover the Heel of Italy

Our nationwide shared chauffeur service collects you from home for your flight to Bari. On arrival we transfer to our hotel in Otranto.

Meals: Dinner

This morning, we’ll head to Lecce for a guided walking tour. Known as the ‘Florence of the South’ for its baroque architecture, we’ll view inside the cathedral and the Basilica di Santa Croce. After admiring the city’s honey-stone palazzi and stopping for a delicious takeaway from a bakery, we’ll make our way back to Otranto for time to explore.

Meals: Breakfast

This morning we travel to Ostuni, a city which has been occupied since the Stone Age.

Commonly known as ‘the white city', Ostuni’s hilltop citadel is encased in white walls and surrounded by white-painted architecture. The 15th-century cathedral is distinctive for the green, yellow and white slate tiles that encase it and the nearby buildings.

We enjoy an olive oil tasting before travelling on to Alberobello, with a break to stretch our legs in Cisternino, a historic whitewashed town.

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

We drive to the Castellana Caves, a series of limestone caverns accidentally discovered in 1938. A guide will accompany you as you descend to explore the caves.

We also visit Alberobello (there’s a 15-minute walk to the town from the coach). Dozens of quirky trulli - circular, conical-roofed houses - can be found in and around the town. We visit a winery here for a wine tasting accompanied by some local products.

Dinner this evening will be at a local masseria.

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

We travel to the old port city of Bari. The Romanesque Basilica di San Nicola is dedicated to St Nicholas, or Father Christmas, and was built to house his remains (which still lie in the crypt). There is free time for lunch, before an included visit to Castel del Monte in the afternoon.

Castel del Monte was built by Frederick II in the mid-13th century. Most probably intended as a hunting lodge, it crowns a medieval hilltop village.

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Today we leave Alberobello and make our way to the pretty hilltop town of Martina Franca. We'll have time to wander the whitewashed alleyways, leading to attractive piazzas and baroque wonders. We also enjoy exploring the Marta Archaeological Museum in Taranto, with a guided visit. We then transfer to our hotel in Taranto. Please note for departure 24 August 2026, you will stay overnight in Matera.

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Today we travel to the 2019 European Capital of Culture, Matera, famous for its ‘sassi’ - neighbourhoods of ancient cave dwellings. Monks first created this maze of living spaces and churches as they sought refuge from infidels at the end of the first millennium. Miraculously, they are still largely intact.

After our morning guided tour of the rock church and caves, we have an afternoon at leisure in Matera.

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Transfer to the airport for your return flight to the UK. Upon arrival, your vehicle will be waiting for the journey home.

Meals: Breakfast