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• Guided /Escorted sightseeing and all ground transportation ( air conditioned ) as indicated, with a multi lingual speaking tour guide.

• Transfers to and from Bari airport, train station or bus station as required

• Welcome cocktail drink.

• Meals as indicated , pre-set menu (B = breakfast: Daily , L = lunch: , D = dinner)

• Accommodation in three and four stars hotels, rooms are with private bathroom facilities.

• Hotel tax, service charges & continental breakfast daily.

• Local multi-lingual guide.

• Service tax

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Puglia, the "heel" of Italy's boot is one of the most fascinating of Italy's Regions...and this trip will be one of the most memorable you will ever make.

This guided tour offers an opportunity to encounter Puglian culture, history, art, and cuisine (superb wines, extra virgin olive oils, fabulous pastas, local fruit and vegetable and other typical Puglian dishes).  During your stay you will enjoy relaxing days and discover the history, traditions and modern popular culture of this still unexplored corner of Italy. 

During the tour you will encounter amazing cities like Gioia del Colle, Polignano A Mare, Altamura, Alberobello, Ostuni and others.  You will walk through ancient buildings, stand before stunning monuments, and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of ruined castles that date from Greek and Roman times.  But, you will also enjoy incredible landscapes, long beaches, rocky coves, lapping seas, vineyards, olive groves and small villages where life moves according to the immemorial rhythms of nature.

You’ll dine in rustic restaurants or eat a pizza at the feet of the castle on a summer night. You’ll live the magic atmosphere of outstanding places such as Matera, Castel del Monte and Alberobello, both of them recognized as World Heritage sites by UNESCO; or in summer you can have a boat tour or simply sunbathe on an amazing beach. 

To book or for more information
Contact: IV Travel

Itinerary
 Breakfast     Lunch     Dinner

1^st day:

Gioia del Colle, wine tasting, biking through the vineyards 

• Arrival and welcome to Gioia del Colle. For the first 3 days of this tour, our accommodation will be a very nice family-run hotel in the historical center of the town.
• We’ll visit this calm and enchanting town, its archaeological sites (acropolis, excavations, tombs, paintings of Hellenistic age, temples); then you will visit the Norman Swabian castle, one of the most beautiful and best preserved in all of Puglia, wandering through the throne room of Frederick II, in the old tower and in the dark jails, from there to admire the splendid museum and its fascinating vases of Roman and Hellenic epoch.
• Lunch will follow in a “slow food” restaurant or there will be a picnic in the countryside during spring or summer.
• In the afternoon biking through the countryside we’ll get to a wine cellar where you will see its production methods before concluding your visit with a wonderful wine tasting session.
• Your evening is free where you can go shopping or dine in typical pizzeria.
   

2^nd day:

Altamura, Gravina and Castel del Monte 

• The second day begins with the visit of the town of Altamura, its elegant historical center, the Duomo with an intricately detailed frieze over the doorway and in a very old bakery with a wood burning oven.
• You’ll learn more about the famous DOP bread of Altamura and could have a taste of it.
• A few minutes away from Altamura there’s Gravina in Puglia where you’ll have lunch in selected restaurant that cooks typical Apulian dishes such as handmade pasta and grilled mushrooms of the region.
• After lunch walk in the natural and unique landscape of this town, discovering its rocky churches and caves used as houses many years ago. 
• In the late afternoon, departure for for Castel del Monte (UNESCO heritage site). The most famous symbol of Puglia, a fascinating and mysterious castle situated in an isolated and dominant position on the top of a hill in the heart of Puglia.
• Return to Gioia and free evening.
   

3^rd day:

 Matera, Trani 

• After breakfast, departure for Matera. One of the 3 Unesco heritage sites in Puglia, it is the most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region.
• You’ll visit and have a walk among the area called “Sassi”: natural caves, old churches and houses most of them abandoned, linked only by stairs no street.
• After lunch in a typical masseria in the countryside, departure for Trani and free walk in the historical part of the town and along the beautiful waterfront.
• Return to Gioia.
   

4^th day:

Polignano, Alberobello 

• Soon after breakfast, transfer to your new accommodation in Conversano, a historical residence with a discreet and impeccable service.
• After that departure for a visit to the small town of Polignano al Mare and its splendid sea. We invite you to enjoy this wonderful seaside town perched on a cliff with its white houses and narrow cobbled streets.
• After lunch in a local restaurant we will visit  Alberobello and its famous "trulli" (white houses with the roof that is a grey cone of stones). Return to Conversano.
• Once again your evening is free where you can dine locally, explore, simply rest or take part to some local show during the celebration days. 
   

5^th day:

Ostuni, Locorotondo, Castellana, olive oil tasting 

• This fifth day begins with the departure for Ostuni. One of the most famous towns of Puglia thanks to its hilly position and the white-washed walls of its houses.
• Relaxing walk and visit to the fifteenth century cathedral.
• Lunch in Locorotondo, where a “slow food” trattoria will cook orecchiette with meat sauce and handmade cavatelli with tomatoes and sausage.
• In the afternoon, a visit to Castellana Grotte which is famous all over the world for its charming grottoes, we’ll see tha large and famous complex of caves with amazing rock formations.
• At the end of the day, there will be the visit to the oil mill, to learn the procedures and techniques that contribute to the production of an inimitable extra virgin olive oil.
• There is an oil tasting session in the garden of olive trees.
• Return to Gioia
   

6^th day:

Otranto, Gallipoli, Lecce 

• The last day, after breakfast, we’ll leave to the south part of Puglia called Salento. 
• A breathtaking drive along the sea and arrival to Otranto.
• Nice walk in the historical centre, along the beautiful waterfront and we’re sure you’ll fall in love with this handsome town.
• Departure to Gallipoli for lunch in an open-air restaurant with a balcony looking out over the sparkling sea.
• In the afternoon visit to the baroque city of Lecce: you will discover the never ending details of the façades of its churches, the characteristic squares and the hidden corners of the historical centre of the town.
• In the evening, you will probably be tired and may want to rest, but the local restaurants may well tempt you.
   

• It's time to say goodbye...too bad.
• Pack your bags, have breakfast and start on the next leg of your journey, whether you are going home, or staying in Italy to see more.