Travel Tip

Before the tour starts: -

  Spend a few nights in Rome.

  Bari airport hotel https://www.parcodeiprincipibari.it/ -  we can pick you up there after the airport pick up.

Rendezvous at 14.00 at Bari airport. Transfer by minibus 3 hrs. to the old town of Otranto, the most easterly town in Italy. We walk from a colorful bauxite lake along the coast to the Tower of the Serpent, symbol of Otranto and enter the city gates to explore the delightful historic city canter. Once upon a time, it was the most prosperous trading port in the Mediterranean!

Meals: Dinner

Walk: 1 hour / 3 km

Stunning walk from Otranto along a dramatic coastline of cliffs, fortified farms and watchtowers to reach the beautiful cove of Porto Badisco where the bay displays aqua marine reflections among fishing boats bobbing up and down in the water. According to Homer, Aeneas landed here on his escape from Troy!

After lunch you have free time in the afternoon to explore Otranto.

Note: In 1481 the Turks attacked and slaughtered the population. The bones are kept in the Duomo and a visit to see its amazing Byzantine mosaic floor portraying the tree of life is a must.

Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Walk: 3-4hrs. / Feels like 10km

We visit the baroque city of Lecce, sometimes called the Florence of the South. The historic center is a great place for strolling to admire handcrafts and spotting Roman remains.

Lunch independently.

We then head to the coast for a beautiful walk in a protected marine nature reserve known as Torre Guaceto. Along this short piece of coastland with exceptional sandy and rocky backdrops, we walk through maquis and olive groves and fresh water lagoons where migrant birds stop to feed.

At the end of the walk is a 16th-century Aragonese defensive look-out tower.

Meals: Breakfast / Dinner

Walk: 3 hrs. / 8km

Free morning to explore the narrow alleyways of the beautiful little town Ostuni known as La Citta Bianca ( White town) with lots of places to enjoy a bite to eat (lunch not included). A 24k year old skeleton of a prehistoric pregnant woman was recently found here.

In the afternoon we stop to admire the ancient olive groves where prehistoric stone Dolmen and crypts dating from the Neolithic Age (4000-3000 BC) can be found.

Meals: Breakfast / Picnic lunch / Dinner

Walk: 3 hrs. / 10km

We start our day walking out of our hotel and into the Murge dei Trulli, a village landscape of olive groves, orchards, vines and trulli houses. After a light lunch in the beautiful whitewashed old town of Cisternino, a short drive brings us to Alberobello where the highest concentration of these dry stone huts with conical roofs is to be found – even a Trulli church!! Free time to stroll around.

We can now relax and maybe take forty winks as we drive through open farmland to Matera. Upon arrival we walk into the old town while our minibus goes ahead with the luggage.

Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Walk: 4-5hrs / Feels like 15km 

A fascinating walk across to the Murge Materanan and later among Matera’s Sassi, the best surviving and most complete examples of rock-cut settlements in the Mediterranean basin. Developed in close harmony with the natural environment, the caves here have been used since prehistoric times. At first bare cave dwellings, they were used as early Christian churches or to house flocks of sheep and later they were developed into house-like structures. This setting has inspired film directors for decades and was used for the film ‘The Passion’.

Enjoy a free evening to have dinner (dinner not included) in the old city of Matera.

Meals: Breakfast / Lunch

Walk: 3hrs/10km

Early departure for the National Park of the ‘Alta Murgia’ Mediterranean Prairie to visit the mystical and interesting Castel del Monte (UNESCO). This 13th century castle built by Frederick II which stands out against the natural backdrop of the surrounding Apulian hills and one of the most sophisticated secular buildings of the middle ages.

We continue to the coastal town of Trani with its stunningly located 12th century Norman cathedral and castle. Time to enjoy a promenade in this unique seaside setting and explore this historic port town before dinner.

Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Walk: 1hr/4km

Scheduled drop off at Bari airport at 10.00am (or earlier as long as this accommodates everyone in the group). Trani station is only a short walk. If you are departing at a different time, we can help you book taxi transfers.

Meals: Breakfast