Alberobello Walk

Guided Walking Tour in Puglia 2011
(13 days / 12 nights) - $5,750 AUD per person

29 April to 11 May  2011

“Evidently, the God of the Jews didn't know Puglia, otherwise he wouldn't have given his people Palestine as the Promised Land.”
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Puglia (1194 to 1250 AD).

Clearly, Frederick II was a little biased, but he did have a point.  Puglia, with its intriguing towns and great natural beauty, has lost of none of its fascination and yet, after 800 years, the castles and rolling plains of Le Murge, the forests and pinnacled trulli towns of the Istria Valley and the Baroque extravagance and spectacular coast line of the Salento Peninsula are still relatively unknown, with Puglia attracting less than 2% of Italy's total annual tourism.

The ‘heel' of the ‘boot' of Italy, Puglia runs down the Adriatic coast, jutting out towards the Balkans and Greece.  Puglia has a very rich heritage, having drawn traders and invaders since prehistoric times: the Spartans founded the first Greek settlement in 750 BC; the Romans absorbed Puglia into their empire; the Lombards, the Byzantines, the Venetians, the French and the Spanish all fought over her and the Ottoman Turks raided her for centuries.  However, it was under the Normans kings, who built impenetrable castles and towering cathedrals during the 12th and 13th century, that Puglia reached its greatest splendour as pilgrims, merchants and crusaders streamed down from all over Europe to embark from its ports for the Orient and the Holy Land.

Puglia rewards slow tourism.  Some of the highlights of the Hidden Italy tour include:  six half-day walks along country lanes and following coastal paths through national parks; guided tours of the old port of Bari and the Baroque centre of Lecce; visits to three UNESCO World Heritage Listed sites:  Frederick II's dramatic and enigmatic octagonal Castel del Monte; the extraordinary medieval cave city in the ravines below Matera and the enchanting ‘trulli' town of Alberobello;  a lazy day sailing on the blue Adriatic and last, but not least, Puglia's fine southern cooking.

The accommodation is in very good, four-star boutique hotels, including an authentic ‘trulli' hotel complex in a rural setting and a recently renovated patrician palazzo in the centre of Lecce.  Puglia is characterized by undulating plains and hills (no mountains or steps!).  The walks are straight forward, following good lanes and paths that take you through some of the most beautiful country in Italy.

The tour will be lead by Simon Tancred.

	Tour Dates	29 April to 11 May, 2011
	Tour Size	7 to 14 people
	Tour Cost	$5,750 AUD per person (two people sharing a double room) (single supplement for a double room for single use $600 AUD) (approximately $5,200 USD SS $400 USD - subject to daily exchange rates**)
	Tour Inclusions	12 nights accommodation (see the itinerary for details) in 4-star boutique hotels All breakfast, and all lunches and dinners listed in the itinerary All transfers and activities during the tours All taxes and service charges at the hotels and restaurants All paid admissions during the tour 8 guided walks Guided sight seeing tours of Bari and Lecce Services of a full-time professional tour guide

500 yr Old Olive Tree	The trulli town centre
A country walk	Matera cave church
Salento coastal walk	Frederick II's castle
Wedding in the ‘White City’'	Our Base in Salento
Our hotel in the Istria Valley	Coastal pine forest walk
The 'White City'	Trani Cathedral

Puglia Walking Tour Itinerary

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Day		We will meet in the foyer of our hotel (a converted 19th century palazzo set in parklands near the centre of Bar) and have a light dinner at a nearby restaurant.  Dinner.
Day		Today we take a guided sight seeing walk to explore the secrets of the medieval Bari Vecchia, the old town of Bari, a buzzing maze of tight alley ways and small piazzas adjacent to the city's port.  There are many star attractions but the real pleasure of Bari Vecchia is simply wandering the narrow lanes soaking up the vibrant southern life.  After lunch in a traditional trattoria, operating for over a century.  Afternoon and evening are free.  Lunch.
Day		Today we drive across the endless rolling plains of Le Murge to the green hills and forests of the Istria Valley, to our base for the next four nights, a beautiful hotel composed restored ‘trulli' (traditional conical dry-stone cottages) with a pool and surrounded by vineyards and olive groves.  On the way, we visit two of the most remarkable buildings in southern Italy: the towering harbour side Norman cathedral in Trani and Castel del Monte, the mysterious isolated octagonal castle constructed by Frederick II in the 13th century, which is considered one of the most secular buildings of the Middle Ages.  Dinner is at the hotel's fine restaurant.  Lunch and dinner.
Day		This morning we take an easy walk to a fascinating nearby town, the capital of the trulli district, through forest, vineyards and cherry orchards.  3 hours.  There are over 1500 trulli crowded into the historical centre of the town - strange dry-stone conical ancient constructions only found within a 30 kilometre radius of the town.  After a visit and a light lunch, we drive back to our base, stopping to visit another pretty neighbouring town.  Dinner is at a colourful local trattoria.  Dinner.
Day		Although only a pleasant one hour drive from our base across wide open plains, Matera seems to belong to another world.  Below modern town perched on a deep ravine, are the famous Sassi, one of Italy's oddest urban features, a silent medieval cave city. setting of Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ.  We will be taken on a guided tour and have lunch in the town's main square.  On the way back we will visit an elegant nearby town famous for its passeggiata.  Dinner is at the hotel.  Dinner.
Day		Today we do a beautiful walk along country lanes through olive groves, orchards and oak forests before picking up an ancient stone path that leads us to a charming 7th century Romanesque church surrounded by fields. 3 hours.  After a visit to the little church (the ancient caretaker permitting) we'll have a light lunch and drive back to relax at our base.  In the late afternoon we'll drive to the ‘white city', a lively town of twisting lanes and piazzas spread along a ridge with views of the coast.  After an aperitivo in the town square, we will drive down to have dinner in a wonderful masseria (or fortified farm complex) surrounded by 500 year old olive trees.  Lunch and dinner.
Day		This morning we leave the Istria Valley and head south to the austere beauty of the Salento Peninsula, the eastern most part of Italy and the closest point to Greece.  On the way we visit a most unusual town perched on a peak overlooking the Ionian Sea and the mountains of Calabria.  Our base for the next four nights is a perfectly preserved medieval port tucked behind 15th century Spanish walls above an idyllic harbour.  Under the Romans, Byzantines and Normans, the town was the main Italian port to the Orient for over a thousand years, before being mercilessly sacked by the Turks in 1480.  Our accommodation is in a gorgeous small hotel set in a 14th century palazzo on the town's bastions overlooking the port.  After settling into the hotel, the evening is free.
Day		This morning we walk south of the town following trails along the coast passing a number of anti-Turkish lookout towers and the lighthouse that marks the eastern most point of Italy, on a clear day you can see Greece.  We finish at a small bay, perfect for swimming, where we'll have a light lunch and then drive back to our base.  3.5 hours.  Dinner is in one of the town's fine restaurants.  Lunch and dinner..
Day		Today is a lazy day, taking a boat to explore the Adriatic Coast, visiting sea caves, bays and some of Italy's finest beaches.  There will be plenty of chances to swim in the blue water. A BBQ lunch will be served on the boat.  We'll return to our bases later in the afternoon, where the rest of the day is free.  Lunch.
Day		This morning we drive cross the Salento Peninsula (1 hour) to a national park that stretches along the Ionian coast.  This beautiful walk goes the length of the park, starting in a pine forest, before descending to the sea and following the rocky coast line north passing, prehistoric fortifications and a cave where implements more than 30,000 years old were found.  3 hours.  After a light lunch in a pretty coastal village we'll be driven to visit nearby Gallipoli, a bustling coastal town founded by the ancient Greeks in the 6th century BC.  Afterwards, we'll return to our base for dinner.  Dinner.
Day		Today we drive to Lecce, the capital of the Salento Peninsula, a vibrant university town known as the Florence of the South, famous for the extravagant Baroque architecture of its city centre. On the way to Lecce we will stop for a short walk in a coastal wetlands reserve before having lunch in a delightful nearby fortified village.  Our accommodation in Lecce is a five star hotel in a recently restored patrician villa in the centre of the old town.  The evening is free.  Lunch.
Day		Today will spend a day exploring the wonderful city centre, a guided sight seeing tour of the city, including visits to a private noble palazzo and to the atelier of two of city's master craftsmen: a cartapesta workshop (an ancient technique of sculpture and modeling)and a master stonemason's workshop..  In the evening we will have dinner in a fine traditional restaurant in the heart of the old town that has been in the same family for over 100 years.  Dinner.
Day		After breakfast, we'll be transferred back to Bari, which is well connected by air, rail and road to the rest of Italy and Europe.

For more information on this tour or to make a booking, please get in touch with us.