Puglia guided walking tour

A bridge between Italy and the East, Puglia is pure southern Italy: layers of history, vibrant cities and towns, ancient traditions celebrated in colourful festivals; a timeless interior edged by an endless coastline; gracious hospitality and fabulous food.

strip trullo  puglia guided walking tour

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).

puglia 3  puglia guided walking tour

Frederick II was a little biased, but he did have a point.  With its castles, rolling hills, intirguing towns, spectacular coastline and Baroque extravagances, Puglia has lost of none of its fascination.

Highlights include:  wandering the medieval lanes and allies of Bari Vecchia (old Bari); Frederick's extraordinary castle of Castel del Monte; walking along country lanes lined with ancient dry-stone walls, olive groves and fields filled with wildflowers; exploring the myseries of Matera; sleeping in a restored 18th century 'trullo'; an evening with dinner in a 15th century 'masseria' (a fortified farm complex) surrounded by 2,000 year old olive trees; sailing on the Adriatic Sea; a cooking day in a 17th century palazzo in the heart of the 'Salento' district; coastal walks along both the Adriatic and Ionian Seas; the fabulous Pugliese cooking; and last, but not least, the warm southern hospitality.

Why Puglia?

Why Puglia?

Visiting Puglia is an adventure.  It is a delightfully different world to the fashionable streets of Florence, Milan and Venice: little English is spoken; time is flexible; it has been little touched by tourism and surprises lurk around every corner.  A trip to Puglia is a fascinating and rewarding experience, particularly in the spring.

The walks

The walks

Without mountains, Puglia offers relaxed walking through undulating hills, following country lanes lined with drystone walls or following trails along spectacular coast line. Three walks are in central Puglia, passing through forest, wheat fields, cherry orchards and olive groves.  Two are coastal walks: the first heads south down the Adriatic coast with glimpses of the mountains of Albania to the east and Corfu in the south (weather permitting) while the other walk winds along the Ionian coast through Puglia's oldest national park.  The main feature of all the walks in this season is the wildflowers.  The walks range from 4 to 14 kilometres and take from 1 to 4 hours.  In some cases it is possible to shorten the walks or opt out and join the walkers for lunch.

The accommodation

The accommodation

We stay in the best accommodation available, ie low-key and gracious. The tour starts with two nights in a lovely hotel in the pedestrian centre of Lecce, the ‘Florence of the South’.  The next is a welcoming 5-star boutique hotel with a roof terrace with views over the port in the heart of the most charming town in Puglia.  We thenmove a lovely hotel set in gardens surrounded by olive groves with a beautiful swimming pool, each guest having their own restored, 18th century ‘trullo’ (traditional conical stone house).  Finally, we stay in a comfortable hotel in the centre of Bari.

The food

The food

In spring time the market gardens and kitchen gardens of Puglia are bursting with fresh produce (tomatoes, zucchini, egg-plants, artichokes, asparagus, fava beans) which provides the basis for all the region’s cooking.  Pugliese cuisine is simple, rustic and cheerful, based on the abundance of its fertile plains and coast line. As Italy's wheat belt, pasta and a variety of excellent breads are pillars of Pugliese diet, as is olive oil (Puglia has over 50 million olive trees, some over 2000 years old).  Puglia is bounded by two seas, the Adriatic and Ionian, and has an abundance of seafood, while the butchers of the Istria Valley are famous throughout Italy.  One of the highlights of the tour is the cooking day towards the end of the tour, when the secrets of the local cuisine will be explored (see the initinerary for details).

The wine

The wine

For a long time, Puglia was a workhorse, providing robust bulk wines to bolster the pallid wines of northern Italy.  However, since the 1990s, a new generation of vignerons have reinvented the industry, launching traditional wines such as Primitivo (known as Zinfandel in the USA) onto the international market, as well as creating new wines from ancient grapes, many on the edge of extinction (such as susmaniello and minutollo).  We will visit two wineries, one headed up by a young man in the Itria Valley, while the second is one of the most celebrated producers of Primitivo (where we'll have a light lunch after a degustation).  Wine is included with meals throughout the tour

Tour leader:

Tour leader:

Simon Tancred will lead the tour and we will be accompanied on the by a fully qualified local guide.  The founder and director of Hidden Italy walking tours, Simon has over thirty years’ experience hiking and walking in Italy, including twenty-five years leading group tours for Hidden Italy.  ‘Great Walks’ magazine recently said he had the best job in the world… (there are other much more worthy jobs around but I am lucky my passion has become my profession) - click here to read the interview.

Booking conditions

To confirm the booking, a deposit of 25% of the total booking cost is required within 7 days of the issue of the invoice.  Please note that in the event of customer cancellation, deposits are refunded, less a cancellation fee of $500 per person per tour  Click here for full T&C’s

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Puglia walking tour in spring, Tour 2: Bari to Lecce

  • Tour Leader

    Simon Tancred

  • Tour Dates

    19 May to 31 May, 2025

    The 2025 Puglia tours are fully booked. The 2026 tour dates will published early next year.

  • Tour Size
    7 to 15 people
  • Tour Cost

    $8,390

    per person
  • Single supplement $1000 (double room for single use)
  • 12 nights accommodation (see the itinerary for details) in 4-star boutique hotels
  • All breakfast, and all lunches and dinners (wine included) 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

Map

Puglia walking tour in the spring: Bari to Lecce FAQs

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Testimonials

I think you've got the combination just right: well paced walks and memorable lunches - the food was superb. You do it all very well and I think your personalised tours must be unique. Thanks for a great holiday!

– Jan M, Puglia

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