SOUTHERN ITALY TOUR

Walk and food adventures from the Amalfi coast to Puglia 11 days / 10 nights

TOUR OF ITALY’S BEST AND SOME LESS KNOWN AREAS.
11 NIGHTS: 1 IN NAPLES, 2 IN AMALFI, 1 IN CASTELMEZZANO, 2 IN MATERA, 2 IN MONOPOLI, 2 IN LECCE

Day 1: Arrival in Naples and sightseeing of the town.
You will visit Piazza Plebiscito, Palazzo Reale, the Basilica of San Francesco di Paola, the San Carlo Opera House, the Gallery of Umberto I and the imposing Maschio Angioino.
Transfer to your hotel, trip briefing and dinner.
Overnight stay.

Day 2: Pompei and Amalfi – Wine tasting – 1 hour driving
After breakfast, transfer to Pompei and visit the excavations on foot with a local guide, who will explain you Pompeii’s tragic story from an archaeological point of view and uncover what has lied beneath the ashes since the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79 AD.
In a tour lasting about 2 hours, you will see the highlights of the scientific discoveries made in a period longer than 1,700 years.
Stop over in a farm on the Vesuvio ridge that produces Lacryma Cristi Wine.
Visit with tasting. Transfer near Amalfi and accommodation in 5* hotel.
Dinner and overnight stay.

Day 3: AMALFI COAST (The Path of The Gods)
After breakfast meeting at the Hotel with your guide.
Today’s walk starts on the limestone ridges and hills above the Amalfi Drive, where you will explore the “Path of the Gods”, Amalfi’s most scenic walk, with spectacular views of the sea and the hillsides.
Free time for lunch.
After lunch the trail descends stone steps, down towards Positano where you will visit the picturesque and historic town center, situated on the beach.
Private transfer back to your hotel.

Day 4: Capri – 1 hour and 40 min by ferry (one way)
Today you are taken to Capri by boat with a guide for a visit first to Anacapri and the extraordinary Villa San Michele, home of Axel Munthe.
Enjoy this astonishing collection of ancient artefacts, mosaics and sculptures set amidst splendid vegetation.
Then there is free time for lunch before visiting the Giardini di Augustus and a gentle walk to the Punta Tragara from where you can admire the Faraglioni rocks.
For those who are fit and able walkers and happy to cope with the steps and uneven surfaces, an optional visit to the amazing site and Roman ruins of Villa Jovis is possible (entrance fees at own cost).
Return to your hotel for dinner.

Day 5: The cooking lesson with the Bandit Menù on the mountains – 2 hours driving
Leaving the Amalfi coast you move to Potenza area to reach Castelmezzano, in the Dolomiti Lucane park (mountains and small villages).
In the afternoon, cookery course with the Bandit Menu, which allows  you to discover the traditional tastes of cooking in Lucania in 1870.
Have lunch with the Bandits!!! Dinner and overnight stay.

Day 6: Walking on the Lucanian Dolomites – 90 minutes of driving
After breakfast, Breakfast Move on to the Saracen fortress of Pietrapertosa, almost entirely carved out of rock and offering a great panoramic view of the Basento valley.
Then on foot from the castle we take a trail that descends to the Caperrino river, passes over an ancient bridge and ascends up to Castelmezzano, all the while being towered over by the
spectacular Pietrapertosa Dolomites.
Visit the village and picnic at the castle. Transfer to Matera.
On the way, stop over near Miglionico to visit the Crypt of the Original Sin, the oldest of the Rock Churches in the valley, and arrival in Matera. Get settled in at your luxury hotel in Matera. Dinner and Overnight

Day 7: Matera, the town of dwellings and rock churches – 10 min. driving
Easy walk in the Park of Rock Churches with possibility to have a picnic in the caves facing the Sassi district of Matera. Transfer to Matera (by bus or walking in the canyon) and back to Matera to explore the Sassi. Dinner in a cave restaurant. Overnight

Day 8: The bred laboratory and Alberobello – 2 hours driving
Today you will be picked up at the accommodation in the morning for your Apulian experience beginning with the visit of Altamura.
Discover its medieval center with the cathedral built by Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen and taste the typical bread and focaccia made in old wood-burning ovens.
Not to be missed are the “tits of nuns”, delicious pastries produced for centuries in the cloistered monastery of Santa Chiara.
Travel through the Itria Valley and reach Alberobello for a guided tour of the capital of Trulloes, UNESCO site since 1996.
You will also have some free time for shopping. Then transfer to a luxury masseria, your next accommodation.
Dinner in the inside restaurant and overnight.

Day 9: Ostuni, the white town – 1 hour driving
Today you go to explore the nearby historic village of Ostuni.
Known as the “white city” because of the color of the walls, Ostuni has a charming medieval town center with a cathedral of the 15th century.
Transfer to a farm 4 km from Ostuni to visit an old mill and taste the delicious Apulian Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Free afternoon for shopping or relaxing by the pool (or on the beach: it depends on the accommodation and on the season).
Dinner on own and overnight stay.

Day 10: Lecce, gem of Baroque – 1 hour 30 min. driving
Guided tour of Lecce, called the Florence of South Italy, known for its Baroque style. Visit to the most beautiful churches and analysis of the Baroque conception of life, such as the famous Basilica di Santa Croce, dating to 1549 and restored in 1689, really a masterpiece of Lecce Baroque, or the Duomo, with its