Southern Italy Coast to Coast: Campania, Basilicata and Puglia

Southern Italy Coast to Coast: Campania, Basilicata and Puglia
Duration: 15 days
Highlights: Naples, Pompeii, Capri, Ravello, Paestum, Matera, Metaponto, Altamura, Cisternino, Locorotondo, Lecce, Otranto, Puglia
Experience the best of the South of Italy, known locally as the mezzogiorno, during this delightful 2-week itinerary.
Itinerary
Day 1 - Arrive Naples
Assisted transfer to your elegant, historic hotel with stunning views over the Gulf of Naples.
Overnight: Grand Hotel Vesuvio
Day 2 - Naples & Pompeii
Explore the great city of Naples today with your expert local guide. Your tour will include a walking tour of Spaccanapoli in the ancient heart of the city. Wander through the
narrow streets enjoying the colours, smells and noises which are typical of this city, but most of all the sheer, boundless energy of the Neapolitan spirit. Visit Piazza del Gesù,
with the opulent baroque church of Gesù Nuovo and Piazza San Domenico. Board your private vehicle to continue your tour of Naples, your guide will take you to the most
beautiful panoramic spots, such as the hill of Posillipo and then along the “lungomare” of Mergellina.
Head out of the city in the afternoon to one of Italy’s most famous and unique archaeological sites – Pompeii. This once opulent city was ‘frozen’ in time in AD 79 when lava
from Mount Vesuvius enveloped Pompeii. The extensive and varied ruins of Pompeii now provide us with a rich history of life at the time of the Roman Empire. There are
theaters, thermal baths, shops and lavish dwellings, many of which have been incredibly well preserved.
Overnight: Grand Hotel Vesuvio
Meal Plan: B
Day 3 - The Glamorous Island of Capri
Travel across the Thyrrenian Sea by hydrofoil to the glamorous island of Capri today. Capri has constant sunshine and enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a Garden of
Eden. The home of emperors, seat of monasteries, place of exile, former haunt of goats and fisherman, its fortunes changed during the 19th-century when England and
German expatriates discovered its charms. Enjoy time to people-watch and shop in the boutiques of Capri before your arriving at your hotel in a stunning clifftop location in
Anacapri.
Overnight: Caesar Augustus
Meal Plan: B
Day 4 - Capri by Private Yacht
Spend the day exploring Capri by sea from your private motoryacht, waiting for you in the Marina Grande, where you will board a private boat and start the round trip of the
island.
You will be able to stop for lunch along the way at Marina Piccola, which is a delightful picturesque inlet that provides the Caprisi and other sun worshippers with their best
beach – it is also safe for swimming. The entire cove is romantically lined with stabilimenti – elegant bathing lidos. We suggest lunch at Al Gallo D’Oro, which serves an
excellent selection of local fare. Travelling west, we flank the beach of Marina Grande and of Bagni di Tiberio. The next stretch of coastline consists of the high calcareous
cliff with fissures and grottoes covered by lush, indigenous vegetation. After passing Punta Gradola, we reach the Blue Grotto where you will have the chance to visit the
famous blue water cave.
Overnight: Caesar Augustus
Meal Plan: B
Day 5 - Capri to the Amalfi Coast via Positano
Travel by hydrofoil back across the sea to the mainland where your private driver will await you to begin your journey along the fabled Amalfi Coast. No visit to the region is
complete without time to explore the village of Positano, whose homes and villas cling to the rocks, and narrow cobbled alleyways lead down to the sea and elegant
restaurants serving the freshest catch of the day. Continue to your iconic hotel in the coastal town of Amalfi.
Overnight: Santa Caterina
Meal Plan: B
Day 6 - The Cuisine of Campania
Today you will be met at your hotel and transferred to the nearby village of Sant’Agata, a quaint village where you will find the farmhouse Terranova. Upon arrival you will be
welcomed by the owner for refreshments before taking a stroll around the grounds to admire the fresh produce. Depending on the fruits and vegetables in season, you will be
free to pick some provisions for lunch. You will then enjoy a hands-on cooking demonstration where you will be shown the skills of mozzarella making, as well as creating the
perfect pizza (southern style!). Lunch will include fresh farm produce.
Return to Amalfi with the chance to stop at a small limoncello producer to view the process in which it is made and have a tasting. The Limoncello is a lemon liqueur made
exclusively with lemons from Sorrento. Since it has become fashionable, many have tried to make limoncello, yet nobody has matched the quality of Limoncello from this
area, which is authentically genuine and inimitable.
Overnight: Santa Caterina
Meal Plan: B
Day 7 - Ravello Sightseeing Tour
Enjoy a half-day tour to Ravello. Close by Amalfi it is situated on a mountain overlooking the coast from Maiori to Amalfi and offers some of the finest viewing points in Italy.
Visit Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone, and stroll along the streets and alleyways of this enchanting town.
Continue on to the Bartolomeo da Foggia and Barsian da Trani. In the major Chapel is preserved the blood of Saint Pantaleone, that does liquefy on the 27th of July of every
year. You may also decide to visit the church of San Giovanni del Toro, with its striking mosaic pulpit by Alfano da Termoli or the churches of Santa Maria a Gradillo and
Santissima Annunziata.
The remainder of the day is yours to relax and enjoy the stunning setting of your hotel.
Overnight: Santa Caterina
Meal Plan: B
Day 8 - Amalfi to Matera via the Ancient Site of Paestum
Leave the Amalfi Coast today with your driver, stopping at another of the most important sights in Southern Italy – Paestum. Your expert local guide will bring alive the
archaeological site whose fine yellow tone buildings were founded by the Greeks in 600 BC. Paestum was the northernmost limit in Italy, and today the most well-preserved
remains have been declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After visiting Paestum, continue across the region of Basilicata to your luxury hotel in Matera, another UNESCO listed World Heritage Site.
Overnight: Palazzo Gattini
Meal Plan: B
Day 9 - Matera & Metaponto
With the help of your expert local guide, discover the truly unique ‘sassi’ of Matera. Thanks to soft tufa rock, cave dwellings were hewn into cave homes from pre-historic
times. Over the centuries the caves were developed into homes, largely inhabited by the poor or refugees which numbered 15,000 in the 1950’s before their abandonment.
The rock hewn churches are truly phenomenal feats whilst your guide will help you to imagine large families and even livestock lived in the cave houses.
In the afternoon, travel with your guide to the Ioanian Coast of Calabria and Metaponto. See the ruins of the Temple of Hera, dating from the 6th-century BC. The ruins are a
suggestive remnant of the once almighty Greek settlement here. The nearby museum has an excellent collection of 4th- and 5th-century statues, ceramics and jewellery.
Return to Matera from here.
Overnight: Palazzo Gattini
Meal Plan: B
Day 10 - In the Footsteps of Dinosaurs and Bari
Leave Matera this morning towards the Murge National Park and the town of Altamura. During 1999, in a disused quarry, more than 4000 dinosaur footprints were
discovered. The prints are important because they provide information about different aspects of dinosaurs such as the skeletal motor apparatus, posture, walk, behaviour,
speed and environmental preferences. Today you have the chance to see this truly unique place.
Head to the coastal city of Bari in time for lunch before meeting your guide. Visit the Basilica di San Nicola at the Centre of the “Bari Vecchia”. Bari traces its history back to
before the Romans but only began to make a name for itself in the 10th-century. As an important trading city, and seat of a nominally independent Byzantine governor, it was
sometimes a rival to Venice, but more often its ally. The Normans took the city in 1071, favoured Bari and helped it become the leading town of Puglia.
Walking through some of the streets of the historical centre you can see ladies making the typical “orecchiette” pasta (little ears) by hand before heading to your hotel.
Overnight: Borgo Egnazia
Meal Plan: B
Day 11 - Day at Leisure
Today is yours to relax and enjoy the numerous facilities at your hotel.
Alternatively you may enjoy a half-day tour to the Caves of Castellana. Discovered only in 1938 the caves are rich with multi-coloured stalagmites, stalactites, lakes and
underground caverns including the White Grotto, a showcase of pure white speleothems, stalactites, stalagmites, curtains, calcite crystals, and helictites. The caves are the
most impressive showcase caves in Italy.
Overnight: Borgo Egnazia
Meal Plan: B
Day 12 - The Valle d’Itria
Spend the day with your English-speaking guide during an excursion of “Valle d’Itria”, famous also as Trulli Valley. Visit Cisternino and Locorotondo where you will see the
architecture typical of the region with an historical centre containing white washed, stone buildings with cool, shaded, cave-like interiors, narrow streets and churches.
Today you will enjoy a visit to a local cheese producer where you will see the individual phases of how different cheeses are made. After the visit you will enjoy an informal
cheese tasting, with a buffet, where you will have the opportunity to taste various local delicacies.
After the cheese tasting, continue to Alberobello, yet another of Puglia’s rich UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Alberobello represents the heart of the Itria Valley. The city was
founded in the 15th-century by the Counts of Acquaviva. The image of the Trullo in Alberobello has always been associated with Puglia, where the deep roots of Albeorbello
act as one of the most typical expressions of the area. The Trullo House is a construction, with a central round or square base made from dry stone. At its summit there
is a roof that is cone shaped, realised in "Chiancarelle", calcareous stone slabs, also laid using the dry stone method, one on top of another, creating concentric circles until
they are blocked at the top using a single stone (serraglia) and then finished off with a pinnacle. The diffusion of the trulli in the territory of Alberobello dates back to the
17th-century.
Overnight: Masseria San Domenico
Meal Plan: B
Day 13 - The Puglian Coast to Lecce
You leave your coastal hotel today, heading ever further South to the heel of Italy. Stop en-route in the town of Ostuni, known as the White City. It is a charming example of
Mediterranean architecture with its gleaming white splash of sun-drenched streets and quaint cobbled alleyways where hints of the middle ages can be seen around every
corner. Your final destination today is the city of Lecce.
After lunch join your guide for a walk through the Duomo’s Square - one of the finest Baroque architectural groups anywhere with the Cathedral - the adjoining façade of the
Palazzo Vescovile and the Seminario. Lecce is rightly described as the most pure Baroque (Barocco Leccese) walled town in the whole of Italy, a small Florence without the
tourists. The buildings in the pedestrian-only walled centre are made from a special type of soft carved stone called tufigna, which is stunningly floodlit at night. During the
visit, enjoy a unique demonstration of local handcraft famous in Lecce, the papier mâché. You will visit a laboratory in the historical centre of Lecce where a family has
worked for many years to create papier mâché figures of Christ’s Nativity.
Overnight: Patria Palace Hotel
Meal Plan: B
Day 14 - The Heel of Italy
Spend the day with your driver and guide exploring the extreme southernmost part of Italy. Visit Otranto, an ancient and beguiling town of whitewashed houses cascading
around the walls protecting a noble cathedral and castle and facing the sea. Visit the Cathedral, begun in the 11th-century by the Normans and the only one in the south to
have conserved an entire medieval mosaic pavement; the mosaic depicts three giant trees of Life, their roots supported by two elephants, bearing extraordinary fruits.
After lunch, enjoy the Adriatic coastline drive to the extreme edge of Puglia, Santa Maria di Leuca, where the Ionio Sea meets with the Adriatic sea. Along the way there are
many quaint harbours (such as Vadisco and Tricase) and grottoes (such as the Zinzalusa Grotto).
Overnight: Patria Palace Hotel
Meal Plan: B
Day 15 - Departure
Private transfer to Brindisi Airport today.
Meal Plan: B