to tour intinerary

Transcription

to tour intinerary
Best of Puglia Tour – Itinerary
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Day 1 – Buongiorno Puglia!
We meet in Bari, and from here we start our discovery
of Puglia.
Our first stop is at Ostuni, known as “la città bianca”
(the white town). Ostuni is a cluster of whitewashed
buildings on a hilltop overlooking the coast, with a
maze of narrow streets and steps. The fortified citadel
dominates the surrounding areas, looking out over an
expanse of olive trees.
Towards evening we reach our first destination,
Martina Franca. We stay for the next six nights in the
charming historic centre of this town, where narrow
alleys wind through whitewashed buildings. Martina
Franca boasts some wonderful buildings and
churches with elegant baroque decorations – we
advise keeping your camera at the ready! Over the
next few days you'll have plenty of time to explore this
town at your own pace.
Ostuni
Martina Franca
Tonight we dine together, having our first introduction
to the cuisine of Puglia.
Meals: Dinner (4 courses including wine)
Day 2 – Into The Fairytale
The piazza in Martina Franca
We depart from Martina Franca to our first stop,
Alberobello.
Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the only
town with streets lined with the unique 'trulli'. In fact it
is known in Italy as the “Capital of trulli”. Trulli are small
houses with a distinctive conical roof. By walking
along its narrow streets, you will be fascinated by the
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Alberobello
magical and fairytale atmosphere of this place. Most
of these trulli are 300-400 years old. We explore this
town together, and learn about the history of these
buildings and about the cryptic symbols painted on
the roof-cones. The trullui are made from limestone
dry-stone walls, and often have several roof cones
joined to form one dwelling.
Before lunch you have some free time to browse the
shops of Alberobello and to wander around.
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We have lunch on the nearby coast in a town called
Polignano a Mare, a town clinging to a promontory
suspended above the Adriatic’s turquoise waters.
This is a lunch focussed on seafood, with the local
produce from the Adriatic Sea being a key part of the
cuisine here.
Alberobello
Polignano a Mare
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (3 courses including wine)
Day 3 – The Marvels of Elegant Baroque
Today we travel to Lecce, a city that flourished in the
17th century when extravagant baroque buildings
were built by the ruling classes. The baroque style
features ornate decorations covering the building
facades, carved from the local cream coloured
limestone.
We take a private tour around Lecce with a local
expert guide to have the key sights explained to us.
As well as the architectural and historical features,
Lecce is an elegant town in which to indulge in more
modern pleasures – there are many interesting
boutiques and cafes, and piazzas full of life in this
important southern Italian centre.
After some free time in central Lecce and lunch in a
local restaurant, we return to Martina Franca late
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Santa Croce, Lecce
Church interior, Lecce
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afternoon.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (3 courses including wine)
Day 4 – A Step Back In Time
This morning we travel to the town of Matera in the
neighbouring Basilicata region. Visiting Matera, a
UNESCO World Heritage site, is like a step back in
time. The town consists of houses carved out of the
rock face along the side of a steep ravine.
We have a guided tour here which takes us into a
'sassi', one of the typical houses built into the rock.
Some of these cave houses have multiple levels and
a labyrinth of tunnels in the rock face. The oldest cave
dwellings go back to the Bronze Age. A peasant
population lived in these dwellings right up until the
1950s when the final residents were moved to modern
houses.
We also visit a cave church hewn out of the rock.
There are several of these cave churches in Matera,
featuring Byzantine frescoes and complete with their
own legends that we will learn about.
Matera was used for the filming of Mel Gibson's “The
Passion of the Christ” - you'll see why it is so easy to
imagine Matera as being completely removed from
the modern age.
After a meal of Basilicata cuisine, we return to Martina
Franca for the evening.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (4 courses including wine)
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Church, Matera
Inside a house, Matera
Touring Matera
Day 5 - A Visit to Castel del Monte
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Today we travel to a place called Castel del Monte,
a UNESCO World Heritage site. Literally meaning
'castle on the hill', this is a very fascinating building.
Built by an emperor called Frederick II back in the
thirteenth century, it really served more as a hunting
lodge than a castle. The most fascinating thing about
this building is the design, imbued with symbolic
significance and laid out with mathematical and
astronomical precision. The castle is built to an
octagonal pattern, with an octagonal tower on each
corner. Castle del Monte is really an impressive sight.
For lunch we stop at Trani. Known as ‘the pearl of
Puglia’, Trani is a lovely town situated on the coast.
Having a natural harbour, Trani has long been an
important centre. We see this today in the Norman
castle, the Romanesque cathedral, and the fortified
entrance to the harbour. We see where the Knights
Templar would depart for the east from, now the
church Chiesa di Ognissanti but originally the final
point for missions to leave these shores.
Many people visit Trani to see the stunning
Romanesque cathedral perched right on the
waterfront.
Today the harbour in Trani is a fishing port ringed by
waterfront restaurants. We take advantage of the
fresh catch with a seafood meal.
Castel del Monte
Trani cathedral
Trani
We return to Martina Franca for the evening.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (4 courses including wine)
Day 6 – Food Glorious Food
We visit a winery, where we taste the typical wines of
Puglia. The winery is family run, and focussed on
making quality wines expressive of the area. The
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Vineyards, Puglia
traditional varieties that are grown include fiano
minutolo and susumaniello. The winemaker takes us
through the vineyard, and we taste a range of wines.
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In the afternoon we visit a 'masseria'. A masseria is a
historic farm centre, originally with all the estate's
workers living in the fortified buildings. Nowadays
some of these estates are still working agricultural
enterprises, while others have been converted into
boutique hotels. The masseria that we visit still
produces superior extra virgin olive oil from trees that
are many centuries old.
This land has been worked for thousands of years - we
are shown the remnants of the ancient Roman
agricultural production here, along with items from
habitation from the middle ages through until
modern times.
In the evening we have a special experience, taking
a cooking lesson from a local chef. The focus will be
on cooking local dishes, first taking you through the
types of ingredients used and their provenance. The
cuisine of Puglia has developed based on the
produce at a very local level, so is different to the
food from other Italian regions. Vegetable based
dishes such as grilled zucchini predominate, as well as
foccaccia and other breads. All these are based on
the abundant fresh ingredients as well as the everpresent olive oil. The purity of flavour expressed in this
cuisine is gaining it a reputation internationally, such
that you’ll now find Pugliese dishes in top international
restaurants.
The session is hands on and we are all involved in
making a series of dishes, and we finish off the session
by dining on the meal we’ve prepared.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner (4 courses including wine)
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The Olive Grove
Cooking lesson
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Day 7 – Arrivederci Puglia!
Today is our last day in Puglia, we organise transport
to you to your departure point in Bari and bid you
“buon viaggio”.
Departure from Martina Franca: 9 a.m.
Meals: Breakfast
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Best of Puglia Tour
Puglia is a southern Italian region boasting wonderful food, a rich
history, beautiful towns to visit... and a few surprises! Puglia is
becoming more and more recognised in the boutique tourism
market due to its unique characteristics, but being the road less
travelled can still be challenging to navigate independently. This
seven day tour is a chance for you to fully experience this
fascinating region, with each day including organised activities,
visits to all the key sights and a progressive discovery of the local
cuisine. We also leave some free time so that you can experience
Italian living at your own pace.
Highlights
Lecce, famous for the ornate century baroque buildings carved from
the local stone.
Alberobello, where we see the distinctive trulli, conical houses built
centuries ago and still in use today.
Castel del Monte, the unique octagonal castle designed with
geometrical precision and a marvel of architectural innovation.
Romanesque churches, typical of the region with their Norman
influences and intricate rose windows.
Matera, a town built into a hillside where caves and houses merge
together, the setting for Mel Gibson's “The Passion of the Christ”.
Locorotondo, voted as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.
Ostuni, the ‘white town’ with a commanding hilltop presence.
Polignano a Mare, perched above the turquoise waters of the Adriatic.
How to cook like a local, in your hands-on cooking lesson. You’ll take
back home the insider’s knowledge to add to your kitchen repertoire!
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Best of Puglia Tour Dates:
9 – 15 April 2017
7 – 13 May 2017
21 – 27 May 2017
4 – 10 June 2017
11 – 17 June 2017
18 – 24 June 2017
27 August – 2 September 2017
10 – 16 September 2017
24 – 30 September 2017
And our Puglia Culinary Tour:
6 – 12 September 2017
Best of Puglia Tour includes:
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'Italy With Pleasure' provides a tour manager for the
duration of the trip.
All accommodation is included.
Meals as listed in the itinerary.
All costs/entry fees for activities are included.
All transport during the tour is included.
Best of Puglia Tour Price: €2300
( GBP£1900 / US$2500 / AUD$3300 / NZ$3450 / CAD$3300)
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Accommodation
During this tour you stay in the heart of the elegant hilltown Martina Franca. The historic
centre of Martina Franca is lined with elegant baroque palaces of the noble families,
evocative lanes amongst the whitewashed buildings, and piazzas where the traditional
‘passeggiata’ is in full swing every evening.
You stay in what is known as a ‘scattered hotel’, this is
a new concept that is becoming very popular in
some Italian historical centres.
With a central reception (& free wifi, etc.), the rooms
are in beautiful 18th century palazzi. The rooms are
tastefully presented, spacious, with high vaulted
ceilings and the ubiquitous limestone paving adding
to the sense of history.
For this week, you live amongst it.
Staying in the historic centre of town also aligns with
our responsible tourism charter, being supportive of
local and historic initiatives.
Here you can feel immersed in the local lifestyle, and
it is easy to wander out in the evening for dinner and
gelati.
By the end of the week, you’ll be greeting your neighbours with a ‘buongiorno’ every
morning!
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ITALY WITH PLEASURE
Small Group Tours of Italy
ITALY WITH PLEASURE is a specialist provider of small group
tours to Italy. We would like to take you to some of our
favourite destinations and unveil to you some of Italy’s best
kept gems.
We take you to the places that we like visiting – we've
travelled extensively throughout Italy, and the itineraries that
we've put together allow you to maximise your experience of
the best that Italy has to offer.
TOURS :
PUGLIA – SICILY – AMALFI
Some features of our tours are:
Contact with local people: Careful selection of a range of
activities and visits allow you to have genuine experiences in
contact with local people... this is what memories are made
of!
All our tours are organised directly by Italy With Pleasure:
Not by third party tour operators.
Our guided tours are in small groups: Tours are always fully
guided and in a small group context, giving a more personal
touch and flexibility where needed.
Experience Italy like a local: As well as organised excursions,
we leave some time each day for you to explore at your own
pace so you can get a sense of how it is to live like a local.
See you in Italy - a presto!
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