8 Days / 7 Nights – Alberobello, Locorotondo, Ostuni, Polignano, Matera, Sorrento, Amalfi, Ravello, Positano, Pompeii

Tour Overview
This 8-day tour starts in the “heel of Italy”, the Apulia region. Known for its coastline along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, its picturesque villages, history, traditions, vineyards, and olive trees. Spend 3 nights exploring this unique Italian region. Travel to the Amalfi coast and its gateway, Sorrento. In the 19th century, poet Lord Byron made Sorrento one of the must visit places in Italy. The beauty of Amalfi Coast is legendary and has inspired artists, writers, and musicians over the century, widely considered Italy’s most scenic stretch of coastline.

Day 01: Friday – Arrival

Arrival at Bari airport and transfer to your hotel. Welcome briefing and overnight in Alberobello.

Day 02: Saturday – Alberobello, Locorotondo & Cisternino (B)

After breakfast, meet your Tour Host and start your exploration of Val d’Itria.  You will visit Locorotondo and Cisternino and pass along beautiful small villages, vineyards and olive trees. Locorotondo is very close to Alberobello and is considered one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Here, the town itself is the main sight. It’s a pleasant place to spend an hour or two wandering, taking photographs and sitting at cafe tables. The historic part of town – the centro storico – is circular and perched on top of a hill. It’s a whitewashed maze of little lanes lined with historic buildings, some humble and faded, others retaining rather grand baroque archways and architectural details. The territory of Cisternino was already inhabited during the Middle Palaeolithic period by humans who reached the area from the north and the south of Puglia. These populations left numerous traces of their presence here, such as tools that they used like spears spikes, blades, scrapers and chisels to engrave bones. Cisternino is today a small charming old town centre that has remained virtually intact for centuries with its white houses, narrow streets, little churches and elegant central piazza with a series of panoramic viewpoints from which you can appreciate the around countryside, dotted with its rolling hills, dry stone walls and  Trulli roofs piercing the green fields. Cisternino is nice to visit at any time of day, though the magical moments are the summer’s evening when the sun sets and the locals come out for their evening stroll. We will have a wine and cheese tasting followed by a farmer lunch in a beautiful Masseria, from where you will see the green of olives and the blue of the Adriatic sea. Return to Alberobello where you will have time to explore the city on your own. Alberobello is a fascinating place to visit, above all because of the trulli, the traditional dome shaped buildings made from the local stone. The town is surrounded by the olive groves and vineyards typical of the Puglia region. Trulli is a word that derives from the Greek “tholos” (“dome”), the typical shape of the buildings. Each whitewashed “trullo” is built without any lime or cement, and has a conical roof on the outside. Overnight in Alberobello

Day 03: Sunday – Ostuni, Polignano & Monopoli (B)

Today, visit Ostuni, Polignano & Monopoli. Ostuni, perched on three hills 218 meters above sea level, is better known as the “White Town”, thanks to the characteristic whitewashed houses of its historic center, a tradition the inhabitants still keep on. The Fifteenth century Romanesque-Gothic Cathedral dominates the town, with a façade sporting a 24-rays rose window of rare beauty. A series of churches and elegant houses embellish the old town, surrounded by Aragonese walls, where there are the two ancient town gates, Porta Nova and Porta San Demetrio. The small town of Polignano enjoys a spectacular position. Placed approximately 50 miles south of Bari is erected on the edge of a rocky gorge. The town is considered one of the most ancient establishments in Puglia and was populated by serial invaders ranging from the Huns to the Normans. People come here to view the crashing waves, visit the caves and crowd out the panifici (bakery) in the atmospheric historical center. In Monopoli you will experience the “Paese vecchio” as the locals usually call the heart of the town, where you will find an unusual concentration of cultural heritage and churches, positioned literally one next to another. You will find small and charming homes, once inhabited  by heroic fishermen and expert farmers, whose children are still dedicated to producing great wines and unpassed wines. Walking among the narrow streets, between arches and alleys, you will feel sea air and fragrances of freshly hanging laundry or tomato sauce cooked for hours. Overnight in Alberobello.

Day 04: Monday – Matera  (B)

Meet your driver and transfer to Sorrento with en route stop in Matera where you will have free time to explore the city. Matera is an ancient city that seems to have existed forever. It is the third oldest city in the world, after Aleppo and Jericho, with over 10,000 years of history. From natural cavities carved by wind and rain of the past to the first man-made caves we can discover how easy it was to shape the limestone material of the Sassi rock. Hence real underground dwellings, in the belly of Mother Earth, which will leave you speechless. A woven structure that has intrigued experts has also discovered how it had been possible to live with the absence of running water. There is still a lot to tell about the water systems created to collect water, one of the elements that has helped to give in Matera the title of a World Heritage Site. You can visit the most beautiful churches, starting from the Duomo on the Civita; walk through  the beautiful streets and traffic-free squares, populated with people; you can enjoy the most picturesque alleys, and you will continue your visit in the heart of the two Sassi’s. You will have free time for lunch before continuing to Sorrento, where you will arrive late afternoon. Overnight in Sorrento Coast.

Day 05: Tuesday – Amalfi Drive (B)

The beauty of Amalfi Coast is legendary and has inspired artists, writers, and musicians over the century, widely considered Italy’s most scenic stretch of coastline, deemed by UNESCO “an outstanding example of a Mediterranean landscape, with exceptional cultural and natural scenic values”. These delicate fishing villages embrace the hillsides or stretch in deep green valleys, along a dramatic coastline, challenging the force of gravity. Your driver guide will lead you first to the town of Amalfi where you will have free time to explore the medieval part of the city with the imposing Dome of St.Andrew and ancient buildings dated from the times when Amalfi was one of the maritime power in the Mediterranean Sea. You will stop in Minori for a sweet tasting at Sal de Riso, one of the most celebrated pastry chef in Italy  Later, you will ascend to Ravello, considered the most romantic and beautiful small towns in southern Italy. Perched on severe, terraced slopes, the French novelist André Gide was used to saying Ravello was closer to the sky than the sea. Covered with luxuriant gardens, peaceful and somnolent roads, you will find corners providing unforgettable views over the sky-blue coast below. Return to Sorrento late afternoon and overnight.

Day 06: Wednesday – Pompeii (B)

Today we will visit the ancient Pompeii. Pompeii is not a time machine but the closest thing you can find to learn about everyday life in an ancient Roman city.  Once a vibrant town, Pompeii’s fate was sealed with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 7.9 A.D. Today, Pompeii is a UNESCO World Heritage site, one of the most visited archaeological sites in all the world. Pompeii was a major port town for the Roman empire, which dominated the whole Mediterranean Sea. As a classic port, the town was filled with sailor’s hotels, bars, public baths, taverns, and brothels. The archeological site and continuous excavations give visitors the best look there is on ancient Roman days. Visit the Roman Forum; the theatre, whose acoustics are so good you don’t need microphones to be heard from the stage; the public baths with towering columns. Built-in 70 A.D., the Anfiteatro is the oldest-known Roman amphitheater in existence. Now covered in grass, it originally held up to 20,000 spectators. Return to Sorrento for lunch ( not included) and enjoy an afternoon of relax or continue your exploration of the city. Tonight enjoy a candle light dinner in Sorrento with sea view. Overnight in Sorrento.

Day 07: Thursday – Optional Discovery (B)

Today is a perfect day to relax or take the opportunity to continue the visit of the magnificent region. We suggest an half day visit of Pompeii Archeological Park, a combination of Pompeii with Vesuvio, a day tour to Capri or a boat tour to explore Capri or the Amalfi Coast from the sea. Overnight in Sorrento

Day 08: Friday – Departure (B)

Breakfast and Transfer to Airport or Railways Station in Naples.

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