8 Days Walking Holiday in the South of Italy - Sassi, Trulli and Baroque

Duration: 8 Days | 7 Nights
Destination: Matera - Alberobello - Ostuni - Lecce (Basilicata & Puglia)
Departure & Return Locations: Matera / Lecce (nearest airport Bari Palese)
Season Dates: Low 15 Feb - 24 Mar and 1 Nov - 16 Dec | Mid 25 Mar - 16 Jul, 1 Sep - 31 Oct and 17 Dec - 3 Jan | High 17 Jul - 31 Aug

This self-guided trek crosses the ancient lands of Terra d Otranto and Terra di Bari, over the imperceptible boundary between Basilicata and Puglia. You walk between four of the finest towns in the heel of Italy - Matera and Alberobello, both UNESCO World Heritage sites, and Ostuni and Lecce, the great showpieces of southern Baroque - on dirt paths, country lanes and old aqueduct greenways. The last days bring the Adriatic, which meets the Ionian just south of Otranto at the easternmost point of Italy, where the first dawn rises.

Note: this is a self-guided walking holiday. Days range from 10 to 19km with gentle gradients and walking times of 2 to 4.5 hours, suitable for anyone with a minimum of training. You receive a detailed route description with maps and a travel app with GPX tracks and points of interest, your luggage is moved hotel to hotel, and phone support is available 08:00-20:00 every day.

Day 1: Matera
Arrive individually in Matera and check in to your hotel. Welcome to the City of Rocks - a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991 and European Capital of Culture in 2019. Explore the Sassi, the cave quarter carved into the ravine, and find the ancient communal ovens where until the 1950s local families brought their bread to be baked. Each household carved its own wooden stamp so the loaves could be told apart - and Matera bread is very good indeed.
Overnight: Matera

Day 2: Matera and the Park of the Rock Churches (12km, +340m -350m)
A hiking loop down into the ravine and up to Murgia Timone, in the Natural Park of the Rock Churches (Chiese Rupestri). The trail gives the classic panorama back across the Sassi, and takes in ancient frescoes and cave churches along the way. Spend the rest of the day on Matera itself - Casa Noha, kept by the Italian FAI, tells the story of how the Sassi changed over the centuries.
Overnight: Matera

Day 3: Matera - Puglia Aqueduct - Locorotondo - Alberobello (14km, +160m -150m)
After breakfast, a private transfer takes you to the Itria Valley. Today follows the Greenway of the Puglia Aqueduct, the longest aqueduct in Europe, to the village of Locorotondo. Named for its circular plan, its old town is a set of concentric streets lined with low-roofed cummerse houses. Return to Alberobello by FSE train or bus (about 15 minutes, pay locally) for the next two nights.
Overnight: Alberobello

Day 4: Alberobello - Martina Franca - Alberobello (19km, +240m -220m)
Head south from Alberobello on quiet country roads and gently sloping paths. On the way you pass Bosco Selva, the green heart of the area and a rare survivor of the oak forest that once covered the region. The landscape then opens into tall dry stone walls, wide pastures and ancient trulli before the climb up Monte San Martino into Martina Franca, one of the finest Baroque old towns in Puglia. Return to Alberobello by FSE train or bus (about 30 minutes, pay locally).
Overnight: Alberobello

Day 5: Alberobello - Natural Park Dune Costiere - Ostuni (12km, +250m -160m)
A private transfer takes you from the capital of the trulli to a historic masseria, a traditional fortified farmhouse inside the Natural Park Dune Costiere. Walk out through fertile fields and orchards, pausing at a small family-run farm for a tasting, then climb gradually through woodland to Ostuni - the White City, stacked on its hilltop. You can detour to the Sanctuary of San Biagio, a rock settlement from the Middle Ages, and you pass close to the Archaeological Park of Santa Maria di Agnano, where finds date human presence here to the Palaeolithic.
Overnight: Ostuni

Day 6: Ostuni - Natural Park Dune Costiere - Lecce (14km, +10m -220m)
A short trail, mostly on downhill gravel roads, drops to the edge of the Regional Natural Park Dune Costiere and on to the coast at Lido Morelli. The park runs between Ostuni and Fasano and protects ancient olive groves, historic masserie and underground oil mills alongside its dune habitats. From the coast a private transfer takes you to Lecce, the capital of Salento Baroque, for the last two nights.
Overnight: Lecce

Day 7: Lecce - Otranto - Lecce (10km, +120m -120m)
After breakfast, travel to Otranto by public transport (approximately 1 hour 45 minutes each way, pay locally). Italy easternmost city has been a bridge between East and West for a thousand years. Today is a walking loop south of the town along the coast: the bay of Orte, and the abandoned bauxite quarry known as the Blue Lake, where rust-red earth meets impossibly green water. Continue to the Cape of Otranto, where the Adriatic and Ionian currents meet. Back in town, make time for the Cathedral and its extraordinary Pantaleone floor mosaic, and the Castle. Return to Lecce by FSE train or bus.
Overnight: Lecce

Day 8: Lecce
After breakfast, our services conclude. For those wishing to walk further, we recommend adding the scenic south-eastern coast from Otranto down to Santa Maria di Leuca.

Accommodation
• Classic - Alma Camere B&B (Matera), Hotel Sant Antonio (Alberobello), Hotel La Terra (Ostuni), B&B La Bella Lecce or Palazzo Salia (Lecce).
• Superior - Hotel Il Belvedere Comfort or Hotel Sassi Junior Suite (Matera), Trullidea Mirabile trullo (Alberobello), Hotel La Terra (Ostuni), Palazzo Bignami (Lecce).
• Where a named property is unavailable an alternative of similar character is substituted and confirmed to you before departure.

Tour Price
• Price shown is per person, twin share, and includes your arrival and departure airport transfers - select your season and room standard above.
• Departures are available on any day of the week within the season dates, subject to availability.
• Single room supplement: Contact us for pricing
• Solo traveller supplement: Contact us for pricing
• A supplement may apply for a twin room with separate beds, as some properties must add a bed or assign a triple room.
• Transfers are quoted from Bari airport. Brindisi airport transfers, extra nights in Matera or Lecce, and a private transfer to Otranto on Day 7 can all be added - contact us for pricing.
• Rates are valid for travel to 3 January 2028.
• All prices displayed are subject to availability and can be withdrawn or varied without notice.
• Prices are guaranteed once booking is confirmed by us and paid in full by the due date.
• Depending on your needs and group size (individual, couple, family, group, etc.) we will provide the final pricing for your tour.
• Itineraries are subject to change without prior notice due to weather conditions, local authority provisions or any unforeseen situation.

Inclusions:
• 7 nights with breakfast in a double room, in the room standard selected
• Airport transfer Bari - Matera on arrival
• Airport transfer Lecce - Bari on departure
• Private transfers on Days 3, 5 and 6
• Local public transport on Days 3, 4 and 7
• Farm tasting on Day 5
• Detailed route description with maps
• Travel app with maps, GPX tracks and route notes
• Luggage transportation hotel to hotel, 1 piece per person up to 20kg
• Phone assistance 08:00-20:00

Exclusions:
• International and domestic flights
• Meals and drinks other than breakfast and the Day 5 tasting
• Entrance fees
• Italian hotel tourist tax, payable locally per person per night
• Travel insurance
• Tips and personal expenses
• Anything not specifically mentioned in the inclusions above

Please note:
• Bags must be ready for collection by 09:00 and are delivered to the next hotel by 17:30. Fragile items must not be packed in transported luggage.
• Hotel rooms are not usually ready before 15:00; there is no required arrival time.
• Wear comfortable walking shoes and carry a hat, trekking poles, drinking water, sun cream, swimwear and a waterproof jacket.
• Cancellation charges: 20% up to 30 days before arrival, 25% from 29 to 21 days, 50% from 20 to 14 days, 80% from 13 to 6 days, and 100% within 5 days of arrival. An amendment fee applies to changes after confirmation, and a date change may trigger cancellation penalties.
• The itinerary may be varied before or during the holiday for organisational reasons, weather or local authority provisions.
• Travel insurance is not included but is strongly recommended.

Please refer to our Standard Booking Conditions for booking terms and conditions.