9 Days Gourmet Walking Experience in the South of Italy - Puglia and Matera

Duration: 9 Days | 8 Nights
Destination: Otranto - Lecce - Ostuni - Montalbano - Locorotondo - Matera (Puglia & Basilicata)
Departure & Return Locations: Brindisi or Bari Airport / Bari or Brindisi Airport (airport transfers included)
Season Dates 2027: Low 15 Feb - 24 Mar and 1 Nov - 16 Dec | Mid 25 Mar - 24 Apr and 1 - 31 Oct | High 25 Apr - 16 Jul, 1 - 30 Sep and 17 Dec - 3 Jan | Peak 17 Jul - 31 Aug

A self-guided walk through the heel of Italy that is as much about the table as the trail. Over nine days you walk from Otranto, the easternmost town in Italy, through Baroque Lecce, the White City of Ostuni, the trulli country of the Itria Valley and on to the cave city of Matera - and each day is paired with a hands-on taste of the region: a cheesemaker's dairy, a papier-mâché workshop, an olive oil tasting in an underground mill, a cooking class, wine therapy at a masseria, a wine tasting in Locorotondo and an aperitif inside a trullo. You stay in characterful historic palazzi and a country masseria, your luggage moves ahead of you, and private transfers link the walking days, including your airport transfers in and out.

Note: this is a self-guided walking holiday. Daily walks are 7 to 19km on mostly quiet paths and low-traffic roads, with a few unavoidable stretches on busier roads and some slightly more technical sections - easy going for anyone with a basic aptitude for walking. You receive a travel app with maps, GPX tracks and route notes, your luggage is moved hotel to hotel, and phone support is available 08:00-20:00 every day. Guides accompany you for the Day 2 coastal walk and the Day 3 tour of Lecce.

Day 1: Arrive Otranto
A private transfer collects you from Brindisi or Bari airport and takes you to Otranto on the Adriatic coast. In the late afternoon take a first walk into the old town through Porta Alfonsina, the gate in the medieval walls, and make time for the Cathedral and its 12th-century Tree of Life floor mosaic, one of the largest in Europe. Your first dinner is included tonight.
Overnight: Palazzo Papaleo, Otranto

Day 2: The coast south of Otranto - Dairy Experience (11km, +90m -140m)
After breakfast meet your guide and visit a local dairy, walking through every stage of cheesemaking with the master cheesemaker before a generous tasting of local produce. Then walk with your guide along the wild coast south of Otranto - wind-shaped headlands, coves cut into the rock and the Bay of Orte - before returning to town.
Overnight: Palazzo Papaleo, Otranto

Day 3: Fondazione Le Costantine - Megalithic Garden - Baroque Lecce - Papier-mâché Workshop (9km, +112m -24m)
Walk the Idro Valley to Fondazione Le Costantine near Uggiano La Chiesa, a rural foundation dedicated to traditional weaving and organic farming (visit included). Continue to the small town of Giurdignano and its Megalithic Garden, scattered with prehistoric dolmens and menhirs. A private transfer then takes you to Lecce. After a free lunch, a local guide leads you through the historic centre and its honey-coloured Baroque churches and palazzi, and in the afternoon a papier-mâché workshop lets you shape paper the way Lecce's craftsmen have for centuries.
Overnight: Palazzo Rollo, Lecce

Day 4: Ostuni and the ancient olive groves - Olive Oil Tasting and Cooking Class (7km, +160m -50m)
Leave Lecce for Masseria Il Frantoio, set on a plain of centuries-old olive trees. Visit the masseria, its underground olive mill and its ancient grove, then taste organic extra virgin olive oils with an olive oil sommelière. From here walk uphill on country paths to Ostuni, the White City. After a free afternoon in its lanes, join a cooking class at a traditional restaurant in the historic centre, followed by dinner.
Overnight: Hotel Rione Antico La Terra, Ostuni

Day 5: Coastal Dunes Park - Wine Therapy (12km, +100m -250m)
After breakfast transfer from Ostuni to the Sanctuary of Sant'Oronzo, surrounded by countryside. Walk down towards the coastal dunes park, stopping at a family-run farm for a coffee break and a tasting of local products, and on to your masseria. In the afternoon unwind with wine therapy - beauty and wellness treatments based on wine and grape must.
Overnight: Masseria Ancella, Montalbano

Day 6: Cisternino to Locorotondo - Pomona Gardens and Wine Tasting (15km, +/-200m)
After breakfast transfer to Cisternino, a whitewashed hill town in the Itria Valley. Visit the Giardini di Pomona (entry included), a botanical conservatory holding one of Europe's largest collections of fig varieties, then walk to Locorotondo, partly following the route of the historic Apulian Aqueduct. In Locorotondo, a circular village of pointed-roof cummerse houses, finish with a tasting of local wines at a small, well-stocked enoteca in the old town.
Overnight: 1783 Dimora d'Epoca, Locorotondo

Day 7: Martina Franca to Alberobello - Trullo Experience (19km, +/-200m)
The longest walking day starts in Baroque Martina Franca and follows country paths into the land of the trulli, ending in Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996 for its conical dry-stone houses. Celebrate with a traditional aperitif inside a trullo, then a private transfer returns you to Locorotondo.
Overnight: 1783 Dimora d'Epoca, Locorotondo

Day 8: Matera and the Park of the Rock Churches (9km, +320m -260m)
Today's trail runs through the Murgia Materana Park of the Rock Churches (entry included), past cave churches cut into the limestone. To reach the Sassi you cross the suspension bridge over the Gravina ravine, a small thrill with a superb view up to Matera from below.
Overnight: Palazzo Viceconte, Matera

Day 9: Matera - Depart
Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the Sassi were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. Enjoy a final wander after breakfast before your private transfer to Bari or Brindisi airport.

Accommodation
• 2 nights Palazzo Papaleo, Otranto
• 1 night Palazzo Rollo, Lecce
• 1 night Hotel Rione Antico La Terra, Ostuni
• 1 night Masseria Ancella, Montalbano
• 2 nights 1783 Dimora d'Epoca, Locorotondo
• 1 night Palazzo Viceconte, Matera
• Classic/standard en suite rooms. 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 (double room), and includes your arrival and departure airport transfers - select your season above.
• Departures are available on any day of the week within the season dates, subject to availability.
• Single room 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.
• Extra nights before or after the tour can be arranged on request - 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:
• 8 nights with breakfast in a double room
• Private airport transfer Bari or Brindisi Airport - Otranto on arrival
• Private airport transfer Matera - Bari or Brindisi Airport on departure
• Scheduled private transfers on Days 3, 5, 6 and 7
• Dinner on Day 1
• Guided walking excursion on Day 2
• Dairy visit and local cheese tasting on Day 2
• Visit to Fondazione Le Costantine on Day 3
• Guided walking tour of Lecce on Day 3
• Papier-mâché workshop on Day 3
• Olive oil tasting and masseria visit on Day 4
• Cooking class with dinner on Day 4
• Farm coffee break and tasting on Day 5
• Wine therapy on Day 5
• Entry to the Giardini di Pomona on Day 6
• Wine tasting on Day 6 and trullo aperitif on Day 7
• Entry to the Park of the Rock Churches of Matera on Day 8
• Travel app with maps, GPX tracks and route notes
• Luggage transportation hotel to hotel, 1 piece per person up to 20kg
• Hotel tourist taxes
• Phone assistance 08:00-20:00

Exclusions:
• International and domestic flights
• Meals and drinks other than breakfast and those listed above
• Entrance fees other than those listed above
• 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. One piece per person up to 20kg; excess weight or extra bags attract a supplement. Fragile items must not be packed in transported luggage.
• At your welcome briefing you will receive your updated service list, your entry ticket for the Giardini di Pomona and your luggage labels.
• Hotel rooms are not usually ready before 15:00; there is no required arrival time.
• If you prefer to skip a walk, a transfer to the next hotel with your luggage can be arranged in advance at an additional cost.
• 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.