FOODIE PUGLIA

Eat your way across this southern Italian region, from whitewashed hill towns to sparkling blue sea.

Destination
Starts at

Italy

Destination
Ends at

Italy

Destination
Duration

5 days

Destination
Group Size

Maximum 14

Destination
Physical Rating

easy Information

Destination
Style

foodanddrink Information

About your trip

The stiletto heel of Italy’s boot, Puglia is a pastoral paradise of ancient olive groves, gleaming white-washed hill towns, and forested mountains. It’s home to the iconic ‘trulli’ huts, with their conical tiled roofs, as well as dazzling beaches and delicious, authentic food. And it’s food that’s the focus of this fabulous five-day getaway, which includes a tour and wine tasting at a local vineyard, a pasta-making class at a wheat farm, and a mozzarella-making workshop at a traditional masseria. You’ll also get a taste of the regional capital of Bari, with a street food tour led by our Local Insider, and sample liquid gold at an olive oil mill. All of our trips are flightless in destination, with 100% of all carbon emissions offset. It's just part of how we see the world while being good to it.

Trip Highlights

  • Visit Puglia’s famous ‘trulli’ huts in Alberobello and Locorotondo
  • Learn how to make authentic Puglian pasta
  • Embark on a street food tour of Bari
  • Get hands-on at a mozzarella-making workshop
  • Sample freshly pressed olive oil at the source
  • Taste the region’s wines on a vineyard tour

Your Itinerary

After arriving at Bari airport (BRI), make your own way to your stunning hotel, La Chiusa di Chietri (or similar four-star), in the lush Itria Valley. After dropping your bags in your room, it’s off for an authentic Puglian dinner and drinks at a local masseria, where you’ll get to know your fellow travellers.

Accommodation

La Chiusa di Chietri

Activities Included
  • Welcome dinner and drinks

After breakfast at your hotel, you’ll be picked up and driven to the town of Alberobello, home to Puglia’s famous trulli huts. You’ll be met here by our Local Insider, who’ll lead you along flagstone-paved streets, lined with the whitewashed trulli buildings – many of which have been repurposed as boutique craft shops, delis and fairytale-pretty homes. From Alberobello, it’s onto the day’s main course – literally, with a pasta-making class at an authentic masseria. You’ll learn how to make the region’s signature shapes: orecchiette, cavatelli and strascinati, before tucking into a homemade lunch with wine. After lunch, it’s onto the whitewashed city of Ostuni, rising out of the landscape like a crumbly meringue. Here, our Local Insider will take you on a meandering tour of its artisanal shops, baroque churches and spectacular viewpoints. After the tour, you’ll return to your hotel for the evening.

Accommodation

La Chiusa di Chietri

Activities Included
  • Local Insider-led tour of Alberobello
  • Puglian pasta-making class with lunch
  • Tour of Ostuni with a Local Insider

You might want to take it easy at breakfast today, as this morning it’s all about Bari and its street food scene. After being shuttled to the city, you’ll meet up with our Local Insider, who’ll introduce you to the city’s signature snacks – from salty, oily, still-warm focaccia, to meaty salami and refreshing gelato. Still hungry? Take the free lunch break to sniff out anything you might have missed. From Bari, it’s onto pretty Putignano, famous for its biscuit-coloured baroque architecture and annual carnival, thought to be the oldest in Europe. You’ll have time for a wander around the atmospheric streets, before heading off for your final activity of the day: a mozzarella-making workshop at a rural masseria. It’s surprisingly hungry work, which is why you’ll be well fed with homemade panzerotti afterwards – a fried, calzone-like snack, and a Puglian speciality.

Accommodation

La Chiusa di Chietri

Activities Included
  • Street food tour of Bari
  • Visit to Putignano
  • Mozzarella-making workshop

Set your alarm an hour earlier this morning as, after breakfast, you’ll be whisked across the sunrise-gilded countryside to an olive oil mill in Cisternino. Here, you’ll not only get to see this ancient tradition in action (and how it has been modernised in recent times), but you’ll get to sample the peppery, freshly pressed olive oil – Puglia’s pride and joy. Wheels greased, next is a short hop south to the hilltop town of Locorotondo, which sits like a white crown on a green velvet cushion of vineyards and olive groves. Wander its medieval centre, a honeycomb of laundry-hung alleyways and plant-filled piazzas, with a spectacular church at its heart. Later you’ll head onto the Pastini winery, where a tour of the vineyard ends with a wine-tasting session in the cellar. The rest of the afternoon is yours to spend however you like – by the pool at your hotel, perhaps, with a glass of wine in hand?

Accommodation

La Chiusa di Chietri

Activities Included
  • Olive oil mill visit and tasting
  • Local Insider-led tour of Locorotondo
  • Tour of Pastini winery with a tasting session

Today’s your last day, so after a final hotel breakfast, spend what’s left of the morning making the most of that Puglian sun. After check-out, make your way to Bari airport (BRI), where you’ll say so long to the gang before heading off on whatever adventure comes next.

What's Included

  • Four nights premium hotel accommodation
  • Four breakfasts
  • One lunch
  • Two dinners
  • Visit to Alberobello and Locorotondo
  • Pasta-making class
  • Visit to Ostuni
  • Guided street food tour of Bari
  • Visit to Putignano
  • Mozzarella workshop and dinner
  • Olive oil mill tour and tasting
  • Guided vineyard tour and wine tasting
  • Shared ground transport

What's Not Included

  • Visas
  • Travel insurance
  • Flights to and from the destination

Customer Reviews

Accommodation

La Chiusa di Chietri

Image #1 of La Chiusa di Chietri
Image #2 of La Chiusa di Chietri
Image #3 of La Chiusa di Chietri

In Puglia, it’s all about the slow and mellow moments – and that’s what this countryside hotel excels in. Surrounded by five acres of olive groves and aromatic Puglian scrub, it’s an oasis of rural calm –  with a large outdoor pool in which to while away indigo-tinted evenings listening to the crickets. Level-up your wind-down with a session in the on-site Aura Sylva Spa, designed to replicate the ancient trulli that symbolise this part of the country. 

COVID Safety

The safety and wellbeing of all travellers is our top priority. To help us ensure this, please refer to this checklist:

  • Please check the entry requirements for the destination you are travelling to. Our travel experts can assist you in finding this information.
  • We recommend you confirm all guidance on official government sites and check that you are able to travel with your travel insurance issuer. Your travel insurance may be invalidated if you travel against government advice. Our travel experts can assist you in finding this information.

Important Info

  • You must be aged 18 years or over to join this trip.
  • Please be sure to check whether or not you need a visa to enter the country you're travelling to. Please refer to our Booking Terms & Conditions for further information.
  • If you have any pre-existing medical conditions or accessibility requirements, please notify our Customer Support team as soon as possible.
  • To upgrade to a private room, or book pre- and post-trip accommodation and/or airport transfers, please contact our Customer Support team.
  • Please be aware that travel insurance is compulsory for all travellers.
  • Please be aware that the itinerary, activities and hotels are subject to change. While unlikely, these changes can happen due to circumstances beyond our control. We will always do our best to ensure minimal impact on your experience.
  • Please be aware images on this page are for illustrative purposes and may not reflect your itinerary exactly.

Additional Info

Cancellation Policy

If you cancel 56 days or more before your scheduled departure date, you will receive a 100% refund. Otherwise, the total cost of your trip is:

  • 100% payable if you cancel 29 days or less before your departure date.
  • 50% payable if you cancel between 30 - 55 days before your departure date.

Please note you can only book this trip in advance up to 14 days before the departure date. After this time the trip may be booked on request.

Terms & Conditions

Please refer to our Booking Terms & Conditions.

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