It is said that the Apulia region is the house of fine living. A land sun-blessed and lapped by crystal clear waters.

DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN APULIA REGION – “CAFFÈ SPECIALE“ IN POLIGNANO A MARE
Arriving in Apulia region our guests will be welcomed in a typical Apulian Masseria, a charming place with an unique and sophisticated style. Our first stop will let you discover the home-town of Domenico Modugno, Polignano a Mare, well-known for its cliffs overlooking the sea and for its charming old town. A journey between an historical architecture, balconies dropping sheer to the blue and poems written on stone walls, finishing with the well-known “caffè speciale“, an excellent invention made in Polignano: a ritual greeting made of coffee, sugar, lemon peel, cream and Amaretto of Saronno. We will then come back to our Masseria for our dinner and overnight stay.

Daily Schedule (depending on the time of arrival)
03:00 pm: Meeting with guests. Hotel check-in
05:00 pm: Polignano A Mare by night
07:00 pm: Tasting of “caffè speciale” or traditional ice-cream
08:00 pm: Return to the Masseria. Dinner

DAY 2: ALBEROBELLO – LUNCH AT “EVO“ RESTAURANT –  WINE TASTING IN A WINERY
A breakfast in our Masseria with zero-km local products opens our day-2 of this tour. Our first destination is Alberobello, part of the UNESCO’s World Human Heritage thanks to its millenary history. Wandering through its Trulli, extraordinary examples of dry-stone dwellings, will give the opportunity to our guests to dive into the magical atmosphere of a unique town. Lunch-time: tradition, experimentation, study and attention to the details. In one word: EVO. Winner of “4 Ristoranti“ (an Italian TV cooking show), it’s the perfect place where you can taste the essence of the South of Italy: the raw materials of this territory, the restaurant kitchen garden and apulian wines coming from small local producers make this restaurant an unquestionable yet unforgettable stop. In the afternoon our guests will discover an historic apulian winery. A family history who started in 1882, surrounded by oak barrels and hectares of vineyards. With an oenologist, after visiting the vineyard, we will see the old barrels area, a charming underground cellar where you can discover the various phases of the vinification. At the end of the visit we will taste 3 different wines : Primitivo, Negroamaro and Malvasia.

Daily Schedule
09:00 am: Meeting with our guests
09:30 am: Alberobello
12:30 pm: Lunch
02:30 pm: Departure for the winery
03:00 pm: Visit winery
05:00 pm: Back to the Masseria
08:30 pm: Dinner

DAY 3: COOKING CLASS IN OUR MASSERIA – MONOPOLI – DINNER OVERLOOKING THE SEA AT “LIDO BIANCO“ RESTAURANT
It’s time to get your hands in the dough, for real! Our guests will reach a charming Rural Masseria surrounded by centuries old olive trees where, with a pastry board, an apron and a rolling pin they will challenge themselves to make orecchiette and cavatelli pasta, thanks to the expert hands of the Chef. This pasta, flavoured with traditional sauces, will be served to our guests as long as a variety of excellences from our territory.
In the afternoon: free time in our resort.
OPTIONAL: our guests could book an equipped beach close to Monopoli / Capitolo.
Our day ends in Monopoli, a maze of narrow alleys smelling of the sea, with votive shrines, fishing nets laying under the sun, flower-filled balconies and a blinding whiteness.
Our dinner will take place in Lido Bianco restaurant: pottery from Grottaglie and large glass surfaces overlooking the sea welcome us in this microcosm of beauty where you could entirely live, breathe and taste the sea. The Bini family offers an allembracing experience, supported since ages from Giovanni, who sorts the fish catch, and from Florinda, irreplaceable landlady always cared even in the smallest details.

Daily Schedule
09:30 am: Meeting with our guests. Departure
10:00 am: Cooking Class
12:30 pm: Lunch in Masseria
Afternoon: free time
05:30 pm: Monopoli guided tour
08:00 pm: Dinner at restaurant
10:30 pm: Back to our Masseria

DAY 4: MATERA IN “CALESSINO“ – DINNER ON A BALCONY IN POLIGNANO A MARE
Breakfast in our Masseria and departure for Matera, discovering the town of the “Sassi” on a “Calessino“. European Capital of Culture in 2019 and part of the UNESCO’s Human World Heritage, Matera jealously guards its past hollowed out in the rock, made of natural caves once called home. Fragrant, scented and genuine: it’s the bread from Matera, PGI symbol of the town. After a tasting in a well-known bakery our guests will reach the famous restaurant of the Starred-chef Vitoantonio Lombardo in a cave of the “Sassi“ district where you can live an experience out of time, exclusive and unforgettable. Free time in the afternoon. Our day ends in Polignano a Mare with a dinner suspended between sky and sea. Nestled in one of the most evocative and attractive places in Polignano, Terrazza Monachile restaurant is an exclusive unconventional location where a good cooking and a fantastic panorama are perfectly blended.

Daily Schedule
09:00 am: Meeting with our guests and depature for Matera
10:30 am: Guided tour of Matera
12:00 pm: Tasting of Matera PGI Bread. Free time
01:00 pm: Lunch
02:30 pm: Departure
04:00 pm: End of the experience
07:30 pm: Departure for dinner in a restaurant on the sea

DAY 5: BARI – STREET FOOD AND STARRED DINNER IN PUTIGNANO
Bari, the land of the street food. Our fifth day lead our guests discovering a city who is both elegant and popular: its soul is divided between the exquisite streets of the Murat district and the narrowed streets of the old town. The Petruzzelli Theatre, the Saint Nicolas Basilica and the Norman- Swabian castle are only some of the unmissable stops in “Bari Vecchia“ before diving into the well-known “orecchiette street“ and tasting “sgagliozze, focaccia and panzerotti“, as long as very famous beer here for the “Baresi“. In the afternoon we will go back to our Masseria. In the evening our guests will reach Putignano for a dinner in the restaurant of Angelo Sabatelli, Michelin-starred Chef. Talented and brilliant, Sabatelli will welcome us with his technical cuisine which enhances our territory also with a great choice of spumante wine and champagne.

Daily Schedule
09:00 am: Meeting with our guests and departure for Bari
10:00 am: Guided tour in Bari
01:00 pm: Street food and free time
03:30 pm: Depature for Masseria
04:30 pm: Arrival and relax
08:00 pm: Dinner in Putignano
10:30 pm: Back to our Masseria
11:00 pm: Arrival in Masseria

DAY 6: CEGLIE MESSAPICA – LUNCH AT CIBUS RESTAURANT- DINNER ON A ROOF GARDEN IN LECCE
Breakfast in our Masseria and departure for Ceglie Messapica, town of art and land of gastronomy. After the visit of its wonderful old town, full of buildings of the 18th century, our guests will taste the well-known biscuit of Ceglie, an almond-paste pastry stuffed with cherry or grape jam. For their lunch our guests will reach one of the most famous restaurants of Ceglie, Cibus, located in an old convent of the 15^th century. Its stone-wall rooms, with their whitewashed arcades, houses the kingdom of Lillino Silibello, a kind and genuine person with a thorough knowledge of the cuisine and the enogastronomic traditions of his own territory. Cibus is not only a restaurant but also a place for knowledge: Lillino has always seen his work like this, considering the food not just a source of pleasure but also a key to understand the culture and the history of a place. In the afternoon we will reach Lecce with its wonderful baroque architecture made of local stone. In the afternoon our guests will take time to discover the city and do some shopping before reaching the Roof Garden of The Risorgimento Hotel for our dinner. That’s a 5 star hotel from where you can let yourself go to the gourmet selection created by the Chefs Mario Carlino and Alessandro Cisternino, who reinterpreted the culinary specialities and the flavours of the Salento area with typical zero-km products. The location is an ideal place for a wonderful view above the old town, its buildings and the bell tower of the Cathedral.

Daily Schedule
09:00 am: Meeting with our guests
10:00 am: Arrival and discover of Ceglie Messapica. Free Time
12:30 pm: Lunch
03:00 pm: Departure for Lecce
04:00 pm: Check-in in hotel – free time
08:00 pm: Dinner on a Roof Garden

DAY 7: OTRANTO – PASTICCIOTTO TASTING IN LECCE – DINNER IN A MEDIEVAL TOWER
Breakfast in our hotel and discover of Otranto, the eastern town in Italy. Our visit starts in its old town, paved with stone, part of UNESCO’s Culture of Peace Heritage, deeply immersing ourselves in the absolute beauty of the mosaic made by Pantaleone in the Cathedral, in the byzantine Saint Peter church and in the Aragonese castle. Back to Lecce, after a guided tour of the city, our guests will reach a well-known bakery in the city centre for a tasting of the “pasticciotto leccese”, a shortcrust pastry filled with cream baked in a  hoven. The dinner of our last evening is located in a medieval tower: Torre del Parco, built in 1419, is one of the most important and rare buildings of the late-medieval era in Lecce. The beauty of its rooms and the preciousness of the gastronomic offer lend to conclude in the best way this exclusive trip discovering Apulia region and its flavours.

Daily Schedule
09:00 am: Meeting with our guests
10:00 am: Otranto, guided tour of the eastern italian town
01:00 pm: Free time
02:30 pm: Departure for Lecce
03:30 pm: Guided tour of Lecce
06:30 pm: Back to our hotel
08:30 pm: Dinner in a medieval tower

DAY 8: DEPARTURE
Breakfast in our hotel and departure. Depending on the time of your flight, visit of Brindisi or Ostuni.

Inclusions:
• Private bus for all the duration of your trip
• 5 nights in Masseria Borgobianco (or similar) close to Polignano a Mare
• 2 nights in Risorgimento Hotel (or similar) in Lecce
• Double rooms with private services in room
• Breakfast
• 2 dinners in Masseria Borgobianco (or similar) close to Polignano a Mare
• 1 dinner in Risorgimento Hotel Roof Garden
• English speaking tour guide for all the duration of your trip
• Tasting of Caffè Speciale / ice-cream / granita (slush) in Polignano a Mare
• Visit of a Trullo
• Lunch in a restaurant in Alberobello
• English speaking oenologist
• Visit of winery: its production area,its new cellar, its ancient barrels area, its tasting room with 3 wines
• Visit of a Masseria, an English and Italian speaking chef, lunch
• Dinner in a restaurant in Monopoli
• Visit of a cave-church in Matera
• Visit of a bakery in Matera and Tasting of PGI bread
• Lunch in a Starred-restaurant in the Sassi of Matera
• Dinner in a Starred-restaurant in Putignano
• Dinner on a balcony overlooking the sea in Polignano a Mare
• Street food in Bari
• Lunch in Ceglie Messapica
• Visit of the churches in Lecce
• Tasting of the “pasticciotto leccese“
• Dinner in a medieval tower
• A present for each guest
• Liability insurance
• Assistance 24/7

Not Included:
• Drinks at meals
• Visitors taxes
• Anything not mentioned in “The fare includes“

Contact Us at 800-621-2259 or info@tourcrafters.com to book today!

*Package descriptions and pricing are subject to change without notice.