Puglia & the South – Undiscovered Italy

Enjoy rest and relaxation on the Adriatic shore and take in the oftenoverlooked delights of Italy’s sunkissed southern ‘high heel’.

Trulli Houses, Alberobello

Lecce Day One – Fly to Italy Fly to Bari, meet your tour manager and transfer to the beachside hotel in Torre Canne, and settle into your comfortable surroundings. Depending on your arrival time, you might have time to enjoy a refreshing drink on the terrace before dinner this evening. Day Two – Day at leisure Today is free to rest and relax in the hotel and its surroundings. Make the most of the water’s edge location, perhaps take a dip in the pool, pay a visit to the hotel’s fitness centre or simply curl up with a book on a terrace or in a lounge. The energetic might choose to rent a bicycle from the hotel, or stroll into the nearby fishing port and small resort of Torre Canne, with its tiny harbour, working lighthouse and ample selections of cafés, bars and restaurants. Day Three – Included Apulia tour The first of the included excursions is a perfect introduction to the unique region of Apulia, or Puglia, beginning with a visit to the stunning hill-town of Ostuni, one of southern Italy’s most sparkling jewels, with its whitewashed houses and cobbled streets set on three hills. Perfect for wandering, the town’s maze of alleyways opens out over some spectacular views, while the old town’s beautiful squares offer several bars and cafés, from which to watch the world go by. Leaving Ostuni, travel back across a vine and olive-covered landscape, dotted with conical trulli houses, to Alberobello. Here, hundreds of these whitewashed, tapered, grey-roofed buildings cluster together to create one of Italy’s most arresting sights. Return to your hotel in Torre Canne for dinner, at the end of a fascinating day. Day Four – Included Lecce city tour The Baroque treasure-chest of Lecce, with its Roman remains, is one of Southern Italy’s most appealing cities. Today’s included tour will include the opportunity to soak up the atmosphere of this historic trading centre, where elegant buildings, ornate churches and marbled courtyards reflect the town’s past importance.

Available Apr to Oct 2023

Fly direct from these airports. Prices from

• Gatwick £1,399 • Stansted £1,369

Personalise your holiday

• Castellano Grotto & Locorotondo – from £80 Room for Sole Use from £315

Please note: The transfer time from the airport to your hotel is approximately one hour. Italy

Bari

Alberobello Matera Torre Canne

Ostuni

Lecce

Newmarket Plus ESCORTED TOUR

Whether it’s unique included holiday experiences or extra-special hotels, these tours fulfil the ultimate wish-list dreams.

• Spend seven nights beside the brilliant blue

Adriatic Sea • Enjoy a mix of some relaxed days at leisure at the comfortable hotel and several fascinating, included excursions • Witness hilltop Ostuni’s white walls gleaming in the Italian sun • Take in Alberobello’s traditional, conical trulli houses • Explore Baroque treasure-chest Lecce • Discover the UNESCO-listed wonders of

Matera’s sassi cave dwellings, inhabited from the Paleolithic Period right the way up to the 1950s • The chance to visit the fascinating

Castellana Caves and historic Locorontodo, one of Italy’s most beautiful villages, on an optional excursion • Seven nights’ carefully chosen four-star dinner, bed and breakfast accommodation • Return flights to Bari, with coach travel and transfers throughout • Fully escorted by a friendly, experienced tour manager, with specialist local guides where applicable

Locorotondo Ostuni

In the central Piazza del Duomo, the Cattedrale di Lecce boasts a stunning double facade and a bell tower, while the nearby Basilica di Santa Croce features sculptures and a rose window. You’ll also visit the Sant’Oronzo Column, a Roman column crowned with a bronze statue of the city’s patron saint, and the sunken Roman amphitheatre. You’ll return to Torre Canne in time for dinner. Day Five – Day at leisure Today is another in which to rest and relax at the hotel, perhaps enjoying a dip in the pool or the sea, catching some sun in the hotel’s gardens, or possibly enjoying the short stroll to Torre Canne for some lunch or a spot of shopping. Day Six – Included Matera cave tour Perhaps saving the best of the included excursions till last, today sees you head into the neighbouring province of Basilicata, to the enthralling town of Matera, a cultured oasis in the sparsely populated landscape, and famed for its extraordinary sassi. This maze of ancient troglodyte cave-dwellings was inhabited as recently as 70 years ago and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Arriving in time for lunch (payable locally), you’ll have the opportunity to discover the history of this fascinating place, with its chiese rupestri – churches hewn from the rocks – and wander through Matera’s ancient streets and colourful piazze. After a fascinating day you’ll head back into Puglia and return to the shores of the blue Adriatic.

Day Seven – At leisure, or optional tour of

Castellana, Locorotondo and Martina Franca A final day brings the opportunity to rest and relax at the hotel or in Torre Canne, or to join an optional excursion, which will head back into the Apulian countryside, to first pay a visit to the extraordinary caves at Castellana, an underground network of towering stalagmites and stalactites and vast, cool caverns formed over the centuries. Wrap up warm in the cool temperatures before emerging to enjoy a visit to the majestic, whitewashed, circular hill-town of Locorotondo, one of Italy’s most beautiful villages, with its surrounding vineyards famed for their crisp white wines. A visit is made to a local cellar for the opportunity to taste the local production, as well as some regional specialities, before an enjoyable day is completed with a short call in the historic town of Martina Franca, where an enthralling Baroque heart is hidden behind the modern buildings of the new town. Return to Torre Canne for a last evening at the hotel, no doubt reflecting on a relaxing and fascinating holiday in the south of Italy. Day Eight – Fly back to the UK Say goodbye to your Apulian hosts this morning, as you re-board the coach for the transfer back to Bari Airport and the return flight to the UK, at the end of a holiday in a truly magical and wonderful corner of Italy. what our customers say...

The hotel was truly amazing - on the beach with all the facilities you could wish for. All the trips, including the optional, just take your breath away. Anne

your hotel

Hotel del Levante, Torre Canne HHHH Half-Board

Just steps from the blue Adriatic, and with its own beach in addition to pools and ample sun terraces, this hotel is a perfect base to which to return at the end of a day’s touring, with a full range of comforts and amenities. Comfortable, air-conditioned rooms offer free Wi-Fi, a TV, telephone and hairdryer, and in addition to the outdoor facilities, there is a restaurant, bar and comfortable lounge. Rooms with a balcony and rooms with balcony plus sea view are available for a supplement.

Hotel del Lavante

our product manager loves...

With an ideal base in the rural town of Torre Canne, you’ll experience the best of Puglia. From the rock churches of Matera to the ‘Florence of the South’ Lecce, this tour will explore some of Italy’s hidden gems.

Hotel del Lavante Rock Churches of Matera