Puglia Tours & Trips

• Food & Culinary
• Explorer

A truly Salento experience. A variety of local food lovingly cooked & served together with various local wines. All carefully explained. A caring family approach to every aspect of the tour. This is a place for those looking for a relaxing time in a friendly country atmosphere & environment. Highly recommended especially but not exclusively for solo travellers.

Destinations

Brindisi, Santa Maria di Leuca, Gallipoli, Lecce, Alberobello, Ostuni, Maglie, Otranto+7 more

Age Range

20 to 82 year olds

Country Region

Puglia, South Italy, Apulia+1 more

Operated in

English

Operator

Soleto Travel This operator has high review ratings and responds promptly to enquiries

• Food & Culinary
• Explorer

SOLETO TRAVEL: First of all, Omar at Soleto Travel was great, from my first inquiry to the last day of the trip. He returned emails promptly, answered questions clearly, made suggestions and generally made the whole experience very easy. I highly recommend Soleto travel and would not hesitate to book any of their tours. The trip I took was Discover Matera and a Taste of Salento. I was a solo female traveler on this tour and just took a leap of faith - it was well worth it. TASTE OF SALENTO: Pretend that someone told you that you had long lost relatives who owned an olive oil farm in Salento and wanted you to come visit for six days? That is exactly what this felt like. From the moment Antonio (the father) picked me up at the train station to the moment Emilio dropped me off in Matera, I could not have been treated more warmly. This did not feel like a “tour”, it felt like a “stay”. Don’t get caught up in the printed itinerary and stated activities. Emilio adjusts the schedule based on the season, the weather and other circumstances. You might not get every single thing listed, but you will get a lot more that are not. Emilio fixes a light breakfast every morning and explains where we’re going and what we’re doing that day. Because this experience is capped at four people (we had two), Emilio drives you in the family car to all the cool places (many that would be inaccessible by a tour bus). You walk around while he explains the history of the place or his experiences there. You set the pace (the other woman in my tour had hurt her foot and couldn’t walk very fast - no problem. We were still able to see everything). And you get free time to walk around, grab a bite, shop or just sit and appreciate the experience. The highlight of every day was dinner. Emilio is a fabulous chef and prides himself on cooking fresh, organic, local food paired with local wine (all served with his family’s organic olive oil of course). His passion is evident and every meal was excellent. Two of the days we had Carlo as a guide, who was fun and knowledgeable. One day Emilio’s wife Clara took us wine tasting and sightseeing. And of course Antonio, who was a character, popped by to say hi and stir up trouble! I could go on and on but I will stop and just say this: If you want a 4-star hotel with a “farm” theme in a big city, this is not for you. This is an actual farm in a very small town with very comfortable accommodations run by a sweet and generous couple (plus four kids and a dog) who want nothing more than for you to learn about, experience, and hopefully appreciate, the land they love. No tour buses, no guides with hankies tied to poles, no one-size-fits-all restaurants or cookie-cutter tours. Live like a local, with locals, for a one-of-a-kind experience. I highly recommend it. DISCOVER MATERA: I knew nothing about Matera so I was excited to arrive and see this beautiful city. The only thing I would mention is the whole city is practically stairs, including up to the room, so it might be a difficult city for some people with mobility issues so keep that in mind when booking. That said it is such a beautiful and unique city and I loved just wandering around and getting lost in all the little streets and passages. The accommodations were fabulous and so unique (a room built into a cave!) My guide was Cosimo, who took me one day on a city tour and the next on a tour of Murgia Materana, the park across the ravine. He was so knowledgable, friendly and patient with all my questions. Even though I was the only one, our tour went beyond the allotted time and he did not complain or try to rush me. I also got a private food and wine tasting with Lucca who was also wonderful, knowledgeable and generous. The place I stayed had a restaurant, but because I was the only one there, I would have my breakfast on site and then they would book dinner for me at a nice local restaurant. I loved Matera and wish I had a couple more days there. All in all this was the perfect vacation. The people were wonderful, the food and wine delicious, the history fascinating, the scenery breathtaking and the experience unique. I highly recommend this tour and Soleto Travel to anyone!

Destinations

Brindisi, Lecce, Otranto, Gallipoli, Alberobello, Ostuni, Matera+5 more

Age Range

20 to 86 year olds

Country Region

Puglia, South Italy, Apulia+1 more

Operated in

English

Operator

Soleto Travel This operator has high review ratings and responds promptly to enquiries

• Explorer
• Sightseeing
• Historical
• +1

Destinations

Amalfi, Trani, Lecce, Ostuni, Alberobello, Matera, Bari+4 more

Age Range

15 to 99 year olds

Country Region

Amalfi Coast, Puglia, South Italy, Apulia+2 more

Operated in

English

Operator

Intrepid Travel This operator has the highest review ratings and fastest responses to enquiries

• Explorer
• In-depth Cultural
• Historical
• +1

TourRadar trip was fabulous from start to finish. Every hotel was excellent. Any meal which was included in tour was great. Every guide along the way was extremely informative and friendly. Our tour leader Francesco was absolutely amazing from the first moment we met him in Naples until our departures in Lecce. Francesco was genuinely caring, considerate towards every person in our group, highly amusing and entertaining... the perfect tour leader!

Destinations

Naples, Amalfi, Salerno, Altamura, Matera, Ruvo di Puglia, Polignano a Mare, Lecce, Ostuni, Otranto, Santa Maria di Leuca+9 more

Age Range

25 to 99 year olds

Country Region

Puglia, South Italy

Operated in

English

Operator

Culture Trip This operator has good review ratings and responds to all enquiries

• Active
• Family

The destinations and hotel accomodations were excellent. We did this trip during the late May and early June timeframe. Our tour was promoted as a 14 person max tour which was not exactly true. There were 2 groups of people split by English Speaking and Spanish Speaking. There were 2 seperate groups but touring the same places, hotels and restuarants. More people then to deal with and figure out logistics and wait time. Overall fairly smooth but room for improvement by decreasing wait time staying on schedule. The tour left a little late each morning so we had less time to see the sights and our free time to explore on our own. Our guides English comprehension was limited and difficult to understand the English with her heavy Italy accent. The tour would be much better just having a group of 20 or less and a better guide that could explain the sights better.

Destinations

Bari, Trani, Castel del Monte, Alberobello, Matera, Locorotondo, Ostuni, Otranto, Lecce, Gallipoli, Martina Franca, Polignano a Mare, Monopoli+11 more

Age Range

4 to 99 year olds

Country Region

Puglia, South Italy, Apulia+1 more

Operated in

English

Operator

Click Tours

• In-depth Cultural
• Historical

Destinations

Polignano a Mare, Nardo, Matera, Naples+3 more

Age Range

15 to 99 year olds

Country Region

Puglia, South Italy

Operated in

English

Operator

Intrepid Premium This operator has the highest review ratings and fastest responses to enquiries

• Bicycle

Great trip. I should have gotten the electric bike. The hills were too difficult for me and a couple of the distances too long. I rode in the van a bit on 3 of the days. Fantastic guide and enjoyable travel companions. I do wish we started earlier in the morning so we would get to destination earlier in the day.

Destinations

Matera, Alberobello, Locorotondo, Ostuni, Gallipoli, Otranto, Lecce+5 more

Age Range

16 to 99 year olds

Country Region

Puglia, South Italy, Apulia+1 more

Operated in

English

Operator

Exodus Travels This operator has high review ratings and responds promptly to enquiries

• In-depth Cultural
• Explorer
• Wine tasting
• +1

Am a first timer with Explore & it was an excellent trip! Our guide Sonia was fantastic: vibrant, informed, a wonderful storyteller & kind and flexible. Trip flow was very good, the right mix of activity and free time. Hotels and bus transports were comfortable. The meals could be more balanced and improved. Too many "snack" tastings in lieu of proper lunches felt after a few days. Wonderful Matera and final night dinners though the 4th and 5th night dinners were disappointing & did not do justice to the beautiful town. Overall a great trip. Would go with Explore and Sonia again.

Destinations

Bari, Altamura, Alta Murgia National Park, Matera, Gravina, Putignano, Alberobello, Locorotondo, Castellana, Monopoli, Otranto, Lecce+10 more

Age Range

16 to 85 year olds

Country Region

Puglia, South Italy, Apulia+1 more

Operated in

English

Operator

Explore! This operator has high review ratings and responds promptly to enquiries

• In-depth Cultural
• Active

overall the tour was very good, our guide Christina could not have been better. I have one complaint which I hope you rectify, our first nights accommodation was not what we paid for. We paid for single occupation in the rooms for the hotels, however the first night we had to share, as we had paid I am expecting a refund for that night.

Destinations

Matera, Polignano a Mare, Alberobello, Castellana, Ostuni, Lecce, Otranto+6 more

Age Range

16 to 99 year olds

Country Region

Puglia, South Italy, Apulia+1 more

Operated in

English

Operator

Exodus Travels This operator has high review ratings and responds promptly to enquiries