Puglia & Matera
in nine days
Three nights in a masseria among the olive trees of the Valle d'Itria, three in Baroque Lecce and the Salento sea, three in a cave hotel in the Sassi of Matera. A car from day one, and roads that are empty.
The Italy that is still cheaper, emptier and better fed
Puglia is where Italians go on holiday; Americans are only now arriving. Whitewashed towns, trulli, masserie that were fortified farms and are now small hotels with pools, two seas, and next door in Basilicata the cave city of Matera, which looks like nowhere else in Europe. Nine days covers it without rushing. Fly into Bari or Brindisi.
9 days, 3 homes, one car
Every stop lists two or three of our homes; the widget under each checks live rates for those nights.
Valle d'Itria: trulli and white towns
Land in Bari, drive an hour south. A masseria near Ostuni is the base: Alberobello, Locorotondo, Cisternino and Martina Franca are all within twenty minutes of each other.
- Ostuni at sunset, Alberobello early morning before the coaches
- A cooking morning at the masseria: orecchiette by hand, the olive oil from the trees outside
- The Adriatic beaches at Torre Guaceto reserve
Historic masseria with trulli rooms and a pool in the garden.
Historic building in the white town, heated pool.
Trulli rooms with stone walls, in the trulli capital itself.
Lecce and the Salento sea
Ninety minutes south to Lecce, the Baroque city, then the tip of the heel: Otranto on one sea, Gallipoli on the other, both under an hour away.
- Lecce's Santa Croce and the Roman amphitheatre, pasticciotto for breakfast
- A sea day: Otranto and the Adriatic coves, or Gallipoli and the Ionian beaches
- Wine: Primitivo and Negroamaro tastings near Manduria
Heated pool and whirlpool, quiet terrace, walk to the centre.
Salento residence with saltwater pool, Otranto nearby.
Agriturismo with rooftop pool and spa, Gallipoli ten minutes.
Matera, sleeping in the Sassi
Two hours west, over the border into Basilicata. Matera's cave districts are a UNESCO site and a working town; sleep in a cave hotel and walk the ravine at dawn. Bari airport is an hour away for the flight home.
- The Sassi on foot with a local guide, the rock churches, the Palombaro cistern
- Sunset from the Murgia park across the gorge
- Last morning: Altamura for the bread, then Bari
Cave rooms and suites carved into the rock, candlelit.
Small historic residence in the old town.
Ask our assistant
Tell the assistant your dates and what kind of trip you want; it re-plans the stops on our masserie and checks the rooms in the chat.
- We want mostly beach: which stop should be longer?
- Is Matera worth three nights or is two enough?
- Check Masseria Cervarolo for June 14 to 17, two adults.
