This is an interesting tour overall. The three main places visited - Matera, Alberobello and Lecce - are all so historical and individually fascinating to explore, yet completely different. The accommodation is similarly characterful and varied; potentially having a cave room in Matera, next a trullo in Alberobello, then a converted monastery in Ostuni (my room, in the roof, had the original guttering inside the room!) and finally an old palazzo in Lecce. There is a lot of free time outside of the designated free day, which might not suit some people, particularly solo travellers who don't bond as well with others in their group (our group of twelve had six solo travellers and those who wanted to could always find someone to explore with, as everyone was pretty sociable). Although this trip is graded as leisurely, there is a lot of walking around the various places visited, sometimes involving quite steep climbs on steps/cobbles/slopes, especially in Matera.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Staying in the trullo in Alberobello was such an unusual experience - I instantly fell in love with "my" trullo as I walked into it! Castellana Caves was the best cave system I have visited (despite the rather horrible guide!), with some truly stunning formations. The olive farm tour and tasting was a surprising highlight due to the sheer knowledge and enthusiasm of the guides there as well as the preserved historical aspects, plus the superb oil!
What did you think of your group leader?
Fabrizio was very sweet and enthusiastic, drawing us in with his "hello friends" welcome from the start! His information wasn't always totally up to date, possibly because of Covid, and he hasn't yet realised that toilets are an important need after a journey, but he was still lovely to be with.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Make sure that you have comfortable walking shoes with a good grip - the cobbled streets can be slippery if it rains and in most of the places visited, but especially Matera, you will mainly be going up and down steps/slopes when walking around. Be prepared to be left to explore on your own at some point of every day, sometimes for quite a few hours! Castellana Caves is the option I did on the free day - superb caves, and big (3km underground, in sometimes slippery conditions, and very humid too - so we got very hot, especially as we had to wear FFP2 masks throughout the tour). I gather that Monopoli was very enjoyable from those in our group who chose that. Our guide arranged transfers to both, the cost of which was split between those going (so we paid 16 Euros for the cave transfer but those going to Monopoli paid 37.50 Euros as there were a lot fewer of them).
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