October 11, 2023
We are going to Puglia this year in October. Anyone else going? Has anyone gone on this tour in 2022? If so, any tips or comments? Thanks in advance.
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We are going to Puglia this year in October. Anyone else going? Has anyone gone on this tour in 2022? If so, any tips or comments? Thanks in advance.
Comments
It is a wonderful trip, my favorite so far. You will love it.
Hi Liz, we took this tour last year and arrived the night before. We had a private tour of Matera with Amy Weideman which we enjoyed very much. You can google her. There is a fair amount of walking up and down slippery steps in Matera so bring your best grip shoes if you plan to do much exploring. Even though there was a bit of overlap with the Tauck local guide, we were glad that we spent the morning with her. Besides the tour, she recommended "I Vizi degli Angeli" for gelato (fantastic) and Falco Grillaio as a restaurant, but we could not get in because it was fully booked. We also ate at 3 other restaurants that we enjoyed: Osteria San Francesco, Bollicine, and Tierra. On our own, we visited Palombaro Lungo, the ancient cistern, and we also did some shopping for interesting local gifts in the Sassi Barisano, including a hand-carved stamp to press your initials into homemade bread. Besides Matera, we really enjoyed visiting the trulli in Alberobello and the boat ride to Polignano a Mare. You will taste some really nice wines that are local to the region, and the Adriatic is so beautiful. There was a cooking class/evening at a country in that was also really enjoyable. My only disappointment, which hopefully has been remedied by now, is that with all the focus on olive trees in the region, there was no specific olive oil tasting experience. We did have a meal where different types were served, but there was no presentation.
I have never been to Italy in the fall and hope to do that soon! You will really enjoy the trip.
We took this tour when it was brand new with friends. I’m sure it has been tweeked from then, some people did not care for it but we had a great time. We went in jte Fall but there was a heatwave at that time. I did not do a photo book but I think wrote a review. Although I usually never prioritize hotels on tours as being that important, we did stay at one of the most unusual and fabulous hotels there and when we get together with those friends, we still talk about it. It was the Borgo Ignasia, but I don’t believe Tauck uses it any more. Everything was white, stacks of newspapers tied with string and sacks of grain were used for decor, sounds weird but the whole place was fantastic. There was a gorgeous saltwater indoor pool. Justin Timberlake got married there sometime before our trip. We pre stayed there as well as at the end of the tour because it’s the only time Tauck could not honor the gift of time for the start hotel as the hotel was full, so we had to use the Borgo instead and clearly we got the better deal. Regarding olive oil tasting, we have had so many of them on Tauck tours, same with coffee plantations! The visit to the cheese making factory was fun.
Thank you both for your comments and suggestions. We do stay at the Borgia Egnazia on our sixth and seventh nights as well as on our own on the next night.
This trip was fantastic! Very different than the west coast of Italy and the usual places tourists visit. We highly recommend it. Had a terrific TD Tom.