Welcome to Tauck’s A Week In... Puglia Forum

Tauck Emily

Welcome to Tauck’s A Week In... Puglia Forum - Find the answers to your trip questions, answer questions posted by fellow travelers, plus share your Tauck experiences and stories. Stop by often and join in on the discussions.

jdurkin

I notice you have released 2016 dates for many other Italian trips. Will you be offering this one in 2016?

Cheers,

Jan

British

Ah Jan! The secret is out, this is our Tauck tour this year. and! We have two first time Tauck friends going with us, so I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. It sold out so quickly I was afraid the last places would go before Mr. B. figured out whether his work schedule would allow him to go. It was very complicated to book because there were no pre-stay rooms left at all in the hotel, so we have to stay elsewhere and then move to the start hotel

jdurkin

Great minds and all that! I was playing with the idea of combining Puglia with Sicily ... I'm not interested in leaving home for just a one week trip! I'll be really interested to see your report!

Cheers,

Jan

crackers54

If it sold out that quickly I would say they are probably going to offer it. I am wanting to do the northern Italy tour next year and can't wait till they are out. I am newly retired, so will not have to wait till vacation seletions to chose my weeks.

British

I am sure a lot of people jumped at the chance to go to a less popular or well known part of Italy. In addition, for us, we could manage to do it because it was just a one week tour, we were still able to add two days. Then all vacation gone for this year. If Tauck wants to attract younger dlients who still work, seven to ten day trips are more do-able. Can you believe in England I got seven week's vacation when I worked!
It will be interesting to see if Tauck has to tweek this trip after it goes live, we have done a couple of their new tours before that's ended up being changed a little to improve them once they had run a few times.
This year we had to figure in a week's vacation with both of our children and their spouses who now have young babes, funny how suddenly they want to go on vacation with us, wonder why that is? But really we can't wait to hang out with them even though they all live nearby, it will be lovely.

jdurkin

Ah, that would be the attraction of grandparents! A possible moment or two of parental freedom. Even an hour! Even a grandpa inspired upset tummy could be worth that!

I was going to comment about the momentous changes of 1865 ... but that's really not the slightest bit funny today, is it.

Well, as long as you actually get authentic Italian food in Puglia, your 5 days leave should be worth it.

Salivating in anticipation!

British

I am hoping someone who has been on this tour will post a review!

MARGOR

We would also like to see comments as we are scheduled for the June 12 trip.

MARGOR

This was one of our most memorable trips! It was a treat to be in a less visited area with no crowds and so many unique experiences. The masseria experience simply can't be explained and our photos do not do them justice. How do you tell someone you slept in a luxurious grotto (no spiders or bats). I know we lucked out on our room selection and not everyone had those accommodations but I heard no complaints from anyone. And the food...... beautiful breakfast presentations and other meals were great. I do think we missed out on eating some local peasant-type food, but I have found recipes to try at home. Frankly, I don't ever want to see octopus again, but there was always more than ample other dishes. Gelato in Lecce...YUM! Our evening stroll in Lecce made us feel just like locals.

Cave dwellings and trulli........who knew such existed in Italy? Visiting the studios of the artisans was a highlight. Beautiful work! Even the ubiquitous Italian winery, dairy and olive oil presser tours were a delight. Such wonderful, warm people.

We were fortunate to be able to spend an extra day on each end of this trip and wish it could have been more.

This is the beginning of our fourth week home and we are still basking in warm memories. This was one trip we would repeat again in a New York minute.

sailorguy

TBird02 wrote:

We would also like to see comments as we are scheduled for the June 12 trip.

TBird02: So excited to read your awesome review of Puglia !We are booked for this trip for October 2016. ?: Did you transfer from Rome to Bari? Any tips would be helpful. We know there is a plane/train option. We did the Tauck Amalfi/Rome/Capri trip and loved every minute..We Will go a day earlier and then get back to Rome for 2 days..Again: Thanks so much for a review..We have been anxiously awaiting..Bill/Joanne

British

Bill and Joanne, we wil be going on this tour coming up soon! I will be sure to post a review. I know you said you are going to Rome at the end, but just in case you change your mind and want to avoid Rome as we do, been there a couple of times and definitely not our favorite part of Italy, fed up of all the pick pocket tricks. We are flying Lufthansa from Newark to Munich and then to Bari and the reverse home. As soon as you throw Bari into the mix, it really limits you choice of flights. We are going premium economy over the Atlantic which is a very reasonable price indeed, Tauck did the booking for us. We are excited to be going with friends who are first time Tauckers.

MARGOR

We flew Delta and flew from Rome to Bari. Not the best connections. Even worse returning as we were picked up at 4am! to get to the airport for several hours layover. I am sure there are better ways.

Tips: You are so wise to go a day early. You can relax at the unique pool or beachside. The beach club has an excellent seafood restaurant. Very good food. Tauck uses two sister masseria on the front end of this tour. They share the same beach club. We were at the Masseria Torre Coccaro but folks who visited the other said it was equally nice. We were sad to leave.

In Lecce the entrees at La Torre di Merlino was a tad disappointing to most of us. Enjoy the antipasti and wine. On our free night we went inside the same restaurant and enjoyed delicious pizza. About half of our group was there. Do not skip gelato at Natale on the Via Trinchese. It is a beautiful shop and has the best gelato. (We travel on our bellies)

In Cisternino opt for the "Arrosteria" lunch, a very different experience. It's a good idea to go in with Tauck director or the local guide who can show you the ropes. You order your meat in a butcher shop, they grill it and you order side dishes from a different place.

At the end you might want to skip Rome and stay longer at Borgo Egnazia. It is a very sophisticated property compared with the first masseria. You don't get there until mid to late afternoon so there is very little time to explore. A couple days of relaxing after this busy trip might be welcome.

We, too, did the Amalfi trip a few years ago. We need to repeat it as it rained every day.
Enjoy Puglia.

British

Thanks for the tips. When we booked, Tauck could not offer us any pre stay nights at the two messaria, we have never had this problem in the past, they just could not help us, but we were able to book two nights pre-stays at the Borgo Egnazia instead, independently, I think the price was similar to Tauck. We are always keen to get onto European time before a tour starts, though I do think that this will be a tour where there are not many early starts. I believe our flights are about 11-45am on return flights. Did you have Tauck book flights for you? They often contract with Delta and we soon found after our first few tours with them that there are much better options and routing than Tauck offers, but they can book other flights for you too, a lot of people do not realize this, we chose the flights we wanted.

MARGOR

We booked travel on our own as we like to explore all options and I am a control freak! I must say, though, when Tauck has booked for us, we just told them what we wanted and they worked with us. They seem like to use United often and living in the south, Delta usually works better for us. We should have explored options a bit more because I think we could have got on an Italian budget airline flight for Rome/Bari. Even some people Tauck booked had the 4am pickup. It was an adventure, so no complaints.

sailorguy

British: Have a wonderful Tauck Puglia trip..Please post a review..Thanks: Bill/Joanne

sailorguy

TBird02: Thanks for the great tips: "lunch" sounds fun..We fly from NYC area using air miles, so that will determine extra nights at the end..Borgo sounds like a possibility, but we do like Rome..?: Same dress code for evening attire as other Tauck trips? Also: any chance of taking a boat ride during free time? We did this on our own while on Capri and loved it..( no crowds)..Again: Thanks: Bill/Joanne

British

sailorguy wrote:

TBird02: Thanks for the great tips: "lunch" sounds fun..We fly from NYC area using air miles, so that will determine extra nights at the end..Borgo sounds like a possibility, but we do like Rome..?: Same dress code for evening attire as other Tauck trips? Also: any chance of taking a boat ride during free time? We did this on our own while on Capri and loved it..( no crowds)..Again: Thanks: Bill/Joanne

How about contacting the hotel to ask the boat question?

British

sailorguy wrote:

TBird02: Thanks for the great tips: "lunch" sounds fun..We fly from NYC area using air miles, so that will determine extra nights at the end..Borgo sounds like a possibility, but we do like Rome..?: Same dress code for evening attire as other Tauck trips? Also: any chance of taking a boat ride during free time? We did this on our own while on Capri and loved it..( no crowds)..Again: Thanks: Bill/Joanne

BOAT RIDE---there are boats to rent at the Borgo and other water activities, but you will only have time to do this if you stay n an extra day or so.