Italy: Puglia’s Undiscovered Coast

Depart from home and travel to Italy. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary.

Upon arrival at the airport in Bari, Italy, a VBT representative meets you and helps you transfer (approximately 1 hour) to your first night’s lodging.

If you are going to be delayed meeting the transfer for more than 15 minutes due to delayed or lost luggage, please let our driver know by calling or sending a text message to +39-330-96-49-27. Please type VBT Guest at the beginning of your text. The driver will be generally able to wait for up to 45 minutes from the time your flight lands, after which you would be responsible for your own transfer. You may also contact Allianz Global Assistance to advise of your delay, and they will contact the transfer company.

Upon arrival in Alberobello, meet your hosts and settle in the small resort and trullo dwelling (traditional Puglian stone hut) that VBT has selected for your stay. You will be accommodated in original 500-year-old dwellings or small homes, completely remodeled and very comfortable. A trullo is a whitewashed, round house topped by a large cone of local stones—all assembled without mortar. It is believed that trulli originated as storage sheds built for agricultural implements. Much later, they became dwellings, with adjoining buildings added as families grew. Like your room, most trulli have been refurbished and are used as cozy homes today. Some of the roofs show mysterious chalk marks, possibly either to protect the inhabitants from evil or to bless the dwelling.

Please note: You have the option of attending a cooking class the following morning before check-in to your masseria. You must tell your Alberobello host this evening if you would like to attend.

Dinner is on your own tonight in Alberobello.

Hotel: Trulli & Puglia

Enjoy your breakfast this morning. At 8:30 a.m., meet our local expert guide at your trullo reception, and stretch your legs on a guided walk through this unique city. Learn about trulli design and why this local style of architecture and the setting have been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

A transfer at 10:00 a.m. takes you to your first masseria, where you will stay for the next three days. Explore the peaceful surroundings on a self-guided walk (our representative will give you the VBT route directions), enjoy the amenities of this country resort, or maybe join in an optional cooking class organized by the masseria. Check-in time is 2:00 p.m., but you can store luggage with the reception desk and use the hotel amenities this morning.

For guests staying at Masseria Torre Coccaro you will have to reserve the optional cooking class by 7:00 p.m. the day before with your Alberobello guide, while you are in Alberobello, for the session starting at 10:30 a.m. the next day. You will learn how to prepare typical Apulian dishes. The price is €50 per person and includes lunch and drinks during the lunch.

For guests staying at Masseria Torre del Diamante, a cooking class of approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes with the masseria’s chef is included in your package. You will learn how to prepare typical Apulian dishes like taralli and focaccia. The workshop will extend through lunch and include your meal – a typical informal Apulian lunch that will include the fruits of your labor as well as refreshments. No reservations required.

Please be in the main lobby at 3:00 p.m., dressed and ready for biking for an intro and safety meeting. VBT trip leaders, who will be wearing VBT staff garments, will be in the main lobby beginning at 2:00 p.m. to answer any questions, provide assistance and collect your pedals if you brought your own.

Masseria is the local name for large farms, which were fortified around the 16th century to ward off attacks by pirates and brigands. Masserie feature high boundary walls, angular towers, drawbridges, and watchtowers. Inside the walls, families worked and lived alongside their own church, oil mill, and oven to bake bread. These farms would also house cisterns for water, storage rooms for tools and hay, stables, and everything else needed for day-to-day life. These days they are elegant country resorts, most of whom produce their own olive oil and produce from their grounds.

After meeting your VBT trip leaders early this afternoon, join them for a safety and bike-fitting session. Then take a short warm-up ride along quiet country roads, past 800-year-old olive groves to the fishing village of Savelletri..

Later, enjoy a welcome cocktail reception on the elegant hotel patio. Dinner is at the hotel restaurant and is prepared with local products and herbs produced on the farm.

Hotel: Masseria Torre Coccaro
Alternate Hotels: Masseria Torre del Diamante
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choice:
Cumulative Distance Range: 11 km (7 miles)

Afternoon
Savelletri Warm-Up Ride: 11 km (7 miles)

What to Expect: A loop in the countryside on a totally flat and paved terrain and through the fishing village of Savelletri.

This morning, you ride inland to Masseria Il Frantoio, another award-winning country hotel famous for the quality of the food. The estate extends over 150 acres and includes a “secret garden” planted with orange and lemon trees, as well as a well-preserved underground oil mill. Your hosts Armando and his wife Rosalba have collected many interesting odds and ends over the years, from ancient dresses and hats to precious books and a gramophone. Each piece has its own story, as you will see.

Your lunch at Il Frantoio is prepared using produce grown on the farm and is truly an experience of the five senses. You’ll also have the opportunity to try a sampling of five different extra-virgin oils that Rosalba uses to flavor her focaccia, pickles, preserves, and delicious laganari pasta.

Afterward, opt to relax or continue cycling to the hotel along the ancient Traian road. A longer and more challenging option takes you up to the white-washed city of Ostuni. End the day’s Puglia bike tour with a shuttle to the nearby small city of Savelletri on the sea. Pick a restaurant for your dinner on own tonight in the cozy pedestrian area.

Hotel: Masseria Torre Coccaro
Alternate Hotels: Masseria Torre del Diamante
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today’s Ride Choices:
Cumulative Distance Range: 20 – 67 km (12 – 41 miles)

Morning
Hotel to Il Frantoio: 28 km (17 miles)

Afternoon
Il Frantoio to Hotel: 20 km (12 miles)
Il Frantoio to Hotel (Extra): 19 km (12 miles)

What to Expect: A bike ride inland in a rural setting and by small villages. The extra optional ride will take you up on the hill of Ostuni and down toward the ocean before joining the Traian road back to the hotel. The regular afternoon ride takes you right in the countryside, skipping Ostuni, and on the quiet historical Traian road to the hotel.

After breakfast, you cycle along the coast and on quiet roads, completely surrounded by ancient olive trees. Puglia ranks first in Italy in the production of olive oil, wine, and hay, and second for almonds. You stop on the way to explore the archeological site of Egnatia, an ancient Messapican (and later Roman) coastal town of great economic and military importance in the 10th century. The museum reveals precious finds such as sculptures, jewels, funeral equipment, and the particular pottery produced here, called gnathia. Later, continue to Monopoli, where you’ll have the chance to visit the beautiful cathedral and the old harbor. Spend free time here strolling and eating lunch on your own. Walk the maze of pedestrian streets in Monopoli’s old city center and see how they make the city so uniquely intimate.

Shuttle or ride back along the sea to your masseria and enjoy the amenities. Dinner is included at the Masseria restaurant.

Hotel: Masseria Torre Coccaro
Alternate Hotels: Masseria Torre del Diamante
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:
Cumulative Distance Range: 18 – 68 km (11 – 41 miles)

Morning
Hotel to Monopoli: 27 km (16 miles)

Afternoon
Monopoli to Hotel: 18 km (11 miles)
Monopoli to Hotel (Extra): 23 km (14 miles)

What to Expect: Flat, coastal. Optional stop at the end of the ride at our masseria’s private beach, with short shuttle back to hotel. Extra optional ride: from Monopoli toward inland on a beautiful gradual and long uphill, followed by a rolling hilly road and then a very scenic downhill to our masseria.

Leave Savelletri and take a morning shuttle further south to embark on another day of stunning Puglia bike tours through Salento. Begin biking from the walled city of Acaya. Ride through the ancient city archway on country roads free from traffic and marked as bike paths. You reach the rugged coast and enjoy the spectacular view of Torre dell’Orso village, rising steeply from the sea and sandy bay. The village is a good spot to buy some lunch before hitting the road again, or enjoy a shuttle to the hotel. The afternoon offers more fun cycling on quiet country roads and along the small Alimini Lakes till your next hotel.

After settling in your romantic masseria, you may want to enjoy the hotel amenities or relax with a good book. Dinner is at a nearby cozy masseria tonight.

Hotel: Masseria Montelauro
Alternate Hotel: Masseria Muntibianchi
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:
Cumulative Distance Range: 18 – 68 km (11 – 41 miles)

Morning
Acaya to Torre dell’Orso: 18 km (11 miles)

Afternoon
Torre dell’Orso to Hotel: 26 km (16 miles)

What to Expect: A beautiful bike ride in the countryside mostly on marked bike roads till Torre dell’Orso on the sea, where we pause for lunch. Afternoon: more country roads and some easy rolling hills by the Alimini Lakes, then a final flat stretch to our masseria.

Bike from your hotel on country roads and cycle through sleeping villages, where a stop in a colorful local bar for an Italian coffee can be a great discovery. Your route is shaded by big olive trees and old oaks as you head toward the sea. By lunch time you get to an organic farm near the sea, where the friendly owners Antonio and Marina open their secret garden to host a picnic lunch prepared by your trip leaders.

Later continue to Otranto and discover this picturesque town on the Italian coast. Founded by the Greeks, Otranto is surrounded by great ramparts and walls. From late spring onward, its atmosphere is extremely lively with local craft studios selling clay whistles, baskets, hand-dyed fabric, and ceramics. The city’s highlight is certainly the huge, 8,611-square-foot floor mosaic representing the Tree of Life, created in 1163 by a monk in the Otranto Cathedral. In Otranto, you can also take time for a dip in the sea.

Today’s Puglia bike tour ends with a cycle through flat country roads, where you’ll catch sight of menhirs and dolmens—ancient monoliths and tombs—before getting back to your hotel. This evening, you shuttle to Otranto for dinner on your own at one of the many outdoor cafés or restaurants. Or, if you prefer, enjoy dinner at the hotel.

Hotel: Masseria Montelauro
Alternate Hotel: Masseria Muntibianchi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today’s Ride Choices:
Cumulative Distance Range: 7 – 48 km (4 – 30 miles)

Morning
Hotel to Agriturismo Fontanelle: 32 km (20 miles)

Afternoon
Agriturismo Fontanelle to Otranto: 7 km (4 miles)
Otranto to Hotel: 9 km (6 miles)

What to Expect: The ride today is concentrated in the morning in order to have time in the afternoon to explore the historical capital of Salento, the city of Otranto and maybe swim. The ride takes us from our masseria toward the interior on paved country roads free from car traffic. Afternoon ride: short and flat by olive groves to our masseria hotel. The extra optional ride is an easy to moderate loop with undulating terrain starting from Otranto, around Alimini Piccolo lake.

After breakfast, you set out on one of the best Puglia bike tours in all of Italy. Starting in the interior of Salento, you follow gentle rural pathways through little villages to the coastal town of Castro Marina.

Continue to Santa Cesarea, a quiet town set on the edge of the Adriatic Sea, where you can enjoy lunch on your own in one of the many cozy cafes on the sea. From here, you follow the cliffs to the town of Porto Badisco, famous for its azure waters and prehistoric Cervi Grottoes, before continuing to Cape Otranto, the easternmost tip of Italy. You cycle back to the hotel in time to freshen up before a special farewell dinner at your masseria restaurant to feast with Puglia wines and specialties.

Hotel: Masseria Montelauro
Alternate Hotel: Masseria Muntibianchi
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:
Cumulative Distance Range: 14 – 39 km (9 – 24 miles)

Morning
Hotel to Santa Cesarea Terme: 25 km (15 miles)

Afternoon
Hotel to Santa Cesarea Terme: 14 km (9 miles)

What to Expect: Most panoramic bike ride of the week and mostly coastal! There is one major uphill after lunch, that one can skip with a short van shuttle.

Transfer to the Hotel Patria Palace in Lecce, an elegant and centrally located 5-star hotel, arriving at about 10:30 a.m. Lecce is a beautiful Baroque city, called “the Florence of the South” thanks to the skill with which local builders and stonemasons worked the soft, pink-tinged local stone called pietra dorata.

Explore Piazza Sant’Oronzo, the city’s main square and the heart of local activities for centuries. The square’s centerpiece is the Roman amphitheater. From here, narrow streets fan out into the city’s charming quarters.

The gem of Lecce is Piazza Duomo, enclosed on three sides by the cathedral and two palaces belonging to the church. Though this is one of the largest squares in Europe, it has an intimate feel that invites people-watching from a local café or bakery. Your VBT City Information provides useful recommendations for exploring on your own for the rest of the day. Dinner is on your own tonight.

Hotel: Patria Palace Hotel
Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast, transfer to the Brindisi airport for your flight to Rome or your flight back home. VBT recommends that you check the transfer time in your “Transfer Reminder” the night before your flight. The transfer is prearranged with the reception desk and is prepaid by VBT.

Please note: VBT transfer times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you extend your stay beyond the scheduled program dates, return transportation to the airport will be at your own expense.

Meals: Breakfast

Meet your VBT trip leaders at 2:00 p.m. in the lobby of the first masseria in Fasano. To get to the masseria, you can take a taxi from the Bari railway station (the cost is approx. 130 Euros) or the Bari airport (approx. 140 Euros). Or you can contact our transfer company in advance (TAXI SERVICE, Anthony, [email protected], phone +39 330 964927) and book directly with them. They provide transfer from the Bari airport at a special rate of 120 Euros. You can also travel to the masseria by train from Bari (the closest airport) or Rome. The closest railway station to the masseria is FASANO. If you take a train from Rome to Fasano, you may need to connect in Bari. Once in Fasano, call the masseria to arrange for a taxi or shuttle pickup (approximately a 10-minute drive). If your arrival at the masseria is scheduled later than 2:00 p.m. or if you are delayed, please contact the hotel, and the staff will pass your message along to your VBT trip leaders. Leaders will not start the safety talk until 3:00 p.m., so in case of delay, make sure you come dressed and ready for biking at 3:00 p.m. in the main lobby.

VBT highly recommends flying to Italy at least one day before the tour begins; this allows you to rest and recover from jet lag before you begin sightseeing and cycling.

For guests staying at Masseria Torre Coccaro you have the option of partaking in VBT Cooking School, organized for you by VBT and a big highlight for many Puglia travelers! In this cooking class you will learn how to prepare typical Apulian dishes before dining on the fruits of your labor. You will have to reserve by 7:00 p.m. the day before by contacting the masseria directly, for the session starting at 10:30 a.m. the next day. The price is €50 per person and includes lunch and drinks during the lunch.

For guests staying at Masseria Torre del Diamante, a cooking class of approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes with the masseria’s chef can be reserved by 7:00 p.m. the day before, by contacting the masseria directly. You will have fun while learning how to prepare typical Apulian dishes like taralli and focaccia. The workshop will extend through lunch and include your meal – a typical informal Apulian lunch that will feature the fruits of your labor as well as refreshments. The price is €40 per person.

Please be in the main lobby at 3:00 p.m., dressed and ready for biking for an intro and safety meeting. VBT trip leaders, who will be wearing VBT staff garments, will be in the main lobby beginning at 2:00 p.m. to answer any questions, provide assistance and collect your pedals if you brought your own.

Masseria is the local name for large farms, which were fortified around the 16th century to ward off attacks by pirates and brigands. Masserie feature high boundary walls, angular towers, drawbridges, and watchtowers. Inside the walls, families worked and lived alongside their own church, oil mill, and oven to bake bread. These farms would also house cisterns for water, storage rooms for tools and hay, stables, and everything else needed for day-to-day life. These days they are elegant country resorts, most of whom produce their own olive oil and produce from their grounds.

After meeting your VBT trip leaders early this afternoon, join them for a safety and bike-fitting session. Then take a short warm-up ride along quiet country roads, past 800-year-old olive groves to the fishing village of Savelletri.

Later, enjoy a welcome cocktail reception on the elegant hotel patio. Dinner is at the hotel restaurant and is prepared with local products and herbs produced on the farm.

Hotel: Masseria Torre Coccaro
Alternate Hotels: Masseria Torre del Diamante
Meals: Dinner

Today’s Ride Choice:
Cumulative Distance Range: 11 km (7 miles)

Afternoon
Savelletri Warm-Up Ride: 11 km (7 miles)

What to Expect: A loop in the countryside on a totally flat and paved terrain and through the fishing village of Savelletri.

This morning, you ride inland to Masseria Il Frantoio, another award-winning country hotel famous for the quality of the food. The estate extends over 150 acres and includes a “secret garden” planted with orange and lemon trees, as well as a well-preserved underground oil mill. Your hosts Armando and his wife Rosalba have collected many interesting odds and ends over the years, from ancient dresses and hats to precious books and a gramophone. Each piece has its own story, as you will see.

Your lunch at Il Frantoio is prepared using produce grown on the farm and is truly an experience of the five senses. You’ll also have the opportunity to try a sampling of five different extra-virgin oils that Rosalba uses to flavor her focaccia, pickles, preserves, and delicious laganari pasta.

Afterward, opt to relax or continue cycling to the hotel along the ancient Traian road. A longer and more challenging option takes you up to the white-washed city of Ostuni. End the day’s Puglia bike tour with a shuttle to the nearby small city of Savelletri on the sea. Pick a restaurant for your dinner on own tonight in the cozy pedestrian area.

Hotel: Masseria Torre Coccaro
Alternate Hotels: Masseria Torre del Diamante
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today’s Ride Choices:
Cumulative Distance Range: 20 – 67 km (12 – 41 miles)

Morning
Hotel to Il Frantoio: 28 km (17 miles)

Afternoon
Il Frantoio to Hotel: 20 km (12 miles)
Il Frantoio to Hotel (Extra): 19 km (12 miles)

What to Expect: A bike ride inland in a rural setting and by small villages. The extra optional ride will take you up on the hill of Ostuni and down toward the ocean before joining the Traian road back to the hotel. The regular afternoon ride takes you right in the countryside, skipping Ostuni, and on the quiet historical Traian road to the hotel.

After breakfast, you cycle along the coast and on quiet roads, completely surrounded by ancient olive trees. Puglia ranks first in Italy in the production of olive oil, wine, and hay, and second for almonds. You stop on the way to explore the archeological site of Egnatia, an ancient Messapican (and later Roman) coastal town of great economic and military importance in the 10th century. The museum reveals precious finds such as sculptures, jewels, funeral equipment, and the particular pottery produced here, called gnathia. Later, continue to Monopoli, where you’ll have the chance to visit the beautiful cathedral and the old harbor. Spend free time here strolling and eating lunch on your own. Walk the maze of pedestrian streets in Monopoli’s old city center and see how they make the city so uniquely intimate.

Shuttle or ride back along the sea to your masseria and enjoy the amenities. Dinner is included at the Masseria restaurant.

Hotel: Masseria Torre Coccaro
Alternate Hotels: Masseria Torre del Diamante
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:
Cumulative Distance Range: 18 – 68 km (11 – 41 miles)

Morning
Hotel to Monopoli: 27 km (16 miles)

Afternoon
Monopoli to Hotel: 18 km (11 miles)
Monopoli to Hotel (Extra): 23 km (14 miles)

What to Expect: Flat, coastal. Optional stop at the end of the ride at our masseria’s private beach, with short shuttle back to hotel. Extra optional ride: from Monopoli toward inland on a beautiful gradual and long uphill, followed by a rolling hilly road and then a very scenic downhill to our masseria.

Leave Savelletri and take a morning shuttle further south to embark on another day of stunning Puglia bike tours through Salento. Begin biking from the walled city of Acaya. Ride through the ancient city archway on country roads free from traffic and marked as bike paths. You reach the rugged coast and enjoy the spectacular view of Torre dell’Orso village, rising steeply from the sea and sandy bay. The village is a good spot to buy some lunch before hitting the road again, or enjoy a shuttle to the hotel. The afternoon offers more fun cycling on quiet country roads and along the small Alimini Lakes till your next hotel.

After settling in your romantic masseria, you may want to enjoy the hotel amenities or relax with a good book. Dinner is at a nearby cozy masseria tonight.

Hotel: Masseria Montelauro
Alternate Hotel: Masseria Muntibianchi
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:
Cumulative Distance Range: 18 – 68 km (11 – 41 miles)

Morning
Acaya to Torre dell’Orso: 18 km (11 miles)

Afternoon
Torre dell’Orso to Hotel: 26 km (16 miles)

What to Expect: A beautiful bike ride in the countryside mostly on marked bike roads till Torre dell’Orso on the sea, where we pause for lunch. Afternoon: more country roads and some easy rolling hills by the Alimini Lakes, then a final flat stretch to our masseria.

Bike from your hotel on country roads and cycle through sleeping villages, where a stop in a colorful local bar for an Italian coffee can be a great discovery. Your route is shaded by big olive trees and old oaks as you head toward the sea. By lunch time you get to an organic farm near the sea, where the friendly owners Antonio and Marina open their secret garden to host a picnic lunch prepared by your trip leaders.

Later continue to Otranto and discover this picturesque town on the Italian coast. Founded by the Greeks, Otranto is surrounded by great ramparts and walls. From late spring onward, its atmosphere is extremely lively with local craft studios selling clay whistles, baskets, hand-dyed fabric, and ceramics. The city’s highlight is certainly the huge, 8,611-square-foot floor mosaic representing the Tree of Life, created in 1163 by a monk in the Otranto Cathedral. In Otranto, you can also take time for a dip in the sea.

Today’s Puglia bike tour ends with a cycle through flat country roads, where you’ll catch sight of menhirs and dolmens—ancient monoliths and tombs—before getting back to your hotel. This evening, you shuttle to Otranto for dinner on your own at one of the many outdoor cafés or restaurants. Or, if you prefer, enjoy dinner at the hotel.

Hotel: Masseria Montelauro
Alternate Hotel: Masseria Muntibianchi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today’s Ride Choices:
Cumulative Distance Range: 7 – 48 km (4 – 30 miles)

Morning
Hotel to Agriturismo Fontanelle: 32 km (20 miles)

Afternoon
Agriturismo Fontanelle to Otranto: 7 km (4 miles)
Otranto to Hotel: 9 km (6 miles)

What to Expect: The ride today is concentrated in the morning in order to have time in the afternoon to explore the historical capital of Salento, the city of Otranto and maybe swim. The ride takes us from our masseria toward the interior on paved country roads free from car traffic. Afternoon ride: short and flat by olive groves to our masseria hotel. The extra optional ride is an easy to moderate loop with undulating terrain starting from Otranto, around Alimini Piccolo lake.

After breakfast, you set out on one of the best Puglia bike tours in all of Italy. Starting in the interior of Salento, you follow gentle rural pathways through little villages to the coastal town of Castro Marina.

Continue to Santa Cesarea, a quiet town set on the edge of the Adriatic Sea, where you can enjoy lunch on your own in one of the many cozy cafes on the sea. From here, you follow the cliffs to the town of Porto Badisco, famous for its azure waters and prehistoric Cervi Grottoes, before continuing to Cape Otranto, the easternmost tip of Italy. You cycle back to the hotel in time to freshen up before a special farewell dinner at your masseria restaurant to feast with Puglia wines and specialties.

Hotel: Masseria Montelauro
Alternate Hotel: Masseria Muntibianchi
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today’s Ride Choices:
Cumulative Distance Range: 14 – 39 km (9 – 24 miles)

Morning
Hotel to Santa Cesarea Terme: 25 km (15 miles)

Afternoon
Hotel to Santa Cesarea Terme: 14 km (9 miles)

What to Expect: Most panoramic bike ride of the week and mostly coastal! There is one major uphill after lunch, that one can skip with a short van shuttle.

After breakfast, transfer to the Brindisi airport, arriving at approximately 11:30 a.m.

Please note: For guests with early-morning departures, breakfast at the hotel may not be available.

Please check with the front desk to verify the times that breakfast is served.

Important: Flight departures from Brindisi prior to 1:30 p.m. are not recommended; those departing earlier must make transfer arrangements at their own expense from the last hotel in Otranto to Brindisi (approximately 1 hour). The cost of a taxi to the Brindisi airport is approximately 80 euros ($87 USD). The motorcoach will first stop in Lecce to drop VBT Air Package guests and then continue to the Brindisi airport. You are welcome to get off in Lecce if you prefer.

Meals: Breakfast