Winter in Italy: Puglia’s Hidden Gems

Wonderful chance to see Southern Italy and its small towns with unique architecture and foods - a chance to go back in time and see inside small trulli (round stone houses) and small cave dwellings (sassi), to see how people lived. The olive oil tasting, cooking class and walking tours were wonderful!

This is an exceptional opportunity to visit a lesser-known part of Italy at a time when it's not overrun with tourists. Our group leader was highly skilled and knowledgeable and the sites were amazing. I highly recommend it.

We loved our Road Scholar trip to Puglia, and can't wait to plan our next RS adventure!

I would strongly recommend this trip to anyone who is interested in learning about southern Italy and the history that make it what it is today. Most importantly to any trip is the guide, and our guide, Gianluca Tonti, was outstanding. This was our first Roads Scholar adventure. He enhanced the trip for us, combining his historical expertise and knowledge of Puglia and Basilicata with his profound love of the region and the people who live there.

Winter in Italy:Puglia was my first trip to Europe, Italy, and with Road Scholar. It was a life altering event for me. Puglia is a beautiful region with much to see and do. The hotels were wonderful once the bathing, heating, and lighting equipment were explained. The food was delicious and varied. Always variety and interesting combinations that I will attempt at home. I will never think of dining in the same way again. Each interaction was lovely, from the beautiful & kind, apron vendor, Yolanda, to the young college student who assisted me with the thieving vending machines, to the adorable cats (everywhere!), to our planned interactions: cooking with cheeky Chef Maya (Allora!), touring Masseria Brancati; and Sassi guide, Aimie (all having extensive knowledge of their subject matter). The history of Puglia is so extensive and complex, it requires a very knowledgeable guide. Gianluca T. was that perfect travel guide. Gianluca is from the region of Puglia and can respond to questions without hesitation. He’s interested in learning from his travelers about where they come from & has sincere concern for his travelers. He has the ability to make you feel as if he is available solely for you. I witnessed this each day as he checked in with each of us regarding our level of comfort, wants, and needs, but more specifically when he checked in with a fellow traveler, who has a health issue, to ensure she was feeling well and able to continue and enjoy her day of adventure. There is so much more to be said about Puglia, its history, its people, and Gianluca, but, unfortunately, there are not enough characters available in this small space! Gianluca, Thank you for a very memorable trip. I echo Laurie's message, "You are the perfect blend of knowledge, enthusiasm, humor, warmth and genuine concern that makes a travel experience outstanding." I have found a new passion for travel and Italy! I would love to travel with you again and will recommend you to anyone. Grazie mille!

Fantastic adventure with Gianluca & all my travel friends in Puglia Italy. What a wonderful group to have a great adventure with.

A short 5-day program, net of travel time to a somewhat remote destination, but well worth the effort and a fine time of learning from tour guide and fellow participants. Thanks Road Scholar!

We had a great experience and learned a lot--such fascinating things we saw and heard about.

The tour of Puglia led by Gianlucca was amazing! I highly recommend it!

What a great experience! Varied activities and experiences, in an area I knew very little about. And the best tour leader I have had in many years of travel only added to a great trip.

The trip to Puglia in November was superb. No crowds, great weather and a tour guide, Gianluca Tonti, who mesmerized all of us with his knowledge, warmth, good humor and concern for our having hte best possible experience. Make sure you get one of his tours!

This was such a wonderful trip! I didn't know what to expect, but Lecce is an absolute jewel of a city. The other cities we visited were gems as well. Otranto, Alberobello, Locorotondo, Matera -- breathtaking! I knew virtually nothing of the history of the region and so each day was a discovery. Food, towns, architecture, history...all fascinating. And to be there at the start of the holiday season was such a treat. My only regret was that the trip wasn't longer...I could have spent the entire week in Lecce!

Treat yourself to a mid-winter Italian holiday! Explore little-known sites, eat delicious food, drink great wine, meet far-flung friends, all along ancient stone streets. You'll feel like you are part of history.

Winter in Puglia is so more more than an extension of summer. Learn about the history of southern Italy and the customs that make it special.

Our tour guide, Gianluca Tonti, was a patient, companionable, and overall knowledgeable and friendly guide. He greatly enhanced the tour experience and made the tour as good as it was. My fellow road scholars seemed to appreciate him as well. It was a nice group of like-minded travelers and it was fun to tour with them. The only downside to the trip was some of the food at our lunch or dinner stops. Mostly it was exceptional except for the preponderance of seafood and lack of pasta dishes. One dinner at the hotel in Martina Franca, the Park Hotel San Michele, was really bad as it had meats included that were inedible to most of us. Gianluca had to have the kitchen staff bring more amenable food for us. I know that local dishes are important but so is the taste of most Americans on these tours. Overall this is a minor issue and the tour was very good.

An outstanding trip to see the heel of Italy - Puglia. A great balance of seeing churches and art and amazing small towns and sea views! Also, you can participate - hands-on making Italian (Puglia-specialties) food. And, a terrific knowledgeable guide - Gianluca Tonti.

This was a very interesting program and I enjoyed it very much. February is the perfect time to visit Puglia as we did not run into any other tour groups and could explore easily. Our guide was fantastic; very knowledgeable and personable. We visited several towns that were unlike any others I had visited. The food and wine were fantastic.

I have visited Italy about a dozen times & thought I "knew" Italy. However, Puglia's Hidden Gems was my first visit to Puglia and it certainly won't be my last. What a true "hidden gem". Our guide, Emanuela, is a native of Lecce and her love of and knowledge about the region was apparent upon first meeting her. She captured our hearts with her passion for the history of the region, baroque architecture, food and customs. Emanuela was most accommodating and patient with all of our group and no request was too difficult or no question too silly. She balanced the educational part of the tour with humorous stories about customs, foods and language. The accommodations in both Lecce & Martina Franca were very central and offered very clean, modern rooms and friendly staff. (The Patria Palace in Lecce was exceptional). There was just the right amount of free time vs touring/sightseeing and the variety kept everyone engaged and interested. The highlights for me were the truli of Alberobello & the sassi of Matera (both are "not-to-be-missed" sites) and of course, the food and wine. We indulged in every regional speciality accompanied by the delicious local wines. The pace of life in southern Italy is so much more relaxed than the more well known regions. I highly recommend this trip!

A good trip. The hotel in Alberobello (Grand Hotel Olimpo) was not up to the usual Road Scholar standards. Besides being a mile from town and looking like an old Holiday Inn, the food was not very good. While I don't expect gourmet food with RS this was below normal. Note food and hotel in Oaranto were very good. Good guide - lots of knowledge and passion about southern Italy. Hope she is on your use often list.

We enjoyed this brief visit to Puglia. Emanuella was a nice and patient group leader. As someone who grew up in the area, she knew all about the area's culture and history, and her running commentary was interesting and informative. Most interesting were the rock city of Matera, the Truli buildings in the town of Alberobello, and the visit to the vintage olive grove with trees dating to Roman times. A good trip overall.

Truly a hidden gem, Puglia is a beautiful and vibrant area easily overshadowed by some of the more well-known sites.

The December trip to Puglia was our first group tour, although we have travelled much the world on self-organized trips. We were worried about being trapped in a group we couldn't relate to. Turned out that it was quite the opposite: a wonderful and diverse group of people who we got to know and enjoy, and an outstanding instructor who was knowledgeable and full of good humor. She could make it as a standup comic and has a PhD in art and architectural history was well. Only to be outdone by the cooking instructor's good humor. We saw six marvelous places, touring with the group and wandering on our own. December was the ideal time to visit, when all the towns are decked out for Christmas, and largely free of the crush of international tourism that we learned flocks to Puglia in the warmer seasons. We learned about the culture of the places, how they came about and the issues they currently face. I learned a lot, and city design is my field of study and work. We will look for other Road Scholar adventures in the future. Gary Hack, retired faculty member.

Your understanding of Italy is not complete if you have never traveled to Puglia or beyond the southern borders of Rome. I highly recommend this trip.

Outstanding guide, Daniela, and an outstanding variety of experiences and fun - special mention goes to the cooking experience in Lecce, the visit to the olive oil mill, and Matera. The weeks leading up to Christmas come with an extra bonus of holiday lights and decorations - a beautiful time to visit Italy. This was my second Winter in Italy trip in two years. Italy during the quiet off-season is a real treat.

Beautiful and interesting area of Italy. Variety of experiences and excellent guide.

I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. Highlights were: Emmanuela and her preparation and knowledge for each location, the cooking class in Lecce, the olive grove visit at a Masseria and olive tasting. I learned so much everywhere. Suggestions for improvement: definitely include tickets for going into the churches in Lecce. Now that there is a charge to go into 4 of the churches, we didn’t do that as part of the group tour. I did it on my own during free time and it was so worth the 9 euros; staying in Alberobello for 3 nights was a bit long.....there is not much to do there and it’s very touristy. Bari, on the other hand, which was a short morning visit, would have been a great location to stay, do day trips out of there, and have access to more museums, restaurants, activities. And the airport is right there so no super early morning alarm. It was my first group tour and I really enjoyed all of it.

Wow What a wonderful week. Loved everything about this tour. This far exceeded my expectations.

I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing Italy's Salento region for the first time including all of the cities and landmark areas included. The weather the first week of March was mild and sunny. We were able to enjoy eating at an outdoor cafe on our last day. The almond trees were in bloom too. All in all a great adventure.

Our week in Puglia was an absolutely fabulous experience! Every day was varied and different from the one before. And the fact that we did it in the off-season meant that there were no crowds to deal with anywhere! This is a trip you don't want to miss!!

It works quite well and where I had trouble on one occasion, I received excellent help by phone.

'Winter In' Puglia was fantastic, highly recommend. Lesser traveled area with excellent local guide. Spans smaller villages, seaside, olive groves with thousand+ year old trees, 2 UNESCO sites, and larger towns such as Lecce and Bari. Architecture and history were very interesting and presented in an engaging way. Fun cooking class. A tremendous value. Go if you can! (While January and February can be rainy, it was fine with all weather jacket and shoes).

I knew little about Puglia before the trip, but my experience with the Road Scholar tour gave me an understanding or the area that I will never forget.

If you have ever heard of a "trulli" or the term "Sassi" and want to learn more and see a unique part of Italy in the process, this is the trip for you.

The Winter in Italy: Puglia’s Hidden Gems truly exceeded my expectations....But be advised: “winter in...” generally means that it will be cold and not the high tourist season. So layer and dress appropriately!! I LOVED IT!!