Magnificent South – Departures from Sorrento

3 days / 2 nights

Day 1
SORRENTO – CASTELLANA – LOCOROTONDO – ALBEROBELLO – NOCI
7.30am, pick up at your hotel or at the meeting point in Sorrento and departure for APULIA.
Along the way you will visit THE CASTELLANA CAVES discovered in 1938. The Grottos of Castellana are one of the most important attractions of Puglia and a natural heritage of inestimable value to Italy. The tour winds along a distance of 3 km, a unique guided tour of the caves to more than 60 meters deep in an amazing scenario made of stalactites, stalagmites, concretions, incredible shapes, fossils, canyons and caves with fantastic names; calcifications from conformations and amazing colors solicit the imagination of children and adults. Time at leisure for lunch. After the visit to the Caves, will continue our journey to LOCOROTONDO where you’ll enjoy a wine tasting in the local wine cellar. The journey continues to ALBEROBELLO the town of the “TRULLI” which is part of the Unesco Heritage list. The trulli are typical houses with a cone roof, used as homes and to store farmer utensils. Proceed to NOCI. Dinner and overnight at the hotel. Meals: B D

Day 2
NOCI – LECCE – GALLIPOLI – OSTUNI – NOCI
Buffet breakfast at the hotel and departure to LECCE famous for his baroque arts & architecture developed between the end of the XVI century and the first half of the XVII century. During the tour you will admire the rich and beautiful decoration of the St. Oronzo church, the basilica of Santa Croce and the Celestini palace and the roman amphitheatre. The tour will continue to GALLIPOLI, from the Greek Kallipolis meaning beautiful city, is a fishing village on the coast in southern Italy’s Puglia region.
Gallipoli has a good old town built on a limestone island and linked to the mainland by a 16th century bridge. Its harbors are used by fishing boats and there’s plenty of fresh seafood. Free time for lunch and proceed to the village of OSTUNI, also called “white town” because of its white walls and white painted houses. Return to the hotel in Noci.
Dinner and overnight at the hotel. Meals: B D

Day 3
NOCI – MATERA – SORRENTO or ROME
Buffet breakfast at the hotel and departure to MATERA. This town is internationally known for the “SASSI” (stones), originated from a prehistoric (troglodyte) settlement, and are suspected to be the first settlements in Italy. The Sassi are houses into the tuff rock itself, which is characteristic of the Basilicata & Apulia regions.

One of the peculiarities of this ancient city is that there is a great similarity with the ancient sites in and around Jerusalem. This caught the eye of film directors and movie studios and the Sassi were the set of various films such as “The Gospel according to St. Matthew”(Pasolini 1964), “King David” (Bruce Beresford 1985), “The Passion of the Christ” (Gibson 2004) and the “Nativity story” (Hardwicke 2006).
Matera is also part of the Unesco Heritage List. Time for a snack in Matera and return via Pompei where you will board a bus to Sorrento or Rome. Arrival in Rome or Sorrento and end of the tour.

Day 4
Important Notes:
Possibility to add extra nights at the beginning and/or at the end of the tour; rates are on request or available. Possibility to organize the departure transfers

City tax will be paid directly from clients at the reception hotel desk at the arrival or at the check out according to the local city board procedure.

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