Puglia — the boot heel of Italy — is one of the country’s best-kept travel secrets and it is considered the “new Tuscany”. Famous for its rich cultural heritage of undiscovered towns, this narrow peninsula, still in pristine state, enjoys some of Italy’s best white sand beaches, great hotels and succulent Italian cuisine. In Apulia, the traditional farmhouses were called “masserie”. Now many of them, after a careful restoration in keeping with the original features, have been turned into luxurious five star hotels surrounded by stunning sceneries, providing luxurious accommodation, excellent cuisine and “glamour” spa centres. DG has carefully selected for you some of the most picturesque “masserie”, set in large estates overlooking the sea and immersed in olive groves.
During your stay in Apulia our guide will lead you through the region’s most interesting towns. You will see the “White City” of Ostuni, a tumble of whitewashed buildings overlooking the sea, walk among hundreds of limestone Trulli (beehive-shaped dwellings) in Alberobello, a UNESCO world heritage site, visit Locorotondo, a hilltop town encircled by tall white houses with peaked roofs, and the Baroque town of Martina Franca, the “City of Wine.” Worth visiting Otranto, an ancient port, former Greek colony and Italy’s easternmost town. Visit the small Byzantine Basilica of San Pietro and the majestic 11th century Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunziata, browse the shops along the cobblestone streets of the old town, or stroll along quiet beaches. Lecce, Puglia’s cultural capital, invites to the town’s most famous landmarks — a Roman amphitheatre and Baroque churches and palaces built of ornately carved limestone. Bari boasts another historical site of UNESCO - Castel del Monte, a unique piece of medieval military architecture, a successful blend of elements from classical antiquity, the Islamic Orient and north European Cistercian Gothic.
Further afield are the forests of the Gargano Peninsula and the troglodyte dwellings of I Sassi di Matera, in the neighbouring region of Basilicata. Apulia offers a number of interesting activities to make your vacation a memorable one. For example you could learn the ancestral Taranta dance of Greek origin, enjoy a cooking lesson hands-on, visit the best boutique wineries producers of Primitivo di Manduria or shop for fabulous ceramics in Martina Franca.