Essential Puglia - Art & architecture in the heel of Italy
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Overview
Highlights
- Fascinating architecture, especially Norman and Baroque
- Exceptionally attractive streetscapes in hilltop towns and coastal cities
- Distinctive, dramatic limestone landscapes
- See also the well preserved Roman theatre
What's this trip about?
Details
Travel Themes
Destinations
Attractions
Activities
Trip includes
- Flights (economy class) on scheduled Alitalia flights (Airbus 32S and Embraer 90)
- Travel by private coach
- Hotel accommodation
- Wine, water and coffee
- All admissions
- All tips and taxes
- The services of the lecturer
Itinerary
Bitonto. Fly at c. 9.00am from London City to Bari via Milan Linate (Alitalia). Drive to Bitonto, which has one of the finest of Romanesque cathedrals in the region, with good sculpture and an Early Christian lower church. Continue to Trani, where the first three nights are spent.
Trani, Castel del Monte. A walk along the harbour of the small city of Trani includes the 12th-century church of Ognissanti and the magically beautiful Romanesque cathedral perched on the waterfront. In the afternoon drive out to Castel del Monte. Situated on an isola...
Monte Sant’Angelo, Santa Maria di Siponto. High on the southern slopes of Monte Gargano sits Monte Sant’Angelo, where the apparition of the Archangel Michael in the 5th century has made the grotto sanctuary a popular destination for pilgrims. The massive castle was st...
Bari. Capital of Puglia, Bari has a wonderful walled mediaeval quarter beside the sea, extensive and unspoilt. The Basilica of San Nicola, begun in 1087, is not only the first but also the greatest of Puglian Romanesque churches; the episcopal throne here is remarkabl...
Martina Franca, Brindisi. Before leaving Martina Franca, see the 17th-century Palazzo Ducale with its fine Baroque façade and the cathedral of San Martino. Possessing the safest natural harbour on the Adriatic, Brindisi has been of intermittent strategic importance fo...
Lecce, Galatina. Lecce is distinguished by an elaborate style of Baroque and Rococo decoration wrought in the soft, honey-coloured tufa of the region. The outstanding examples are the cathedral and the church of Santa Croce. See also the well preserved Roman theatre. ...
Casarano, Gallipoli, Otranto. Explore the Salentine Peninsula, the southernmost tip of the heel of Italy. Gallipoli was the centre of Byzantine Italy until conquered by the Normans in 1071. The highly picturesque old town is on an off-shore island protruding into the ...
Ostuni. Ostuni is another delightful white-washed hilltop town with bemusingly winding streets. At its centre is a late Gothic cathedral with three fine rose windows. Fly from Bari via Milan Linate, arriving at London Heathrow at c. 8.45pm.
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Dates & Availability
Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Martin Randall Travel.
The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.
Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.
Martin Randall Travel Reviews & Ratings
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Tour Operator
Martin Randall Travel is one of the most respected travel companies in the world, among both travellers and within the tourism community. We are committed to providing the best planned, the best led and altogether the most fulfilling and enjoyable cultural tours currently available.
We offer an unequalled range of tours and events focusing on art, architecture, music, archaeology, history, gardens and gastronomy. Our mission is to deepen your understanding and enhance your appreciation of the many civilizations around the world.
For over two decades we have been the most influential organisation in the field of intellectual travel. Pioneering and innovative, we have led the way with ideas and itineraries and by setting the benchmarks for customer service and administration.
Small groups, and congenial company
Most of our tours run with between ten and twenty participants. We strictly limit numbers, specifying the applicable maximum in each tour description. The higher costs of smaller numbers are outweighed by the benefits of manoeuvrability, social cohesion and access to the lecturer.
The small-group principle is diluted when there are private concerts or several speakers exclusively for our clients.
Not the least attractive aspect of travelling with MRT is that you are highly likely to find yourself in congenial company, self-selected by common interests and endorsement of the company’s ethos.
Health & safety
Martin Randall Travel and its management team attach the upmost importance to the health and safety of clients, tour leaders and employees travelling on our tours and events. It is our duty to comply with relevant health and safety legislation, and we take seriously our 'duty of care' to all who travel with us. Employees and tour leaders cooperate with the company in fulfilling our duty of care by following company rules on safety and codes of practice – which together form our Health and Safety Policy.
We allocate clear responsibilities and accountabilities to implement our Health and Safety Policy.
We set clear direction for the business to follow our Policy, supported by the Board and senior management.
We adopt and review health and safety management systems.
We make available suitable resources to meet our commitments.
We maintain consultation and dialogue with employees.
We assess travel-related risks faced by clients and staff.
We provide clients and staff with information to the risks they may face and the preventative and protective measures there are to control these risks.
Value for money, and no surcharges
The price includes nearly everything, not only the major ingredients such as hotel, transport and the costs of the lecturer and manager but also tips, drinks with meals and airport taxes.
We do not levy surcharges for fuel price increases, exchange rate changes, additional taxes or for any other reason. The price published here is the price you pay.
Travelling solo
We welcome people travelling on their own, for whom our tours are ideal, as many of our clients testify. There are usually several solo travellers on tour. On evenings when dinner is not included there is always the option of dining with the tour manager.
Hotels usually charge a supplement for single occupancy of a room, but we never add anything to this – indeed, most of the supplements we charge are subsidised by ourselves, sometimes by hundreds of pounds.
Where we are able to, we assign those travelling on their own to rooms which are normally sold as doubles.
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Logistics
What's excluded
- Personal Expenses
Accommodation
If you have to cancel your participation on a tour, there would be a charge which varies according to the period of notice you give. Up to 57 days before the tour the deposit only is forfeited. Thereafter a percentage of the total cost of the tour will be due:
between 56 and 29 days: 40%
between 28 and 15 days: 60%
between 14 days and 3 days: 80%
within 48 hours: 100%
If you cancel your booking in a double or twin room or cabin but are travelling with a companion who chooses to continue to participate on the tour, the companion will be liable to pay the stipulated single supplement.
We take as the day of cancellation that on which we receive written confirmation of cancellation.
All breakfasts and five dinners
Strenuous
There is quite a lot of walking, some of it uphill as the coach cannot enter the historic town centres. Some days involve a lot of driving. Average distance by coach per day: 70 miles
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