Arrival in Lecce in the early afternoon, check in at a 4 stars hotel located at a stone throw from the historic center of the town.

In the evening group may choose between free time in downtown (the walking tour is scheduled for the second day) or a guided tour of the sights of the Roman period of the town plus the visit to the Charles the V castle (internal courtyard).

Come back to the hotel dinner and overnight.

Group meets the tour guide in hotel and visits the wonderful historic center of Lecce; a city full of history in a tour that begins with the sights that reveal the roman origins of the town (roman theater and amphitheater) and continues with the visit of the most beautiful local baroque churches and its incredible rococo style buildings; after the tour a visit to a local paper maché store.

Lunch in a local “leccese” restaurant and after that, visitors will visit a famous “masseria” at 20 kms from Lecce that is well known for the “bufala mozzarella” production.

The visit to the Farming business and the cheese factory also includes a walking tour among the different area af the ranch-masseria among secular olive trees a byzantine crypt and a mini zoo. In the same place you will enjoy a tasteful cheese mozzarella and “Castel di Salve” wine tasting.

Come back to the hotel dinner and overnight.

After breakfast group will meet the tour guide and will get on bus to begin an unforgettable coastal tour that begins with the visit of Otranto the jewel on the Adriatic coast with its tragic history where the dramatic Turkish attack in 1480 will be told through a tour that will make you discover the Otranto Cathedral with its famous mosaic flooring, the chapel that contains the bones and skulls of the martyrs and the crypt underneath; then the visit to the old village surrounded by the walls of the Aragonese castle.

Get back on the bus to reach Castro, along the breath taking coastal road (one of the most beautiful in Italy) to visit the old village of Castro discovering its wonderful historic center nestled into the old city walls and the archaeological excavations that have brought to light findings of the ancient prehistoric cults.

On request an exclusive Zinzulusa grotto tour is available.

Sea food lunch at a restaurant in Torre Pali (owners own a private boat, so the fish caught the night before will be serverd at your table).

The full day tour finishes with the visit to St. Mary of Leuca the southernmost point in Italy where the Adriatic sea meets the Ionian one.

Come back to the hotel dinner and overnight.

After breakfast check out in hotel and get on the bus to visit Gallipoli and Galatina two wonderful towns full of history and monuments.

It is said that St. Peter stopped by in Galatina during his journey to get to Rome from Palestine indeed, the main church is dedicated to him and contains the rock where the Saint used to sit: but the town is also an incredible sequence of palaces of an astonishing beauty that also hide the secrets of the “tarantismo”; possessed women who needed to be exorcised to set them free by demons.

Flagship of the town is the St. Caterina from Alessandria Cathedral a Romanic church full of frescos in “giottesco” style second only to the one in Assisi.

Sweet break in the pasticceria Ascalone where the “Pasticciotto” (official local pastry) was invented 200 years ago.

Lunch in a tipycal Salentine “trattoria” then heading up towards Gallipoli to discover the history of a city built on a rock in the sea linked to the mainland by a medieval bridge.

Walking along the Gallipoli historical center streets means also visiting some of the most beautiful churches in Salento as the St. Agatha Cathedral with its incredible paintings or the Purità church wanted by the confraternity of the dockers of the port (a rare example of baroque using alternative materials to stone) and some old houses with internal courtyards.

For those who haven’t ever seen an underground oil mill, there is the opportunity to visit one in the historic center of the same town.

Come back to the hotel.

After breakfast and check out in hotel the group will get on the bus in order to get to Ostuni “the white city”.

Its historic center is a real jewel composed of white houses and a main square with a spire from where branch off several winding and narrow streets embellished with arches and courtyards that take to the Cathedral; do not miss the view from the ancient walls of the town it is one of the most beautiful views of Apulia.

Lunch in a typical restaurant and then heading up towards Alberobello to visit its “trullo houses” UNESCO world heritage; there your tour guide will tell you secrets and legends of a site that is unique in the world.

Departure.

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