Walking in Puglia & Matera

From start to finish, everything was perfectly organized, allowing us to fully enjoy every step of the journey. The tour strikes a perfect balance between enjoyable walks and breathtaking views of stunning destinations like Alberobello, Ostuni, Locorotondo, and Matera.

A week of varied walking. The Trulli houses are very interesting. And the cave dwellings in Matera are amazing. Some walks are more interesting than others. All at a moderate pace.

We had very good service from the Exodus sales team in planning the trip for our Nordic walking group. The itinerary was very well planned and gave us the chance to experience walking and cultural visits in this fascinating area of Italy. Overall the holiday exceeded my expectations.

The trip was well organised and each of the three places we stayed were fascinating

This trip exceeded my expectations in both the excellent organisation and expert talks by Ioana and the wide range of activities around walking, sightseeing, free time and gastronomy! 💚

A hugely enjoyable immersion in the countryside and towns of Puglia and Basilicata.The itinerary is well-designed, as the highlight for us was undoubtedly Matera, and I was pleasantly surprised at how little down time we had. The walking is undemanding, but the scenery is beautiful, and I can imagine in high summer the heat could become a problem. A great introduction to an area I knew very little about, other than enjoying the excellent wines it produces.

A very interesting range of regions, from the picturesque trulli houses of Puglia to the peace and quiet of the Masseria Morrone and finally the amazing cave dwellings of the Sassi district of Matera. The walks ranged from paths through fields dotted with ancient olive trees to shady forests and finally to wide open vistas in the Basilicata region

A well balanced choice of 3 exceptional places. Day 2 was probably the best walk along the Itria Valley. Not using the Matera suspension bridge limited the walk route. For interest we did cross it on our own.

We had a marvellous time walking in Puglia and Basilicata, an area completely unknown to us before now. Such beautiful towns and villages to explore in Alberobello, Ostuni, Lecce and the fascinating Matera and gentle day walks in surrounding countryside.

We visited lovely towns and stayed in nice hotels and ate good food! Having been to this area before it was as expected and lovely to see again. I'd never been on a walking holidays and last time in Puglia I toured by bike. Whilst some of the walks were lovely, past aged olive trees etc, others were pretty ordinary. The guide was great and passionate about his local area. The group was ok and as usual you just avoid the naysayers. Being a cycle tourist an evening walk is usually a nice change. It only struck me on the holiday that on a walking holiday you walk during the day and then in the evening.............go for a walk!! Certainly recommend Puglia but not sure about the walking?

This trip is a good mix of walking and sightseeing; it was great to be able to visit both the trulli houses and also the cave dwellings of Matera.

The Walking in Puglia and Matera guided tour gives an excellent introduction to the heel of Italy. This trip stayed at three hotels, all very good. Comfortable and clean rooms, great breakfast choices plus swimming pools at two of the three. The walking was varied from strolling through olive groves in Puglia to scrambling around the rocky gorge at Matera. The towns with trulli houses and the incredible rock city of Matera were memorable.

This trip is about the sightseeing and exploring the towns in the region, Matera and the trulli were fascinating. The walks are as described in the notes and with the exception of the Matera ravine walk pleasant but nothing special. The paths are flat and easy to navigate, not one for serious hikers. The accommodation was good , the food was typically Italian, lots of pasta, pane pomodoro (tomato bread) and mozzarella. I suspect coeliacs may find it a challenge unless they like tomato and Mozarella salad!

I really enjoyed this trip. The hikes were a great way to explore the landscape. Tancredi our group leader was very knowledgeable about the culture and history of the places we visited and also helped us make the most of our free time. I found all the places we visited unique and interesting. The week was packed with a lot to see and do but was planned well.

We thoroughly enjoyed the trip with its variety of locations and walks.

A lovely area of Italy to visit, with good characterful hotels utilised for the trip, great food and great customer service experienced throughout. I was concerned, as it was my first walking holiday, that I may not be able to keep up with the group, but I was fine as the pace was good and we had breaks to rest and break up the walks, which weren't too difficult and reasonably flat on most occasions.

Excellent holiday and guide . Despite the rain we had a wonderful time . Good itinerary especially Matera

A trip filled with country side walks, fresh produce and wine. The highlights have to be seeing the Trulli's in Alberobello and watching the stars in Matera

This was a great holiday . Andrea was an excellent guide , we visited some really interesting places on and off the beaten track.

I went in July and our itinerary was as the Trip Notes. We were a group of 8 and everyone got on so well. I enjoyed staying at all the hotels: Ramapendula, Masseria and Sassi. Breakfast at the 1st and 3rd hotels was excellent but somewhat basic at the Masseria. My room at each hotel met my needs, so very happy with what I was given. The walks were interesting except the 2nd half down from Montescaglioso where we seemed to be walking aimlessly with nothing of interest around!

Three memorable centres - Alberobello (trulli town), Masseria Morrone amongst the olive trees with Pongo the excitable dog, and finally Matera, the town of cave dwellings and churches. Lovely walks, plenty of free time and even a swim in the Adriatic

Just a wonderful trip. Our tour leader Fabrizio was a bundle of joy, information, nothing was too much trouble.....a gem.

Brilliant trip with pleasant walking, great food and wine, good company, fascinating towns (especially Matera....a real highlight for me), an excellent guide in Fabrizio (knowledgeable, efficient, very patient, making everything great fun.... the best guide I can remember having on any trip!). I enjoyed the hotels in Ostuni and Matera (though in Matera it was a bit 'luck of draw' as to what your room was like - and I felt I was lucky!) First hotel in Alberobello was a bit bland. But overall everything went very smoothly (even the dreaded covid paperwork) - and it was SO good to be out of country, somewhere new. What's not to like!

This is a very non-strenuous grade 2 trip, compared with other grade 2 walking trips I have undertaken. The majority of walks are flat (walked in sandals) as stated in the trip notes and ankle support was only required for 2 of the walks. This was a part of Italy I had always wanted to visit due to its history rather than the scenery on the walks.

This holiday was an excellent trip of gentle to moderate walking through some beautiful countryside, passing through olive groves, by vineyards, along a few gentle slopes and through the area, where one can see the famous conic 'trulli' houses of the Itria valley. As well as walking there was some fascinating culture to see, notably the towns of Locorotundo, Alberobello, Ostuni, Lecce (optional) and the beautiful UNESCO city of Matera with its rock churches and many converted cave dwellings. There was a very good choice of delicious fresh, local foods throughout the trip, as well as the wines of the area!

This was an excellent holiday with a good combination berween culture , walking and relaxing

Booking efficient; follow up was not - I had to chase; maybe the late switch from Headwater to Exodus was to blame. An interesting and varied trip, with the leader Luigina Geusa contributing a lot to that plus a good group of fellow walkers. Matera hotel (Hotel Sassi) was not good, but the hotels in Ostuni (La Terra) and Alberobello (Ramapendula) were much better.

Vanessa was a wonderful guide and very aware of the needs of of all the participants. everyone got along well. The places we stayed were excellent. The overall experience was lot of fun

An exploring holiday, not a 'wow' one but full of delights. Matera was a long-desired destination, because of Carlo Levi, and spectacular. Sleeping in our massive cave in Hotel Sassi! Walking endlessly through olive groves brought home to me the privations of former Puglian peasants, but also amazement at the great age and variety of shapes of the trees. I loved the small towns, their architecture, narrow streets, the ingenuity of the construction of the Trulli. Hotel Sassi was wonderful, the masseria was beautiful, food good and choice of restaurants gave variety. I liked the multiple starters.

I chose the walking tour of Puglia & Matera because I had never seen Southern Italy. I was intrigued by the UNESCO World Heritage cities as well as the unusual architcecture such as Trulli houses. It is hard to believe the range of homes and times traveled - from Neolithic to present in just 7 days. My two favorite cities were Matera and Aberobello. The food was incredible. I ate great vegetarian dishes and seafood dishes all week!

This trip was exactly what I had hoped for - a fascinating and varied tour of a part of Italy which hasn't yet become too full of tourists. Our three centres were well chosen and close together - Matera was so interesting just to wander and get lost among the tiny winding lanes and steps, the old fortified farmhouse set in olive groves near Ostuni was so peaceful and in Alberobello we did meet tourism but worth it just to see the trulli. The walks were great - not too challenging and only took up part of the day so we had chance to explore by ourselves as well. I didn't expect to see so many wild flowers in June. We had excellent food in a wide variety of restaurants, wine-tasting and two super picnics. We used a variety of transport, including local buses and trains, and all went very smoothly.

Wonderful trip in a beautiful part of Italy. The walking was not challenging, which was a good thing given the heat in mid-June, and covered some stunning and scenic routes. Great food and accommodation in all three locations.

Walking in Matera was an interesting and eye opening experience. I knew nothing of the history of this facinating "heel of Italy' so was extremely surprised and delighted to discover it in the company of 5 other travellers and our wonderful guide Nino.

This was a fantastic trip with three very different locations to stay in and experience. The accommodation in each location was original and very comfortable. The walking, itinerary and our guide, Nino, were just excellent.

I really enjoyed our week in Puglia and Matera and getting to know southern Italy with great company and a fantastic guide.

We spent a lovely week exploring the areas round Matera and parts of the Puglia region. The holiday was a very good mix of walking, guided sight-seeing and free time to do more sight-seeing or just relax with a drink at one of the many cafes, or even better eat one of the amazing ice-creams. Staying in three very different, locations, with very different accommodation means that you get a real feel for the area and the people. The walking is very easy and pretty gentle, though I imagine that in the height of summer when it would be considerable hotter, it might feel a lot tougher. None of the walks was longer than three/four hours, which left plenty of time to do other things. This suited me, but if you are a very keen walker, you might find it a little dull. This is a great region of Italy to visit, as though there are tourists, it is not nearly so packed as the more famous areas, and you get a much better idea about Italy than you maybe would shuffling round Florence or Rome. The other reason to visit is the food. I've never eaten so well on holiday, and as a vegetarian I was spoilt for choice, something that can be rather rare. Thoroughly recommended for anyone who wants to get away and chill out for a while.

Fantastic trip and bothe the tour guide and minibus driver were very obliging

Our first holiday with Exodus went really well. We were met at the airport by our tour guide Luigina and driven to our first port of call, the Sassi District of Matera. Matera is built on a rocky outcrop, so there were lots and lots of steps. Not a good place for less able bodied people, and we thought some of the cobbled streets were a little slippy, so take a pair of sensible shoes. Our hotel room was a cave built into the rock. Very unusual, but the bathroom was a bit tired and needed a refurbish. Great local restaurants and cafes and very reasonably priced. Our guide Luigina did a great job and had excellent local knowledge. She organised 2 picnic lunches during the week and organised an extra trip on our free day to Lecce. During walks, she pointed out many places of historical interest, but also talked about the local flora. We got to try wild almonds straight off the tree, also wild rocket and strawberry fruit. We were fortunate to be in Italy during the olive harvesting and she asked a local farmer to demonstrate the harvesting method. The final evening’s meal, was at a Massiera (farmhouse). We did have to pay extra for this trip, but it was worth every penny (euro). The food was all locally sourced and Home cooked. It just kept on coming and coming, and I lost count of the number of courses. Wine was free flowing all evening too.

Matera was beyond expectations and the whole trip was one amazing sight and experience after another. Guiseppe, our guide, was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and amusing. This was an excellent first group walking trip and I will definitely book to go on others, based on this experience. The day off was excellent and I would highly recommend visiting Polignano al Mare and Monopoli. Guiseppe provided great supporting information for both sites after the initial possible options information.

Marinella was a great guide, knowledgable, patient and very fit! The walks and the restaurants she found us were outstanding for food, wine and price. Thank you