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Puglia

November 3-10, 2025

Puglia

Puglia, the southern Italian region called the heel of the boot, is the perfect place to visit if you love food and cooking or if you love history, and especially if you love both. Greeks were among the earliest settlers in this region and were followed by the Byzantine Greeks, Lombards, Arabs, Normans, Angevins, Aragonese, and Spanish, the armies of the popes and of the German emperors, Bourbons who ruled from Naples. As Nancy Harmon Jenkins wrote in her book, Flavors of Puglia, “each incursion, each struggle, left its mark on this land…..” In addition, as is always the case, each incursion and each civilization, in tandem with the intrinsic gifts of the land, have also given definition to the delicious, interesting cuisine of this beautiful region that is at the Heart of the Mediterranean. It’s a great way to travel. You won’t want to miss it.

Puglia

What You’ll Love about Your Week in Puglia

A freshly baked loaf of bread

What You’ll Love about Your Week in Puglia

For those of us at Oldways, visiting Puglia is to feel at home. We hope you’ll feel the same way.

Puglia produces more olive oil, more table olives and more table grapes than any other region in Italy. The landscape is dotted with olive trees and grapevines, and many of the groves and wineries are surrounded by farmhouses now turned into Masserie. We’ll be visiting producers and tasting all of it – olive oil, wine and many other iconic products and dishes – Puglia is home to burrata, orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta), fave e cicoria, panzerotti and the bread of Altamura (on the left). We’re lucky to have Chef Luke Fetbroth putting it all together with a cooking class at Borgo Egnazia, and to be dining at masserie, and restaurants that take the best of Pugliese ingredients and make them even better.

We’ll walk in the steps of history, we’ll visit the octagonal 13th century Norman castle, Castel del Monte, a UNESCO Heritage site; explore Lecce’s Baroque beauty, and walk among the amazing conical houses around Alberobello and Locorotondo called Trulli. We’ll visit the UNESCO World Heritage city of Matera (actually in the next-door region of Basilicata) that features stone caves called Sassi.

If that’s not enough, we’ll be staying all week long at the spectacular Borgo Egnazia, the site of the 2024 G7 Summit. It’s a very special place, and we are really lucky to be able to offer a week-long stay at what Conde Nast Traveler says, “The dreamily beautiful Borgo Egnazia is one of the loveliest places to stay in all of Italy.”

Day by Day

Benvenuto
Day 1

Monday, November 03

Benvenuto

Check-in at Borgo Egnazia, our home away from home for a week. Relax, unpack and enjoy all that the hotel has to offer before our evening introductions. We’ll meet for an opening session – an introduction to the foods, cuisine of Puglia, and the Mediterranean Diet. The Sommelier from the Borgo Egnazia will lead a wine tasting, followed by our welcome dinner.

Olive Oil, Castles and Countryside
Day 2

Tuesday, November 04

Olive Oil, Castles and Countryside

After a late start and breakfast, we’ll travel north to visit the 13th century Norman castle constructed by Frederic II. Almost twenty years ago it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, and we never come to Puglia without a visit. Following our guided visit, we’ll head to the nearby restaurant Antichi Sapori, long recognized as a restaurant grounded in local and seasonal foods. We’ll have a spectacular lunch, plus a chance to tour Chef Pietro Zito’s garden. It’s a special experience. After a long lunch, we’ll drive south, back to Borgo Egnazia for a free evening.

The Land of the Trulli and Cooking
Day 3

Wednesday, November 05

The Land of the Trulli and Cooking

After breakfast we’ll have an earlier start in order to visit a cheese producer in Alberobello, just 30 minutes from the hotel.  We’ll learn about the production of some of Puglia’s most iconic cheeses — burrata, caciacavallo, mozzarella – followed by a tasting of cheeses and other local products.  We’ll then go into the town of Alberobello, the town of trulli, the conical shaped stone houses Puglia is known for.  We’ll have a short guided tour of the town and trulli (the trulli are designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site) and then you’ll have some time to wander around on your own.  We’ll return to the Borgo Egnazio for time on your own before we meet in the early evening for Chef Luke Fetbroth’s Cooking Class.  The class will be followed by dinner. 

A Day in the City
Day 4

Thursday, November 06

A Day in the City

Today is a day in the city – the city of Bari.  We’ll first visit the Farmer’s Market and Fish Market along the harbor, and then have a guided tour, where you’ll see the ladies famously making orecchiette pasta outside their doorways in the narrow streets of the Old City.  You’ll have some free time in Bari to walk, shop and explore before we leave Bari for a short drive to Santo Spirito, a seaside town.  Oldways longtime friend Rossella Speranza, has turned her childhood home into a place for cooking demonstrations, and especially panzerotti.  Rossella will demonstrate how to make panzerotti, small, savory pastries that look like a calzone and are wonderfully delicious.  We’ll have a lunch of panzerotti and more at Rossella’s home before heading back to our home away from home.

Bread and the Sassi
Day 5

Friday, November 07

Bread and the Sassi

Today we will go west toward the Murgia plains. First, we’ll focus on the Bread of Altamura, the first bread in Europe to receive the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status in 2003.  We’ll visit a very famous and ancient focacceria, Forno di Santa Chiara, to learn about the bread.  Happily, we’ll also be able to taste a variety of the breads.  We’ll visit a pasta producer and then leave for Matera, just over the border in the region of Basilicata.  Matera has been made a UNESCO World Heritage site and is famous for the Sassi, stone houses dug into the cliffs.  We’ll have a guided tour and then a late lunch at a restaurant in the Sassi. We’ll return to Borgo Egnazia for a good night’s rest.

 

Ceramics and Beautiful Baroque
Day 6

Saturday, November 08

Ceramics and Beautiful Baroque

With a long day on Friday, we are starting late today.  We’ll be going south to the Salento, the southern end of the Region.  We’ll start in Grottaglie, a town known for artisan ceramic production.  We’ll have a guided visit and then you’ll have free time for ceramic shopping.  Next, we’ll stop at a winery before we get to Lecce, a beautiful city known for its Baroque architecture, especially the Cattedrale di Lecce and the Basilica di Santa Croce.  We’ll have a guided tour of Lecce, followed by free time, before we have dinner at the famously traditional restaurant, Le Zie.  

A Final Picture of Puglia
Day 7

Sunday, November 09

A Final Picture of Puglia

Our last day together will start with coffee and a passiagiata in one of Puglia’s white towns – Ostuni.  Ostuni is home to Il Frantoio, a producer of olive oil, where we’ll head for an educational tasting and explanation about extra virgin olive oil.  We’ll conclude with a Farewell Masseria late afternoon lunch, featuring a celebration of all the products from Puglia we have experienced.  We’ll return to Borgo Egnazia, where you’ll have time to relax and pack before departure on Monday.  

Departures
Day 8

Monday, November 10

Departures

Depart for the US or for additional travel.  

Your Accommodations

Borgo Egnazia
Photo courtesy of Borgo Egnazia

Hotel Borgo Egnazia

Borgo Egnazia, located on the Adriatic coast, 55 minutes from the Bari Airport, is a symbol of Puglian hospitality

From Conde Nast Traveler in 2024:

Even prettier now than when it opened in 2009 as the prettiest hotel in the Mediterranean. The plants and vines have grown, the tufu limestone has mellowed, the staff have bedded in. It’s just dreamy. At night, rosemary, jasmine, and lemon scents the air and a galaxy of lanterns light the way to the bar.

The rooms?

Soaring and elegant, cool stone underfoot, mini posies of dried lavender on shelves, huge linen cushions, and sun-trap terraces. Everything is floaty white. With layers of creamy beige. Overlapping rugs on chairs and cozy corners where you can retreat.

Oldways has rooms in 3 different buildings – Borgo, Corte and Case.

Meet the Chefs/Experts

LUKE FETBROTH
Luke Fetbroth Chef/Owner, Tonino

Flight information
to Travel Destination

A bowl of pasta mixed with broccoli

Flight information
to Travel Destination

You will want to fly in and out of the Bari Airport (BRI). From the US, you’ll find 1-stop connections to flights to Bari in Rome and Milan (ITA, Delta)  or Munich (Lufthansa/Air Dolomiti) or Istanbul (Turkish Air).  

Pricing & Registration

A bowl containing mozzarella cheese and bread

Pricing & Registration

Puglia

Please complete the registration form below, which includes instructions for how to submit the form and deposit to Oldways.

Prices are based on rates of exchange, taxes, and other costs as of the tour publication date. We reserve the right to correct errors and changes, and to increase program prices to cover increased costs, taris, and taxes received after prices are published and to reflect currency fluctuations.

  • Price per person from $6,105 per person, double occupancy.
  • If this trip must be cancelled due to COVID-19, refunds will be issued.

Trip Insurance

Medical Insurance

Oldways has procured medical and evacuation insurance for all Culinaria participants while traveling on one of our Culinarias with an Accident & Health policy from The Hartford.  Additionally, Hartford partners with International Medical Group (IMG), a leading global assistance provider, to give us 24/7 access to medical and travel assistance services anywhere in the world.  The policy also gives you as a Culinaria participant insurance for medical expenses, evacuation, and repatriation.

Since 1990, IMG has offered travel assistance services and a global network of medical providers to millions of people in nearly every country around the world. Working across time zones and in different languages, IMG’s commitment to “Being There” provides end-to-end coordinated care – so you can feel secure while traveling.

Please let us know if you need more information about the medical insurance.

Travel Insurance

While we cannot offer travel insurance for the cost of the trip or your air travel, here are three widely used travel insurance companies:

Allianz

Travelex

Travel Guard by AIG

More Upcoming Trips

For More Information

For additional questions, please reach out to [email protected] or contact Abby Sloane at  617-896-4875.