5 days Food Small Group in Southern Italy

Arrival

Pick up from Bari Airport/Bari train station. Arrival, orientation, welcome aperitivo, dinner at farm.

Breakfast

After breakfast we take the short drive into the centre of Matera where you’ll meet your tour guide and enjoy a 2 hour walking tour of the ’The Sassi di Matera’.

Matera Bread Workshop

Straight after the tour we’ll visit one of the traditional bakeries of Matera and learn all about the famous ‘Pane di Matera’ DOP. You’ll learn how the bread is made and even have a go yourself. For lunch you’ll enjoy a tasting of the bakery’s products with wine.

Visit the ’The Belvedere’

We’ll drive up to a fantastic panoramic view point of Matera set amongst the rupestrian church national park. Here you can enjoy breathtaking views of the old town as well as take some beautiful walks.

Free Time in Matera

Once the shops open up again for the afternoon (usually between 4pm and 5pm), you’ll have some free time to explore the local shops and soak up the atmosphere of this unique city.

Dinner

Dinner will be served at the farmhouse in the evening.

Breakfast

After breakfast, we’ll begin a tour of our olive farm, learning all about what an agriturismo is, the history of our place as well as how we make our ‘liquid gold’.

Fresh pasta workshop

After the tour, we’ll head inside to our dining hall where you’ll be led through a private fresh pasta workshop that teaches you how to make 2 typical shapes of pasta from the region.

Cooking Class

Following the pasta workshop, you’ll head into our professional kitchen for a cooking class. Here you’ll learn to make a typical pasta sauce to go with your fresh pasta as well as two other very typical dishes.

Lunch

At the end of the cooking class it will be time to sit down and enjoy a full, traditional, southern Italian farmhouse lunch complete with a range of typical antipasti, a primo (using the pasta made during your cooking class), a secondo (local meat dish) and a dessert. This lunch will also be accompanied by a wine pairing experience in which we’ll lead you through 4 different local wines and varieties.

Siesta

After all that cooking and eating, it’ll be time to take a siesta and you can either relax in your room or take a walk around the property.

Evening visit to Matera

In the evening we’ll take the 13km drive into Matera (about 20 minutes) where we’ll take you to try the typical ‘panzerotti’ with the locals before getting some artisan gelato and taking in the evening sights of the beautiful Sassi di Matera.

Breakfast

Please choose an option for your 4th day.

PLEASE NOTE ALL GUESTS IN THE SAME GROUP, WITH SAME DATES, MUST CHOOSE SAME OPTION

a) Visit a cheese shop in Altamura

After breakfast, we’ll drive over to the nearby, medieval city of ‘Altamura’ to visit a fourth generation cheese maker in his family cheese shop that has existed for over 100 years. After a brief demonstration of how they make their mozzarella, there’ll be some free time to wonder the streets and perhaps even try a slice of focaccia from one of Altamura’s many famous bakeries. For lunch, you’ll return to the cheese shop for a cheese tasting lunch with wine.

Siesta We’ll head back to our olive farm to have a nice siesta.

Visit the local village of Miglionico In the afternoon we’ll take the short 10 minute drive up to the local village of Miglionico where we’ll be able to learn all about the fascinating medieval castle known as ’The Castle of Bad Advice’ before taking more of a look around this typical southern Italian village.

Dinner

Dinner will be served at the farmhouse in the evening.

b) Visit Pietragalla and the Parco del Palmenti

After breakfast we’ll head over to the other side of Basilicata to visit the small village of Pietragalla and learn all about the ‘palmenti’, fascinating little structures that we were once used by local families to make wine. We’ll also try and make sure we try some of their local wine there before heading on to our next destination.

Typical mountain town lunch For lunch, we’ll head over to the southern dolomite mountains and visit the charming mountain village of Castelmezzano. Here we’ll try some of their typical local products for lunch before taking a walk around this very particular and unique little village.

Siesta

We’ll head back to our olive farm to have a nice siesta.

Dinner

Dinner will be served at the farmhouse in the evening.

c) Day trip in Puglia - (incurs an extra cost of 50 euros per person).

Polignano al Mare

After breakfast we’ll take the one and half hour drive over to the famous Puglia coastal town of Polignano al Mare. This stunning little seaside town is full of history, photo opportunities and wonderful little shops.

Boat Tour

After a quick look around the old town of Polignano, we’ll head over to the starting point for a wonderful boat tour of the coast, discovering some of the unique caves and caverns that make up the Puglian coast.

Seafood Lunch

For lunch, you’ll enjoy a typical seafood restaurant situated right next to the sea that will serve a selection of local seafood based dishes with wine.

The Trulli of Alberobello

After lunch, we’ll take the half hour drive over to the UNESCO site of ‘Alberobello’ where you’ll have some free time to explore the strange, conical shaped houses that have become symbolic of the region.

Dinner

A final dinner will be served at the farmhouse in the evening with local folk music.

Departure