Day 1: Arrival in Rome

Collect your luggage, clear customs and meet your driver in the arrivals hall for your private transfer to your hotel. Relax at your hotel, or explore Rome on your own. This evening, enjoy a traditional 3-course dinner at Il Piccolo Mondo Restaurant.

Day 2: Rome

This morning, enjoy a panoramic drive through Rome during which your English speaking driving guide will show you an overview of the highlights of the Eternal City, including The Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Gianicolo Hill. This tour does not include any admissions to monuments. Duration: 3 hours. Lunch on your own.

In the afternoon, you have a private transfer to the Rome Train Station, where you will board the train for your first-class seat to Naples. Upon arrival you have a Private Transfer from the Naples Train Station to Sorrento, with a 2-hour private tour of Pompeii en route. In the evening, enjoy a traditional 3-course dinner at Ristorante L'Antica Trattoria in Sorrento. Overnight in Sorrento.

Day 3: Sorrento Countryside

After breakfast, Enjoy a walking tour of the lovely resort town of Sorrento with its highlights and breathtaking panorama on the Gulf of Naples. Your guide will take you through the narrow streets of the historical center with its typical artisan and food shops offering a large variety of local produce. After the walking tour, you will transfer to Il Pizzo estate. Follow the Lemon Trail and step back in time and into the history of Sorrento and the beauty of a secret garden that has a touch of royalty, whose original owner was a Count. Learn from experts about the cultivation and nurturing of lemon trees and their fruit. Relax in the lemon grove for a limoncello making demonstration and indulge yourself in generous tasting of homemade lemon delights like marmelade, liqueur and lemonade made with fresh lemons. After returning to your hotel, enjoy an afternoon at leisure by the pool or spend more time exploring the streets of lovely Sorrento.

Day 4: Sorrento

A day at leisure to explore Sorrento, or perhaps take an optional excursion to the Isle of Capri.

Day 5: Sorrento to Matera

After breakfast, you'll have a private car transfer as we cross the Italian Peninsula to the interesting cave town of Matera, where you'll spend the night in a unique 4-star superior hotel. You have free time to explore this ancient town, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, dating back to the 10th Millennium BC. The original settlements were caves or caverns, many of which have now been meticulously repurposed into cave hotels, cave cafes and restaurants.

Day 6: Matera to Lecce

In the morning after breakfast, meet your private guide for a walking tour of this unique town, famous for its sassi, caves built directly into the rocky hill, inhabited by the locals for centuries. UNESCO declared the Sassi a World Heritage Site. This area was the set for Mel Gibson's film The Passion of Christ.

In the afternoon you'll have a private car transfer into the "heel of the boot" of Italy, to the city of Lecce. After checking into your hotel, you have free time to explore the city; wander the narrow streets and enjoy one of its many outdoor cafes. Inhabited since Roman times, Lecce is known for its Baroque buildings including the cathedral; a medieval castle; a Roman amphitheater and its archaeological museum.

Day 7: Lecce

This morning is your guided tour of the Lecce food market. Chef Gianna will show you how to choose fresh seasonal ingredients for the menu. On the way back to the cooking school, stop at a local café to taste a local coffee. Once at the school you will prepare four local dishes that will comprise lunch, accompanied by three selected wines from the Salento area. Total time for this excursion: four hours.

In the late afternoon, you have a private car transfer to the town of Savelletri di Fasano, a spectacular seafront town with an old fishing port, and sandy beaches. You will stay here for three nights.

Day 8: Savelletri Di Fasano

Begin your private car tour with your driving guide by heading to Martina Franca, a lovely town known for its Baroque architecture. After a walking tour of Martina, the tour continues to Cisternino, a charming town with whitewashed houses, narrow streets and tiny courtyards. Originally founded by Greek settlers, it became a Roman settlement until it was destroyed by Hannibal. It was re-established in the 800s by monks, who built a Greek Orthodox monastery here. Cisternino is famous for its "barbecuing butchers;" your guide will take you to a butcher shop where you will choose and grill your own meat, which will become part of your lunch, accompanied by mineral water and wine.

After lunch, the tour continues to the village of Locorotondo, famous for its "trulli"—whitewashed houses with cone-shaped roofs. Here we visit the Pastini Family Vineyards and Wine Cellar to taste their wines accompanied by local snacks. At the conclusion of this visit, we return to Savelletri.

Day 9: Savelletri Di Fasano

You have a free day to explore the seaside, or perhaps take an optional excursion to other nearby towns in Puglia.

Day 10: Departure from Bari

After checking out of your hotel, you will have a private transfer to the airport at Bari