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Cycling Puglia’s White Villages

Explore Matera on this bike tour in Southern Italy
  • Length 7 days
  • From USD$4750
  • Style/Level Classic 2.0
  • Countries Italy
  • Begin/End Matera / Ostuni
See related tours
Beautifully situated on the Adriatic Coast between the spur and heel of Italy’s “boot” lies Puglia. Nestled against the brilliant blue of the Mediterranean ancient Greek and Italian cultures mingle among hillside vineyards, olive groves, and whitewashed villages. Join us as we begin our bicycling journey in Matera, a world renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site, where dwellings carved into limestone caves create an enchanted and ancient stone city. We’ll pedal east toward Alberobello, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, through a landscape filled with unique conical shaped dwellings known as trulli. Finish in the striking “Città Bianca” or “White City” of Ostuni. Along the way you’ll enjoy meals prepared with Italian, Greek, and Middle Eastern influences and discover the warmth and hospitality of Southern Italy’s friendliest people.

If this sounds great but you prefer a longer ride join us on the extended Cycling Puglia’s White Villages Plus the Salento which extends this trip.

Highlights

  • UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Sassi of Matera and trulli of Alberobello, White city of Ostuni, Cheese tasting, Locorotondo, Ancient olive mill visit, Via Traiana

Includes

  • 7 days, 6 nights accommodation

  • meals as noted in itinerary

  • guided visit of Matera

  • guided visit of Alberobello

  • 1 cheese tasting

  • and olive mill visit

  • All Classic tour inclusions

Keep in mind

We work hard to maintain consistency across all of our tours, but some trips have unique differences. Here are some things to keep in mind about this tour.

There is a van shuttle on Day 3.

Pavement may be rough or uneven in places.

Date Price Private room fee Note
May 4-10, 2025 USD$4750 USD$550 Filling quickly!    
Book it
Sep 7-13, 2025 USD$4750 USD$550 Just 2 spaces available!    
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Sep 21-27, 2025 USD$4750 USD$550 Only 1 Re-Cycle discount available.
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Sep 28-Oct 4, 2025 USD$4750 USD$550 Departure confirmed to go!  
Book it
DateMay 4-10, 2025
PriceUSD$4750
Private room feeUSD$550
NoteFilling quickly!    
Book it
DateSep 7-13, 2025
PriceUSD$4750
Private room feeUSD$550
NoteJust 2 spaces available!    
Book it
DateSep 21-27, 2025
PriceUSD$4750
Private room feeUSD$550
NoteOnly 1 Re-Cycle discount available.
Book it
DateSep 28-Oct 4, 2025
PriceUSD$4750
Private room feeUSD$550
NoteDeparture confirmed to go!  
Book it

Download Itinerary

We’ll send you a link to a full day by day tour itinerary that can be downloaded and printed so you can review all the details online and offline. This packet also includes details about what to expect on tour and arrival and departure details.
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Open all days
  • Total distance 214 – 234 km (132 – 144 miles)
  • Average daily distance 43 km (26 miles)
  • Tour style Classic
  • Tour level 2.0

Highlights: Welcome drink, bike fitting, dinner in the “Sassi” of Matera

Arrive in Matera, unique in all of Italy for the cave dwellings that ring the central city. Inhabited by refugee clerics and monks from Greece and the Balkans during the 8th and 9th centuries, the cave churches and domestic dwellings carved into the town’s calcarenite or semi-sandstone cliffs at one time housed as many as 25,000 people. Today, the churches and caves are preserved as a World Heritage Site as being the “most outstanding, intact example of a cave-dwelling settlement in the Mediterranean.” Settle into our hotel and enjoy our welcome dinner after fitting bikes.

Meals : Dinner
 Lodging : Hotel San Domenico

Highlights: Guided walk of the Matera’s “sassi”, Appian Way

We’ll start the morning with a loop ride exploring Matera’s surroundings. Sights along the way include the fortified Massaria Jesce, which was an ancient Roman “post office” on the Appian Way – one of the most important Roman Roads. We’ll also visit the cave crypt of San Michele Arcangelo with frescoes dating to the 14th century. This afternoon features a guided walk exploring Matera’s history including a typical sassi, a cave dwelling house. Fodor’s has described the sassi as “one of the most unique landscapes in Europe,” on this tour we’ll gain a better understanding for the living conditions of what is believed to be one of the first human settlements in Italy.

Meals : Breakfast
 Lodging : Hotel San Domenico

Highlights: Gioia del Colle, cycling among the Itria Valley’s Trulli, guided tour of Alberobello

Today we shuttle from Matera to Gioia del Colle, famous for one of Frederic II castles. Start cycling and enjoy a ride through olive groves and vineyards on the way to the “Valle d’Itria” which is the heart of Puglia’s trulli region. Trulli are conical shaped dwellings unique to this part of Italy. Originally used as storage sheds for farmers, they quickly became popular as temporary shelters and farmer houses. We’ll pedal to the iconic “trulli” town of Alberobello where we’ll have a guided tour to learn more about the trulli and the people who built them. Take time to explore this unique town and have lunch on your own before you bicycle to our hotel just outside of Locorotondo, and our home for the next two nights.

Meals : Breakfast, Dinner
 Lodging : Hotel Leonardo Trulli Resort

Highlights: Trulli, vineyards, mozzarella demo and tasting

Start cycling from our hotel and find yourself immersed in vineyards and olive groves on the way to our lunch together. We’ll stop at an agritourism where we’ll learn more about and sample the fresh mozzarella, burrata and stracciatella for which Puglia is renowned. This afternoon, before you bicycle back to our hotel, get lost in the vibrant town of Locorotondo, whitewashed maze of lanes and historic buildings towering over them.

Meals : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
 Lodging : Hotel Leonardo Trulli Resort

Highlights: Ostuni – La cittá bianca

Our ride today will take you first through vineyards and olive groves to the whitewashed town of Ostuni. Our hotel is located in the center of this amazing village which spans three hilltops and is crowned by a Gothic cathedral. Destroyed by Hannibal during the Punic Wars in 1st and 2nd Centuries BC, Ostuni was rebuilt by the Greeks and takes its name from them as “Astu néon or “new town”. Rebuilt by the Normans in the 10th Century, Ostuni then flourished during the Italian Renaissance under Duchess Isabella of Bari. This is an imposing and beautiful city from afar and within.

Meals : Breakfast
 Lodging : Ostuni Palace

Highlights: Ancient olive mill, the beach, Carovigno

We’ll take a loop ride from our hotel today to the Adriatic Sea coast. The first stop will be to visit an underground olive press dating to pre-Roman times and used until the 19th C. Our ride continues on the Via Appia Traiana just before reaching the Adriatic Coast. Built by order of the Roman Emperor Traiano in the 2nd century A.D., the Via Traiana connected Rome to Brindisi, one of the most important ports for commerce with the Middle East. We’ll parallel the coast today with a possible dip at a local beach before continuing to the medieval town of Carovigno and back to our hotel.

Meals : Breakfast, Dinner
 Lodging : Ostuni Palace

Highlights: Buon viaggio!

Whether you are headed to Brindisi, Bari or Rome we hope you enjoy your travel or trip home. Thanks for joining us in Puglia.

Meals : Breakfast

Visit our Tour Level page to learn more about terrain levels and how we determine day and tour levels.

Pre-trip planning checklist

Italy travel planning page

See all trip photos

  • Very well organized bicycle tour of a spectacular part of Italy using back roads whenever possible and supplemented with excellent cultural tours, excellent hotels, and wonderful food

    Bob N., North Hollywood, CA – May 2024

  • A great introduction to Puglia (and a bit of Basilicata), full of cultural highlights as well as great riding.

    Robert S., Los Angeles, CA – May 2024

  • A great trip, well organised, and just beautiful rides – especially at that time of the year with all the fields of wild flowers. You don’t have to think about a thing as you are taken care of from the second you arrive. Highly recommend.

    Janie R., Toorak, VI, Australia – May 2023
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