The trip
Most people do the Amalfi Coast and fly home. That's a mistake, because two hours' drive east is Puglia: the heel of Italy's boot, with whitewashed hill towns, olive groves that go on forever, cone-roofed trulli houses and some of the best food in the country. It's cheaper and calmer too.
So we do both. We start in Naples, the loud, chaotic, beautiful city where pizza was invented. Then three nights in Sorrento for Pompeii and the coast, before crossing the country to Matera and working our way down through Puglia to Lecce.
Late September is the sweet spot. The sea is still warm enough for swimming, the August crowds have gone, and it's harvest season, so the food is at its very best.
Highlights
- A guided walk through Pompeii with an archaeologist
- Positano, Amalfi and the gardens at Ravello, partly by boat
- The Path of the Gods trail, high above the coast
- A night in a cave hotel in the Sassi of Matera
- Learning to make orecchiette with the women of Bari Vecchia
Day by day
Texas to Naples
An overnight flight. We land, check in and go out for the first real Neapolitan pizza of the trip, on the street where some of the oldest pizzerias are.
Naples
Spaccanapoli, the street of nativity workshops, the archaeological museum (the best collection of Roman art and artifacts anywhere, mostly from Pompeii), and a tunnel tour of underground Naples. A sfogliatella for the road.
Pompeii to Sorrento
A morning in Pompeii with an archaeologist guide, then to Sorrento for three nights. Limoncello tasting at a lemon grove.
The Amalfi Coast
By boat to Positano and Amalfi (it beats the traffic on the coast road), then by road up to Ravello and the gardens of Villa Rufolo. Sunset back in Sorrento.
Path of the Gods or Capri
Your choice. Hike the Path of the Gods, about four and a half miles along the cliffs, ending in Positano. Or take the ferry to Capri and, if the sea is calm, the Blue Grotto.
To Matera
East across the country to Matera, a city carved into a ravine, where people lived in caves until the 1950s. Tonight you sleep in one, a very nice one.
Alberobello & Polignano
Alberobello's trulli, the stone houses with cone-shaped roofs. Then Polignano a Mare, built on cliffs over the sea, with its tiny beach between the rocks. Two nights near the coast.
Ostuni & a masseria
Lunch at a masseria, an old fortified farm, with olive oil from its own trees and burrata made that morning. Afternoon in Ostuni, the white city.
Lecce
Lecce, often called the Florence of the South, with its honey-colored baroque churches. Papier-mâché workshops and pasticciotto, a custard pastry, still warm.
Bari
Bari Vecchia, where women make orecchiette pasta by hand in their doorways and sell it from tables in the street. They'll let you try. Then the Basilica of San Nicola, which holds the relics of the original Saint Nicholas. Farewell dinner.
Home
Flights from Bari, arriving in Texas that evening.
What's included
✅ Included
- Round-trip economy airfare from DFW or IAH
- 10 nights in hand-picked hotels, including a cave hotel in Matera, double occupancy
- Breakfast daily, 3 lunches and 6 dinners
- Private coach, the Amalfi Coast boat day, and local guides in each region
- Pompeii, the Naples museum, Villa Rufolo, the Naples underground tour and the limoncello tasting
➖ Not included
- Some lunches and 4 dinners
- Capri ferry and Blue Grotto fees if you choose Capri on Day 6
- Tips for guides and drivers
- Single supplement (from $1,150) and travel insurance
Good to know
The Amalfi Coast is steep. The towns are built up the cliffs, and getting anywhere means stairs, lots of them. If stairs are hard for you, tell us when you book and we'll plan around it. Matera's Sassi are the same: beautiful, but all up and down.
