Vieste - the Wild Side of Northern Puglia, 2027

Children's price: 30% discount.

Matera is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its history goes back to the Palaeolithic, when its first inhabitants settled in the natural caves of the Gravina river canyon. For centuries they enlarged their dwellings, the so-called “sassi”, by carving deeper into the rock or building stone entrances to their terraced shelters. Living conditions in the sassi remained almost unchanged until the early 1950s, when Italian intellectuals called for government action. With state funding, the cave dwellers were given modern homes. The ancient part of the town was left empty and people called it the Dead City. This “dead” period lasted until cinema took an interest in Matera. Today the once-abandoned sassi live again as shops, restaurants, wine bars and even luxury hotels. The excursion includes a walking tour of the town's distinctive historic centre.

Children's price: 30% discount.

The excursion includes a walking tour of Alberobello, the town of the trulli. Trulli are distinctive buildings that carry on a prehistoric building tradition. They have a cylindrical base with walls up to 1 m thick and a conical roof made of several layers of limestone slabs. Although they were built without any mortar, they have survived to this day. The most remarkable is the Territorio town museum, made of 10 trulli joined into one, which tells the story of the trulli and their inhabitants. The town's cathedral is dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian and stands out with its 18th-century neoclassical façade. Near the main square is the Church of Santa Lucia from the early 19th century.

Children's price: 30% discount.

The Tremiti are perhaps Italy's least known archipelago among tourists, and stepping onto its shores you will feel as if you have gone back in time. Lying 22 km north of the Gargano peninsula in Puglia - the “spur of the boot” of Italy - the five Tremiti islands (San Domino, San Nicola, Capraia, Cretaccio and Pianosa) are part of the Gargano National Park, an unspoilt area of protected land and sea. With their sheer limestone headlands and rocky beaches with translucent turquoise water, they look more Croatian than Italian. Capraia, Cretaccio and Pianosa are uninhabited, and on the other two cars are banned for everyone except local residents.

San Nicola is the smallest of the three main islands but serves as the administrative centre of the Tremiti, and most of the archipelago's population lives here. The Abbey of Santa Maria a Mare, founded by the Benedictines in 1045, also stands on San Nicola. According to one of the best-known legends about San Nicola, Diomedes - the heroic friend of Odysseus - did not return to his native Argos after the Trojan War but instead founded various towns in Puglia and “gave birth” to the Tremiti, also known in Italian as the Diomedee, by throwing three huge stones into the sea. Each of them became an island: San Domino, Capraia and San Nicola. Diomedes himself, legend has it, is buried on the last.

San Domino has the most to offer visitors. It is also known as the “green pearl” for its lush vegetation. Its shores alternate between sandy beaches and limestone cliffs, and at its centre lies a small village with a few hotels. You will be able to enjoy breathtaking views, romantic coves and caves.

Children's price: 30% discount.

The sea caves of Vieste stretch along the southern coast from Vieste to Mattinata. Each cave has a name, and with it a story, told by the guides on the trips to these beautiful rock formations. The first cave visited lies at the tip of the Gargano headland and is called the “Smugglers' Cave”. It has two entrances, one on the north side and the other on the south. Its name comes from a story told by fishermen: a group of smugglers pursued by the authorities went inside to hide. The authorities decided to wait outside until morning and catch the group as it came out. But they did not know the cave had two entrances, and under cover of night the men they were chasing slipped away unnoticed.

Continuing the trip to the caves of Vieste, you will come to the small “Bell” cave, named for its resemblance to large church bells. The “Violet Cave” takes its name from the purple shades of its walls (although some sailors say they feel an inexplicable warmth in it in winter, which is why many call it the “Hot Cave”). The “Broken Cave” has no roof, letting the hot summer sun in to light up the crystal-blue sea. The beautiful trio ends with the “Two Eyes” cave, whose roof has two large holes that look like the cave's two “eyes”. These are just a few of the wonderful coastal formations you will see on this boat trip.

Children's price: 30% discount.

Monte Sant'Angelo is a town in Puglia, southern Italy, in the province of Foggia, on the southern slopes of Monte Gargano. Its most important attraction is the Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel, built in the 13th century by Charles I of Anjou. On 25 June 2011 the World Heritage Committee inscribed the sanctuary in Monte Sant'Angelo on the UNESCO list. The cave with the sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel is the destination of many pilgrimages starting from Mont Saint-Michel. According to legend, Saint Michael appeared in this cave in 490, 492 and 493. Pope John Paul II visited the sanctuary in 1987.

Monte Sant'Angelo began as a Norman fortified town. Its buildings are clustered in Arab style on a hill with a distinct area called “Junno”, where whitewashed single-family houses stand in neat rows - quite a sight! The first settlement grew up around the cave sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel. It quickly became a popular place for pilgrims and a stop for crusaders travelling to and from the Holy Land. In the town you will find the remains of the old castle with bastions from different eras. Its oldest part is the so-called “Torre dei Giganti” (“Tower of the Giants”) - an 18-metre pentagonal tower with walls 3.7 m thick. The first records of the castle date from 979. Later it was the residence of Rainulf I of Aversa and Robert Guiscard, who built the Norman tower and the treasury. Emperor Frederick II restored it to use as a residence for his mistress Bianca Lancia. According to legend, the castle is still haunted by the ghost of Bianca Lancia, whose sighs can be heard - especially in winter.

Monte Sant'Angelo's position offers panoramic views of the Gargano area, overlooking the hills and down to the Adriatic Sea. The whitewashed town is a feast for the eyes and will give you a wonderful experience!

In the afternoon we will head to the Foresta Umbra. The Foresta Umbra nature reserve is a protected area in the heart of the Gargano National Park, covering nearly 15,000 hectares. Its name means “the shady forest”, after the dense vegetation that gives shade in many areas. The Foresta Umbra is a forest of great natural value. In places it rises to 800 metres above sea level, while elsewhere it is at sea level. The reserve boasts over 2,000 plant species, among them beech, Turkey oak, oak, maple, hornbeam, sycamore, ash, yew, pine and many more. Some trees are more than 300-350 years old. It is the largest broadleaf forest in Italy, with true botanical monuments over 40 m tall. Since 2017 its beeches have been part of a transnational UNESCO site. The forest also has 65 species of wild orchids - a record for the whole Mediterranean basin!

The fauna of the Foresta Umbra is also very rich and varied. The easily recognisable calls of free-living wild animals - deer, roe deer, wildcats, wild boar, badgers, weasels and various birds - can often be heard in the distance. As well as the beautiful dense greenery, you may come across some of the forest's inhabitants on your walks. The forest once belonged to feudal lords; in 1861, after the fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, it became state property.