The Charms of Southern Italy: Naples, Puglia and the Amalfi Coast

After an excellent breakfast at your hotel this morning, you’ll meet up with a private tour guide who will help you to get the most out of Naples and experience it your way. There’s a lot to unpack in this city: do you want to jostle in the markets or explore chic boutiques; admire the Gesù Nuovo church or the splendid National Railway Museum; taste pasta e fagioli or frittata di maccheroni? Along with showing you around this bustling city, your guide can offer tips and advice for the rest of your time in Naples and Southern Italy, so if there’s anything else you want to know, just ask. You’ll have the rest of your day to take up some of these suggestions continue discovering Naples at your own pace.

This morning, you’ll pick up your rental car and head to the seaside town of Mattinata, just under three hours away. You’ll spend two nights here enjoying your hotel’s beautiful gardens, inviting blue swimming pool and nearby pebble beach. There’s plenty to do while you’re here, from trying out some watersports to renting bicycles for trips into the town and its surroundings. However you decide to spend your time, round off your day with a massage at the spa before a dinner of Southern Italian cuisine at the hotel restaurant.

We wouldn’t judge you for spending all your time in Mattinata relaxing at your beautiful hotel – you are on holiday, after all. However, the Gargano National Park is a beautiful place to explore if you want to venture out, full of limestone plateaus, cliffs, caves, natural arches and wetlands. Explore on foot or by bicycle between beeches, oaks and 80 species of orchids, and keep your eyes peeled for deer along with some incredible bird species like raptors, eagles, peregrine falcons and myriad water birds. The park is also full of charming towns such as Vieste or Peschici, whose beautiful old quarters lend themselves to an afternoon sipping traditional iced coffee or enjoying a plateful of traditional Apulian pasta. And of course, this region offers beaches in all shapes and sizes, so just ask our Concierge to recommend one that suits you. We can also arrange a visit to Monte Sant'Angelo complete with a Caciocavallo cheese tasting.

Today, you’ll hop back in your rental car and drive for around two-and-a-half hours until you reach Cisternino. While you’re here, you’ll stay in a traditional trullo that’s both comfortable and in-keeping with the authentic atmosphere in this picturesque Apulian commune. You’ll have this afternoon to spend relaxing by the outdoor swimming pool or in the onsite spa. This evening, enjoy a meal of local produce at the hotel’s excellent restaurant.

Around a 25-minute drive from Cisternino, the whitewashed city of Ostuni is packed full of charm. Today, take a stroll around its hilltop old town to see the Colonna di Sant'Oronzo, visit the tobacco factory or simply take in the historic atmosphere in this city that’s been inhabited since the Stone Age. Wander through narrow cobbled alleyways where craftsmen work, and visit religious buildings designed in Gothic and Baroque styles. When you get hungry, stop for fave e cicoria (mashed beans with chicory), orecchiette alle cime di rapa (orecchiette with turnip greens) or cavatelli ceci e cozze (pasta with mussels and chickpeas). Wash it all down with a glass of local wine made from Sangiovese or Negroamaro grapes, grown in the surrounding countryside that’s full of remarkable vineyards as well as beautiful olive groves. This area features a distinct rural landscape that’s one of the most beautiful in the south. If you like, we can arrange for you to visit Ostuni for half a day with a private guide, finishing with a local olive oil tasting.

This morning you’ll drive for just over an hour until you reach Lecce and its beautiful Baroque-style buildings. You’ll spend two nights here in the centre within walking distance from the city’s main monuments. When you’re not exploring, relax in the shade of your hotel garden, enjoy a glass of local wine from the well-stocked cellar or spend some time soaking in the jacuzzi.

After a generous breakfast at your accommodation this morning, head out to explore Lecce with a private guide. As you stroll through squares and along streets that showcase Lecce’s iconic architectural style, Barocco Leccese, absorb the atmosphere of this culture-rich city and learn more about how it came to be. Along the way, don’t miss the chance to sample Puglia’s traditional pastry: pasticciotti. These moreish cream-filled tarts will have you committing the sin of gluttony even in the presence of Lecce’s many fabulous churches.

The limestone caves of Matera’s Sassi region have been inhabited since ancient times. They were evacuated due to health concerns in the 1950s, but having undergone some intense rehabilitation work, they’re now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Some of this troglodyte settlement’s cave churches are now open to the public, while others have been transformed into atmospheric accommodation. You’ll spend the night in one of these raw stone dwellings that’s lit by the sun or the flickering flames of candles. We’ll arrange for you to visit the hermitages, monasteries, houses and cisterns of Sassi during a private tour today. This is where Pier Paolo Pasolini shot some of The Gospel According to St. Matthew, and where Byzantine monks settled during the Middle Ages, and the splendour of the frescoes in their churches can be appreciated to this day. When you return to your hotel, enjoy a meal by candlelight in the dining room, a former 13th-century church.

On your way to Positano today, stop off in the Gallipoli Gognato Regional Park to take in sweeping Italian landscapes and have a go on the thrilling zip line that connects the villages of Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa, perched on two sides of a steep valley. We can also arrange for you to take a private tour of the ancient Greek and Roman city of Paestum along the way. When you reach Positano, head straight to your hotel for two nights above Spiaggia Grande, the city’s main beach. This evening, enjoy a dinner prepared by a talented chef who knows how to make the most of the region’s fresh produce, much of which comes straight from the Tyrrhenian Sea.

In the words of John Steinbeck, Positano is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone. Characteristic of the Amalfi Coast, this small town sits on a steep slope that descends into the sparkling sea. It’s home to some important buildings such as the 18th-century Santa Maria Assunta church, but above all, Positano is a place to soak up the dreamy atmosphere of this iconic part of the world, which you’ll have plenty of time for today. Wander its seafront pathways through vibrant squares and sip limoncello with a view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and don’t miss a visit to the Archaeological Museum, which is testament to the grandeur of the town’s Roman Villa, established here in the first century BCE. From Positano, you can also jump into the car, lower the windows and take the simply stunning UNESCO World Heritage-listed coastal road towards Amalfi, Atrani and Ravello.

Today you’ll drive for around 40 minutes towards Sorrento. You’ll spend two nights in nearby Sant'Agnello, perfectly placed for marvelling at the sheer drop down to the sea that affords this region its own kind of magic. From the hotel’s gardens and terraces, enjoy an incomparable view of the Gulf of Naples and Vesuvius.

This morning, enjoy breakfast with a view of the sea before exploring Sorrento with a private local guide. During this intimate and informative tour, they’ll show you a version of city that they’ve known and loved their whole lives. You’ll begin with a visit to the shipyard where the famous Gozzi fishing boats are built before moving on to the village of Marina Grande, which remains authentic and unmarred by tourism. You’ll then thread through the narrow Via Santa Maria della Pietà, the east-west axis of the ancient city where you’ll find the 14th-century Palazzo Correale, and the 12th and 13th-century Palazzo Veniero. While your guide won’t be short of things to fill your time with, they’ll also work the route around any attractions or sites that you’d like to see.

Today, you’ll drive back to Naples, but not before a stop at the incredible Pompeii. With a private guide leading the way and sharing stories about life in this incredible Roman city, you’ll see Pompeii’s most iconic sights and objects such as the cave canem mosaic, the House of Venus frescoes and the incredible amphitheatre. Marvel at the Large Palaestra, trace the chariot tracks on ancient streets, and see how this once-great city was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius all those years ago. When you reach Naples, around a 30-minute drive from Pompeii, drop off your rental car and head to your elegant accommodation in the old part of town. While you might want to spend your final night in Italy simply relaxing, we can also arrange for you to take in a performance at the splendid Teatro di San Carlo to round off your Italian trip.