Featured holiday Puglia and Amalfi Coast two centre holiday Italy

8 nights/9 days
This is an 8-night two centre holiday combining the long-time favourite destination of the Amalfi Coast with the up-and-coming cultural and gastronomic destination of Puglia. Fly into Bari and return from Naples, or the other way round, with hire-car included.
Included in your Expressions holiday
  • 4 nights’ bed and breakfast at Il Melograno in Puglia, in a classic room
  • 4 nights’ bed and breakfast at the Hotel Santa Caterina in a standard room with side sea view
  • Scheduled flights with British Airways London to Bari, Naples to London, economy
  • Hire of a Group B car for the duration of the holiday
  • Concierge service and Expressions Holidays regional helpful hints

Two centre holiday combining Puglia and the Amalfi Coast

Highlights

• Visit the trulli of Alberobello • Visit Puglian vineyards and olive oil producers • Visit Baroque Lecce • Visit Ravello • Visit the island of Capri by boat or hydrofoil • Visit the cloister gardens in Amalfi

Special offers for this holiday>

I enjoyed every minute of the tour. Cindy-Marie was simply fantastic and her knowledge, kindness and humour was all that I could have asked for. This was a first class experience. Thank you for making it all happen.
Customer on Tuscan wine tour, June 2022

Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 8 nights.

From about

£2,670 Low season

£5,070 High season

Holiday Code FHIT33

The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.

Two centre holiday combining Puglia and the Amalfi Coast

Special offers for this holiday>

I enjoyed every minute of the tour. Cindy-Marie was simply fantastic and her knowledge, kindness and humour was all that I could have asked for. This was a first class experience. Thank you for making it all happen.
Customer on Tuscan wine tour, June 2022

Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 8 nights.

From about

£2,670 Low season

£5,070 High season

Holiday Code FHIT33

The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.

I enjoyed every minute of the tour. Cindy-Marie was simply fantastic and her knowledge, kindness and humour was all that I could have asked for. This was a first class experience. Thank you for making it all happen.
Customer on Tuscan wine tour, June 2022

Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 8 nights.

From about

£2,670 Low season

£5,070 High season

Holiday Code FHIT33

The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.

The journey and how you get there There are flights from London to Bari most days in high season and daily from Naples to London. The hotel in Puglia is less than an hour’s drive from Bari and then it’s about a 90-minute drive from Amalfi to Naples at the end of the holiday. It takes about four hours to drive between the two hotels.

Two centre holiday combining Puglia and the Amalfi Coast

Hotels included in this tour

Special offers

Call to make your booking and save an extra £50 per adult Call us instead of emailing us when you are thinking of booking a holiday and save an extra £50 per adult (in addition to any special offers that might be available). We want to talk to you to discuss your requirements and a phone call is usually the best way for you to define what you want enabling us to respond more accurately. We want to talk to you and you save an extra £50 per adult.

I enjoyed every minute of the tour. Cindy-Marie was simply fantastic and her knowledge, kindness and humour was all that I could have asked for. This was a first class experience. Thank you for making it all happen.
Customer on Tuscan wine tour, June 2022

Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room for 8 nights.

From about

£2,670 Low season

£5,070 High season

Holiday Code FHIT33

The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.

The journey and how you get there There are flights from London to Bari most days in high season and daily from Naples to London. The hotel in Puglia is less than an hour’s drive from Bari and then it’s about a 90-minute drive from Amalfi to Naples at the end of the holiday. It takes about four hours to drive between the two hotels.

Two centre holiday combining Puglia and the Amalfi Coast

Highlights of the Amalfi Coast

A drive along the Amalfi coast from Positano to Amalfi offers stunning and breath-taking scenery. Visit the Emerald Cave near Vettica Minore by boat. Enjoy the superb view of the coast from the 13th Century Gothic Villa Rufolo in Ravello (we offer garden tour holidays of the Amalfi Coast and Capri including a visit to Villa Rufolo). Spend a full day visiting the awe-inspiring site of Pompeii, visiting the remains of the villas containing both vibrant and delicate frescoes. Herculaneum is nearby and also worth visiting. The Greek site of Paestum has outstanding Doric temples. In the resort of Amalfi stroll along the Via Genova and the Via Capuano taking in the typical architecture of Campania with the flower-covered balconies, narrow alleyways leading to fountain-filled little squares. Take the chairlift on Capri to Monte Solaro or walk to the Migliara Belvedere for a view of the lighthouse. On Ischia visit the beaches of Citara and Maronti and enjoy a morning's walk to Monte Epomeo for panoramic views of the coast. Well worth visiting is the often-forgotten island of Procida between Naples and Ischia, with its vines and fishing, flat roofed white houses and atmosphere most characteristic of the region in bygone days. Visit Vietri for ceramics as well as stalls of lemons, garlic and peppers.

Cultural highlights of the Amalfi Coast

The House of the Vettii at Pompeii, the baroque Palazzo Reale at Caserta, Villa Jovis in Capri, the Doric temples of Paestum, Michelozzo`s tomb of Cardinal Rinaldo Brancaccio in the 14th Century church of Sant`Angelo, and in Naples: `Modesty` by Antonio Corradini in the Cappella Sansevero, the Gothic church of San Lorenzo Maggiore and the Majolica tiles in the cloisters of the 14th Century Santa Chiara.

Festivals on the Amalfi Coast

The Ravello music festival June to July, the festival of San Costanzo on 14 May on Capri, the festival of Sant`Antonio in Anacapri on 13 June, the festival of Madonna della Liberta in Marina Grande in September, Lo Sbarco dei Saraceni in Positano on the second Sunday in August.

Gastronomy of the Amalfi Coast

Neapolitan cuisine is now famous the world over for its use of tomatoes, pizza, mozzarella cheese, dried pasta and lemons. Local specialities include Mozzarella in Carrozza, Panzanella alla napoletana, Pasta alla sorrentina (with scamorza cheese and tomatoes), Sartu (an elaborate rice pie stuffed with meats, sausages, mushrooms etc), Timballo di Maccheroni (also elaborate with maccheroni baked in a pie and a sauce of chicken livers, mushrooms and black truffles), Carciofi ripieni alla napoletana (baked stuffed artichokes), Coviglie (a mousse-like dessert), Sproccolati (sun-dried figs on sticks) and Sfogliatelle (breakfast pastries). The region produces a number of excellent red and white wines. The most famous white is called Lacrimi Christi, from vines grown on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Taurasi from Avellino is a full-bodied red. Capri, Ischia and Sorrento all produce their own local wines.

Two centre holiday combining Puglia and the Amalfi Coast

Highlights of Puglia

Explore the Gargano peninsula with its dramatic coastline of coves and cliffs, beaches and forested interior. Take a boat trip to the Tremiti islands off the coast of the Gargano. The Salentine peninsula should be discovered for its vineyards and olive groves, megalithic remains and grottoes including the Grotte di Castellanata.

Cultural highlights of Puglia

The cultural highlights of Puglia are to be found in the quality of the Norman religious and secular architecture and the Baroque of Lecce in particular. Highlights include Lecce's church of Santa Croce begun in 1549 by Gabriele Riccardi and with a magnificent 17th Century facade, the loggia of the 15th Century Palazzo Vescovile, the Duomo rebuilt by Giuseppe Zimbalo (lo Zingarello) and the church of Santi Nicola e Cataldo (the most important Romanesque church in the Salentine). Bari possesses the Basilica di San Nicola, one of Puglia`s first great Norman churches. The 15th Century frescoes in the church of Santa Caterina d`Alessandria in Galatina are of particular merit. In Bitanto`s Romanesque cathedral is an Ambo by Maestro Nicola dating from 1229 with a bas-relief showing Frederick II and his family.

Festivals in Puglia

Martina Franca holds the Festivale della Valle d`Itria in late July/ early August. Bari holds a historical parade of St Nicholas on 7-10 May and a procession on the sea. Galatina has a curious tradition coinciding with the Feasts of Saints Peter and Paul on 28-29 June as tarantism has survived here. Lecce has a feast for the patron saints of the city on 24 to 26 August.

Gastronomy in Puglia

Olive oil is produced in enormous quantities and this together with local fruit, wine and seafood feature in the regional gastronomy of Puglia. Specialities include Focaccia bread flavoured with olives, fennel and chicory, Panzerotti (pasta with anchovies, capers and strong ricotta cheese), Tiella di Cozze (rice, potatoes and mussels), Melanzane alla campagnola (aubergines roasted and soaked in oil, garlic and basil). Dried pasta of all shapes and sizes is also a regional speciality. Puglia also is a great wine producer. A light red is produced at Cerignola and a robust red at Bari. Red Primitivo del Salento or di Manduria are well known.

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