This is Why Guests Keep Returning
This is Lyndey’s fifth Puglia tour, and if that tells you anything, it’s that one trip was never going to be enough. The kind of trip people do once, then quietly book again. Not because they missed something, but because the experience itself is worth revisiting.
And now, with a completely refreshed itinerary for October 2026, the doors are open again and spaces are already moving.
The tour runs 3 to 10 October, eight days through the heel of Italy’s boot, and it’s been built around the food, the producers and the places that make this region so compelling to anyone who takes eating seriously. Not a checklist of famous landmarks, but a genuine immersion into the way Puglia actually tastes.
Read about Lyndey’s previous Puglia tours here:
What Keeps People Coming Back
Part of it is Puglia itself. The region rewards return visits in a way that few places do, partly because there’s simply so much of it and partly because the food culture runs so deep that every town, every masseria, every small producer has something you haven’t encountered before. A week is both too short and exactly right.
But the bigger part is Lyndey. She has spent decades sharing her love of food and travel with Australian audiences through television, books and her own hosted tours, and what she brings to a trip like this is something that no amount of independent planning can replicate. She knows the millers and the cheese makers and the winemakers personally. She asks the questions you’d want to ask. She sits at a long table and makes everyone feel like they’ve known each other for years, and by the farewell dinner at Masseria Lilei, they usually have.
More Info about Lyndey’s Tours
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Her guests don’t just return for Puglia. They return for the particular quality of experience she creates around a shared table, and that is precisely what this new itinerary has been built to deliver.
Everything Included in The Tour
- 7 breakfasts, 3 lunches & 3 dinners
- Air-conditioned coach throughout
- Arrival transfer from Bari & departure transfer to Brindisi
- An expert local guide and dedicated driver
- Cherry-picked boutique hotels (Vis Urban Suites & Masseria Lilei)
- Welcome dinner in Bari & farewell dinner at the Masseria
- Street food experience in Bari
- Full-day Trani, Castel del Monte & gelato-making experience
- Altamura ancient grains, bakery & cheese-tasting tour
- Olive oil estate visit & tasting near Ostuni
- Hands-on Pugliese cooking class & market tour in Lecce
- Winery visit with wine tasting & lunch in Salento
- All local taxes, entrance fees, and porterage (1 bag per person)
Eight Days, One Dish at a Time
The tour begins in Bari on 3 October with a welcome dinner and a first proper look at the city, before the week unfolds south through some of the most productive agricultural land in Italy. Each day has been sequenced deliberately, building a picture of Pugliese food culture from the inside out rather than skimming the surface.
The Food Itself is The Story
Pugliese cooking is rooted in the philosophy of cucina povera, the so-called ‘poor kitchen’ that turned simple, honest ingredients into something deeply nourishing and beautiful. It’s a tradition where nothing is wasted, where vegetables are treated with the same reverence as meat, and where the quality of the olive oil on the table tells you everything you need to know about the household.
On this tour discover Puglia’s signature ear-shaped pasta, in the very neighbourhood where the ladies who make it have lived their whole lives. You’ll also taste extra virgin olive oil pressed from trees that predate the printing press and sip wines from a Salento estate that has been producing since medieval times.It’s just Tuesday.
On this tour discover Puglia’s signature ear-shaped pasta, in the very neighbourhood where the ladies who make it have lived their whole lives. You’ll also taste extra virgin olive oil pressed from trees that predate the printing press and sip wines from a Salento estate that has been producing since medieval times.It’s just Tuesday.
Day 4 takes the group to Altamura, where a visit to a working mill and the DOP-certified bakery is followed by lunch at a cheese bar tucked into the Mercadante Forest, the kind of place you would never find without someone who already knows it. Day 5 moves to an olive oil estate near Ostuni, where the trees lining the grove are old enough that the term ‘centuries-old’ undersells them significantly.
“Some of Puglia’s olive trees have been producing fruit for over a thousand years. Standing beside one changes the way you think about the oil on your bread.”
Day 6, you’ll experience the cooking class in Lecce with Chef Gianna. It begins at the Porta Rudiae market, where the group selects the ingredients they’ll actually cook with, before heading to her kitchen to make handmade pasta, work through regional sauces and learn the techniques behind the kind of food that Pugliese families eat at home. Her warmth and generosity in the kitchen are, by all accounts, half the experience.
Where You’ll Be Staying
Accommodation has been chosen with real care. The first four nights are spent at Vis Urban Suites in Bari, a stylish and well-placed base for exploring the northern part of the region, while the final three nights are at Masseria Lilei, a traditional southern Italian farmhouse estate that feels like a world unto itself. Dinner on your arrival evening and the farewell dinner both take place there, and sitting outside under the stars after a week of eating well is, by all accounts, a rather fine way to end a trip.
A Note on October in Puglia
Early October is, without much argument, the finest time to visit this part of southern Italy. The summer crowds have dispersed, the temperatures are warm without the intensity of August (typically sitting around 22 to 26 degrees Celsius), and the olive harvest season is just beginning. The light in October is extraordinary, golden and soft in a way that makes every photograph look considered, and if you’ve been thinking about visiting Puglia, this is exactly the window to do it.
