Cycling & Cooking in Puglia
Luxury Culinary Bike tour in Puglia
Puglia, the spur and heel of Italy’s boot with its predominant flatness, is an ideal cycling territory.
In this food and wine bike tour you will enjoy and learn how to cook regional specialties with a local chef: nothing matches the handmade Orecchiette.
WOW MOMENTS
#Unbeatable views of ancient olive groves, whitewashed villages and age-old farmhouses
#Ride on quiet one-lane orchard roads, cooled by sea breezes, under big blue skies
#A sommelier-led tasting of full-bodied primitivo and other notable Pugliese vini
#The World Heritage sites of Alberobello with 1,500 trulli and overnight in authentic Trullo
WHAT YOU COOK?
Dishes are enlivened with seafood, fruity green olive oil together with fresh green vegetables and huge, bursting tomatoes, considered one of the most enviably healthy diets in Europe!!
Cycling creates appetite and perhaps nowhere else in Italy it is produced a food as fresh and good as it is here.
What about wine? You will find the Primitivo di Manduria, a distant cousin of California’s Zinfandel grape, another amazingly successful red wine is Salice Salentino, a powerful red wine made primarily with Negro Amaro … you will taste in the cellar!
Discover the unique trullo dwellings in the Itria valley, roaming the rural countryside, where you will see the whitewashed houses with conical stone roofs and will realize how they blend with the well-tended orchards and vineyards of the vast landscape.
You can get a sense of what it might have been like to live in a Trullo hundreds of years ago.
2025 departures
May 9 – 15
October 17 – 23
Day | Cycling Details | Inclusions |
Day 1 Friday | Meeting in Bari station at 13:00/14:00 and transfer to Masseria Petranima; Briefing and custom bike fitting; Short test ride; Dinner in town at Ostuni Taverna Gelosia | Test ride |
Day 2 Saturday | Start cycling week with ride to Alberobello via Cisternino; Explore Alberobello’s trulli; Transfer to accommodation for cooking class and dinner | Distance: 77 km / 48 miles – Elevation Gain: 965m – Elevation Loss: 966m |
Day 3 – Sunday | Cycle along the Adriatic coast to Egnazia, Savelletri, and Torre a Canne; Olive oil tasting at Masseria Valente | Distance: 57 km / 36 miles – Elevation Gain: 438m – Elevation Loss: 496m |
Day 4 Monday | Cycle to Ceglie Messapica and Martina Franca; Wine tasting at Pastini winery; Cooking class with dinner at Masseria | Distance: 54 km / 34 miles – Elevation Gain: 621m – Elevation Loss: 491m |
Day 5 Tuesday | Wine day in Salento Bike ride to Cellino San Marco for Liveli winery visit; Lunch in cellar; Transfer to Lecce hotel. Dinner at Osteria Contemporanea | Distance: 70 km / 44 miles – Elevation Gain: 434m – Elevation Loss: 640m |
Day 6 Wednesday | Cycle along coast at Cesine park, passing Otranto; Visit Santa Cesarea hot spring and Grotta Zinzalusa; Farewell dinner | Distance: 70 km / 43.5 miles – Elevation Gain: 562m – Elevation Loss: 553m |
Day 7 Thursday | Lecce train station for departure to Bari or Brindisi Airport or other destinations |
DAY 1
Meeting in Bari station at 13.00/ 14.00 and transfer to Masseria Petranima
After everyone arrives at the villa, we will have a briefing and custom fit you to your bikes. Depending on time arrival we will have the time for a short test ride.
Dinner in town ostuni taverna gelosia
DAY 2
We start our cycling week with the nice ride to highlight of Alberobello.
After breakfast at the villa, start the bike ride inland via Cisternino, one of the most lovely and chic hilltop towns in Puglia, you will soak in sweeping views of the Itria Valley below and see firsthand why this town is starting to gain some serious international repute. From there, we’ll cycle through the peaceful countryside ride past olive groves and rock-strewn fields to the stunning Alberobello with its flood of unique trulli: whitewashed houses with conical stone roofs, the most famous architectural symbol of the region. Once you have explored on your own transfer by van to accommodation for your first cooking class with local Chef who will share secrets of local dishes as you help her chop fresh tomatoes and choose the perfect olives. After the class, we will all enjoy a delicious dinner together paired with some of our favorite local wine
Distance 77 km/48 miles
Elevation Gain 965m Elevation loss 966m
DAY 3
Today skirt ocean, the starting point for a perfect, easy, flat ride which heads north past ancient olive groves and along the Adriatic coast to the archaeological site of Egnazia, Savelletri and Torre a Canne. You will be instantly charmed by the sky blue of the sea, that melts onto the white of the calcareous rock dotted here and there by the fichi d’india prickly pears.
Destination is Masseria Brancati for the olive oil tasting
Distance 57 km/36 miles
Elevation Gain 438m Elevation loss 496m
DAY 4
Highlight today is Martina Franca and wine tasting at Pastini winery. First stop for a cappuccino could in Ceglie Messapica, this lovely town on a hill is protected by a 5 km perimeters of walls the town acropolis one dominated the surrounding area, on to Martina Franca– a must-see town for its marvelously intact historic center, beautiful Baroque architecture, and stunning palazzo. Light lunch and reach the organic winery to taste the native vine Susumaniello, and Verdeca, and the wine symbol Primitivo. back to Masseria for Cooking class with dinner.
Distance 54 km/34 miles
Elevation Gain 621m Elevation loss 491m
DAY 5
We could not let you spend a week with us in Puglia without sampling one of its most sensational wine! Bike ride to Cellino San Marco where winery Liveli is, the cycling is easy: all flat all secondary road pasing through San Vito dei Normanni and Mesagne. After lunch in the cellar transfer to get in Lecce the pink city, the Florence of the Baroque. Dinner at Osteria Contemporanea
Distance 70 km/44 miles
Elevation Gain 434m Elevation loss 640m
DAY 6
Cycle skirting coast at Cesine park, and ride passing Otranto: the old town center is the first compulsory stop to discover beautiful spots and views striking for the southern aspect of the houses, painted in bright colors and enclosed in the wall fortifications overlooking the south bank of the harbor. We pass Santa Cesarea hot spring and Grotta Zinzalusa it is a fantastic grotta on the seaside where is possible have a great view overlooking the panorama. You will love the tiny roads that sometimes seem like bike paths. Let’s enjoy a festive final dinner
Distance 70 km/43,5 miles
Elevation Gain 562m Elevation loss 553m
DAY 7
In Lecce train available to Bari or Brindisi Airport or fast train to other Italy destination
INFO TOUR
best period Spring and fall
DIFFICULTY easy to medium
TOUR REVIEWS
Price & Inclusions
Price
Cost: Euro 3200 per person in double occupancy
Single room supplement euro 690
Inclusions
Six nights in luxury Resort & Masseria
Six dinners & one lunch
Two cooking classes
One wine tasting
One olive oil tasting
All maps, trip notes and detailed route directions;
All Shuttles and technical assistance
Van support
English speaking guides
Cicloposse water bottle
Transfer on day one from Bari station
Sales taxes
Not included
Airfare to Italy, train to Bari, 3 lunches, beverages, gratuities, travel insurance, laundry expenses and items of a personal nature, rent of bike
Bike Rental for entire tour
Hybrid bike € 180; Road bike, gravel, E-Bike € 250
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Tour Reviews
Giuliana it was fabulous. We really enjoyed the region, the people and the food. We thought your organisation was great and we’d throughly recommend both you and Puglia to anyone!
Ciao Giuliana and Marco, Cindy and I want to thank you for the wonderful experiences we had while biking in Puglia. This was our third ride with Cicloposse, having previously ridden in Tuscany and Umbria, and neither of us can decide which ride was the best. All three offer wonderful insights into Italy, and it’s our dream to come back again. Everything (again) was perfect (accommodations, bikes, maps). PS – Please feel free to use me as a reference if you’d like
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