WHY IT RATES: This unique tour offering takes travelers far off the beaten path in Southern Italy, to places many tourists do not experience.-Mia Taylor, TravelPulse Senior Writer.
Apulia--on the southern tip of Italy's boot, along with its little-known Jewish history, is the focus of an eight-day, seven-night escorted tour offered by Sophia's Travel, specialists in heritage and cultural travel.
The small-group tour, which begins October 25, spends one night each in Bari and Matera, two nights in theItria Valley, and three nights inLecce.
The trip includes visits to:
- The octagonal Castel del Monte, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, completed in 1240.
- Ostuni, with its Mediterranean whitewashed buildings and its old town with vistas of the sea.
- Alberobello, also a UNESCO World Heritage site, known for trulli, distinctive conical dwellings dating back to the Middle Ages.
- Locorotondo, called one of Italy's most beautiful villages, and the world's only historical center consisting of trulli.
-Otranto, Italy's eastern-most city.
In Trani, a historic fishing port, known for its pink-stone cathedral, Sophia's guests enjoy lunch and an olive oil tasting, while in Matera-the" City of Stones"--guests sample local specialties in a mountainside cave.
Cathedrals and Jewish Sites
In addition to cathedrals and sites associated with Christianity, the tour also includes little-known sites of Jewish interest. Among these are the synagogue and former Jewish neighborhood in Trani; Oria, a center of Judaism in the Middle Ages; and Giudecca, the Jewish neighborhood of Gallipoli.
The Medieval Jewish Museum in Lecce, and the Memorial Museum in Santa Maria al Bagno, which commemorates the thousands of Holocaust survivors during World War II who sought refuge in the town's refugee camp, are other sites of interest.
Prices and Reservations
The per person price is $3,285, $750 single supplement, based on eight persons minimum. Included are 5-star hotel accommodations, transfers, domestic transportation, sightseeing, English-speaking guide, five dinners and four lunches. Roundtrip airfare to Italy is additional. For reservations and more information, contact sophia@sophiastravel.com, phone (727) 254-4373, or visit www.sophiastravel.com.
More Information and Agent Commission
Sophia's Travel tours are commissionable at 12 percent.
Founded in 1993, Sophia's Travel provides cultural heritage tours for small groups, as well as specialized services including independent travel, accommodations and arrangements, and shore excursions of Jewish interest.
SOURCE: Sophias Travel press release
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