Unforgettable 8-day guided cycling tour through the stunning landscapes and rich culinary heritage of Puglia, Italy. Indulge in the region's finest food and wine as you pedal from the charming town of Leuca to the ancient city of Matera. With accommodations in 3 and 4-star hotels, including a night in traditional Trulli houses, your stay promises comfort and style. Join us for a gastronomic adventure of a lifetime, discovering why Puglia is a food lover's paradise, all for just $2,395 USD per person.
Unforgettable 8-day guided cycling tour through the stunning landscapes and rich culinary heritage of Puglia, Italy. Indulge in the region's finest food and wine as you pedal from the charming town of Leuca to the ancient city of Matera. With accommodations in 3 and 4-star hotels, including a night in traditional Trulli houses, your stay promises comfort and style. Join us for a gastronomic adventure of a lifetime, discovering why Puglia is a food lover's paradise, all for just $2,395 USD per person.
Hello, and welcome back to the Short Sleeve Travel Podcast. I am Kat Short Sleeve, your host, and yes, my last name really is Short Sleeve. I have traveled to over 45 countries while in school as an undergrad at Georgetown, while getting my MBA at Columbia Business School, and while working in wealth management in between. For the past two years, I've been working in private equity and building my travel company, which focuses on bringing young adventurous people together for some insane off the beaten path trips. In April, we have a group of 15 people headed to Peru for hiking, backpacking, camping. We're going to Machu Picchu, we're mountain biking. And in May, that is what this entire episode is about, is about. Actually in May, we are going to Southern Italy and we're doing a bike trip. So let's get into the details. Oh, and another trip that we have is this summer we are yachting and we're sailing in Croatia on a gorgeous, almost 200 foot yacht with 40 people each week that we're going. We're going in June, July, and August, fully booked out and already looking ahead to September to plan some more trips, maybe South of France. I'm also thinking Chile, uh, definitely want to do a skiing trip through maybe Iceland or Greenland or something like that in the winter time. I'd love to do a ski touring trip where you go from one place to another staying in these huts that is very high on my bucket list, I'd love to do that and organize something incredible. But anyways, on this episode we are talking about the Southern Italy bike trip. In this episode, I will be breaking down the eight day Taste of Puglia by bike tour, telling you everything from our itinerary, what you should expect each and every day, what is included, what's not included, and finally I'll wrap up with the price and how you can book this tour. But just so you know, we just went live with this trip and we are booking and allowing people to book for the next few weeks, all the way until the middle of March will you be able to book, but we are booking first come first serve. And once we get to 12 or 14 people, we'll be maxed out and not allowing anyone else to come. So if you're interested in coming, reach out to me as soon as possible on my Instagram or email me Instagram and all my social media is at Kat. That's KAT short sleeve. Or you can email me at kat short sleeve@gmail.com. First things first, a little bit of a tour overview. So this This week is going to be the perfect balance of activity and indulgence. It is an 8 day guided cycling tour of Puglia, Italy, or as I might say it and most Americans would say it, Puglia. We will discover the best of food and wine in this region and we will cycle through some mesmerizing landscapes. It will be both a mouth watering adventure and we'll be going through beautiful towns where there's a lot of stunning ancient history. And each night We'll be staying in some of the most spectacular towns and villages along the coast and along the way. Now, when it comes to itinerary, I'd point out a few things. The first day, we will arrive at the airport and transfer together down to our hotel. We'll share dinner all together, and then we'll hopefully get to bed early because the following morning, we are up with the sun, and we are having breakfast before the sun comes up, and we will get to biking. On the second day we bike about 34 miles, the third day 34 again, on the fourth day we'll bike 28 miles, the fifth 25 to 28 miles, and then the last day of biking is day six and we'll bike about 40 miles, On day seven, the distance for biking is very flexible. So if people want to continue biking, there will be a nice loop to do so. Otherwise you can kind of sit it out because on day seven, we also have a guided city stroll and we'll be doing a bit of hiking to these rock churches. At that point, we will actually be in a natural park where there's this beautiful rugged terrain. And of course, it's not really possible to do that on bike. So we will traverse these panoramic trails and visit some ancient cave churches. And you have to do that on foot. But, rewinding here a little bit, Along the way we will be savoring the local cuisines and trying all of the different pastas and foods that are authentic to Southern Italy. We'll even take a cooking class, and we'll take a bread making class as well. One of the days we'll have an olive oil tasting, which will be interesting because a lot of olive oils come from this region. So we'll learn all about that, do a bit of tasting, and then even better in my opinion, one of the days we will be vineyard hopping and doing some wine tasting. It will be pretty fun to do that on bike, and pretty interesting as well. Along the way each day, there will be stops for refreshments, different activities, meals, and our guide will make it clear when and where these stops are happening. The terrain, the terrain of the trip is primarily asphalt, it's all road biking, so there won't be any mountain biking element. We will have a tour leader who sticks with the group, and will have the ability to handle any minor technical issues such as bikes, with bikes such as flats. And also, all of our gear will be taken in a van from Each of the hotels that we stay in, because we move up the coast the entire time. In case something more drastic happens, there is going to be an on call vehicle support team to help if the group needs it, but we don't anticipate anything like that to happen. Now, if you don't want to do road biking, which I'm going to challenge myself and try to bike this one on a road bike. I definitely have some prep to do before I'm able to get to that point. But if you don't want to take a road bike, you can also take an e bike and a standard bike versus an e bike shouldn't cause the group to cycle at different speeds because e bikes are simply pedal assist, making it easier for those guests to stay in pace with those who are on the regular bikes. So we will try to travel as a team and as a group. But again, each of the stops for refreshments, activities, meals, all that will be very clear cut and we'll know when. We need to stop. Next up is accommodation. So this tour we will stay in three and four star hotels and one night we'll be staying in the iconic Trulli houses. If you look up Puglia you'll see these Trulli houses. They are super super cute. The accommodations are excellently located. We picked these ones based on their location and the modern amenities if they're tastefully decorated and each day will be very pleasant. You can enjoy a private room or If you'd like to be paired up with someone else, we can do that as well. Each stay will also have an en suite bathroom. The first night we are staying in a really beautiful four star hotel that has an outdoor pool and it's perched in the sunny hillside. Super beautiful spot. The second night we're staying in another hotel that has stunning sea views and it's on a sandy shoreline. The third night we're in a more popular touristy spot called I don't know how to pronounce it. Lecce. L E C C E. And this hotel is walking distance from all of the top sites there. This is a much more modern hotel. It has a wine bar and a bunch of other really sweet amenities. The fourth night, we stay in a more historic hotel that has stunning architecture and decor. It's a stunning 13th century building. Night five, like I said, we'll stay in the very gorgeous and traditional Trulia house. And for the final two nights, we will be staying in Matera at this hotel called Sassi. This is set in stone caves. It's a very unique hotel. It will definitely be a highlight of the overnights on this adventure. What is included? So, seven nights of accommodation, seven breakfasts, and dinner on two days, day one and day seven, are included. We have English speaking guides during the excursion and during our two dinners. Also included is luggage transportation from hotel to hotel. The wine tasting, the olive oil tasting, visiting some of the churches, and some of the other site visits, as well as guided walking tours, all of that is going to be included. The only things not included are going to be flights, airport transfers, insurance, which is required for everyone. Visas, if that's required for you. Any meal not noted as included, a bike rental, which the bike rentals are not too expensive, you just have to choose if you're doing an e bike or road bike. Also not included will be personal expenses like if you want to have drinks along the way, tipping, souvenirs. And final thing not included is the hotel tourist tax. All in all, the cost for this trip is going to be just over two thousand dollars. And we are booking up, like I said, first come, first serve. Would love to have you there. We are looking for people who are very adventurous, energetic, willing to meet new people, want to travel to a new place and, you know, sweat a little bit while on vacation, which is what I'm looking for. I'm looking for some adventure, a whole new experience, something that I can go to a dinner party and say, Hey, I just got back from this incredible biking trip. We went up the coast, did all these amazing things, and just something, that's a trip that makes you really disconnect so much more than any other trip. I find that when I disconnect, I'm able to be so much more present, and I'm really pumped for this trip. This is very different than just going on a vacation where you go to Rome, you see the top sites and you go to Florence, you go to Paris, and you see all the, you know, the touristy top places to go or you scope out a new little hidden spot. This is a true full blown experience and I want more of those dinner party stories in my life. So I think it's going to be incredible. Would love to take you along with reach out to me if you have any questions or if you'd like to,, get some more information. As always, you can find me on social media at cat short sleeve. That's K A T. And you can always email me at cat short sleeve at gmail. com. Hope to see you on this trip or one of the upcoming trips. I am very, very excited as you can tell, and looking forward to the next podcast episode, so stay tuned, but thank you all for listening and cheers.