8 Days Guided Coast to Coast Bike Tour in Italy

Day 1 (Trani)

Arrival and get settled in at your hotel in Trani, an old town facing the Adriatic Sea. There is a lovely historical center, Romanesque Cathedral, castle, gardens, and old port where you are suggested to have dinner, choosing from the fish menu at one of the small restaurants. Dinner is on your own and you will have an overnight stay in Trani.

Day 2 (Across the Alta Murgia National Park - The Moors)

You will move inland to the UNESCO Heritage Site of Castel del Monte, an outstanding example of Medieval architecture. You will be passing over the Alta Murgia and through Gravina, you will reach Matera, known for its “Sassi”. The Sassi are houses dug into the tuff rock itself which is characteristic of Basilicata and Puglia. Many of these “houses” are really only caverns and the streets in some parts of the Sassi are often located on the rooftops of other houses. The ancient town grew in height on one of the slopes of the ravine. The ravine, that was created by a river but is now a small stream, is known locally as “la Gravina”. Dinner is on your own and you will have overnight at your hotel in the Sassi district.

• Length: About 115 kilometers
• Grade: Moderate

Day 3 (The Appennines)

You will pass along the Lake of San Giuliano, cycling through the rolling hills of Valle del Basento. You will reach the mountains in the Park of Piccole Dolomiti Lucane. You will have overnight in Accettura. You are suggested to have dinner at Pezzolla restaurant, the favourite in the region.

• Distance: About 90 kilometers
• Grade: Moderate to challenging

Day 4 (The Calanchi Valley)

You will enter the Agri River valley and from the woods, you will suddenly find yourself in the middle of the astonishing landscape of the Calanchi which are deforested sandy soiled hills. You will stop in Tursi for dinner and an overnight stay.

• Distance: Approximately 80 kilometers
• Grade: Moderate

Day 5 (To the Pollino National Park)

After visiting Santuario di Anglona, you will continue through the orchards of the Costa Jonica. After that, you will start climbing to the Pollino National Park, one of the prettiest and biggest in Italy. Dinner is on your own and your overnight stay is at Terranova del Pollino.

• Distance: About 80 kilometers
• Grade: Moderate to challenging

Day 6 (On the peaks of the massif)

This is possibly the hardest stage of the tour. Through forests, long climbs, wide valleys, and pretty villages to reach San Severino Lucano and Viggianello. Dinner is on your own and you will have an overnight stay in town.

• Distance: About 45 kilometers
• Grade: Challenging

Day 7 (Maratea)

Through the Valle del Noce, you reach the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, a beautiful coastal road leads you to Maratea. Dinner is on your own and you will have an overnight stay in town.

• Distance: About 80 kilometers
• Grade: Moderate

Day 8

You will have breakfast and then transfer to Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport (BRI)

This cycling holiday starts in Trani and ends in Maratea in Italy. It will cover Trani, Sassi di Matera, Accettura, Tursi, Terranova del Pollino, Viggianello, and Maratea.

Trani

Overlooking an enchanting port in which typical fishing boats swarm and dominated by the impetus of its most distinctive symbol, that of the splendid Romanesque Cathedral, Trani imposes itself with its breathtaking scenery, rich in history and harmonious architectural lines, both permeated of the influence of Frederick II of Swabia, which made Trani its maritime fortress.

Matera

Getting around Matera is like living in a forgotten past. When you visit this evocative city in Basilicata but just 6 kilometers (about 4 miles) from the border with Puglia, the feeling is to enter a crib. For this, Matera is also called “the second Bethlehem” and it was the setting of films like Mel Gibson’s The Passion and The Matthew’s Gospel according to Pier Paolo Pasolini. Until 1950, the population lived in caves dug in the mountain and people were forced to abandon those houses to settle in modern neighborhoods. No one would have thought that those caves, the “stones”, would become the symbol of a city that is reborn, in fact in 1993 UNESCO included the “Sassi” of Matera in the world heritage list, as “an example of a thousand-year life system to be preserved and handed down to posterity”.

Maratea

Beaches set between promontories, clear waters, and lush vegetation recall total relaxation, Maratea stands in a panoramic position on one of the most striking stretches of the Gulf of Policastro in Basilicata. Perched on Mount San Biagio, the city overlooks a magnificent stretch of the Tyrrhenian Sea and is a popular destination for those who want a holiday of sea, relaxation, culture, and Italian flavors. In the ancient core of the historic center of Maratea, the Medieval system still survives with narrow streets and important buildings, artistic, and architectural remains.

• 6 days of guided bike tour
• Cycling guide
• Luggage transfer
• Technical and emergency assistance
• Gpx tracks
• Van assistance
• Airport transfers from / to Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport (BRI)
• 7 nights' accommodation
• Daily breakfasts

• Transfer Bari Airport to Trani 40 Euro for 2 persons package or 20 Euro for 4 persons package
• Medical / luggage insurance
• Lunches
• 7 dinners (240 EUR)
• Drinks
• Entrance fees
• Tips
• Personal extras
• Everything else which does not come under What's included