PATH DEVELOPMENT
This itinerary encompasses the best of central and southern Puglia with a foray into the neighboring region of Basilicata to see Matera. The tracks partly take up the eight tracks of the previous selection to be enriched with new routes made in 2022. It starts from Matera, a great classic of bike departures, and moves towards the south-east through the Valle d'Itria and the Bari area to then throw in the circumnavigation of the Salento peninsula and then up the Ionian side and conclude again in the south-east of Bari. The connection then with the city of Bari (airport / station) is facilitated by the former railway line southeast now part of the Ferrovie dello Stato group.
The itineraries are suitable for any type of bike as they are only asphalted stretches. Our routes are designed to meet the safety needs of cyclists so they are mostly in low-traffic places, paved country roads or touching points of tourist interest / landscape that only we locals know.
Tracks description
Difficulty
Landscapes
Sea
Art & Culture
Gastronomy
Distance
Localities
Matera – Murgia dei Trulli – Valle d'Itria – Salento - Sud Est barese
You will start from the nearby Basilicata and precisely from Matera, the wonderful "City of the Sassi" hollowed in the tuff and declared a World Heritage Site.
carved into the tuff and declared a World Heritage Site, continue to the area of South East Barese and the Murgia dei Trulli ', where you will be welcomed by Alberobello (also a UNESCO World Heritage Site) famous for its charming trulli with conical roofs, then reaching the nearby Adriatic coastal area, you will pass by the site of the caves of Castellana to cross the historic center of Polignano a Mare with its terraces overlooking the sea and finally the
wonderful Monopoli. From here, following undulating nature trails, you will reach the heart of Valle d'Itria: Locorotondo, a village exactly round perched on a hill and known for its fine white wine; Cisternino famous for its meat bombette; Ostuni, called the "white city" for the whiteness of its walls and houses.
You will move gradually towards the Salento where you can be enchanted by the baroque Lecce, then moving on the coast will make three tracks totally side
sea making the circumnavigation of the Salento peninsula, you will see the best from Torre dell'Orso to Otranto then Leuca and Gallipoli not to mention a whole series of small coastal villages between the Adriatic and Ionian, places of extraordinary beauty and natural value.
Detailed informations
1° track – 75 km
Matera > Gioia del colle > Noci > Alberobello
Route with medium-sized and undulating, medium climbs
2° track – 45 km
Alberobello > Castellana grotte > Polignano > Monopoli
Wavy and flat, easy route
3° track – 55 km
Monopoli > Egnathia > Locorotondo > Cisternino > Ostuni
Flat and uphill path, medium
4° track — 45 km
Ostuni > Serranova > Mesagne
Downhill and flat, easy route
5° track — 50 km
Mesagne > Cellino San Marco > Novoli > Lecce
Flat, easy route
6° track 55 km
Lecce > Acaya > Torre dell'Orso > Laghi Alimini > Otranto
Flat, easy route
7° track 55 km
Otranto > Cava Bauxite > Castro > S. Cesarea Terme > Tricase Porto > S.M. Leuca
Wavy path with slight climbs, medium
8° track 50 km
Leuca > Torre Vado > Torre S. Giovanni > Gallipoli
Path with slight uphill and flat, easy
9° track 60 km
Gallipoli > Nardò > Torre Lapillo > Avetrana
Mostly flat, easy route
10° track — 65 km
Avetrana > Sava > Grottaglie > Martina Franca
Uphill route, medium
11° track — 55 km
Martina Franca > Noci > Putignano > Castiglione > Conversano
Path mostly downhill, easy
