Discover Matera and Taste of Salento Tour

Customer Reviews

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  NICOLA

  · November 8th, 2024
  We loved every minute of our stay at Tenuta Linazza. It was a very authentic experience & we were welcomed into family life at the olive oil farm. The accommodation was newly completed and although not luxurious was clean, and beautifully appointed . The fresh food cooked for us each evening by chef/ host/ tour guide Emilo was delicious & always accompanied by a local wine. The tours to the beautiful unspoiled places in Salento were easy going and educational. Our group became very close over the few days we were together. Thank you Emilo Clara Miguel & Antonio for making our stay so special
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  Soleto Travel commented on this review

  Hi Nicola , many thanks for your review and kind words. Has been a pleasure for me to working with you for the realization of this tour. All the Best Omar
  
  Trip date: October 2024
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  Gai

  · June 25th, 2024
  What a fabulous experience was had on this working olive farm. Emilio - chef extraordinaire - provided us with delicious meals and along with the rest of the family gave us great insight into the Solento area and it’s history. We saw all the the advertised itinerary but not necessarily on the day or the times expected, all part of the charm of the tour as long as one is prepared to be flexible. The entire family could not do enough to make sure our stay was comfortable and relaxed. The three days in Matera was also amazing with the wonderful and passionate Cosimo looking after us on the two days we spent with him in this fascinating and historic city - he even organised our transport when we were leaving. The food and wine tasting was just one of the many fabulous highlights. Would recommend this tour to anyone who enjoys ‘different’ and slightly unstructured.
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  Soleto Travel commented on this review

  HI Gai I'm very pleased that you enjoyed the tour and that you appreciated the work of Emilio and Cosimo and of the other people involved . It was a pleasure working for clients like you. Thanks again Best Regards, Omar
  
  Trip date: May 2024
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  Trish

  · June 25th, 2024
  We so enjoyed the warmth and passion of our wonderful hosts at the olive farm - nothing was too much trouble for Emilio, Clara, Antonio and Michael to make our experience one to be remembered. The freshly cooked food Emilio prepared daily was very tasty and beautifully presented and the accommodation was comfortable. They chauffeured us, and were our guides, taking us to some very pretty and interesting places in Salento and we had the flexibility to have ‘free time’ for as long as we wanted in most places - thank you all (not forgetting the children and Pongo the dog). We then headed to Matera to meet Cosimo our very professional and informative guide for the next couple of days. He explained the history of the whole Sassi and National Park areas, showing us the unique cave like homes, Rupestrian Church with frescoes, and many other sites as well as the pretty flora. He also arranged a delicious food and wine tasting lunch and a cab to our FlixBus depot the next day - thank you Cosimo! We would highly recommend both parts of this tour but the farm stay was a unique and special experience which we will remember fondly.
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  Soleto Travel commented on this review

  HI Patricia I'm very pleased that you enjoyed the tour and that you appreciated the work of Emilio and Cosimo and of the other people involved . It was a pleasure working for clients like you. Thanks again Best Regards, Omar
  Trip date: May 2024
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  Karen

  · June 22nd, 2024
  We thoroughly enjoyed Discover Matera and the Taste of Salento tours. It was like staying with good friends who want to show you around all their favourite places, and genuinely want you to have a fabulous time. Each morning either Emilio or one of his wonderful family drive you to an awesome place, show you around then leave you to explore at leisure. You never feel rushed. Each evening Emilio cooks and serves a delicious meal using local ingredients. By the end of the week you feel like locals not tourists. We were driven to Matera and settled into a fabulous cave hotel. Our guide, Cosimo, was passionate and knowledgeable about his home town and showed around the old town and the hillside park opposite. We loved both 'tours' and highly recommend them. Great people, great food and wine, great accommodation and great places to explore.
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  Soleto Travel commented on this review

  HI Karen, I'm very pleased that you enjoyed the tour and that you appreciated the work of Emilio and Cosimo and of the other people involved . It was a pleasure working for clients like you. Thanks again Best Regards, Omar
  Trip date: June 2024
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  Robert

  · May 8th, 2024
  A terrific experience made up of 2 parts. Salento meant being with Emilio and Clara and their family on the farm/ restaurant and visiting some amazing places in the area. We loved their company and the fascinating places we saw there. We appreciated the flexibility and particularly the unique experience of being part of their family ( including Pongo the dog) . There were many gastronomic highlights as well. Matera was an eye opener in many ways with its incredible history and we have never stayed in a luxury cave before.
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  Soleto Travel commented on this review

  Hi Robert, Many thanks for your review.I am very pleased that you appreciated the meaning of this tour and the essence of the experience we offer. It was a pleasure for me and for all the people involved in the realization of this tour to have you and... Show more
  Trip date: April 2024
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  Rhona

  · November 6th, 2023
  This was an outstanding experience from start to finish. I would highly recommend it. With Emilio and Clara and their family in Salento, I got to experience authentic Italian life as well as sightseeing some incredible towns. I felt like I was staying with good friends who had so much knowledge and desire to showcase the typical foods from the region. Emilio runs a restaurant at the olive oil farm and each meal was delicious. Understanding the production of olive oil was fascinating. And they give flexibility on the time you wish to spend at each place. Each day was different and they change the schedule to suit the weather so you get the best out of the places you visit. My time in Matera was just as outstanding. Mr Cosimo, my guide was very kind and shared so much history of the town with me. He looked after me like a good friend. It was amazing. He gave me great suggestions about restaurants for my free time. The hotel was stunning and had a Roman bath where I could relax. Omar from Soleto Travel was always very helpful in answering any questions and prompt. I am so happy I found this tour.
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  Trip date: October 2023
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  Richard

  · October 26th, 2023
  We have recently returned from Discover Matera and Taste of Salento tour arranged by Soleto Travel. Omar of Soleto Travel has been most helpful and responsive to our pre tour and on tour queries. In one instance he arranged invaluable medical assistance following an accident to my partner. The tour was excellent and met expectations. Just be prepared to climb a lot of steps in Matera. In particular our hosts at Tenuta Linazza (masseria) were most welcolming and the food was genuine Italian with a wide variety of dishes available - ranging from delicious desserts to great pasta and seafoood dishes accompanied by hgh quality Puglia wines. Emiliio is a chef extraordinaire as well as being a most professional and insightful guide into Puglia customs and culture. His family members Clara, Michel and Antonio also acted as tour guides and shared these same attributes. The tour flexibility offered is a plus in satisfying the consensus wishes of touring participants. Accomodation at the farm cannot be faulted - spacious and clean with good facilities. There is the added bonus of Pongo the family dog who occasionally walks with you to the local coffee outlet.
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  Soleto Travel commented on this review

  Hi Richard, Many thanks for your review and kind words. I am really happy to know you enjoyed the tour and the time spent in Salento and Matera. Thanks a lot, Best Regards, Omar
  Trip date: October 2023
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  Saskia

  · September 27th, 2023
  Best decision I've ever made. On the masseria on the country side you will be surrounded by a lovely family running the restaurant making sure you will experience the local life, la dolce vita. The food was the best I've ever tasted. Fresh, simple (almost no additional ingredients!) comfort food and very very tastful. Lots of raw fish, fresh pasta, cheeses, cold meat, good olive oil and complementing wine. The chef Emilio is very modest but he's a star really. They make you feel like you're their guest at home, I felt so welcome and as if I was part of the family/a friend. So warm. When you book the tour (I really recommend this!!) with overnight stay, the group will be no more than 4 persons (nice and cozy!), I was a solo traveller and stayed together with another woman. Every day the family (mostly Clara, lady of the house) drove us places (nature, beaches, cities, churches, you name it) to experience the local life and to see all the Salento treasures. The program is very flexible, they discuss the program day by day, as you wish. Very pleasant and also a good combination of trips and free time. Really everything was taken care of, total relaxation, felt like a queen but as if it was my own family/friends taking care of me. There are so many things I would like to say to compliment them, I truly recommend this place. I am home for 2 weeks now and I genuinely miss them. After that I stayed at Matera for 3 days in a very nice hotel and had some private city tours with a very pleasant tour gide. Matera is truly enchanting, such a romantic and historical city. The view is stunning, and the (enormous) hotel room actually inside the Sassi is quite an experience! Breakfast at the hotel was really luxurious and dinner outside the hotel every day was also luxurious, you are really taken care of. The food/wine tasting was also delicious and the people were so nice and generous! I really enjoyed these last days, the accommodation was really luxurious and there is lots to see in the Sassi area of Matera. All in all it was a very balanced tour. I booked my tour at Salento Travel (Omar), he was really helpful during booking this tour, kind, always quick with responding and also very flexible. Asked for a late airport transfer on the way back as I had a night flight. No problem at all and I had the best car and driver I could wish for. I really recommend this trip, you won’t regret it!
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  Soleto Travel commented on this review

  Hi Saskia, Many thanks for your review and kind words for us. I am really happy to know you enjoyed our tour. Thanks again Best regards, Omar
  
  Trip date: September 2023
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  Carole

  · July 12th, 2023
  I directly booked this tour with Mr. Omar. Traveling alone, I had many questions regarding the tour process and accommodation. The agent was great in answering all my requests in a long email exchange. The experience in Salento was exceptional, the welcome received from Emilio and his family was something unique and special. The accommodation provided in a double ensuite room was perfect, simple but clean and comfortable. The big plus was certainly Emilio's cooking. Every day I could order what I wanted to eat in the evening. Fresh fish, homemade pasta, burrata cheese and prawns like never eaten in my life! A driver and local guide available every day to visit the splendid villages of Salento are another plus of this tour, together with the family atmosphere and flexibility. Emilio, being a true local, always adds something more than what is on schedule. The chocolate factory was amazing! In Matera instead, I stayed in a suggestive hotel in the Sassi area, the cave room was impressive! Here there is much more free time to stroll and do some shopping. The only problem, Matera is all ups and downs with stairs everywhere. The local guide Cosimo was excellent and of great sympathy and knowledge who set up a tasting of wine and typical products just for me, in the tavern of a local producer. The dinners in the local restaurant were delicious with a rich menu and dishes of the local cuisine, not the usual tourist stuff. A lovely experience, and a big thank you to Omar and everyone who made it possible! Highly recommended
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  Soleto Travel commented on this review

  Hi Carole, Many thanks for your review and kind words. I am really glad to know you enjoyed the tour and you spent a great time with Emilio at the farmhouse. Thank you in advance, Best Regards, Omar
  Trip date: April 2023
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  Richard

  · July 10th, 2023
  A Review of the Discover Matera and Taste of Salento Tour Locations visited: All were interesting and well worth visiting. Highlights were Matera, Castro, and Alberobello. Grade: A Pick up at the hotel in Brindisi and transfer to the the farm at Castiglione went perfectly. Grade: A 7 days at the farm with tours: people were friendly and accommodating. The first night they said that the schedule was flexible, but it turned out what that meant was that they were not going to follow the schedule in the brochure, Our requests never went anywhere. However we did eventually get to almost all the locales mentioned in the brochure. Where there were locales where swimming in the sea was available, we were never informed ahead of time so we could bring a bathing suit, so we missed all opportunities to do so. We soon learned that times were approximate in Italy. The tourists were punctual, but often had to wait for the hosts and guides. Grade: B Accommodations at the farm: adequate but not luxurious. Our room was away from the main house and dining area. We had to walk down a dirt road to a paved road, then down the paved road to our room. This was tolerable except after dinner when it was dark. Walking down the paved road with traffic coming at us was dangerous, especially because on the side of the road there were brambles with thorns so one could not get off the road when a car came by. Grade: C Food at the farm: We were used to Italians serving antipasto, pasta, main dish, dessert. Here, it was antipasto, pasta, desert so there was hardly any protein (no meat, poultry, seafood, cheeses, etc.) and no salads, soups, vegetables or fruits except tomatoes. They did at least served wine. Breakfasts at least had yogurt for some protein. No eggs, meats, cheese, milk, etc. We finally had to buy cheese and salami to eat in the room. Grade: C- 3 days in Matera: transport to Matera worked well, but when we got there, we found out that we had to pay for a taxi to take us to our hotel. Hotel was strange because the rooms were 1000 meters (by Google map) from the reception desk. The room itself was very good: spacious well furnished with all the amenities and then some. The only drawback other than the walk was that it was under a large building so the cell phone would not work unless you went outside so you could not receive calls. Grade: A Matera Tours: Guide did not show up when he was supposed to, even when prior arrangement had been made with him to meet. Hence, we missed out on a promised tour and dinner. We finally had to make our own tour arrangements. Grade: F Overall advice: Puglia was well worth visiting, but don’t take the Discover Matera and Taste of Salento Tour.
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  Trip date: June 2023