A true Puglia Experience
Author: Phill Meyer
Date: 16/9/2011 hour 16:11:58

My wife and I, along with another couple recently completed an “experience” in Puglia hosted by Angelo. I use the word experience because it was more than a trip. Angelo’s passion for the culture of the area and knowledge of its history showed through in everything he did with us.
Angelo provided excellent accommodations in a beautiful historic hotel in Conversano where you truly felt transferred to a different place, where community gathering and social interaction were part of the fabric of existence as evidenced by the local people who gathered in the town square nightly to enjoy a meal, drink, or gelato. He took us to castles in small towns, a family olive mill, a family winery, and small restaurants to enjoy “slow food”. With Angelo accompanying us we felt like we were with a friend who was sharing his knowledge and passion for a culture he grew up in. We enjoyed the experience and feel richer because of it.

Awesome Way to Explore Puglia!
Author: Jim P.
Date: 14/7/2011 hour 0:50:32

My partner and I booked a 4 night/3 day tour with Angelo. AMAZING! Angelo was waiting for us upon arrival at our train station to take us to our hotel in nearby Conversano—an excellent choice on his part. The hotel was a converted historic residence, a stone’s throw from the town’s castle.

Our travels with Angelo took us to the three UNESCO heritage sites and several towns in and around the area. Angelo speaks English well, knows Apulian history, the geography, and most impressively knows his food and wine. He has impeccable tastes and a breadth and depth of knowledge of both as was exemplified at any of his restaurant selections, at our wine tasting, or at the olive oil vineyard we visited. Our tour ended with a cooking class with Marisa and interpreter Anna Lisa—a perfect way to wrap-up our stay in Italy. I can’t say enough good things about our time in Puglia with Angelo, and look forward to visiting again one day.

WHAT A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY !!
Author: Denise Owen
Date: 20/6/2011 hour 12:6:25

What a great holiday we had in Puglia with Angelo !!
Nothing was too much trouble. His passion for this region, the wine, olive oil and not forgetting the fantastic food. The restaurants were so very good and each one had its own individual style.
The beautiful towns with their ancient historic centres, the narrow streets, the churches and the general atmosphere. This is what the real Italy is all about.
Thank you once again Angelo - we will have no hesitation in recommending you to all our friends.
Denise and John

Tough to express in words how great a time I had!
Author: Debra Black
Date: 30/5/2011 hour 20:58:2

As someone who usually prefers to travel alone and plan everything myself, I wasn't sure what to do when I decided I wanted to go to Puglia and saw that independent travel there is a little more difficult. From glowing reviews on other sites I found Experience Puglia and I'm so glad I did! The cultural immersion and sincere authenticity Angelo provides makes it almost hard to return to daily life back in the States. I wish I could have stayed forever!

On a slightly customized 5-day tour, Angelo showed me all of the diverse highlights of Puglia, from tourist attractions of Matera and Alberobello to more locals-only towns of Trani and Locorotondo and Gioia of course, to natural wonders such as Castellana Grotte and much more. The B&B in lovely Gioia del Colle is wonderful and the people in this town are some of the nicest I've ever met anywhere, language barrier and all.

The highlights for me were the various tastings - wine, olive oil, focaccia, mozzarella, as well as the lunches, which were truly sublime. Homemade, high-quality food is just a given in this region and it is truly a breath of fresh air. Angelo's palpable passion for Puglia as well as the food, wine, and oil produced there is what makes the difference - every restaurant and sight and tasting is carefully researched and selected. I can't imagine seeing Puglia any other way. On the one day of my tour that Angelo was busy, he had another excellent and equally as friendly and passionate guide Annalisa take good care of me.

As Angelo said to me at one point, what he thinks sets him apart is that he is like your friend while you are touring with him, and that is so true. For all of the wonderful sights and enjoyable cities we visited, a lot of time is spent in the car going from one place to the next and the true highlight for me was all of the time I spent talking to Angelo about his culture compared to mine, everything from food and education to movies and music and religion. It's hard in Italy to meet locals let alone spend time with them, and while the Experience Puglia tour was worth every penny and more, the opportunity to spend so much time with such a passionate local was the truly priceless part to me. I was lucky enough to be in Gioia over the San Filippo Neri festival and this was something I'll never forget and I am very thankful to Angelo for including me in that experience.

Thank you so much, Angelo!

http://debsdolcevita.blogspot.com/

Highly recommended tour
Author: Allen and Idit Cohen
Date: 3/5/2011 hour 14:20:13

We only had a day free over the Passover holiday, and are so glad Angelo toured with us. We managed to see the Trulli houses in Alberobello, Goiai del Colle and its castle, as well as Polignano a Mare which was really pretty.

Angelo is very well informed about this part of Italy, he speaks perfect English, and the tour was extremely interesting.

All in all it was a fabulous day for us.

Puglia Tour best Memories
Author: PAT & SAM CUCCARO
Date: 17/1/2011 hour 14:51:43

We would like to give thanks to Angelo, for one of our best trips. Not only is he very knowledgeable about his towns,but also like being with a family member. We are in the food business so we thought we knew about Italian food, to our surprise Angelo showed us foods that we did not know about.. The foods and information on the History of the area will not be forgotten. We wish we could take him to guide us on all our trips to Italy. Thanks ANGELO we miss you

Thanks Angelo for the best holiday we could have wished for!
Author: Paola Simone
Date: 1/11/2010 hour 21:9:21

I write from South Africa and my late parents came from Puglia. I had long wanted to visit my roots and finding Angelo was the best thing that could have happened to us. From the moment that he fetched us to the moment we said goodbye we had the greatest time. Before our trip Angelo helped us to plan the itinerary of our choice. Our hotel in the historical centre of Conversano was superb. Every morning we visited some of the beautiful towns in the region, including Trani, Minervino, Gioia del Colle, Polignano a Mare, Ostuni, Locorotondo, Altamura and lastly, Matera in Basilicata. Every day we had lunch at different but equally excellent restaurants that served the traditional and authentic food of the region. Angelo’s love for his region was infectious and his knowledge of the history brought everything to life for us. Late in the afternoons we were taken to a trullo in the country for our cooking lessons. These were presented by the warm and delightful Marisa, her lovely daughter Maria Teresa and our equally lovely interpreter, Katia. We enjoyed the lessons enormously, had great fun, a lot of laughs and learned so much. I would highly recommend one of Angelo’s tours to anyone who is considering a visit to southern Italy. We had the best time. Thanks to Angelo and everyone involved for making this such a wonderful and memorable experience. Mille grazie!

I had long wanted to visit Puglia
Author: Wendy Mill
Date: 21/10/2010 hour 11:20:28

I had long wanted to visit Puglia and found that I had an opportunity to do so earlier this year. However, my time was limited so I needed to find a way to see and experience as much as I could of the real Puglia in only a few days. Finding Angelo through his website was a gift. After emailing him Angelo put together an itinerary, packed full of everything I wanted to do, including cooking classes, and a whole lot more. He was fantastic. Each day I was picked up from my superb accommodation and driven around the region, visiting an olive oil farm, winery, and several historically important landmarks. I enjoyed the most wonderful cooking classes in a trulli and was treated to genuine Puglian warmth and hospitality. What better way to visit a region than with a guide such as Angelo, who is not only knowledgeable but also passionate about his region, and its people. Thank you, Angelo, for a memorable time.

Cooking Trip Review
Author: John and Kim Minichiello
Date: 3/10/2010 hour 21:2:29

My wife and I just recently returned from a trip to Puglia with Angelo Collucia at "Experience Puglia" (www.experiencepuglia.com). What a wonderful trip. By day, we visited wineries, olive oil mills, and the historic sites of southeastern Italy. In late afternoon into the evening, we learned Southern Italian cooking at a Trullo near Conversano. Both the food on our day trips and the food we made at night was excellent, and all through this our guide, Angelo, kept us informed about the history, the geography, and the food of this beautiful part of Italy. Puglia is Angelo's home, and he clearly loves the region. It shows in his attention to detail, ensuring every "slow-food" restaurant for lunch is different from the others, with superb food.

We highly recommend contacting Angelo once your plans include Puglia.

Puglia - The real Italy!!!!
Author: Kieran Buckley
Date: 11/8/2010 hour 7:28:16

This trip far outstripped our expectations on all levels! This is the "real" Italy! Angelo is a great guide and a fountain of knowledge on the area and more importantly the food!!! The cooking classes were great to do and recipes will be used for years to come!!! I can not recommend the guided tours and cooking classes enough. It is the only way to get around and see the area.