Traveler Jeff Weiss spent an afternoon learning from a renowned sculptor in his home atelier. Photo: Traveler Paula Kramer

For two weeks this April 2025 we had the incredible privilege of traveling through Puglia – our first time in the region, but not our last – thanks to the expert planning of Antonello and Valeria. From our initial meeting, they were incredibly helpful, despite the fact that we didn’t give them a whole lot of lead time. Mindful of the timeframe, they carefully listened to our interests and preferences, and then leveraged their substantial network to create a bespoke itinerary that reflected them, but also included experiences that we would not have known to ask for and that wound up elevating our trip beyond our wildest dreams.

We stayed in an array of wonderful hotels and masserias – fabulous experiences unto themselves – and were educated by outstanding guides. We chose to do our own driving for 90% of the trip, and even here the team was so helpful, electronically sharing target destinations and parking facilities which enabled us to go from points A to B with confidence, independence and the least amount of stress. Except for driving in Naples (NOT for the faint of heart), driving through Italy, especially Puglia, at springtime is a feast for the senses and we encourage those willing to do so to give it a try. If not, the planners can easily provide drivers, when needed.

My husband and I are seasoned, low maintenance travelers (3-6 trips per year); he excels at research, and finding travel companies with perspectives that align with ours, and the credentials to help us plan incredible journeys. This was our first trip using Wendy Perrin and her WOW List, which led us to this team; both organizations distinguished themselves in the best of ways. This was best reflected in three value-added factors provided by the company.

First, attention to detail. They created a trip that was truly a reflection of us, our interests, and abilities, but they went the extra mile and anticipated our needs such that every detail was covered. After our very first day we realized that working through Wendy Perrin and her WOW List were great decisions. Second, our planners provided SUPERLATIVE guides – individuals truly dedicated to their work, and deeply thoughtful and knowledgeable about their areas of expertise and the experience they can offer the tourists they work with. Their knowledge, personal connections, insights and enthusiasm were truly transformative in our understanding of the places and people we were visiting. But the bonus was that they were all incredibly delightful to be with, which made them feel more like friends than people doing their job. We also liked the fact that in the majority of places we had our guides for at least two days each.

Last, but by no means least, the third and most remarkable factor that transformed our trip into something unique and superlative was the unique set of experiences planned by our team. Mind you, every single day of this trip had a WOW factor – whether it was visits to Pompeii and Herculaneum, our cave-turned-hotel in Matera (Sextantio), or our stays at delightful masserias in Salento. But beyond that, having the chance to sample the delights of a renowned cheesemaker, learn from the 3rd generation owners of a family-owned flour mill, get expert insights into the complexities of olive oil, or to sample gelato with a young woman who is combining innovation with tradition as she expands the gelato business started by her grandfather – these are culinary experiences we could only encounter thanks to our team’s deep understanding of and connection with the hidden gems of Puglia. Trust me…you are not going to find these on your own.

If all this wasn’t enough, we spent an afternoon in the home/atelier of a renowned sculptor, and another afternoon with a couple that makes jewelry. I confess that when I first read our itinerary I thought these sounded weird – neither my husband or I would become the next Michaelangelo or make jewelry anytime in the near future, so why take time to do this? I could not have been more wrong! These artists were so genuinely interested in sharing their craft, their food, and their kindness. We were besotted by these one-of-a-kind experiences, making friends and actual art along the way. We even got to visit the private home of a potter who showed us the ancient and Byzantine relics, and the Byzantine chapel that he discovered on his property during renovation.

We could not be more grateful to Wendy Perrin and especially to our planners for thoughtfully crafting an incredible and memorable sojourn through Southern Italy. We can’t wait to use them again for our return trip!

Alison and Elisa put together a marvelous itinerary for our first trip to Puglia. Although we have traveled extensively in other parts of Italy, we had never been to Puglia and needed both advice and suggestions on how to make the best of the trip. Alison and Elisa excelled on both counts. They really listened to the type of itinerary we wanted, and took into account our likes and dislikes.

From the time we were met at the airport in Bari until we departed 10 days later, everything worked like clockwork. The hotels they suggested suited us perfectly, especially their suggestion that we MUST spend our last few days at Palazzo Margherita—this hotel was so very, very special that we are very happy we didn’t pass on this. In all of the accommodations, we were treated incredibly well; it was obvious their company had relationships with them. Their drivers were excellent—always on time and very professional, and the guides are some of the best we have had on our travels.

There were so many highlights on this trip, it would take ages to list them all, but a few were: a guided tour sampling Bari’s local street food; a visit to Casamassella to visit a textile factory where products are made using the centuries-old hands-on method on embroidery looms; a walk through fields of ancient olive trees (1000+ years old) with an olive oil tasting and incredible lunch prepared especially for us; a cooking class with two excellent chefs where we participated in making the dinner (including a chance to make our own pasta!); an opportunity to see the Puglian countryside as we drove a vintage Fiat 500 for hours, and an evening visit to Alberobello where the trulli houses really came to life.

Our visit to Matera was very insightful as we learned a great deal of the history of the cave dwellings and the people who lived there and their day-to-day lives. Especially interesting were the ancient churches and learning how they were carved into the landscape. This entire complex is truly awe-inspiring. The most special part of this visit was our WOW Moment at Sextantio Albergo Diffuso Le Grotte della Civita! Imagine having an ancient church turned restaurant all to ourselves at lunch, lit only by candlelight, with our own private chef and exquisite food and wine—this really was a WOW+ moment. Thanks, Wendy, for pulling yet another amazing experience out of the hat!

We are so very glad we enlisted Alison and Elisa for this trip. Their knowledge of the area and their relationships with providers in Puglia make this a stellar vacation for us. We would have absolutely no hesitation in utilizing their services again.

Elisa was absolutely amazing to work with and truly planned a dream-come-true vacation for my family and I. We traveled to Rome and Puglia this past July 2024. We started with an hour-long zoom call for her to understand our travel style, likes/dislikes, etc. Honestly I’ve worked with many travel agents who have a similar approach starting with a call, but this one felt a lot more personal; like Elisa was really trying to get to know us so she could personalize the experience, and she succeeded!

There were so many moments throughout the trip where my husband and boys (who are 7 and 10) were amazed. My sons, who aren’t always the easiest to impress, said “wow” so many times. I knew nothing about Puglia, so I feel like the trip was planned in a way that didn’t make us feel overwhelmed to see everything but provided all the right highlights that now make us want to come back!

All of the tour guides that accompanied us were so nice, warm and family oriented, one even did magic tricks to entertain my kids at lunch! All in all every day and detail was perfect and I cannot wait to go visit Puglia again. Even though we now can figure things out on our own, I would still reach out to Elisa to help us plan our future trip. I know she would continue to WOW us with new experiences and places to see. Thank you!

Isabel, Mario, Julia, and Martha Queiroz in the town of Alberobello.

Alison and Elisa prepared an excellent itinerary for our eight days in Puglia. We’re a family of four, with two adult daughters in their 20s. We had a fantastic experience in this beautiful and authentic part of Italy. We’ve been to the more classic Italian tourist destinations and to multiple Mediterranean spots in other countries, and we strongly recommend a visit to this less explored region near the heel of the Italian boot. Alison and Elisa were professional, detailed, creative, and responsive in understanding our travel interests to select accommodations and experiences for our itinerary. They really know Puglia!

All of the hotels were upscale and welcoming, with excellent service. The boutique hotel in Ostuni (Paragon 700) was perfectly located for exploring the northern part of Puglia, where we stayed for four nights. My wife is a relatively discerning interior designer and loved the Paragon 700. While in Ostuni, we went on an e-bike tour of the countryside through the endless olive groves, past numerous trullis, and visited the towns of Locorotondo, Martina Franca, and Alberobello, the old town of the latter being composed entirely of trullis. On the bike tour, we stopped at a family-run farm, where our girls (and mom and dad!) marveled at the site of a day-old litter of 12 piglets and 1-month old little calves. We experienced mozzarella making, including burrata, and then had an amazing meal — the ultimate farm-to-table experience. Our guide on the bike tour, Silvia, was knowledgeable, interesting, and super pleasant to be with. The two support vans were key to getting the most out of the day (biking, walking around in the towns, carrying some of our stuff, safety, etc). Our favorite restaurant for dinner during this first part of our trip was Taverna della Gelosia in Ostuni, recommended and reserved for us by Alison’s office. While in Ostuni, Alison stopped by our hotel to greet us and have a drink. It was a nice, genuine touch for Alison to drop by.

The second part of our Puglia trip was in the south, near Lecce, where we stayed at Masseria Trapana for three nights. The Masseria was fabulous, with fewer than 10 suites and everything we needed for relaxing in luxury. One of the coolest things was the underground hot tub, literally a cave, with an opening on the roof for natural light. Alison’s team prepared two experiences for us on this part of the trip which were also fabulous: A private visit to the Duca Carlo Guarini winery which has been in the same family for nearly 1,000 years, or 24 generations! The visit to the winery was supposed to last 2 ½ hours and we were there for more than four hours, including another excellent meal and a tour of the town palace where the adult sons of Don Giovanni (the patriarch who runs the wine business) are building their own winery and wine business.

The day after the winery we went on a private boat tour of the beautiful coast to see the idyllic Lecce limestone cliffs, turquoise waters, and lots of little bays and coves for swimming. Fabbrizio, the captain of the Tortuga, was pleasant, competent, and did a great job taking care of us, including serving a meal which his mother had prepared. The Tortuga is docked in the port of the ancient town of Otronto. Going in and out of Otronto felt like being in a small, undiscovered San Tropez. Somewhat surprisingly, Lecce was probably our favorite town of all of the Puglian towns we visited, and that’s a pretty high bar. I guess there’s a reason they call it the Florence of the South.

Alison and Elisa were available at all times for our questions and for a few last-minute itinerary and restaurant changes, and they always got things done with immediacy and with the most pleasant attitude. We strongly recommend a visit to Puglia, in partnership with Alison’s team to make it special.

We were very pleased with the services provided by Alison and Antonello’s team and plan to use them again for another trip to the region in 25 or 26. They were super responsive whenever I tried to reach them, and designed an itinerary for us with a very interesting mix of cultural activities and historic sites. The guides and drivers they set up for us were outstanding on every level—friendly, engaging and interested in sharing information with us. Additionally, I’m learning the Italian language and the guides and drivers were all very good sports to let me practice and help improve my language skills. Highly recommended on all levels.

We have traveled to Italy on several occasions but had never been to Puglia or Sicily. We have noticed an increasing amount of publicity and attention focused on these areas and how the crowds have not yet realized how much the south of Italy has to offer. With that in mind we contacted Alison and her team for assistance in planning our trip.

We initially had a phone conversation with Alison and Elise, at which time they asked about our interests, timeframe, concerns and past experiences. They clearly listened closely, as they responded with a proposed itinerary that reflected much of what we had discussed. As the planning process progressed they were always willing to make changes and responded to questions and requests promptly.

We have just returned from our two-week vacation and could not be more pleased with the arrangements that they made. The itinerary was well planned and executed. The combination of delicious food, interesting activities and amazing historical sites will certainly leave us with many wonderful memories. Particularly memorable are the people we met—interesting guides, winemakers, cheesemakers, chocolate artisans, bakers, jewelers and sculptors. Perhaps most memorable were the market tours with chefs followed by cooking classes and fabulous meals in their homes! Alison and Elise even met with us during the course of our travels to check in and kept tabs on us throughout our time in Italy.

Once the laundry is done we’re ready to get back on the plane to our next destination. Thank you Alison and Elise for making our Italian adventure one we will always remember!

Just back from a 10-day tour of Italy, Oct 16-26, 2023, that we began and ended by visiting our daughter’s home in Bologna, and our wonderful 2 grandchildren there. We had previous visits there and had taken daytrips from Bologna, but my wife and I wanted to see more of this fascinating country.

What a wonderful trip it was. Alison and Elisa worked with us to plan an agenda, modified it when we had additional requests, always kept in contact during the planning and made sure all our needs were met. We put together a tour that included 6 days in Puglia, ½ day in Matera and 3 ½ days in Naples, including the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and Herculaneum, and a city food tour of Naples. This was nothing short of a fantastic experience. Every detail was anticipated and completed. The guides were absolutely great, with depths of knowledge and ease of communication that made us want to never stop. Drivers were very professional, often contributing to the information, and vehicles were first class.

Unexpected highlights were countless and included a textile factory in Puglia, La Constantine, where hand-operated looms have been creating beautiful fabrics for 200+ years, even items for Dior. The intensity and talent of these ladies at the loom was inspiring and we were able to purchase several lovely items, including a gift for our daughter’s home. A second surprise was the nature reserve at Torre Gauceto. A wonderful environmentalist led us on a 3 ½ hour walk along the coast and wetlands, home to thousands of migratory birds, a special interest of my wife and an example of how our planners could adapt expertly to meet our requests. A great example of the personal planning was the change of a scheduled e-bike tour through the “trulli” region as the original day scheduled was predicted to be rainy, and the tour was moved a day earlier, at the last moment, to ensure a wonderful bicycling experience, which it was. Elisa kept in close contact with us throughout and we were especially delighted to meet both her and Alison in the town of Polignano a Mare, and share coffee and gelato. All of the accommodations were tastefully elegant with wonderful staff. The food in Italy is beyond description and we have too many favorites to list. A real plus was the day in Naples, a food tour in the first half and on our own in the afternoon. Aldo gave us a superb food and history lesson and discussion, and the confidence to step out on our own. We finished in Naples and took the fast train to Bologna to complete our visit with family and enjoy a Halloween in Italy.

I was astounded just how well planned and executed this tour was and look forward to many more trips to Italy.

Our trip to Puglia was wonderful!! The travel specialists planned experiences that we will never forget.

We stayed in a palace with 10 rooms in Lecce, a trulli resort surrounded by the countryside where we were greeted by the owners and treated like royalty, and a cave hotel in Matera where we were wined and dined.

Our guides were top-notch, a marine biologist, an archaeologist and experts in all fields. We had lunch at an olive grove and we were served an exceptional lunch by the farm’s owners. We took a private cooking class in someone’s private home!! Our most cherished experience was that of a ceramic maker. We not only took a tour of his workshop—he invited us to his home to see his acquired antiquities.

Around each hike, tour, food experience there was a wow moment and a surprise—the best tour specialist by far!!!

I rented Villa Casa Badra for two months in May and June 2023. I worked with a small travel company in Puglia, whose owner also happens to own the villa I rented. This was fortuitous for a couple of reasons: the agency staff was able to facilitate not only details of my stay at the villa, but also assisted with other travel and tourism for the area. I cannot speak more highly about my stay. The villa is absolutely beautiful and very authentic to its region, being a series of Trulli which are reflective of the local town of Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It has five bedrooms each with their own en suite, and a fully equipped kitchen that is housed in its own Trullo. The grounds are spectacular, with olive trees, cherry trees, fig trees, and an expanse of greenery, which allows for total quiet and the lack of visibility of neighbors or other individuals. Parking is ample. Housekeeping is performed twice a week by a marvelous woman who quickly became friends with my entire group of family and friends, who were my guests during my stay. Angela, the villa manager, who also works on Antonello’s team, was highly responsive to any need I had regarding the villa. Elisa was my main point of contact for making the booking originally and for booking tourist-related activities while I was there. I met Antonello, who is extremely gracious and friendly. It is important to have a car while at the villa because it is isolated and the nearest town is about a 5 km distance. Plus, you will want to make day trips to all of the various beautiful towns in Puglia. Anyone visiting between May and September will be very happy to know that the pool is large and delightfully set up. There is an outdoor kitchen and barbecue, and the house is very well stocked with everything one needs. Villa Casa Badra is a magical place in a magical area in a magical country. I highly recommend this very special experience.

The Schoenfeld and Silverman friends biking in Puglia, Italy.

A highlight of our slow and “smell the poppies” week in Puglia was the day we biked and made burrata. We passed by brilliant fields of red flowers and lush grasses on quiet roads. The outfitter supplied us with e-bikes and a van following behind. Couldn’t have been a more delightful afternoon gliding between the trulli houses — the round white limestone structures capped with interlocking stones for roofs. People in Puglia have lived in them for centuries and still do today. Our route took us to Itria Bonta, an organic dairy farm. There, we watched the owner stretch out the mozzarella he had made hours earlier and stuff it with stracciatella to make balls of buratta. He let us make some too. I can testify that it’s delicious because at the end of the visit we had a “snack” of cheeses, bread, sausage, olives and wine. Everything except the water and the salt was produced on the farm. Alison Pike is an excellent trip advisor and designer. Insist on working only with her.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  Our trip to Puglia was really very special and I can’t say enough about the planners. Ali met me the first evening at my hotel to introduce herself and go through the itinerary one more time with me. She was always a text or phone call away with any questions, which was great, but at the same time the agenda was beautifully organized and seamless. On our schedule were an assortment of really quite memorable experiences, bike riding through the olive groves, a boat ride along the coastline and in and out of the sea caves, wonderful meals in restaurants that I miss already, mozzarella making at a farm out in the countryside followed by a home cooked meal, strolling through the ancient white cities of the area, nature walks, olive oil tasting and the list goes on. All the guides were exceptional as well as the drivers, the hotels were well picked and just what we wanted.
The last three nights we spent in Rome which was amazing. We took a golf cart tour of the city. I didn’t know what to expect but it’s a really fun and easy way to get a feel for the layout of the city as well as a quick history lesson so on your free time you can pursue it further. We visited Villa d’Este in Tivoli outside of Rome and afterwards had a lovely lunch at a restaurant at the foot of a Roman temple overlooking the falls. Again the guides, for the golf cart tour, at the Vatican and in the gardens at Villa d’Este were all part of the sweet memory of this trip, each person amazing in their own way. Also the hotel at the top of the Spanish Steps, right next to Villa Borghese was fantastic.
The wine in Puglia is phenomenal as well as the cuisine in general. I am not a daytime drinker ever but you cannot turn down a glass of that Rosé at lunch and they all seem to be delicious. I would go back to Puglia in a heartbeat. May is a perfect month to travel. I felt totally safe Covid-wise and otherwise. It is simple to get your return test. The pharmacies there have it down pat and you purchase and take your test and get a result within 15 minutes. Easy. There is that moment then of “what happens if I have Covid” but fortunately we didn’t. Actually though we were almost always outside so I really wasn’t worried. Rome requires an N-95 in the airports and we did have to rush to purchase one before getting on the plane in Newark.
Special thanks to Augusto, who spent the couple months before the trip planning with me and patiently endured me asking the same questions over and over.

PANDEMIC TRAVEL  Our trip to Puglia/ Sicily was planned very last minute (2 weeks prior!) with many variables going on. Ali nailed it and went over and above a trip planner. In addition to amazing experiences at a Masseria w/ a cooking lesson & dinner al fresco, Olive oil tasting and dinner at a 600-year-old olive-tree farm, a day on a boat, and private Mt. Etna hiking and winery visit, the list goes on.
She also coordinated all our pick ups as we were coming from 3 different places, all our COVID tests for our return to the US and checking in and coordinating our 2 lost bags on 2 different airlines!
All the guides were the best we’ve had on our travels and she definitely picked out the most can’t miss, authentic and cultural trip for us. I will definitely be working with her again and recommend her to everyone.