Puglialy — Local services in Ostuni

My husband and I just returned from Italy and used Pietro’s services while we were in southern Italy. Originally, we were going to rent a car for the week but because our arrivals and departures by train in Bari were both on Sundays, car rental options were more limited. So I contacted Pietro about pricing on transfers. He was so detailed and helpful that I booked him for tours as well. And we were spending some time in Basilicata also so he coordinated transfers and tours in that region for us as well.

In total, he arranged for transfers from the Bari train station to Ostuni, a day trip from Ostuni to an olive oil farm, a winery and down to Lecce, a half day tour of Old City Bari, a transfer to our hotel in Polignano a Mare, a tour at the Crypt of the Original Sin, some time to explore Locorotondo on the way to our drop off in Matera and our return from the hotel in Matera to the Bari train station.

Every step of the way he was extremely responsive and the drivers he uses are very professional with comfortable vehicles. Pietro even answered questions or shared details about our upcoming itineraries much later than normal working hours. And the information he gave during our tours was so interesting and complete. Everything is completely customized and it is very reasonably priced. I’ve never been so confident about recommending someone as I am recommending him. I would use him again in a minute for all my needs whenever I’m back in southern Italy, will give his name to my clients and know that if you reach out to him with inquiries about your trip, you will feel exactly the same. He is fairly busy so I would suggest planning well in advance.

From the moment we booked our tour with Pietro we were confident that we would be looked after. Pietro was polite and personable and always prompt in replying to emails. All communication from Pietro throughout the tour week was also efficient, well planned and coordinated. The tour was amazing Pietro was an exceptional tour guide very passionate and knowledgeable about the places we visited on the tour over the five days. Being a small group tour was fabulous as we made some lovely connections with the other group members. Our driver Francesco who picked us up during the tour was friendly and prompt. The luxury van was very comfortable and clean. Being picked up each day in a comfortable luxury van was great so we could sit back and enjoy the drive and views on our way to each of the places on the tour. Nothing was too much trouble for Pietro -he answered any questions we had in regards to recommendations of accommodation in Ostuni where we were based for the tour and he also suggested other places to visit and accommodation in the region after our five-day tour finished with him and Rosita. Pietro was also able to organise our private transfers to our next destinations after we finished the tour. All the drivers organised were prompt, polite and great at pointing out places of interest. Pietro and Rosita were extremely professional from start to finish. We made so many beautiful memories during our time in Italia, and being on tour with Pietro was definitely one of the highlights. Pietro and Rosita both should be incredibly proud of their remarkable tour company —it is clear that it’s driven by such passion and love for Puglia.

If you are lucky, Pietro will not be fully booked for next year already and you can sign up to join him. Others (as well as Pietro's website) do a good job describing what you can expect so I will focus on the intangibles we experienced.

• It is a small group of ten people, so you don't move in a blob.
• Pietro is very good about stopping in less crowded spots to tell you what you will be seeing, in cases where you are entering a crowded area
• Pietro has a passion for sharing Puglia, his home, with visitors. When I say passion, I mean passion!
• You don't have to do the driving. That is worth every penny.
• You get a nice mix of visiting towns, and visiting sites outside of towns that you might now get to yourself.
• Pietro is flexible. One of the guests contacted Pietro in advance to ask if we could do a wine tasting. After checking with the others signed up for that week, to make sure they would also want to do this, he went ahead and scheduled a tour with a tasting (and a variety of foods to complement the wine) at a top notch winery.
• Pietro has an excellent English vocabulary and his (lovely) accent is not an issue. Easy to understand.
• You are picked up after breakfast and dropped off before evening stroll and dinner... great that you are not joined at the hip eating group dinners (but you can still arrange to get together for drinks or dinner if you would enjoy that)
• You can pay with a credit card... a great benefit, if you have ever had to hit the ATM every day, accumulating a pile of cash, to pay for your tour.

I will highly recommend Pietro and his Puglialy tours.