New Cultural Tour: Basilicata (4–9 September 2010)

Following the postponement, as a result of the Icelandic volcano, of the first ever departure for our (fully-booked) Basilicata tour in late April, a new departure for this tour to Italy’s remote South has been re-scheduled for 4—9 September 2010.

As in-step to the heel of Puglia and the toe of Calabria, Basilicata has historically avoided the visitors who have headed to (or through) its brasher neighbours. As a result, it remains a charming and unspoilt destination, rich in archaeological collections, Romanesque churches, lovely countryside, and with rewardingly low numbers of tourists.

John McNeill, specialist in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, is lecturer on this small-group tour, based throughout in a cave hotel in the wonderful town of Matera, whose ravines of cave dwellings (Sassi) are a UNESCO World Heritage site.

From Matera, the tour passes through rolling hills to explore the Norman castle and cathedral at Melfi, the two important ancient Greek archaeological sites at Metaponto and Policoro, the Norman cathedral of Acerenza, the isolated 12th century church of Santa Maria d’Anglona and the Crypt of Original Sin outside Matera, the ‘sistine chapel’ of cave wall paintings.

Price: £1,520 per person includes: air travel on scheduled British Airways flights—private coach for excursions and transfers—accommodation in a 3-star cave hotel—breakfasts, one lunch, one picnic and three dinners with wine, water and coffee—all admissions to museums, etc., visited with the group—all gratuities for restaurant staff, drivers—all state and airport taxes—the services of the lecturer.