From Bari: UNESCO Tour of Alberobello and Matera with Certified Guide

Unfortunately we did not have a good experience on this tour. If you are traveling to Alberobello and Matera, book a different tour. The tour guide Pasquale was very rude and hard to understand, often walking off on the group, shaking his head when others asked questions etc. At the end of the tour he left without us and we had to run for the bus back. Not a good experience sadly! Would not recommend

Did self-guided tour of Alberobello, pretty & quaint, can find quiet streets to get away from main area. Lovely stop for coffee & grappa at cafe overlooking rooftops. Didn’t get lunch, conflicting messages in guide book & we’d have to eat @11.30am to be back at bus on time. Utter chaos @ Matera, didn’t know who our guide was so followed those with same colour wrist band. 1st stop gelateria for loo even though public loos nearby. Took 20 mins & felt obliged to buy something. Guide Pasquale, interesting, friendly & knowledgeable, but too many people in group so often missed what he said unless in front of him, plus another guide or someone in group translating for non-English speakers always talking loudly. Not his fault, tour operator put too many people in group. Only 1hr free time but 10 mins to get back to bus so really 50 mins for food, gone 4pm, we were hungry! Disappointed not to walk around old city, had there been more time could have done that ourselves. Felt rushed & stressful

I thought the organization was good and what the tour set to accomplish. I though pacing in Alberobello was amazing. But in Matera there’s so much to do and places to eat and our tour guide gave us way less then the itinerary said. He gave us 20 minutes in the square when we wanted to eat and most of us didn’t have time to get lunch. I appreciated the transport and comfort of that part and brochure. Not the pacing in Matera. Also not letting us know the cave home wasn’t included wasn’t ideal. They only accept cash. In two weeks in Italy everywhere accepted card so was unfortunate and wish was included in the price since you pay for a lot for this tour per person.

The guide in Matera, Pasquale was awful. He was walking way too fast over the very slippery stones in Matera making it hard to keep up. While trying to keep up, I did slip and fell. We tried to catch up again, but could not find the group. We stopped and waited assuming the guide would come back for us as there were only 14 of us on the tour and 2 were missing - us. We were abandoned and left to find our own way out of the old town and back to the meeting point. Not easy when you had no time to actually take note of where you were as we struggled to keep up. Many others were complaining about the slippery stones. The pace should have been slower due to the slippery stones especially on the stairs. Thankfully, I did not break any bones but I have a huge painful bruise on my thigh.

Both Matera and Alborobello are fascinating towns to visit and the tour gave a good insight into their history and significance. Both towns were very busy with tourists and it was a hot day, so it was quite an exhausting activity. We only had a guide for the visit to Matera and Pasquale was very good in giving us important context behind the most important parts of the town. Overall a very enjoyable if tiring day, and I would recommend it.

Questo tour di Alberobello e Matera è consigliatissimo. Un plauso a tutto lo staff per l'ottima organizzazione, puntualità e gentilezza, in particolare al conducente Daniele e alla guida local Giuseppe che ci ha accompagnato con un percorso molto interessante alla scoperta di Matera. Apprezzatissime le brochure con tutte le info utili per i punti/orari di ritrovo e per le curiosità sui posti.