Puglia, Italy 2026 Tour Logistics page

DATES: Leave the USA March 27, 2026 / Return to USA  April 7, 2026

NOTES ON DATE ALTERATIONS: You can choose to add a few days on prior to your trip to allow time to accommodate jet lag. You could stay some pre-nights in Rome or Bari.  We can arrange extra hotel nights for you in either city.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES BY DAY….

All activities must be signed up for before final payment.

Day 2: Optional wine tasting of local wines led by our local som-friend, Teresa. A delicious education! $25

Day 3: Ride thru Aquaduct park to Locorotondo bike ride: $145 for transport to starting point, electric-assist bikes, guides

Day 5: Optional ride through the countryside passing thru ancient olive groves and fields of wild flowers, ending at the sea. $145 for transport to starting point, electric-assist bikes, guides  OR… If you choose not to ride, leave mid-morning to arrive at Torre Canne, the seaside end point of the bike ride. An hour of free time before meeting up with the bike riders and proceeding on to the hilltop town of Martina Franca. You will have several hours for exploring and lunch on your own. Following will be our scheduled olive oil tasting.

 Day 8 All-day bike ride in the countryside around Pitti/ Alta Mura: $165 for transport to starting point, electric-assist bikes, guides, lunch included

FIRST DEPOSIT due upon signup.

Other deposits, see below.

COST: Base price for tour is $3,185. This is price is subject to a small adjustment. We are still waiting for a few last minor pricing quotes from our Italian friends. 

There are many upgrade choices for all segments of the trip, including single occupancy, hotel choice in some cases, and room upgrades. These options are explained in a following section.

How to get on board this tour:

A $500 non-refundable deposit is due upon signup.  Details about this and other deposits as well as cancellation information can be found at end of this page.   All payments are made to Morningstar directly as per instructions below.

If the trip does not go due to insufficient participants, all deposited monies will be refunded in full.

We highly advise purchasing trip insurance! Don’t leave the country without it.  Details below. 

Important: Please be sure to include the following at time of initial deposit:

    Email address 

    Names of participants

    All room upgrade choices at all properties where applicable.

We highly recommend you protect your trip a Trip Insurance policy.  It protects your trip in case of accident or illness that prevents you going, as well as on-trip incidents such as lost luggage, trip delay, and most importantly medical coverage and evacuation.  If you are under 70, look at World Nomads. If 70 or over and for comparative policies and prices for any age, www.aardy.com.    

Air details  

Please note: Do NOT buy air or trip insurance until we have reached the minimum number of required participants. Once that threshhold is reached, we will give the go-ahead to purchase air and insurance.

LEAVE USA March 27, 2026.The nearest major airport to Bari is Rome FCO. Of course, you can route your air thru other cities, as you chose. But no matter, you must arrive in Bari, Italy on March 28, 2026, for your first hotel night of the tour. If you would like to arrive a day or two earlier to shake off the jet lag and recharge, we can arrange extra hotel nights upon request. You fly out of Bari returning to USA or points elsewhere any time on April 7, 2026. The LAST HOTEL NIGHT of the tour is April 6 in Bari. 

NOTE: If you are flying into Rome, you can book 55-minute flights from FCO to Bari airport. CAVEAT/ WARNING: Make sure to get a flight that is non-stop! Otherwise, what should take an hour can take five hours.  Plan carefully and accordingly. Further, there is a 3.5 hour train ride from Rome to Bari as well. Organizing all your air to/from Bari is each participant’s responsibility. Please: pay attention to all the details and make sure your flights are on correct dates and that your flights mesh with each other.

Currency adjustment possibility:  

There is a chance the Euro could strengthen between the time of deposit and the time of final payment in January. This is a risk with foreign travel. This could result in a  increase in the final payment amount due. 

Small local room taxes: There may be a small local room tax of a euro or two a night per room. It depends on the locale. These are not included and if applicable, will be added to each room’s final bill, payable individually at checkout. 

Masseria Cervarolo minimum surcharge: Nights 2,3,4,5 are at Masseria Cervarolo. A condition of the great discounted rate we received from this property for the group was that we use all 17 rooms in the property.  These rooms must be paid for whether occupied or not. So in addition to the above minimum size surcharges, there will be an additional surcharge to cover any unused Cervarolo rooms as per below. In 4 previous Puglia trips, we have never had to implement this fee. 

1 unused room: +$39 per person  2 / unused rooms: $69per person / 3 unused rooms: $89 per person

Mimimum trip size: The trip price is based on 25 paying participants. There will be an adjustment on the base price as per below:

24 paying participants: +$30

23  paying participants: +40

22 paying participants:+50

21 paying participants: +60

Room types and upgrade costs

This trip has many complexities when it comes to room selections and upgrades. Please read below carefully and you will have a good picture of what your choices are. 

Room selection: Note that there are limited numbers of each room type. The sooner you deposit, the better your chances of getting the room type you want. Once the room types sell out, you will have to choose from another category of room.

Room upgrades:  Note that the Pitti and the Cervarolo properties are comprised of many room types of varying degrees of luxury. Not everyone will want the same room level. Of course, the nicer the room, the higher the cost.  Below are the additional costs by room type. The upgrade amounts shown below are per person and cover the entire stays at the hotels.

Please refer to hotel websites as per below for more information about room types.

www.iluoghidipitti.com

www.masseriacervarolo.it

Night 1 (first night upon arrival) / Bari 

4-star Excelsior for Night 1. It is an excellent property located near the pedestrian shopping district and a 15-minute walk to old town harbor. Single upgrade $99.

Last night of tour in Bari: We HIGHLY RECOMMEND upgrading to an ultra-modern, gorgeous property right next to everything in the old town harbor area. The 4-star Dilman has uber-modern rooms with balconies and a cooked-to-order breakfast included. Below are the upgrade choices:

Standard double room with balcony: $95 per person upgrade double occupancy/ single occ. +$207

Relax double rooms: One with en-suite jacuzzi and one with en-suite sauna: $199per person

One executive suite with private terrace: $235 This property is truly worth the upgrade and we hope everyone will opt in on this. However, if you do not choose to upgrade, you can return to the Excelsior property you stayed in at start of trip…. up to you.

                         Nights 2,3,4,5: Masseria Cervarolo Upgrades

   Small classic room / 1 available no upgrade cost for double occupancy

         Single upgrade small classic base room for all nights   $374

  Double Classic rooms / 7 available:  $194 per person double occupancy for entire stay 

             $574single occ above base price for entire 4-night stay at Cervarolo

    Double superior / 2 available: $222 per person double occupancy for entire stay 

               $599 for single occupancy upgrade for entire 4 stay

    Double jr. suites / 1 available: $234 per person double occupancy for entire stay 

Triple jr suite  1 available: $299 per person above base price double occupancy for entire stay

Family jr. suites  5 available: $299 per person double occupancy for entire 4 night stay 

Nights 6,7, 8,9: 4-star Hotel San Nicola and Masseria Pitti upgrades 

San Nicola Upgrades

 Double occupancy standard double room is included with no upgrade.

 Single occupancy upgrade standard room is $234 for entire 4-night stay.

 Superior room upgrade double occupancy for entire 4-night stay: +$155 per person

 Superior room upgrade single occupancy for entire 4 nights $399 Jr. Suite single occ: +$487 Jr. Suite double occupancy per person: +$199

Masseria Pitti upgrades

NOTE ON SINGLE OCCUPANCY FOR PITTI: The rooms are all double rooms as there are no smaller single rooms. The upgrade fee is $575 for single occupancy for the entire 4-night stay. If budget is a concern, staying at San Nicola single occupancy will save you $341 using a standard room or $171 using a superior room. If budget is not a concern, choose Pitti! Keep in mind, ALL people at both hotels will participate in all the Pitti activities and dinners. No one misses out on anything!

   Double standard room / 4 available: $199 per person upgrade double occupancy entire stay           Single occupancy Double Standard: $570 above base price per person for entire 4-night stay 

 Jr suites / 3 available $269 per person above base price double occupancy for entire stay 

Suites below are spectacular, one-of-a-kind rooms. Amazing!

Deluxe Suite / 1 available   $299 per person above base price double occupancy for entire stay

 Deluxe Superior Suite / 1 available $329 per person double occupancy for entire stay

          

Deposits  

Note:    Please make sure to send Morningstar an email so we can have you email address. We will communicate via emails for all details pertaining to your tour.

First deposit for those taking the place of an original participant: $500 per person due upon sign up. Deposit is non-refundable. Buy trip insurance upon deposit and your trip and your deposited monies will be protected. (see below for link) 

Deadline for first deposit: upon sign up

Second deposit of $700 due November 15, 2025

 Final payment: January 31, 2026

Passports

Make sure you have one and that it does not expire within 6 months of your departure date.

Cancellation policy: First deposit fully non-refundable.  Cancellation after final payment has been made will result in loss of all unrecoverable funds, to be determined by Morningstar.

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Methods of payment   

Zelle: The easiest.  Use our email address ([email protected]) as the locator for our Zelle account at U.S. Bank.

Check: Make out to Morningstar Tours and mail to 21080 Oriole Ln.  Bend, OR  97703

Paypal: Our goal is to offer quality trips at the best prices we can to our friends. Our prices are based on payment by check or Zelle. However, it is possible to pay using PayPal on our site, but there is a 3% surcharge to do so. The link for PayPal is on home page.

 [email protected] (520) 405-5508

www.morningstarseeskisavortours.com