Puglia Bike Tour: Cycling Through the History of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Description
Starting out from Montalbano, at the foot of the hills between Ostuni and Fasano, in the heart of Puglia, we cycle on a section of the Traiana road and go down hill towards the coast to discover the coastal dune park, a small treasure of biodiversity made of plants, trees, reptiles and birds typical of the wet lands. Tour continues slowly on small roads lined by stone with drystone walls, rarely visited cattle track and unique landscapes.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Starting out from Montalbano we’ll reach the olive grove plain and the ancient Traiana road that in the past connected Rome to Brindisi and today links Fasano and Ostuni with a paved cycling path, with hardly any traffic, full of spots of interest that describe what rural life used to be like. During the tour we explain the history of the olive oil, from cultivation to harvest of olives describing the different production methods depending from on its final use: from the lamp oil to the high quality extra virgin we’ll tell you about the history and the passion developed over the centuries, always in tight connection with the local community. On the trail we will visit an hypogeum oil mill with old millstone and presses, a fortified masseria farmhouse, a modern mill and a centenary olive field. Is possible to arrange an extra virgin olive oil tastings.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Wheelchair accessible
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Dress code is smart casual
- May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
- Wheelchair accessible by hand bike, please advise at time of booking if wheelchair assistance is required
- All passenger heights should be advised at time of booking
Reviews(111)
We had a great adventure with Marco on the Olive Oil tour. Marco was a font of knowledge about local history, terrain, flora and fauna, and of course, olive oil trees and the production of olive oil. He spent a full hour with us touring the local olive oil refinery in Montalbano and explaining and tasting the different oils. He was fun to be with and our tour could not have been better.
Thank you so much for so nice words. I hope to see you again in the future Daniele
My husband and I booked this bike tour for 9am on Tuesday, August 20. We booked it on Monday, August 19 at lunch - around 12:50pm. At the time of the booking there were 4 tour times. We picked the earliest one at 9am on Tuesday. There was a note at the bottom of the tour times, saying that this tour needed to be booked by 7am Tuesday morning. Having booked on Monday, we didn’t think we’d have any problems. We got our confirmation. I checked it that afternoon, again that night and the morning of. All seemed good. The meet up spot was in front of an empty house under construction. No signs or anything. We got there 10 minutes early and no one showed. A little before 9am, I messaged them, then called, then messaged again. I didn’t get a response. I went to Viator, who we had booked with and their chat line worked with us. By about 9:20am we found out it was cancelled. Shortly after we got a full refund. Please be aware we are not the only ones stood up. Viator has other reviews, which I read later of no shows by this company. Having only two full days in Puglia, this was definitely disappointing. Please be aware when booking this company.
My friend I canceled the booking as soon as I saw it the evening of 19th. Unfortunatelly you decide to book at last day but my service is not Dysneland and we arrange a lot of private service. I recomend you to book tours in advance, specially on august. As you can read people who join our tours always go away happy. Don't confuse your private organization with my company's one. Ciao ciao
Our tour guide Marco was amazing. We found out after the tour ended that this was his first time guiding this tour. That made it even more impressive. He was super prepared and such a great guy! The stops were all extremely informative and interesting. The olive oil factory was also a great experience. The sad part was the life that the peasants led in the 16-18 century working at the Masseria’s slaving their lives away….
Thanks for spending so nice words
We are a family of four, kids 11 and 9 years old. We had an excellent afternoon and can highly recommend this tour. Our guide, Anna-Lucia, was very knowledgeable and friendly and we learnt a lot about the local area while having fun and enjoying the ride. Great family activity.
The tour packed a lot into a short time. We learned about the history of the local area, enjoyed the beautiful surroundings, and got to sample some olive oil. Would thoroughly recommend!
This was a very easy bike trip that took us into the beautiful Olive grows, as well as some great historical finds that we would not have been able to see on our own. Henrique was an excellent guide, very informative and pleasant. I would recommend this experience.
We had a lovely biking trip with Anna. The bike is an excellent way to soak up the atmosphere and environment of the Puglian olive trees. Anna is a wonderful and knowledgeable tour guide who brought the history and nature of the environment to life. The highlight was the olive oil tasting!
well our trip started with a beautiful April day, sunny, blue sky, warm. Our family enjoyed our trip very much, learned alot from Enrico, our cycling guide, and had fun. The cycling distance is not long but it goes along roads you probably would never be on otherwise. Enjoy!
We loved our time biking in the olive tree groves! We learned so much from our guide, who clearly has a passion for bringing the stories of his community to visitors from around the world. Highly recommend booking this for your trip to Puglia - it was one of the highlights of our trip!
I enjoyed riding through the olive groves in the late afternoon and seeing also views of the sea - very beautiful. Daniele is passionate and knowledgeable about his subject, and I learned a lot about the history of olive growing and the making of olive oil, and how to taste different types of oil. The bike was also comfortable and in good condition. Highly recommend this tour.
