DAY 5: We leave the forest behind and enter the arid landscape of the calanques today. These gorges were created over time as water eroded the barren white clay slopes. Carlo Levi describes them perfectly in his 1947 book, Christ Stopped at Eboli. We’ll pass through the small village of Aliano and overnight in the 9th century Arab quarter of Rabatana in the village of Tursi. No cars are allowed into the area. You’ll feel as if we stepped back in time. 49 miles.

DAY 6: We start our day with a visit to the Sanctuary of Saint Mary of Anglona, a national monument dating from the 11th and 12th centuries. Then we’ll bike through a long stretch of beautiful rolling hill terrain until we reach Pollino National Park. As Italy’s largest national park, it was founded to preserve the rare Bosnian, or Palebark, Pine trees in the area. A natural wonder, it has spectacular peaks, lush woods and some of the most varied plant and wildlife in southern Italy. We’ll overnight in the heart of the park at San Costantino Albanese. 53 miles.

DAY 7: We end our cycling with one last beautiful ride through the park and its varied landscape. Sweeping vistas of wooded valley, jagged, rocky peaks and broad plains will open before us as we make our way to the small town of Viggianello for the night. 30 miles.

DAY 8: We’ll say our farewells after breakfast when the tour officially ends. If you’re flying home from Bari, you’ll need to take the optional 3-hour shuttle back to the airport arriving by 1:00pm. 0 miles.

Join us in Basilicata, the lesser known, sparsely populated area of Southern Italy. We’ll bike the instep of the boot. Farmers still outnumber tourists here and the roads are quiet. We’ll bike in the shadows of the Dolomites, into the wilderness of a national park, and through a UNESCO World Heritage site. Along the way, we’ll see plenty of cathedrals, frescoes and gourmet meals.

DAY 1: We meet in Matera for a guided tour of Sassi. The UNESCO World Heritage site is an intricate maze of fascinating cave dwellings carved from the limestone valley centuries ago. We’ll have an orientation, a bike fitting and then dinner together. 0 miles.

DAY 2: We leave Matera to begin our biking along the picturesque San Giuliano Lake, an oasis for migratory birds coming from Africa. Then we’ll enter the Lucanian countryside, full of soft hills covered in golden yellow. We’ll bike on the ancient Appian Way that will take us to the small village of Grottole and our overnight at an authentic agriturismo – working farm hotel. 39 miles.

DAY 3: We’ll bike to the heart of Basilicata and through the forested Park of the Gallipoli Cognato. The Lucano Dolomites will be our backdrop. Their jagged sandstone peaks and rocky spires will tower beside us. We’ll arrive in the small town of Accettura and have dinner at a famous osteria listed in the Italian Michelin restaurant guide. 32 miles.

DAY 4: We stay another night in Accettura and enjoy a loop ride through beautiful dense oak forests and into the village of Pietrapertosa. If you’d rather have a day off from cycling, you can take a 4-hour hike with a stop at a cheese factory that specializes in caciocavallo podolico — cheese made from specially bred, free-range cattle. Dinner is on your own tonight. 0 or 32 miles.