Salento Tour from Lecce Otranto Castro Leuca and Gallipoli

Extremely Disappointing

This is not a tour. It is simply a ride to four towns with three other couples which, in our case, resulted in six of us waiting for one late couple, for one hour in a hot van, before we were able to leave our first stop. This threw the timing off of the rest of the trip. This event implicitly states that it is not a “tour” but we did expect at the very least that the driver would speak a bit of English in order to relay meeting times in order to move along smoothly throughout the day, or perhaps a recorded transcript describing scenery along the way. But no, the driver latched on to the one passenger who, thank goodness, spoke a little Italian and we all had to rely on this stranger to translate return times for us. It was extremely awkward. Additionally, the driver controlled the time allowed at each town with no indication whether you should stop to eat before we moved on. We stopped at one town for 20 minutes during the lunch hour so we used our time there to grab a quick sandwich rather than see the sites, only to be driven to the next town where everything was closed except for a restaurant apparently owned by the driver’s relative and we were given 1.5 hours in that closed town with nothing to do but eat (again) at a sit down restaurant. To make matters worse on this trip, although my husband and I booked this event months in advance, and paid in advance, I received a phone call when we were on our way in the van that morning asking where we were, and then again questioned (suspiciously) at the end of the day by another driver from the same tour company, asking who we were and if our names were on the list of travellers. This was insulting. We should have spent our euros with a private driver and enjoyed a relaxing day in the towns that we wanted to visit for the amount of time that we wanted to spend. A complete disappointment. Don’t t waste your euros.

Response from the operator: Hello, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We are sorry that the experience did not meet your expectations, and we appreciate the opportunity to clarify a few points. As explained in the activity description, this excursion provides transportation between four towns, with free time to explore each destination independently. It does not include a tour guide, guided commentary or an audio guide. The option you booked is a shared group excursion, which follows a common itinerary and schedule for all participants. A private service would offer greater flexibility over destinations and visiting times, at a substantially different price. We understand that this flexibility would have better suited your preferences. Many guests have shared positive feedback about this excursion and the helpfulness of our drivers, who do their best to provide practical information and assistance. We recognise, however, that clear communication matters, and we take your comments seriously. We are particularly sorry for the inconvenience caused by the late return of other participants. Although this was an unforeseen disruption, we understand that the wait affected your enjoyment and the timing of the day. Regarding the checks on your booking, coordination between drivers may include confirming passenger names and lists, particularly when several vehicles are involved. The activity description does not specify that a single vehicle will be used throughout the service. These checks were intended simply to coordinate transportation, and we are sorry they came across as questioning your booking or payment. Thank you again for your comments. They help us identify where communication and coordination can be improved.

via Viator

The seashore bliss

We like the tour to thru the beautiful seaside Otranto plus The ride with Francesco was great ! Very good driver ! He took good care of us!

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A beautiful tour highlighting the attractive resorts and coastal scenery. A really lovely day

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Spectacular coastal tour day

This was a real highlight. We saw much more than would have been doable on our own with a professional driver/guide. He knew that the cathedral in Otranto had a delayed opening and adjusted the order of the itinerary and also added a couple of extra stops.

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Getting to know important sites of Salento in a fun way

We spent a very pleasant and, for myself, very instructive day driving around some stunning sites of Salento.

via Tripadvisor