Via Flaminia Classic, from south to central Italy

Puglia has always been tempting the organization of the Via Flaminia. Now, after 13 years we go to this region, which is full of history, culture, cuisine and wonderful nature.

Puglia is in the south of Italy, the heel of Italy’s boot. The region is not one of Italy’s traditional tourist destinations, but it is becoming increasingly popular as travellers discover the area’s varied charms: baroque towns, white-washed trulli houses, olive groves and orchards, blue sea and beaches, plenty of sunshine and excellent cuisine.

We will have two separate rallies, which succeed each other, one from Verona to Puglia and one back. In the meantime a truck will come and do the exchange of cars; bringing the cars for the rally back north and picking up the cars that just finished the rally. In this way we save a lot of cost.

We strongly suggest that you add a few days to the rally to discover Puglia, just rent a small car and discover the many towns and regions we had to skip.

We also offer the possibility to go by motorail to Verona for the start of the first rally or back from Verona after the second rally.

You will be finding your car at the airport of Bari (or Brindisi). It is only a short trip to the hotel in Lecce where the rally will start the next morning. We will be staying two nights in this comfortable grand hotel in the centre of the historic town. Lecce is a Baroque masterpiece of southern Italy. Sometimes described as the ‘Florence of the Baroque’ or the ‘Rome of the South’.

The second day we leave Puglia. In Basilicata we stay in two “Palazzi” in the historic centre of Matera. The town is famous for its cave dwellings, the “sassi”. As the town expanded, new streets were often constructed on the rooftops of other houses and it is this ‘layering’ that has created the extraordinary images for which Matera has become famous.

From here we drive into Tuscany and Umbria, we pass the ever so impressive Gran Sasso with planes reminiscent of Tibet. We stay in comfortable and characteristic hotels often in little towns.

As always, the Via Flaminia is a layback rally where the competition serves the atmosphere, winning is not a goal on itself. Those who want to have a stop for a coffee can do so. No time constraint. The classification is done via navigation and the competition for the last place is sometimes fierce.