My wife and I are planning a 9 day trip to Puglia from the US. We are entertaining the idea of traveling in late September or early October of 2027 and staying in 3 towns, flying in and out of Bari. Your recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Ciao.
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Colorado Mountains, USA
9031 posts
Last fall, we had two weeks in Puglia, flying in and out of Naples, but driving to Puglia and taking a train back to Naples from Bari. We weren’t there for beach time and stayed in historic towns inland, although we drove to some (historic) towns on the coast on daytrips, along with several other charming and fascinating towns in the interior.
I would return to all of the towns we stayed, and we had apartments booked through Airbnb. First town was Altamura, the “City of Bread,” next was the walled city of Lecce in southern Puglia (we stayed just outside the walls), and the third was Martina Franca, inside the very atmospheric Medieval walls, with winding streets that seemed impossibly narrow. Our fourth stay was just for one night, in Bari after we turned in the rental car, and before taking the train the next day back to Naples.
Bari could’ve been worth more time, if we had had the time, but for our top three places, I’d pick the other three towns above Bari. If you wanted just two suggestions besides Bari, I’d recommend Lecce and Martina Franca more than Altamura, but all of them were very worthwhile.