We are thinking of a spring trip to the Puglia region of Italy. We plan on flying into Bari and starting a road trip. Matera's caves are on that list and a night in a Trulli is on that list. There are so many towns down there and we wonder if you can recommend both a route and the towns to see. We are not beach goers. We also think of taking the ferry, or flying to Sicily and doing the north of Sicily for a few days. We can extend to 14 days as well. We appreciate your ideas.
Posted by
Washington DC
27166 posts
What time of year?
Are you willing to drive for at least part of the trip? That will help a lot in Puglia and Matera. If not, I can recommend Lecce as a good base for covering a lot of spots in Puglia. The tourist office there used to (at least pre-pandemic) arrange full-day and half-day van trips to multiple small towns that allowed greater coverage than one could manage via public transportation. A lot of the popular spots are rather small and don't require a full day of sightseeing time.
With two full weeks you could combine Puglia, Matera and a bit of Sicily (I definitely wouldn't do that with just ten days), but it wouldn't be my choice. For one thing, you're going to be taking flights to and from Sicily, and two flights for just a very few days there isn't a time-allocation I'd favor. There's so much to see in Sicily that I'd be uncomfortable with so little time there. Others, though, don't have that particular psychological hang-up. I suppose thinking of it not as "Sicily" but as "Palermo and Cefalu" makes it sound more reasonable. I know there are also some points of interest west of Palermo, but I haven't seen anything out that way except Trapani and Erice in the northwest corner of the island. Palermo itself has a lot of worthwhile sights; don't give yourselves just a couple of days there.
Although I haven't spent two weeks in Puglia at one time, I think there'd be enough to keep you occupied there for the full time you'll have available, especially if you included Matera. I liked the Baroque city of Lecce a lot. I'm sorry to have missed the historic center of Bari, and I know nothing about Brindisi. Among the smaller towns I enjoyed exploring on day-trips are Alberobello, Martina Franca, Locorotondo, Monopoli, Gallipoli, Ostuni, Otranto and Taranto. I've probably forgotten one or two; some are rather similar to each other, so you definitely needn't try to get to all of them. The Gargano Peninsula would be nice with a car, I think, but it's north of Bari whereas all the other key destinations are to the south.
I haven't taken the ferry to Sicily, but it looks as if there is service to Civitavecchia and Naples as well as possibly other mainland ports. Frequency may vary by time of year. I don't see anything that looks like a good way to connect Puglia and Sicily, though, and if you need to return to Rome for a flight home, I'd think flying would be better than taking a ferry.
Posted by
Boston
1703 posts
April 17 is Easter in 2022, and it's a big deal in Puglia with numerous events starting on Holy Thursday. The biggest is in Taranto, but there are plenty of others. There's plenty to do in Puglia for 14 days - look at the official website for an overview: https://www.viaggiareinpuglia.it/hp/en Also don't miss the Gargano peninsula with the Foresta Umbra, the best wild orchid site in Europe, and Monte Sant'Angelo.
Posted by
OP
109 posts
Yes, absolutely we will be driving and planning to start in Bari. We won't go at Easter because it's also Passover and we have to be here for that.
I agree that Sicily does not really make sense during the same trip as it should have it's own time I suppose, unless we were to shorten our time in Puglia. One week and one week? What do you think of that? We planned on a round trip to Bari. This is one area of Italy we have not been to.
Thanks to you too, Mike. I will look at the website you sent also.
It sounds like we could really pick one base to see much of the area?
Posted by
Freedonia
15083 posts
I agree that Lecce is a good base. Two other places I will recommend are Gallipoli and Otranto.
Posted by
Washington DC
27166 posts
One week is way too little time for Sicily. You'd need to limit yourself to only a part of the island if you did that. I think the two areas with the greatest concentration of sights are the southeast (Siracusa and the Baroque towns of Ragsa, Noto, Modica and Scicli) and the Palermo area. But a week isn't really long enough for even those two areas, and what about all the other highlights--the Villa Romana, Trapani/Erice, all the Greek sites, Taormina?
Posted by
Monterey County, CA (formerly Verbania Italy-Lago Maggiore)
1626 posts
We did a 2 + week in Puglia in 2019. Arrived by train in Bari and rented a car. Before picking up the car we explored Bari on foot.
2 nights- , Polignano a Mare (great town for two nights)
2 nights- Ostuni
Visited Alberobello and Locorotondo enroute to following stay (heard Monopoli was great but skipped)
3 nights- we stayed at an Agriturismo outside of Lecce and explored from there (Brindisi, Otranto and Sant’ Andrea.
2 nights- Matera
3 nights- Vieste and the Gargano peninsula (our favorite town on this trip).
We felt this was a good pace and really enjoyed Puglia. If you want recommendations on where we stayed, PM me.
After Vieste we drove up the Adriatic Coast- 1 night in Ascoli Pencini, 1 night in San Marino, and returned car in Ravenna, then train to Bologna for a few nights before heading home. We visited Ravenna for two nights on a later trip and enjoyed the Mosaics and the town.