2-week Puglia Itinerary starting from Naples

Personally, with these towns located so close to one another I do not see the point in moving from town to town, packing and unpacking. Consider finding a central hub point and renting a car. Then you are free to spend as much or as little time in each location as possible. Or pick two spots - one north, one south and do your hub from those locations. Base in Matera, then base in Lecce. Just a thought.

I would train or bus from Naples to Matera, then Lecce. Rent a car if you want and work your way up the coast, ending in Bari.

I would train or bus from Naples to Matera, then Lecce

Me too.

I'd check if Italotreno's and Trenitalia's buses from Salerno to Matera are still running. These buses usually wait for the high speed trains from Naples to arrive and both companies sell thorough tickets on their sites. Any map will show why.

Thanks for your helpful replies!
I will definitely plan on the bus/train to Matera and then rent a car there to continue.
We do want more stops though because we want to experience the sassi of Matera and maybe stay in a trullo in the Valle d'Itria. As long as we have at least 3 nights in a location, we don't mind re-packing.

But do you all think Bari and Trani are worth visiting at the end of the trip before we fly out of Bari? Or should we just plan to go from Monopoli to the airport at the end?

We stayed in Bari old town and loved it. This was one of the places where we felt immersed into Italian daily life.

That's so interesting! It seems that people described Bari as "gritty" in the past, but the city has changed a lot. Based on what you said, maybe we'll drop the car at the airport and spend our last nights in Bari...
Thanks!

I loved old town Bari, but one day would be sufficient if you wanted to add the time elsewhere. If you intend to day trip to Trani/other nearby towns, then perhaps keep it at two.

We visited Bari just for the day on one Puglia trip, and on another Puglia trip we stayed at a Bari airport hotel from which we walked to the airport on the early morning of our flight to Rome. If we had to do it again, we would stay in Bari for the night before the flight and explore the old center of Bari the day before.

The Barese streets where the women make pasta are the opposite of gritty --- you could eat off these streets, they were washed so clean. I don't remember any other part of the old center of Bari being figuratively gritty, either.

Great input!
Based on these comments, we will look to take a train from Matera to Bari, spend 2 nights, allowing an afternoon to explore Bari old city, and a day for an outing to Trani. Then it will be easy to pick up a car at the Bari airport and continue on the Puglia adventure to Valle d'Itria and Lecce, looping back to Bari via Monopoli for our return flight.
And if you have a favorite hotel in old city, I'm interested.
Thanks all!

To add to what Marc said, I would use 3 bases, Matera, Val d’Itria, and Lecce. My personal standard for day trips is that the driving should not take more than 1.5 hours each way.

Look at adding Grottaglie to your itinerary, if you like ceramics. It’s a very small town, pretty much totally devoted to pottery. There are many workshop/sales sites, grouped together in one area, with the exteriors decorated with products of the artisans. There is a small ceramics museum, which we liked very much.