3 months in Puglia region

Hello, I've never been to Bari myself but someone I know who does exactly what you and your husband are doing and went there with the intent of spending 3 months there and were turned off the first day. I noticed on Trip Advisor that Lecce offers language and cooking schools. Good luck!

Wow... that´s really strange. Do you know why they hated it so much??
Were did your friend end up stayng for 3 months? Does he have a blog?
Thanks

Katia

I liked Puglia although our visit was brief. It gets hot, so I think the earlier the better, i.e., March-May. Lecce is charming but it is deep in Puglia, so harder to visit the northern reaches. Bari is pretty central and as it is on the coast, has that advantage. You might look at Trenitalia.com to get an idea of train frequencies and times for various adventures.

The food and wine in Puglia is superb and the prices are reasonable. As a Roman friend told me "You eat well and it costs less in Puglia!"

This sounds like a lovely idea. I did 2 weeks of language classes in Orvieto in 2015 and had a great time.

I've heard that Bari is nice but haven't visited it. I used Lecce as my base in Puglia in 2015 and would happily do so again, though that was for just a few days. It's a lovely Baroque city but much, much smaller than Palermo. One reason it worked for me is that the Tourist Office arranges van transportation to circuits of small Pugliese towns, so you're not limited by public-transportation schedules--though the latter are probably workable if you're just trying to reach one town per day. The trips are not really guided. The driver drops you off in each town (typically 4 to 6 in one day) and points you in the direction of the historic center or other top sight. If you were staying in Lecce for an extended period, you'd become acquainted with other students and perhaps other travelers. You'd likely be able to work with the transport company to put together your own full-day or half-day excursions at comparable prices to augment the T.O.'s offerings. Of you could pair up with one or two other people and share a rental car from time to time.

Some of the popular stops on the van trips are very cute medieval fishing villages turned beach resorts, which I suspect would be in off-season mode in March, but that is just a guess on my part.

Do not miss Matera while you're in Puglia. It's just over the regional line in Basilicata.

Check out Ouritalianjourney.com

Bari does not rely on tourism, so perhaps it seems less charming than, say, Volterra. But it is perfectly situated to go either north or south. It is a port city, a business center, and has a lovely old town.

I have visited Bari often, and the food, wine, and people are fantastic.

Hi Zoe
We are not seeking for a very tourisc city. We intend to live the city life, meet itslians - in Palermo we did a lot of good friends - and absorv the culture and lifestyle.
Of course we intend to travel around but it is not our primary goal.
Thanks for your answer
Katia

Well now I'm really confuse... a friend just asked me why not Umbria, Perugia ?
Someone please help me here...

We just passed through Bari so I can't comment on that. I have heard it's a bit gritty, but I've heard the same about Palermo and you enjoyed that. So perhaps it would be fine. And it's well-located for daytrips.

I would, however, caution you about Lecce. Another poster had a wonderful short stay there in 2015, thanks to daytrips offered by the tourist office. But we were there in 2012, with no such trips. We visited in October, so maybe these daytrips are only offered in the summer?

Lecce is visually appealing with lots of beautiful baroque churches. But everything (and I mean everything, except coffee shops) closes every day by 2 pm. Shops start reopening around 6, but restaurants do not open until 8 pm. It's absolutely dead during this time. Your options are to stay in your apartment and have a long siesta, or wander around a closed city, or take a day trip somewhere nearby which will also likely be closed between 2 and 6 pm. It's a lifestyle we had trouble getting used to. We were there for a week, testing a theory that we might enjoy staying somewhere like this for a month or more. But it would not be Lecce. And probably not even far southern Puglia.

I agree Perugia might be a better choice. Or even Le Marche. We loved staying in Senigallia.