How important car rental in Puglia?

1. Puglia is one of those places where a car will make a difference in what you will be able to see easily. I can’t imagine using public transit in Puglia. I think you’d miss a lot using public transit.
2. Must see places: Polignano a Mare, Lecce, Monopoli, Trani, Alberobello( walk into the less touristy part, look around and then leave), Locorotondo, Ostuni. We visited Matera too but were glad we weren’t staying there. The history of its terrible poverty and the residents living in the caves with their animals made it hard for me to enjoy it. I know it is high on the tourist radar now but all I could see was it’s past extreme poverty. Lecce is a gem! Allow more time here. Where do you plan to stay? We stayed in Polignano a Mare for ten days, right on the waterfront. Wonderful! I recommend all the towns I listed above to stay with the exception of Alberobello. Make sure to try to try some of the Cucina Povera, what the impoverished ate, chick peas for protein, not bad.

1. Significantly important, if you want to maximize your time there.
2. See Suki's list above, then add Otranto and Vieste.

I agree with Roberto!

We chose Locorotondo as our base on 2 occasions. It is a lovely, very quiet town, and the old town center is magical at night. Easy to get in and out of town with a car. As for Matera, we appreciate the history, but the locals are very appreciative of tourists, and thus have visited on 2 occasions. Give it a full day to get lost in the Sassi. There is now a detective Italian series called "Imma Tataranni", based in Matera and highlights the local beauty of this town. The first 20 min of the latest Bond movie was filmed there as well. 2 thumbs up for Polignano a Mare, Monopoli and Otranto.

As for the car rental, I always take photos of all sides of a vehicle before leaving the office. Had a dented fender, and when I turned the car in at the Bari office, the girl said this was a major problem. Upon showing her the photos, she simply said "have a nice day!"

S, 70+, F and planed trip to southern Italy for Nov 2024. I planned now as public transpo options should be the same. I can make it work as I am one person, knowing what I know I would say rent a car for the 3 of you. Suggestions above are similar to what I have found out.

Thank you all!!! The best tie ever!! I feel ready to look for apartment now. So far, They look pricey? We looked at one so far—-so I need to take time looking for one with a bed for mayrimony( double) and a room or sofa bed in living room.

Do you believe we should svoif the car rental that we are offered by Ryanair—-when we purchased airline tickets?? The offer $200 for 7 days. But issue may be with insurance??? I read that Eurocar and hertz, are better with insurance coverage.( no copayment if we have issue/damage?)

Lecce, Ostuni, Monopoli, Trani and Polignano a Mare are easy to reach by train since the main train line runs along the east coast of Puglia. For Lecce, Monopoli, Trani, and Polignano the station is a short walk from the centre. For Ostuni there's a short bus ride. For most of the other places you mentioned it would be useful to have a car.
Where will you be landing in Puglia from Milan - Bari or Brindisi?
Martina Franca, Ostuni, Monopoli, Locorotondo, Alberobello and Polignano a Mare could be places to visit for a half day or a whole day including time relaxing, looking at views, having a leisurely lunch.
Lecce, Trani, Matera all require longer, as long as you've got, in my opinion.
Bear in mind that 1st May is a public holiday and is on a Wednesday in 2024 so the 'ponte' or long weekend could go either way, most probably towards the beginning of the week since some people with combine with another 'ponte' from 25thApril, a Thursday this year. These long weekends in spring are a popular opportunity for Italians to travel to città d'arte, in this case I'd expect Lecce and Matera to be busy, but probably also Valle d'Itria.
Here are some more ideas: https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/2023/12/hidden-gems-of-puglia.html

Puglia stretches almost 200 miles along the coast so in a week you're just going to see some slices of it. I would recommend one or two bases. If you look on YouTube you can find plenty of walking videos showing you what various towns look like that may help you decide where to go.

In rural areas like Puglia expect that shops will be closed from 1pm until 4-5pm and restaurants will close around 2pm until 8pm. So plan on doing your sightseeing in the mornings, have lunch, and then relax in the afternoon.

I just noted you are going early May. That's a busy time as Italians take advantage of the holidays (4/25 and 5/1) for taking time off and travel. That period is also the busiest time of the year elsewhere in Italy, therefore try to secure your accommodations at the lake and Venice as well.

If prices are high in Puglia, renting a car will give you more flexibility to find places out of town, which may be cheaper. For example this past summer I based myself here near Alberobello. In spite of being a luxury resort, since it was out of town and reachable by car only, it was even cheaper than many accommodations inside the town in Alberobello. I was there in July, and with 40+ degree Celsius (104+ F) all the places I stayed had to have a pool and the best possible A/C otherwise I'd die of heat, but Apr/May you won't need a pool and possibly not even A/C.

$200/week for car rental is a great deal. But check what it would cost to add full no deductible insurance. That is where they usually get you. I don't go with basic insurance in Italy. Deductibles are high (1000-2000 euro) and they always manage to find some silly ding or scratch to charge you hundreds of Euro for the damage. If you have no deductible coverage (called Kasko Insurance Policy in Italy) then you don't care, but the daily premium is more.
Compare with rates with AutoEurope at their websites below:
www.autoeurope.com
www.autoeurope.eu
www.kemwel.com
Make sure you click on the Insurance Coverage option with No Deductible (also called Refundable Excess in Europe, that is what they call it in the .eu website).

We fly into Bari——I am guessing that Airbnb and booking.com are good places to find a base or two for 7 nights. (4 & 3 or for the whole 7 nights). Thank you!!!! Any tips on finding apartment or hotel.( no pool necessary).

I always rent an apt as I usually stay 4-10 days in one city and travel out from, there. I need to add I plan my trips about 9-12 months in advance and book then so rates seem to be good. I always use booking.com and very very particular about my apt: nicely decorated, 2-3 blocks max to metro, washing machine, large studio or 1 bedroom, need a couch, hand held shower, windows and lots of light, elevator or no more than 4 flights. I try never to prepay or pay more than $30 for a cleaning fee. No sofa beds, I can't do stairs in the apt itself, needs to be 7+, over 300sf with a microwave.

I am going to Provence in 2 weeks for a month and laid out on a map all the cities of interest and more importantly the in which to get to these cities. So it came down to splitting the trip into 3 main cities. So I would suggest the same to you and then you might be able to decide where to stay. S, 70+, F and solo traveler and only use public transpo. What about nightlife? Might make a difference of what city to stay in as well

I always use booking.com and rome2rio.com to plan. Puglia is hot right now so lots of youtube videos to maybe get a sense of where you want to stay and visit. Enjoy!

We have 8 days and 7 nights in total. (fly in at noon/fly out 11 pm from BARI to Milan).

From Venice, we arrive in Bari and plan to rent car since we are 3 people.

So far, we are thinking of spending 4- nights in Locorotondo, and then either 3 nights in Lecce. Does this make sense? Is it smarter to just pick one place for all 7 nights?
Looks like from Locorotondo we can visit many/most places easily. (?? is Polignano a Mare a better choice than Locorotondo?) We felt Locorotondo would be more quaint and magical. But the beach sounds good too......
From Lecce-- we have quality time in Lecce and a good side trip to Otranto.

Those two places would work very well for you in Puglia and/or Polignano a Mare.