Itinerary help: starting in Puglia

We spent 3 weeks in Puglia 2 months ago (late November/early December), first time to that area, and are already considering a return trip this year. We rented a car in Naples and used it to visit lots of Puglia, then turned it in in Bari and took a train to return to Naples. Although we had a car, lots of the towns are connected by train, so that’s certainly an option for transportation.

We saw inside a couple of churches, but no art museums - if there care any, there must not be a lot. Our slower pace was for visiting atmospheric towns with narrow, winding lanes between the buildings, and for the food, which is different from parts of Italy farther north. After nearly 3 weeks in towns more in the countryside, our final two nights in Bari were shocking - a BIG city by comparison, with lots more people!

If you headed by train east of Taranto (south of both Bari and Brindisi) to Lecce, you’d find a smaller city, with unique architecture and its fair share of sights, but not major tourist destinations. The Tourist Information Office (TI) does walking tours in English, and an evening tour took us past lots of interesting things (flamboyant Cathedral without going inside, triumphal arch with lots of symbolic meaning, gelato shops (!), the remains of the ancient Roman amphitheater, etc. It ended at a museum, the Museo Faggiano, which started as a family’s attempt to dig out old drainage pipes in their home to fix the plumbing and turn it into a restaurant, but when they hit some buried objects, they contacted an archaeologist, which resulted in uncovering centuries of history - a nunnery/church, Knights Templar fortress beneath that, and ancient Roman ruins farther down. Despite advice from many locals to fill in the dig and proceed with the restaurant plan, they kept at the archaeological effort, uncovering more and more artifacts and old foundations. Turning it into a personal museum was the real purpose for the family, and one of the sons runs it now. He’d done a lot of the digging himself. There are also cooking classes, a castle, and more around town. Compared to other destinations in Italy, there were almost no other tourists.

Continuing … besides Lecce over our 3 week visit, we stayed in two other towns, Altamura, which has a giant, 700-year-old bread oven, and Martina Franca, what may be the perfect medieval town in southern Italy. Altamura’s oven was once used as a communal place to bake everyone’s bread - women created their own loaves at home, then brought them to the oven for baking. It’s now a bakery and small restaurant, where we had a fantastic lunch. Martina Franca has a modern city outside the old town walls and towers, but we had an apartment inside the old town, which was a real treat. It seemed to be just locals, enjoying their town (both modern and ancient), and any other tourists were Italians, there for the pre-Christmas vibe. Nearby, reachable by train for a daytrip visit, are Alberobello, Locorotondo, and Cisternino, among others. I can’t tell you what the train schedules are like, as we were able to go by car on our own time schedule, but it should be very doable.

Now the (maybe) hard part. If you’ve never been to the 5 Terre, I can’t realistically say don’t ever go there, but after two visits myself, I would suggest you find another place. We first went in June 2001, influenced by Rick Steves’ enthusiastic recommendations, and it was magical. We returned in the fall of 2021, kind-of “off season,” and just as Covid vaccines were allowing people to travel again, and it was way overcrowded. We stayed in Riomaggiore, like we did on our first trip, but walking the main street one day in Vernazza, it was literally shoulder-to-shoulder, and as soon as we got to the trailhead for the walking path to Corniglia, we got away from the mob in Vernazza, and headed on our hike. Well, the trail was also very busy, with people pushing past. It was really unpleasant. The views are magnificent (if you’re not packed in with tons of other people), and there are really excellent restaurants (if you can get a reservation), but I don’t personally have plans to ever go back. I’m lucky to have been there, yes, so if someone is determined to go, then go, but be forewarned and prepared. The Cinque Terre are served by trains, but from Puglia, it’ll take some time, and you’ll probably have some connections and transfers to make. Puglia also has lots of coastlines and beaches, but we didn’t visit any in Nov./Dec.

To me, it makes little sense to travel from Puglia to the CT when you will have so much of the beautiful region of Puglia to explore. CT will be jammed in June and it's a trek to even get there. Ditto the Amalfi Coast---packed wall-to-wall with tourists in June. It's easier to get to from Bari but again, you have all of Puglia within easy reach.

Meet your partner in Bari, the the bus directly from the airport to Matera, where you will have booked a hotel well in advance. Then after 2-3 nights In Matera, you have so many options. Return to Bari and move on to: Lecce, Gallipoli, Otranto, the Valle d'Itria towns, the Salento. Or go to the Gargano--to Vieste with its gorgeous white old town and beautiful beaches...

One important question: Will you consider renting a car?

Cyn, thank you for the details you shared from your recent trip! I appreciate all of the suggestions.

And ekscrunchy, thanks for your suggestions too. It does seem like traveling to CT would be counter intuitive. We will be there the first week of May, so hopefully the crowds aren't so bad, yet. As of now, we aren't planning to rent a car.
It sounds like I should look into staying in the Puglia region as it may have more to offer than originally thought.
Thanks

For sure..it's a great, great region. Scenery, architecture, food, beaches, etc etc.....
One small thing to keep in mind is that many shops and offices are closed from about 1:30pm until about 4:30 or 5pm.
True all across the south.

Awesome it sounds great, thank you! Do you find that renting a car is necessary? Or can we get around on public transport?

Yes, Puglia is indeed a swoon-worthy destination. Much of it can be done pretty easily by rail/bus, but having a car would give you greater freedom and allow you to use your time most efficiently. (Just stay out of the ZTLs, which every old city center has). We flew in and out of Bari. Easy. Chef's kiss!

(shhhhhhhh)