Please sign in to post.

Puglia and Matera itinerary

Hello
We are planning our first trip to Italy in October. In fact it’s our first trip to Europe and while we are adventurous and willing to explore on our own, we are not experienced travellers. After spending a few days in Rome we want to spend the remaining 9 days in Matera and Puglia.
The tentative plan is 2 nights in Matera.
Beyond that we are interested in Locorotondo, Alberobello, Polignano a Mare, Monopoli, Ostuni, but don’t have a definite plan and starting to feel a little overwhelmed with so many options.
1. Is it easier to fly to Bari or Brindisi?
2. Getting to Matera from one of the airports, bus or rental care?
3. Regarding visiting the areas in Puglia, which would you recommend as a base for the remaining 6 days? One location or two?
4. For day trips, again bus or rental car?
5. Booking accommodations; how far in advance would you recommend?
Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for the help and advice. Cathy

Posted by
3644 posts

I recommend getting a guide, in Matera, for touring the Sassi. Also, you should read “Christ Stopped at Eboli,” a memoir by Carlo Levi. He recounts his time exiled to the region for anti-fascist activity.

After looking into relying on public transport, we decided to rent a car. The time and distances required for using trains and buses made that just too inconvenient. You could fly into Bari and out of Brindisi.
There are several archaelogical sites that you can visit along with museums displaying finds from their excavations.
I suggest you consider Lecce as another base.
If you google “Puglia,” and scroll down to the heading “Things to do” you will find many more ideas.

Posted by
64 posts

We traveled Puglia April 2022. Flew into Bari, out of Brindisi. Solely using trains we traveled to Polignano a Mare (1 night), Lecce (4 nights), Grottaglie (3 nights), Ostuni (3 nights), Monopoli (2 nights), Brindisi (1 night).
Beautiful towns and countryside. Favorite was Grottaglie. “Imagine a town that has survived for hundreds of years on making beautiful handmade ceramics”. More than 50 artisans working in caves. Amazing. You’ll see small shops to larger production - such as creating for Williams Sonoma.

Posted by
221 posts

My wife and I spent about two weeks in this area of Puglia/Basilica last June, so I can share with you our experiences. We flew in to Bari (from Crete, so not a long flight) and rented a car at the airport. We drove directly to our rented (AirBnB) Trullo in the village of Coreggia, just outside of Alberobello, where we stayed for five nights. From there we made day trips to Polignano, Monopoli (same day), Locorotondo, Ostuni (same day), Alberobello, a beautiful beach and a local winery. Matera was also an easy day trip possibility, but we stayed there for two nights after leaving Coreggia. We also used Gallipoli as a base for exploring the southern part of the Salento peninsula, and finished up in Lecce.
We were quite pleased with our decision to stay outside of Alberobello, as it was central to all of the towns we wanted to visit in the area, and being outside of town it was very easy to jump in the car and be on the road without having to deal with traffic issues or restrictions.

To specifically address your questions,
1. If you’re starting off in Rome, I would suggest you take a train to Bari, but if you prefer to fly Bari is more convenient for getting to Matera.
2. You will certainly be better off with a car if you want to visit all the towns on your list, so you might as well get it for your trip to Matera. There is a large covered parking lot, Via Saragat, at the edge of the city centre where you can park long term. It cost us €15 for the two days we spent in Matera. There is a shuttle bus from the parking lot to the heart of the old town which cost about €1.50 each.
3. With 6 days, you could do a really comfortable exploration of the area from one central base. That being said, even though Lecce is not on your list it is one of the highlights of the area and is worth a night or two.
4. A car, for sure. You may be able to connect from one town to another by bus, but the schedules will be very limited, and potentially involve time consuming transfers.
5. As soon as you have booked your flights and have decided on which towns you will stay in and for how long start booking your accommodations.
Have a great first trip!

Posted by
1254 posts

We found the book "Lonely Planet Puglia & Basilicata" useful in understanding Puglia and planning our visit last September. It's about 15 years old but the towns haven't changed that much. Since you're starting in Rome the easiest way to get to Bari is simply take the direct train, about 4 hours. When all is said and done flying is probably not faster.

Given the cities you listed it sounds like you're looking mostly at inland areas roughly within 30 miles or so of Alberobello. As such Lecce makes little sense; its about an hours drive or more from the places you plan to visit. We stayed in Lecce as our base last year but we were visiting towns down that way; Otranto, Gallipoli, etc.

When we were there in Sept restaurants were open until around 2pm and then closed until dinner at around 7-8pm. Stores closed by 1pm and didn't reopen until 4-5pm or so. Often churches and museums are closed in the afternoon as well. You might want to check if the hours are different in October but I'm guessing not. So for most tourists they get out in the morning and visit, have lunch, then relax in the afternoon (at the coast, at the hotel, etc)

Even as first-time European travelers there is no problem doing this trip, just keep in mind it isn't the customer-oriented USA. Rick Steves has a travel talk on this you could watch at https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/travel-talks/southern-italy

Posted by
55 posts
  1. Monopoli as a nice central location might be considered.

  2. Trenoitalia - a train.
    Regionale (regional train connects Lecce to Trani , if you go to other parts bus.

Have a nice trip

Posted by
314 posts

S,F, 70+, Solo traveler. Going for the month of Nov, 2024. I only use trains and buses. I plotted out my trip last year so in Nov checked the train/bus schedule to determine how to get where I was going and what the schedule was like on the exact day I was traveling.

For instance, some stations are not manned and/or recommended to buy the tickets for onward journeys before you even leave for your onward journey, so heading to Lecce buy your ticket to Lecce and your departure ticket from Lecce at the same time. Just using Lecce as an example and saying it is one of those cities where you have to do this.

Use rome2rio.com to get a sense of travel options and then check specific transportation. I only use carryon and 99% of the time stay in apartments with a washing machine. I factor that in in my booking. Have used booking.com for years and extremely pleased. I travel to europe in the spring and November so no concern about no accommodation but I am very picky so I book at least 9 months out to get exactly what I want where I want and the amenities I want.

I just ordered Lonely Planet Southern Italy 2022 as it was recommended it was a much better version than 2023 or 2024. Ciao!

Posted by
395 posts

We usually visit Puglia between mid-September and mid-October. October is an ideal time to visit. I don't see the problem of afternoon closing of shops etc. Travelling around by car we found it ideal to arrive in a new place mid-afternoon when there are few people around and it's easy to park and to roam the quiet streets getting a feel of the place. There's always somewhere open for a coffee or a drink.
Not sure what you mean by not customer -,oriented, but I'm not from the US. People are invariably friendly and helpful

Posted by
5 posts

Hi Cathy,
My sister and I are also going to be visiting Matera October 9-11. It's been on the top of my bucket list for years. We looked at transportation options but as someone else mentioned transportation to/from is inconvenient. We will be coming via Florence and want to stop in the Chianti area and Pompeii, possibly Amalfi after Matera and the best way to do it was with a car. Even though driving is not permissible in Matera proper everything I've read suggest a car to the town is the best approach. We have already booked our accommodation at Aquatic Cave Lux Hotel (celebrating my bday on the 10th!). The one thing I learned about cave accommodations, from reading lots of forums and reviews, is that many of the cave hotels/suites have expected issues with damp so be aware when booking. Perhaps we'll bump into you! Have a fabulous trip.
Beth