It appears to be a beautiful area. I don’t see Rick including it in his guides. Am I missing something?
Also any recommendations for staying ( hotels) and visiting the area ?
Posted by
Oregon
115 posts
Rick does not include Puglia in his guides, but I have gotten valuable advice/information from following this forum from people who have visited. Type in Puglia in the search area above for previous posts. We are leaving in two weeks and excited to visit the area before Rick makes it so well known that it gets overrun with tourists.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
17758 posts
I wish Rick's guidebooks stayed out of beautiful Puglia for a lot longer. Unfortunately his tours have already started to include Puglia (The Best of South Italy). Whenever places end in his guidebooks, they become overrun by tourists.
Fortunately Puglia is a very large region, so maybe it will be able to handle the crowds better than the Cinque Terre. Puglia is however very popular with Italians already (and for many years), but now both Europeans and North Americans are coming in hordes, so hurry up before it gets worse.
If you search Puglia above, several recent posts will come up, including hotel recommendations. But first you need to research where you want to visit, and whether you intend to drive a car or not. (A car is recommended for that region, but it is possible to visit many spots relying on trains and buses).
Posted by
Idaho, USA
9635 posts
”I wish Rick's guidebooks stayed out of beautiful Puglia for a lot longer.”
I heartily agree!
Here’s the details from my last two trips there in May 2024 & 2025. I will be there again soon….before it changes too much.
Posted by
new york
1518 posts
Do you really think that an area is not "beautiful" because it's not in the RS guides? The guidebook covers only a small portion of Italy, and some of our best trips were to places not covered..
I fervently hope that the region stays neglected by these guidebooks for as long as possible...
We are also returning, for what is probably our sixth trip to Puglia, next month.....when we took our first trip, about 20 years ago, no one we shared our plans with had ever heard of Puglia (granted, they were not the most well-traveled set) but now......it's become 'the" hot place to go in Italy... I think much of the onslaught began with the opening, in Savelletri, of Borgo Egnazia, where Justin Timberlake had his wedding......all of a sudden, Puglia was all over the news in the US... Around the same time, Francis Coppola opened his hotel in Bernalda, Basilicata....which got a lot of press in the US.
When we were in Matera in 2023, we met honeymooning Australians who had fled Polignano days earlier than they had planned, due to the massive crowds. And this was in mid September. I'm afraid Matera has also become a "must" but thankfully, many visit only on day trips...