Input sought for revised 7-8 day Puglia itinerary - thanks! :)

Monopoli works well for day trips to several of those locations.
Some people prefer to stay at least one night in Matera, but Matera is very hot in summer.

Lecce and Otranto are kind of too far for day trips from Monopoli. I would have a second base there. You can stay in either, and visit the other on a day trip. Which one is up to you. Lecce is a baroque beautiful city a bit on the interior. Otranto is a quaint fortified town on the beach. They are about 35-40 min apart by car.

Thank you, Roberto! :)

I've stayed in Locorotondo as a base several times. Smaller town with beautiful old section at night, and very easy to drive in and out of the town. Also agree with Monopoli.

We took the train from Rome to Lecce (also stops at Bari and a few other towns). I would do it again instead of driving.

It may be a challenge to visit this all the places you list in about a week. In rural southern Italy like Puglia most shops/churches/museums close about 1pm until around 5pm and restaurants close by 2pm for the riposo. Tourism mainly happens before lunch or in the evenings and the afternoon is spent out of the sun or at the beach.

I would suggest renting a car from AutoEurope which is a US-based consolidator. They are there to help if there are any issues. If you rent from Hertz or any other US-based company website and there’s a problem they throw up their hands and say “gee, you really rented from Hertz Italy and we only did the courtesy of arranging it; take things up with them.” Get zero-deductible coverage for your rental car.

This is our plan...we're leaving in mid-May:

We're based in Monopoli for 6 days. During that time, 2 nights to Lecce. And various day trips while in Monopoli.

Then: one night Matera, 2 nights Maratea & one night Paestum (great buffalo mozzarella farm tour).

Thanks, all, for the insights! Michelle, do you have a hotel to recommend in Monopoli?

Looking at this 9 day (July - insert sweating emoji!) rough itinerary and welcome insight as well as accommodation or food and walking tour recommendations. Interested in historical sites, food, churches, beach, cute towns. I travel at a quick pace but willing to consider less stops.

Evenings: Bari (1); Matera (1); Borgo Canonica near Cisternino (3); Lecce (2); Rome (2).

Day 1 - Arrive Bari from Bologna in late afternoon. Night = Bari
Day 2 - train to Matera and do a 2 hour led tour. Night = Matera (looking for reasonable cave hotel).
Day 3 - Rent car in Matera and drive to Itria Valley stopping at Grottaglie - thinking of staying 3 nights at Borgo Canonica near Cisternino because I have points to use + free night but open to comments; and then doing day trips from there. Night = Borgo Canonica
Day 4 - Morning in Alberobello for 2 hours; then dinner in Locorotondo Night = Borgo Canonica
Day 5 - Beach day near Monopoli or Savelletri at beach club (recommendations welcome!). Night = Borgo Canonica
Day 6 - Drive to Lecce and stop at Ostuni for sightseeing and lunch. Night = Lecce (accommodations recommendations)
Day 7 - Lecce & Otranto. Night = Lecce
Day 8 - Return rental car in Lecce; train to Rome in afternoon. Night = Rome
Day 9 - Rome (I've already been to Rome twice but my traveling buddy has not so just one day as we want to spend most of our time in Puglia). Night = Rome
Day 10 - Depart Rome in morning

Bus from Bari to Matera takes much less time than the trains. Could also rent the car in Bari and drive to Matera in one hour.

It was several years ago, but we loved staying in a cave room at B & B La Corte dei Pastori.

If you like early 15th century frescoes covering the walls and ceiling in Romanesque churches there is Santa Caterina in Galatina (near Lecce). Could see it on the same day trip as Otranto.

Our favorite ceramics shop in Grottaglie is Antonio Fasano's shop at Via Caravaggio, 7 or 8, 74023 Grottaglie —- be sure it’s Antonio’s shop because there are other Fasano shops in town and the address is a bit odd.

You may know this already, but the Basilica of Santa Croce in Lecce has the most spectacular facade sculptures.

Nancy - thank you! Do you think the order I have the trip is logical? I appreciate any feedback and I'm excited about Matera! I will check the B&B out!

Day 1 - If you can, time of arrival permitting, see if you can go to Matera right after arriving, that way you have two nights in Matera.
Day 2 -Matera (get ready for scorching 100-110F hot in the hellish "Sassi" hole in July). You will bake like a pizza in a wood fired oven.
Day 3 - Your choice of accommodations in Val d'Itria seems good
Day 4 - If you are at Locorotondo for dinner I liked the Ristorante U'Curdunn (gone here multiple times)
Day 5 - There is more than one Lido (beach club) between Monopoli and Savelletri. You can check them out using Google Maps.
Lido Bambù, Cala Paradiso, Porto Ghiacciolo, Lido Santo Stefano are some good places suggesed by the locals.
Day 6 - Find a parking that is guarded, if you intend to have luggage in the car. Then park against the wall. I parked here. Save in your favorites.
Day 7 - Both Lecce and Otranto are great, if I had to choose, I'd probably stay in Otranto, based solely on the fact that in July I need to be near a beach. On the other hand you don't seem to have a lot of nights at your disposal. This is a couple of hotels where I stayed (in Otranto more than once):
Lecce
Otranto
I stayed at the one in Lecce only one time, and in that occasion they didn't have parking availability, so I found street parking nearby. It was only 10 min walk from there to the Duomo, so I didn't need the car. If you plan to stay multiple nights, maybe you could find a hotel with more parking availability.
The hotel in Otranto has underground parking for 12€ a night, that also subject to availability, so if you plan to be there in July (as I was) it would be a good idea to reserve the parking spot as well.

Day 8 - If you stay in Lecce the whole time, and maybe at the hotel above I suggested, you won't need a car, so you could return it sooner.
If you keep the car and go to Rome, check if there are one way drop off fees with your rental car. You could also drive back to Bari (the train would need to go to Bari first), return the car in Bari and catch the train from Bari.

Day 9 - Regardless of how much of Rome you can see in just a few hours, you need to spend the last night in Rome. You'll probably get there late, so all you have time for is some dinner and a stroll.

Roberto, thank you! Exactly the feedback I was looking for. I just didn't know if that direction of stops made sense. Thanks so much!

Wow, Bologna to Bari by train is 7 hours --- by plane nonstop is an hour and 20 minutes. I like trains, but I'd sure be tempted to fly, then rent a car and drive to Matera.

Your order seems fine --- we have some inclination to go to the farthest-away place first and work our way back, but it's not based on logic.

You could, for instance, fly Bologna to Brindisi (an hour & 25 minutes), rent a car, drive to Otranto (an hour & 5 minutes) to start your trip. At Brindisi airport, we rented a car (actually a 9-passenger van!) from Europcar, but there are others.

In Lecce we stayed at https://arryvo.com/ and thought it was great. It had A/C, a bountiful hot breakfast since they have a small restaurant, and is inside the town walls. Helpful and English-speaking front desk staff. Parking was right across the street since they are on the ring of the historic center. We liked the place but it may not be for everyone since it is a modernist-type design.

My general advice for Lecce is to find a hotel with A/C and inside or in close walking distance to the historic center. It makes it that much easier to go down for an aperitivo, walk around a bit in the passeggiata, perhaps go home to shower and change and go back for dinner.

Mama Elvira has both an enoteca and a separate restaurant. You need reservations for the latter. I've read very positive reviews of the cooking school Awaiting Table in Lecce if that is an interest; we hope to do it if we're ever back in Lecce.

@nancys8 I'll take a look at possible flights but I'm much more of a train person and we will be arriving in Bologna on an overnight train, just venturing out for a few hours of exploration and then hopping back on the train to head south. When I checked the train schedule, there was a 5.5 hour train ride at the time we were needing to depart.

DWB, we had two weeks in Puglia back in November. Bari was our last night, before we took a train out the next day. We’d turned in our rental car at the Bari airport, then caught the Tempesta shuttle bus to downtown Bari. Our one-night stay at Bari 102 (B&B at 102 Via Andrea Da Bari) was outstanding. Agata goes out of her way to make guests comfortable, and the location in the center of the city, with the shoreline a few minutes’ stroll away, was ideal. I’m not sure how you’d handle parking, if you were coming by car.
Dinner at Il Pane e La Rose, 2 1/2 blocks from the B&B, then gelato at Sandrino, near the Old Port.

For car rental, consider Italian company Noleggiare. They’re currently having a sale for rentals through May 30 (30% off + free second driver), but I don’t know how that compares to late summer. We’ve used them on two trips. Do NOT rent with RentalPlus. We used them on our last trip, and they were cheaper, but we had major problems from them when trying to pick up the car, and turning it in in a different location was even more fraught. Then they wanted to charge us for “damage” to the car the day after we’d turned it in, but we had photos taken at turn-in that proved the damage shown in their photo wasn’t present at our return. I doubt theirs was really a photo of our actual car!

We visited Matera as a daytrip while staying in Altamura, the City of Bread. Matera was largely shut down in November, and I’m glad we didn’t stay there. I’d looked into maybe lodging in a cave hotel, but with the expensive rate and seeing Matera for a day, I’m glad we didn’t do that.

Bologna to Bari is 5h42min by FrecciaRossa high speed train. Maybe not today since the Italian boot just split into 2 separate countries due to a major landslide and both the Adriatic freeway and the Adriatic railway broke near Termoli. It’s not too bad in normal times, only marginally longer than a flight once you factor in the time involved in airport transfers, check in, security procedures, flight, baggage claim etc.

Thanks, @Cyn. I messaged Bari 102 but they show no availability while we'll be in Bari :(

@Roberto da Firenze Thank you for the help! Oh - wow, what unfortunate news! I know the flight may be a bit faster, but I'm very comfortable on the train and love the views! And, if it's an hour or two more, I'm OK with that to avoid the airports and flight.

I think your trip looks pretty good, at first glance.

I'd go from Bari airport to Matera by bus, so you don't have to find, and pay for, parking in Matera. Then take the bus back to the airport and rent your car there. We rent from SIXT and they have their lot right outside the terminal and a few steps from the Matera bus stop. You won't use the car in Matera so why pay for the extra day or two, and the parking?

If you DO take the car there, many hotels have arrangements with a parking garage and the last time, our hotel had a shuttle that picked us up at the garage and took us back at the end of our three-night stay. Another option is to stay at a hotel with free parking in the Upper Town, such as ALVINO RELAIS which also has a pool. (But no cave rooms)

On our first trip (maybe 16 years ago) we stayed at LOCANDA SAN MARTINO and it's really nice, but again, I don't know--are the caves hotter in summer or does the cave stay cooler than a normal room would (???). It seems as ifs the cave would keep the rooms cool, but I think I'd make sure that the cave had air conditioning if that is a possibility (O've never been there during the hot months) . Not exactly the amenity that the original residents would have enjoyed but I'd bet you might want it!!

We absolutely love Matera and plan to return for the third time next month!! We will take the bus to the airport after our two nights and rent a car, again, with SIXT.

There is a string of fairly rustic seafood restaurants along the coastal strip south of Savelletri but we found that, by far, the best food in that area was in the town of Fasano, about a 10- 15-minute drive from the coast at Savelletri. Two that we loved are these; they do not draw the tourists as do the seafood restaurants in the port of Savelletri itself, and the prices are much lower; Fasano historic core is a gleaming white beauty without the tourists of the famous towns.

LOCANDA DE MARTUME. (Facebook only)

LA DESTINA DI ELENA

https://ristoranteladestina.it

You need to book at both restaurants.

I think that one of the gems of Puglia restaurants is CIBUS in the small town of Ceglie Messapica, which also lacks the many tourists of Ostuni, Locorotondo, etc......the only tourists we saw on both days we visited were those that, like us, were heading for the restaurant.
Such is the reputation of that restaurant that we chose our masseria B&B last fall so we could be within a very short drive, and we were very happy that we chose both the masseria and the restaurant.
https://ristorantecibus.it