Planning a trip to Puglia and back to doing our own planning because my husband’s hips are bothering him and just can’t keep up with bus tours anymore. Puglia seems the perfect area - smaller towns and amazing scenery. Maybe train to Bari or Matera and then rent a car. Is it difficult to get by without speaking Italian? Any other trips would be great. Would also like to travel down to the toe. A little hip problem is not going to stop us even though we are in our 70s and 80s.
Posted by
Saint Paul, Minnesota
2213 posts
Having traveled in Italy several times with either hip problems or foot problems, here's my recommendation without knowing anything about how many nights you have or the time of year or what your interests are.
Fly to Brindisi and then either take the train to Lecce (1/2 an hour) or rent a car in Brindisi and drive to Lecce. Lecce is beautiful, very flat, full of excellent restaurants, and has a great cooking school. On our latest trip to Puglia, we spent 10 days in Lecce and I had no problems not speaking Italian. There are several wonderful smaller towns easily reachable by car, such as Galatina and Otranto.
Later on, drive to Matera, stay there a few nights, and tackle its stairs without the time pressure of a day trip or a one night stay.
Then pick another town for a base in the trulli area --- some are hill towns and some are flat. See how the hips feel after Matera! I think Cisternino is pretty flat.
If you still have more time, stay in a town on the coast --- our favorite is Trani.
It's a long train ride from Rome to Bari or Lecce and also a long drive (we have done both). But I guess I'd only fly to Puglia if I was already at the airport, not if I had to go back to the airport after spending some time in Rome. A third idea is for you to take the train from Rome to Foggia (3 hours) and rent your car there --- we did this once. Stayed in Trani for 3 nights and visited Bari, Molfetta, Bisceglie, Ruvo di Puglia, and Bitonto.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
17974 posts
For ideas check the official tourism website for the region
https://www.viaggiareinpuglia.it/en/
If your husband has mobility issues I would rent a car in Bari or Brindisi (wherever your flight takes you) and rent a car at the airport.
If you decide to take the high speed train from Rome, there are several rental car agencies at or very near the Bari Centrale station.
You can also drive directly from the Rome airport but it's almost 6 hour drive to Puglia (all freeway).
I use a broker/consolidator (www.autoeurope.com or www.kemwel.com) to rent car when I travel to Italy. Both websites are the same company and prices are therefore almost identical.
Be aware of the ZTL in Italy
https://www.autoeurope.eu/travel-blog/what-are-ztl-zones-in-italy/
Learn the International Road Signage system in use in Italy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Italy
An International Driving Permit is required to drive in Italy (408€ fine if you get pulled over by police and not have one). You can get one at AAA for under $30
https://www.aaa.com/vacation/idpf.html
If you use the search function above, you can find lots of past posts about Puglia. It's becoming a very popular region with American travelers, including Rick Steves' followers.
Posted by
new york
1694 posts
I strongly suggest staying in a Matera hotel in the upper part of the city, which is flat. You'll have lovely views off the sassi and plenty of great restaurants within an easy, flat walk. Then you can take your time walking down into the sassi...there are three main routes from the upper town to the sassi.....two involve a longer but flatter road that skirts the edges f the sassi; the short cut means a lot of steps...you'll get a map from your hotel and we can explain this in detail closer to the time of your trip...
I hiked up the "short cut" which begins right above/behnd my hotel; I had such a lovely experience getting back to the hotel that I wrote abut it here: