We will be returning to Italy next fall and will spend 2 of our weeks in Puglia. We have been to Matera, Martina Franca, Alberobello and the Grotte di Castellana. This trip, we are returning to those (friends travelling with us have not been) but are looking for some new places as well. We will there in the first two weeks of Oct and are planning on the Gargano area (are boats still running then?) Ostuni and Lecce. Any other ideas? Thanks for any info/recommendations you have!
Posted by
Boise, ID, USA
2186 posts
On our trip to Puglia/Basilicata we visited all the places you mentioned except Grotte di Castellana plus a few more. Top on our list of places to which we would like to go back and spend more time is Locorotondo. I doubt that boats will still be running in October, but still, we really enjoyed Vieste and Peschici - worth a visit. South of the Gargano, we stayed in Trani and just loved it.
Posted by
Gaston, Oregon, USA
931 posts
Make sure you pick up a good travel guide (we like Lonely Planet) and read some of their suggestions. Like Janet, we loved Trani. The seaside dining is fantastic. Travel down the coast and also dine in Grotto Pallazzese in Poliagno a Mare. Dining in a cave at night while you watch the sea around you is something you will never forget. Stay in Lecce and make it a base to see the other local cities. Lecce is a mini Siena. The Passigiata is so much fun. (Don't even try to drive into Lecce without a GPS!) Drive the entire western side of the heel of the boot. Visit Gallopoli for a day. Stay in a Masseria.
Posted by
Toledo
653 posts
Otranto is at the very tip of the heel. Bari is a big city that doesn't depend on tourism alone, but it has great things to see.
Posted by
OP
Surrey, BC, Canada
11 posts
Thanks for all the advice - we will try to fit all of that in!
Posted by
Eugene, OR, USA
14 posts
I'm staying in Ostuni now, and have made side trips to Bari (loved it!!) also Lecce and Monopoli. We really loved Monopoli, as it has an old "cento storico" like Ostuni, but it is on the sea, which Ostuni and Lecce are NOT. Lecce is a bit more "elegant" so it has some great shopping (go to the Society store with their designer linens). But Monopoli has one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've seen, a wonderful walkway around the port, a 5 star hotel called "Don Ferrante," and a diocesan museum with paintings by Veronese and other great artists. We've been highly advised to see Martina Franca and Matera, which we'll do within the week.
If you're going to Ostuni, I hope you have a car. Train service is slim and city bus, necessary to get from train station to center, runs very infrequently.