Starting Plans for Puglia & Prague Trip - seeking input

I don't know if Prague is a definite, but have you thought about hopping over to Sicily? Has a great Opera house in Palermo, lots of ancient churches, lots of small villiges, etc.

K2wilde, at this time, all ideas are very welcome! I haven’t been to Sicily, yet. : )

Jean, this sounds like a great trip and I’m envious of all the time you will be spending in Puglia!

My husband and I spent a short three days based in an agriturismo in Locorotondo this past May and did day trips by car to all of your locations except for Bari and Trani. Lecce, Polignano Al Mare and Monopoli were our favorites. We enjoyed these seaside towns much more than we did Positano and Amalfi and I think you couldn’t go wrong basing in either of them.

How about squeezing in two days in Matera (Basilicata)? Full of history and simply beautiful! It looks like there’s a bus you can take from Bari (1 hr 15 min). If you do, I highly recommend a tour with Amy Weideman: https://www.materatours.net/

Good idea about brushing up on the Italian. My basic Pimsleur- learned Italian came in handy a few times in Puglia, although you’ll find most people do speak English. I was rewarded with a few grammatical corrections but also more than one “Brava”!

Happy planning! I’m sure others with more extensive time/experience in the area will be chiming in with suggestions!

Hi Jean, your trip sounds great.
The only odd note is to go to Prague in the middle of it????
Based on the things you say you like, I think you will love Puglia, and there is so much to see there.....The Romanico Pugliese churches are splendid, the unadorned light coloured stone and stone carvings.
So I would stay in Puglia. There are also a lot of beautiful places to see on the coast, or in Valle d'Itria - Locorotondo, Giovinazzo, Ostuni were all highlights for us, but also Bitonto, Cisternino and it's a pity to have to choose Monopoli or Polignano, they're very different.
Also, if you like mosaics....the cathedral in Otranto.....
I too would add in two or three nights in Matera (not in Puglia, but nearly......). You may well love the rock churches - chiese rupestri....
Here's more info about Puglia etc, use the search for particular places or Matera
https://bit.ly/3BkumFp

My thought for going to Prague was to add some variety to the locations since I’m traveling for a month. But, that week away is caused me to eliminate Matera and Gallopoli and choose between two coastal cities instead of seeing both of them. I just didn’t want each new city to be very similar as I’m traveling through Puglia.

Fran & Tinac, you make very good reasons to just stay in Puglia.

Sounds like a great trip. During your Prague phase, you may want to add Cesky Krumlov as either a day trip or overnight, preferrably an overnight to soak in the atmosphere once the tour buses depart. It's small but magical, like a fairytale. Plus it should not be too crowded in late May.

Although I just came back from Puglia, I don't know if I can help you much with public transportation since I drove down from my house in Tuscany. Besides the places you mentioned, since you plan to eventually go to Spello, you might consider visiting some places in between on your way there. Abruzzo comes to mind. Also along the Adriatic coast there are plenty of nice places to visit, all the way to Ancona (visit the Mt. Conero park). Then from Ancona it's an easy train trip to Spello, via Foligno. That would give you the variety you seek, without having to have that major detour to Prague.

If you DO end up in Prague, I highly recommend two tours: Truffle hunting followed by a truffle lunch and the Falconry center, just outside of the city! Booked through Airbnb site. Both were amazing! PS truffle hunt with dog, Nella, ends when you are presented with a handful of local truffles to cook up on your trip or to snuggle home as the BEST souvenir!

We saw the Czech Philharmonic at the Rudolfinum. Well worth it! Seating was limited so our seats were above the orchestra looking at the conductor! Fabulous.

Terezin is a worthwhile visit also. We did reserve a tour with Wittman Tours. They specialize in Jewish history so are very knowledgeable. We started with a city tour from Tour4Charity. Leader was John Paul Schramm-an expat married to a Czech citizen-very good.
Anything in the Ghetto in Prague- the Pinkasova Synagogue for sure and the on site Cemetery.
And with any wonderful European city, walks in the neighborhoods, especially those around the main old town.

Restaurants: Restaurace Mincova, Kolkoona Salvarin, Potrefena Husa (was lunch and they had the most wonderful ginger dumpling (knodel) I have ever had and I’ve had tons of knodel.), Il Gusto, U Kroka (note that it was very good). I didn’t note that any of the others were not good, so must have passed our qualifications for food, which are pretty high BTW!!

If you do include Prague, I hope you like it. We did.

It sounds a great trip but I wouldn’t go to Prague in the middle. It is a lot of travel days for six days, I would go at the end and fly home from there. I haven’t been to Puglia but from other comments there seems to be enough to keep you busy with alternate routing to get you to Spello.

Hi Eileen, the order of the dates with this odd flight in the middle is driven by the festival dates. The Spello Infiorate festival and now the Bari festival with set dates. Originally I had planned to be traveling about 3 1/2 weeks and attend the Spello festival again next year near the end of the trip. But, I could extend my time beyond what I originally planned to also now attend the Bari festival.

If I place Prague at the end of the trip, that makes it a 5-6 week trip. I’m married and don’t want to be gone that long from home. If Prague doesn’t work for this trip, I will go another time and plan more for centering in that area.

Roberto da Firenze, you’ve given me some great advice to consider. I will look into that upper region to see if there’s some small cities that would give some good variety and are still accessible by train or regular bus.

And thanks again for your advice while I was planning my 2022 trip in Italy! Very much appreciated!

Sonna, Ethomas & SJS, thank you so much for your details for Prague & the Czech Republic! I’ll bookmark this post, so I can refer to your suggestions for this trip next year or possibly a different trip if I end up scrapping Prague from this one.

last year i spent 10 days in puglia. based out of bari (6 days) and lecce (4 days) i also stayed in materra (not puglia) for 2. interesting that we have multiple things in common. i use public transportation exclusively and photography is the most significant thing i do on my trips. looking at art and architecture is my primary motivation. byzantine, romanesque are my favorite type of buildings. small cities and villages with stone and brick surfaces too.

from bari i visited barletta, trani, biseglie, molfetta andira, ruvo di puglia, bitonto, bitetto, palo del colle, altamura and gravina, all were day trips by trains.

from lecce's i visited, brindisi, galatina, gallipoli. ostuni, and otranto.

avoided alberbello. matera lived up to its reputation.

i loved puglia. similar in feel to sicily, easier to get around by public transportation than calabria. incredibly photogenic and less crowded than tuscany. don't have an opinion on your decision to visit prague. i made a three-day detour to malta myself from bari before continuing on to lecce. regarding photography, one thing i do is to leave very early each day, sometimes at dawn to catch the first bus or train. when i get to my destination it is usually still empty and the sun is low and makes amazing shadows and textures. then at opening time, i am usually the first to get inside a church or museum.

if you like, take a look at the link in my profile for trip photos.

hope this helps.

I like Robertos’ suggestions. Our time in Abruzzo was amazing.

Jean, Sophie Minchilli is a great source for sights and especially places to eat in Puglia. Although she does multi day tours there, she is very generous with sharing her knowledge as Bari is her father’s hometown and she has spent much time in the area. Because she is young (!), all of her helpful suggestions are on her Instagram account. She has guides at the top of her IG page including for Puglia. I have never been misled by any of her or her mom, Elizabeth Minchilli’s suggestions for food in Italy. And they very much focus on areas other than the high profile ones even though they do live in Rome.

We've spent several weeks in Puglia on various winter and early spring trips --- I've posted versions of this list of the towns we especially enjoyed before:

Alberobello — Rione Monti is crammed with shops selling trulli knick-knacks that spill out into the streets every few feet. Do walk through, though, & try to imagine how it used to be. The Aia Piccola neighborhood across the street is a less commercialized experience. The terraced public gardens offer the best view of the Rione Monti.  

Altamura — famous for bread & focaccia.  

Bari --- Quartiere delle Orecchiette on Arco Alto & Arco Basso. Explore the maze of the old town. Cathedrals, of course.

Cisternino —  Butchers on summer evenings will cook meat & a few other things for outdoor meals. Cute little town.

Gallipoli —- A narrow causeway to the old town, then walk around its perimeter. Being there at sunset is nice.

Grottaglie — THE ceramics town in Puglia with lots of shops, we’ve been there twice & both times bought pottery at the Antonio Fasano shop at Via Caravaggio, 7 or 8 —- be sure it’s Antonio’s shop because there are other Fasano shops in town.

Lecce  — we stayed 5 nights in the old town, several of my favorite church exteriors, many good places to eat, Roman ruins in the central piazza, great gelato, a fun town to walk around in.

Nardò — small town with  great bread and focaccia.

Ostuni — we stayed 6 nights in the old town, several great places to eat, we LOVE Ostuni.

Otranto —  more interesting town than Gallipoli plus it’s famous for the mosaic floor of its cathedral (wild & crazy people, animals, & mythical creatures)

Polignano a Mare — Views, a couple hours visit was enough for us, tiny medieval center on the edge of the limestone cliffs. Nice small pebble beach.  

Ruvo di Puglia — 13th-century Romanesque cathedral. Museo Archeologico Nazionale Jatta has a great collection of Greek pottery.

Trani — we stayed here for 4 nights, harbor with fishing boats, cathedral in a spectacular waterside location, fun passeggiata by the sea with fishermen unloading their wares. Really interesting old town, including medieval Jewish section.

Troia — cool cathedral, we spent an hour or more with a marble carver across the street from the church, watching him work & visiting his workshop. Unplanned, just saw the guy working there. One of those “Italy is so great” experiences.

Some B&Bs we have stayed at in the past (we now rent apartments):

***Locorotondo --- Masseria Aprile (one of the nicest places we’ve stayed at in Italy)(we had the smallest trullo)

***Matera  (in Basilicata) ---  La Corte dei Pastori

Puglia restaurants we especially liked:

Osteria Monacelle (tiny, our favorite place in Ostuni)

Vicolo 45 in Ostuni (in a cave)

Osteria del Tempo Perso in Ostuni

Trattoria Fiori di Zucca in Lecce (just outside the walls, we loved eating wild poppy leaves & wild hyacinth bulbs one spring. Who knew?)

Pizzeria Doppio Zero in Cisternino (different ancient grains used in the dough)

L’Antica Locanda in Noci

Antichi Sapori in Montegrosso (worth a drive just to eat there, need a reservation, the kitchen garden is across the street & can be visited)

*****Towns close up for most of the afternoon, maybe noon to 4:00pm, even the churches. We like it that people prioritize family & eating meals at home over being convenient to tourists. We spent this time eating long lunches ourselves & exploring the old town centers before & after lunch. Always order the house antipasti.

We loved our extended stays in Polignano a Mare (10 days) and Spello( two weeks.) Your itinerary is wonderful! The trip to Prague seems out of place
and when we were there it was so crowded with out of control teens, early twenty year olds that we did not have a good experience. I hope they have the city under better control now.

Claire, thank you for the suggestion to look up Sophie Minchilli as a resource for a 1-day tour!

Nancys8, I remember your name from some searches I’ve been doing on the forum for any info about Puglia. : ). I think I printed out some of your info for referencing, and the detail you just shared here is SO valuable! Thank you so much!

I bought Francesco Giampetruzzi’s Puglia travel guide book, and I’m going to add your comments in the margins of the city pages when I’m trying to decide the final cities to see.

Suki, I remember that you love, Spello, also!

Yes, I’m kind of rethinking Prague. But I still would like a nice classical concert, ballet or something on this trip, if it could be more convenient.

Nancy, wonderful information, not meaning to highjack thread, but did you rent a car and drive to those places or use public transport?

Lecce is a very “art and culture” oriented city, with a number of beautiful theatres—Teatro Apollo, Teatro Politeama Greco, and more. These are used for music and dance performances, including opera, ballet, and more. The schedule for next May is not out yet, but chances are good there will be something on.

And you will want to see the Cortili Aperti, the Open Courtyards even, usually the third Sunday in May. That would likely put it on 19 May next year, but it seems it has been held as late as 27 May so not guaranteed.

A nice place to stay in Lecce is Casa d’Artista, in the heart of the Old Town. It is on AirBnB and booking dot com. Full disclosure: we were not able to stay there because some needed renovation was not complete by the time of our February visit. But I was very impressed with the host’s kindness and communication. And we did walk by to see the location, and it is very good.

All of our trips in Puglia have been in a rental car --- my husband, the driver, says Puglia is an easy region to drive in. As navigator, I can say it is easy to navigate in, too. We're never there in the summer, though --- that would change things, I'm sure.

If you had to choose, would you go to Ostuni or Matera?

If I really had to choose, I would go to Matera because it is unique. Also, Ostuni old town is tiny --- there is more to see, more places to walk, and more places to eat in Matera.

Alomaker, I’m taking awhile to respond back to you because I’ve been enjoying your photos you shared on your link! I think we do have several similarities in what we like and how we travel. I see a lot of familiar mid & smaller cities, bringing back great memories!

I agree about being out early to photograph the Italian towns. I’ve had friends ask me how I’m able to take photos without all of the people in them, and you know the answer. ; ) I do a lot of one or two-night stops - both because I like to experience the ambiance of each location in the evening, and I love taking those morning photos when just a few people are up & out and being able to capture the morning colors.

Lola, thank you for the info on Lecce! I always stay in the old centers, so I’ll look up your suggestion of a place to stay for location & cost. Hoping for some opportunities for the ballet or similar in May! : )

Jean, you might also keep an eye out for what's on in Rome while you're there. We went to a fabulous concert at the Parco della Musica. The venue itself is quite interesting, though not exactly in the center of Rome! I don't know what else - maybe opera in the Baths of Caracalla?

Janet, good point! And if I don’t take a flight in the middle, I can spend extra days there. Or spend a little more time in Umbria since I had Spoleto & a return to Assisi or Perugia as some backup options, too.

The owner of that apartment is an American artist named John. He married an Italian and lives in Lecce. I think he will be happy to let you know of any concerts, ballet, etc. scheduled during the dates of your visit.

I’ve been receiving such wonderful replies & input! Thank you so much, everyone! It’s great to ask for ideas when the itinerary is past “just an idea” but not at a firm stage that’s harder to change.

Looking at Abruzzo instead of Prague now…. 😊

And checking out lodging options & the distance from train stations to small towns in Puglia & other beginning steps.