We are headed for Puglia next week, for a much-anticipated trip of about 3 weeks. I think our plan is fairly well nailed-down (at least as much as we ever do that), but I thought I'd toss up our trip plan in case anyone had any favorite, suggested places to see/do/eat in this popular and well-appreciated region.
Here's our trip framework (below), we fly in and out of Bari, and will have a car (even though I know there will be days when we just park it - having our own car will let us move at our own pace when we do move on, and make game-day decisions):
Starting in Bari, we will first make a short loop out to Vieste and the Gargano, then will loop back down towards Valle d'Itria, then roughly follow/parallel the coastline clockwise, all the way through and round the Salento, to the far southeast point (Santa Maria di Leuca), and back along the coast into Basilicata. After finishing in Matera, we'll head back to Bari and fly out. Here's the rough plan:
Bari (2 nights)
Vieste (3 nights)
Polignano a Mare (4 nights)
Lecce (3 nights)
Gagliano del Capo (2 nights)
Gallipoli (2 nights)
Taranto (1 night)
Matera (3 nights)
Worth noting: Most of these multiple-overnight locations are our base for the city itself - plus other places within striking distance. The region is dense with cute old towns, beautiful scenery and lovely beaches, and we plan to try and hit many more places than listed above. Our style for a trip like this is to generally not have a fixed, finalized plan for every day. Rather, we have a list of "menu items" for each day, including many which could be accessed from more than one of our bases. So each day, we pick from that day's "menu" options, based on how we are feeling, weather, and other conditions which may vary (including, did we visit that place yesterday or might we go there two days later from a different place). We like keeping our options open.
I've currently got a list of roughly 100 "places", which range from a city itself, to towers, beaches, caves, coves, castles, cathedrals, and all sorts of large and small oddities. All are mapped and assigned a one- to three "triangle" rating (as in the Rick Steves books) so we can make decisions each day based on priorities, what we are near, and how we are feeling.
Of course, we are not going to make it to over 100 places on this trip (and we are not crazy enough to try to). These are places that are just on the trip's "menu", not what we intend to eat: places we might build a daily plan around, or just stop at briefly, or skip entirely for any number of reasons.
I'd welcome any additional personal recommendations for places any of you particularly enjoyed. Extra points for any that are authentic, special, and yet uncrowded (or at least not mobbed). Same request goes for any favorite food places - we have a long list, but would welcome personal recommendations. I'll be adding to my lists though the upcoming weekend, so please feel free to suggest any you liked.
Thank you in advance for any you would like to suggest!