We just returned from a four week trip in the Puglia region of Italy and really enjoyed ourselves. We were there from September 17 through October 15. We flew from Seattle to Amsterdam to Milan We spent two days in Milan to get used to the time zone change and hang out. We were able to find a Airbnb spot near the Sempione park and downtown Milan, which was very convenient.
NOTE: supposedly the trains were to be on strike for a couple of days during our stay in Milan, so we got up very early and caught a train before the strike was supposed to start. Not sure if the strikes happened but we were able to get to the airport in time to catch our flight to Bari. If you are using term travel, I would suggest you keep an eye on the train schedules to see if there’s any word of a strike.
We rented a car in Bari and drove all around throughout the Puglia region. We started by driving from Bari to Lecce and staying there for four nights. Lecce has a charming old town and a great place to start a trip. Our AirBB location had free covered parking with the unit as well. Picking up the car at the Bari airport wasn’t too complicated. The rental location is in the airport and the cars are located right outside the main concourse. Most rental cars are Stickshifts and ours was no exception being a six speed Fiat Panda (which tended to shimmy when it reached 90 kph).
Some of the locations that we stayed at were: in a trulli near Martina Franca; in the old town of Otranto, Polignano a Mare (lovely spacious and modern apartment with parking), Matera, and Gravina in Puglia. We did day trips to Alberobello, Cisternino, Locorotondo, and a few other locations while in Martina Franca. If you can time your visit to Alberobello in the late afternoon / early evening, it would be a much more enjoyable opportunity to see the city. Tourist crowds are pretty sick during the day.
We visited Ostuni, Gallipoli, Leuca while in Otranto. Ostuni was nice for an afternoon and we had a delicious lunch there.
We drove to Castro while in Lecce and did a cave tour and a brief hike along a rugged Roman (?) trail with beautiful vistas. Good spot for lunch in the town piazza too.
We visited Monopoli and Bari while in Polignano. Both deserve a day but glad we weren’t there longer. We did a 2.5 hour boat ride in Monopoly which was mostly boring with the brief entrances to two caves the highlight. We did get a chance to take a dip in Adriatic too.
We had beautiful weather the entire trip; one 1/2 day of actual raindrops and the rest was blue skies and 70 degrees.
Some highlights:
Day trip to Grottaglie, to wander through ceramic shops and ceramic museum.
Otranto Centro storico was wonderful; good restaurants, scenery, architecture. We stayed right in old town and were able to go swimming along Lungomare a few short blocks from our location. We also walked the length of the lungomare which is scenic. We also visited a lido one day and paid 20 euros for chairs and an umbrella for the beach, and found a delicious sandwich shop close by.
Matera, for scenery, food, and a day hike to other side of ravine across suspension bridge for gorgeous views of Matera. The trail was very narrow and steep so not for the faint of heart. Just be aware there are lots of tourists here. Don’t try to find street parking and just head to one of parking garages near the old town. Cost is 10 euro per day.
Walk from Polignano to San Vito for lunch; nice quiet experience and lovely focaccia and seafood salad with spritz for lunch!
Special note:
Must try foods - focaccia bread; our favorite was from a bakery in Matera in the main piazza.
Orecchiette pasta, when made fresh a bit of heaven.
Fave e Cicoria, a fava bean and wild chicory dish we fell in love with.
Pasticciotto Leccese, a delicious cream filled pastry we had almost every day with our cappuccino.
Red wines in Puglia are quite nice: Negramaro variety is solid choice.