Tour guide From Bari

We were in Puglia and Matera last year for 12 nights, staying in Polignano, Leuca, Lecce and Matera. I understand that folks travel in individual ways at different speeds, but I really don’t understand your haste to rush through an area that invites a much less frantic pace. My only recommendation, other than to slow down, is a visit to Masseria Li Veli which makes great wines and offers a lovely and substantial luncheon.

You are skipping Lecce? I would drop Alberobello or Matera and add Lecce.

We visited all the places you list on our trip to Puglia last month. We were there a week, in the off season. I don't think you can see everything you want in just 2 days. What are you planning to do in each of the towns? Perhaps make a list of what you want to see and do -- do you want to go to the beach in PaM, do you want to tour the Sassi in Matera, do you want to explore any of the old churches in the towns, do you want to relax over some fabulous, delicious lunches featuring local produce, seafood, and pasta? Then you might be able to decide how much time you need.

I do think this is a region that benefits from a slow pace, but that's my opinion and maybe you have different goals.

Here is my trip report with the details from our week, which includes a recommendation for Amy Weideman as a tour guide in Matera:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/puglia-a-week-in-december

Hi, I don’t have a recommendation for a guide but will just comment that I move quickly, and I am taking 10 days to see the cities on your list, this May, including Bari! …and that is after spending two weeks in the Puglia region last May.

I am trying to not sound negative with this comment; hopefully it’s taken as a suggestion help. People who hate Venice usually just did a quick day stop instead of spending days there to understand why it’s so special. I’m afraid you will feel the same about Alberobello, Matera & the others with this current plan.

I agree with everyone else here. I don’t want to muddy your mix, but have you considered Lecce too? A bunch of stuff would have to go, but it’s worth a look. We are (very) slow travelers, but even with a guide and a car, I think you’d be hard-pressed to get everywhere and do more than scratch the surface of these lovely places. In slow-moving southern Italy, just a lunch and wine tasting alone could take 4 hours. We did a great olive-oil tasting in Martina Franca that lasted about 2.5 hours, and that group size was only 4 people! Have you played around with Google maps to get an idea of your ideal itinerary, drive times and outliers? Another approach to prioritizing your choices and figuring out how much you can fit into each day might be to check out Tours by Locals to see what kind of combinations are offered. Even Viator could also give you an idea of town combinations. Someplace to start prioritizing perhaps.

I was in Bari last April and did a tour with Vito Maurogiovanni (www.pugliatourguideservices.it). We did a day trip to Matera and Alberobello. He is very funny and has been guiding for many years. There were four of us plus Vito in a very comfortable car. This tour involved a lot of driving. You won't get to spend too much time in each place as a result. Since I didn't have a car, I really appreciated the opportunity to see these places without figuring out public transportation which is great in Italy but Matera does present some hurdles in that regard. I am pretty sure Vito can set up a personalized tour for you.