drkathej

My husband and I had a wonderful two weeks in Puglia. (May). We had a day of rain and another chilly day in Ostuni but otherwise, the weather was nice--cool in the evenings and warmish to warmer during the day.
We flew from Boston to Bari and then went to Trani for two nights. We really liked this typical port, fishing town and walked around the cobbled streets looking at the harbor, the boats and enjoying being in Italy. On our way to Ostuni, we drove through Polignare a Mare (nice beach resort type of town) and saw the Grotte di Castellana (amazing).
We explored Ostuni and also went to Cisternino, Locoromando, Aerobello and Martina Franca. The next day, we went to Fasano and saw the zoo and safari park--you drive and see lions, tigers, bears, zebras and giraffes as well as many others. The lions and tigers keep their distance but the zebras and camels come right up to your car window.
We then went to Lecce for a few days, which we enjoyed. We took a one day cooking class which was a fun experience. (the awaiting table). Stayed at the Palazzo Rollo--happened to arrive on the festival of the courtyards day (once a year), couldn't park in their courtyard and got a parking ticket due to the poorly marked streets.
We then went on to Gallipoli for two nights and then off to Matera for two nights, returning to Bari and home. Matera is an amazing place and definitely worth seeing.
I must say that we had dinner at Antichi Sapori--I cannot even believe how amazing this experience was. The fixed price menu was reasonable, the one waiter who spoke English came over to explain each dish and it went on and on. We also had a wonderful experience at Il Frantoio which is a masseria near Ostuni that has an 8 course meal, with vegetables grown on the farm. If we knew that the location was as close to town as it was, we would have stayed in their B&B although Casa d'autore was nice also, with a garden in the backyard and walkable to the town (rather than a short drive)
We really loved exploring this area of Italy. The Adriatic is beautiful and we loved the freshness of the food and the relaxed pace.
I would be happy to list the hotels and restaurants we stayed at if anyone is interested. Wonder what area we should explore next!!--(have been to Florence, Tuscany, Rome, Sicily,)

lancer11

Sounds wonderful. We head to Italy this week. We will be in Puglia for the end of our trip. We also have dinner reservations at ll Frantoio. Could you please let me know what they served? I'm a picky eater and can't have any cheese due to an allergy. It would be good to know if I can eat the food or not. If not, I'm sure my DH will eat my dinner no problem

sundriedtopepo

Thank you for this nice little trip summary.

bettyo70

Our friend in Milan highly recommended that we spend time in Puglia. We haven't made it down there yet, but it definitely sounds wonderful. Thanks!

jubilada

I'd be interested in more detail.

Lancer1, call ahead to Il Frantoio, they will, I am told , accommodate your needs.

We leave sept 13 for two and a half weeks in Puglia, then a few days in Rome.

drkathej, have you considered Les Marches?

Sassafrass

Thank you for posting.

AussieHubbyWife

Hello.. We are planning our own trip to the region next year.. We had planned to stay in Polignano a Mare and do day trips to Matera and Alberobello.. Given that you saw Polignano a Mare and a few other seaside locations, would you still have stayed in Ostuni?

drkathej

Hi Lancer 11--definitely agree that you can call ahead or even e mail them. Before we went there, they e mailed us a sample menu. It changes very frequently so they won't predict what you will have in a month or so. Given that, our menu consisted of fried bread pasta with tomato sauce, stuffed zucchini flowers, swiss chard with red lentil cream, artichokes in sweet wine with onions in orange honey, home made wheat ribbons with artichokes, meat loaf on potatoes, yellow and green zucchini with fresh almonds and then dessert. (My husband saved the menu)--so lots of fresh vegetables.
Hi AussieHubbyWife-- I would stay in Ostuni again and do the trips from there. It was in a convenient location to see Alberobello, and the other towns I mentioned including the zoo at Fasano. I didn't get enough of a sense of what it was like to stay at Polignare a Mare but it was a cute little town, with great water views ( Ostuni doesn't have the water) so I guess it depends if you want to stay at a beachy feel place and also if Ostuni is more convenient to get to all of the towns you want to see.

drkathej

PS: Jubilada--I will check out Les Marches. We are debating about whether we should check out Vienna Prague and Budapest next year and return to Italy the following year. In some ways, it seems hard for us to want to go somewhere else because we love the food and ambiance of Italy so much

Pudgy

any great restaurants to recommend for Ostuni? We will be there later this month.

jubilada

I have been advised to try Porta Nova, though have not yet been.

Centralparkgirl

Thanks so much for posting!

I would also be interested in any information relating to restaurants.

Leely2

Nice report. Just so you can search the right topics, it's Le Marche (no s). I was there in late June and it is an incredible area to visit with great food.

jubilada

My mistake( well iPhone mistake). We have been exploring some language schools, one is in Le Marche.

jangita

how far in advance did you reserve at Antichi Sapori?

Pudgy

we will be in Puglia for a week; only one night in Matera but would be grateful for all restaurant suggestions as we will see many of the same places you visited.

Pudgy

wow; the reviews of Antichi Sapori are glowing! How far is it from Matera? Do you know?

jubilada

An hour and a half or so.

drkathej

Restaurants:
In Trani we went to Corte in fiore--it was very nice, on a side street. They had an appetizer with 5 different fish that they choose and it was amazing. The pasta dish with squid and shell fish and baked tomatoes was great too.
Ostuni: Tempo Perso--we heard that this restaurant was good but the night we were there, the service was not attentive. I had a pasta dish that had tomato sauce with meat and my husband had pasta with broccoli. His was oily, mine was good but they made a mistake and brought the wrong dish to me at first so the timing was off. We then had sea bream that was baked--it was fresh, but nothing special. A bit disappointing.
Osteria Pizzetta Cattedrale (also Ostuni)--smaller restaurant and it was good. We shared a pasta dish, I had tuna and my husband had cod--good but salty.
Lecce: The restaurants we wanted were not available because one was closed on Sunday and Monday. The other was having construction. We ended up going to Il Torre de Merlino--we sat in the back of the restaurant and it was good--shared pasta and had fish. It looked like it specialized in pizza because that's what everyone else was having.
Vico del gusto(Lecce)--we shared pasta and I had a tuna dish that was good but overcooked.
Gallipoli--Il Puritate--overlooks the water. It was good. Seafood pasta and local fish. The next night was L'Angolo Blu which was also good, kind of casual.
Matera: Il Cantuccio the first night and Baccanti the second. We liked them both. Il Cantuccio was a small restaurant and Baccanti was a bit fancier.
We did make the reservations for Antichi Sapori weeks in advance. It was hard to get in touch with them and the hotel was able to do it for us. The sooner you know, the better.

jubilada

Thanks, I'll put Corti in footing on our list