mikster

Hello Fodorites....we are already thinking about our next Italy trip hopefully next June. Anyone have any thoughts on whether or not we can stay in one location centrally located and still do some nice beach plus Ostuni and Lecce and whatever else we should so, do and eat! We would like to stay in a nice masseria and we love food and wine and just wandering. Is around 8 days a decent amount of time and would you break it up into more than one location?

Thanks so much.

Flame123

Puglia is a long and thin regional area of Italy. I doubt one can choose only one location and be centrally located. We spent 10 days in Puglia some years ago, you can click on my screen name to pull up my trip report, and we spent 3 nights each in Trani at the northern area of the region, Conversano in a lovely masseria for the middle portion, and Lecce for the southern portion.

yorkshire

The Lecce area is the perfect base for the Salento.
For Ostuni and the Itria valley, I recommend a different base--I chose Monopoli (to be by the sea and to be near Bari airport). However, check the drive times to see if they are okay with you. You can certainly conceivably have one base, but it depends on exactly what you want to do and how much driving you like to do per day.
Or course where you fly in and out of, and at what time, will also make a difference.
We are usually about ready to head home after our yearly 10-day trips, but at the end of our Puglia visit, my husband and I looked at each other and were thinking the same thing: we could have stayed 10 more days!
With a year to plan, just keep reading until the perfect trip for you takes shape, but I do recommend booking accommodations as soon as you find one you want.

sandralist

Personally I found Basilicata much more beautiful, varied, fascinating and with more delicious food and wine than Puglia. You might give it some consideration since your trip is only in the planning stages and at a distant date.

yorkshire

sandra, having read your opinion before, I really understood what you mean, especially when driving through some parts of the Salento (The next Tuscany, my arse!), but the people of Puglia and the glimmers of pure beauty won us over. I am especially curious about the northern section of Puglia that I barely ventured into.
I am also eager to return to Basilicata to explore further, but I am glad we cut our teeth on the easy, flat drives of Puglia.

sandralist

The road system in Basilicata is really quite good, and actually in better shape than what I experienced in much of Puglia. So I don't think most first travelers to the "ankle" of Italy would find it easier to go to Puglia. I am not trying to dish Puglia here, but want to point out that Basilicata has a concentration of unsusal sights and beauty and deserves some consideration for travelers looking to combine history with some beach time and beautiful mountain hikes and good food, plus great people too. Also, I would never breathe a bad word about the Pugliesi, who knock themselves out for visitors. The people of Basilicata are also very hospitable.

Just suggesting some research since there is so much time to plan.

http://www.italythisway.com/regions/basilicata.php

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/travel...cle4324349.ece

http://www.theculturalvoyager.com/ba...pt-secret.html

http://www.discoverbasilicata.com

http://www.travelviaitaly.com/region...in-basilicata/

sandralist

2 more

http://www.enotriamia.com/video-of-basilicata/

http://bradajohnson.net/2014/05/04/t...-to-stay-more/

julieah

We stayed 5 nights in Pulignano a Mare at the Malu B & B.
We did day trips and it was a great location, nice B & B with very friendly owners.

kja

Personally, I don't think that Puglia is well suited to a single base. Depending on what you want to see and do, and your tolerance for time spent in travel for your day trips, you might want two or even three bases. Lecce is, I think, one place worth considering as one of those bases.

Enjoy!

mikster

Thanks so much. I don't mind doing two or three bases...would prefer two but will do what makes sense given 8 - 10 days....may I ask your opinion of where we should fly into from Rome? Bari, Ostuni, Lecce???

yorkshire

Well, start by knowing that there are two airports--Bari and Brindisi. Into one and out the other would be nice, but these are not great distances.

raincitygirl

We flew from Rome into Brindisi airport. It was a nice smallish airport, very clean and organized and we had no trouble with getting our car rental quickly. I think the drive to Lecce was about 40 minutes.

We had four nights in Lecce and five nights at a masseria near Ostuni in the Valle d'Itria.
Can highly recommend the Five Rooms B&B in Lecce; lovely modern decor, good breakfast, free parking, easy 10-15 minute walk into the historical centre, and easy drive out of the city for day tripping.

The masseria was called Masseria Cervarola and it was wonderful. They have a beautiful pool with snack and drink service…I want to go back to spend more time relaxing there! We sometimes ate dinner there and the food was really good, good breakfast as well. They offered free wine tasting and cooking demonstrations as well and were very helpful with directions and sight seeing advice.
There were many interesting towns to see in the area and we did a day trip to Matera as well.

I would stick to two locations with the time you have.

kja

If you have any interest in seeing Matera while in this part of Italy, then I think it would make sense to plan on 2 nights there. If you are limiting your travels to Puglia, 2 bases should be sufficient.

scrb11

Saw an ad for Gargagno, the so-called sperone or spur of the heel of Italy.

It mostly showed white cliffs over bluegreen water.

But it seems other parts of Puglia are better-known.

mikster

Given that we want to see beach as well would you suggest that we fly in and out of the two different airports?. It sounds like they are not that far away though.