4bams

my husband and I are going on a cycling trip to puglia in october. we have 3 days before our cycling portion of the trip to spend getting a taste of other parts of puglia. i am struggling, and it all seems so confusing as to where to go! on the cycling portion we go to conversano, monopoli, alberello, locorotondo. so, with 3 days and a car, having to start and end in bari, where should be go in puglia? we love to eat, and the charming accommodations mentioned seem wonderful.... the weather will be so-so in mid october, so pools/beach not a priority. we don't like to sit around, and want to be in 1 or 2 areas we can base ourselves to keep busy wandering and discovering and sightseeing.
any suggestions for an itinerary for those 3 days, with hotel/meal suggestions much appreciated! there is certainly a puglia fan club out there i am anxious to join.
thanks!

A_Brit_In_Ischia

From Bari? One place to try, or perhaps even use as a base, is Trani...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/pugliagen

Peter

sssteve

You have only 3 days which isn't much in Puglia, but here is our web page on the 10 day trip we made there. Maybe it can help you in your planning.

http://www.travel.stv77.com/puglia/puglia.htm

ekscrunchy

One idea is to venture out of Puglia to Matera, in Basilicata, which is only about an hour or so drive from Bari airport.

If not, head for the Trani area as Peter advises.. In that area, given that food is a priority, I would recommend 2-3 nights at Lama di Luna, which puts you within easy reach not only of Trani but of Castel del Monte and a few superb restaurants in the MInervino/Montegrosso area...

Another option would be to spend the time in Lecce with possible day trips to the Salento peninsula, but that option will mean more driving than the first two..

ekscrunchy

Are you cycling with VBT?

4bams

we are cycling with southern visions. private cycling guide for 8 of us in the areas noted above. we have heard good things about the company, but will write a report on return.
thanks for the above info- how much more driving is involved if we do the lecce area vs the trani area? and what are the votes if we have 3 days to devote to one area vs the other? or does it really matter..
thanks again

ekscrunchy

Bari Palese airport to Lecce is just under two hours.

Bari airport to Trani is about 30 minutes

Bari airport to Matera will take about one hour



I would choose Matera or Lecce given that you have limited time.

4bams

do you mean that matera and lecce offer more for my limited time despite being further away? i will do a search for accommodation in these 2 areas, but if anything lovely comes to mind for anyone i am all ears.....
should i base myself in matera and/or lecce proper, or just somewhere nearby?

ekscrunchy

This depends on your interests, but since you are only about an hour from Matera, and Matera is one of the most interesting cities in Italy, in my opinion, there is no contest. If this were my trip and I had three days, arriving at Bari, I would drive from Bari airport directly to Matera and spend 2 nights there. Matera is only about an hour from the Bari airport on a very good road. There are many good hotels in Matera, like this one, where we stayed:

http://www.locandadisanmartino.it/


From there, you could then either drive to the Trani/Minervino/Andria area and spend one night before heading back to Bari to meet your group. Or drive to Lecce and spend the night there before heading back to Bari.



You can read these threads, including two of my own trip reports based on two recent visits to the area, and see if the decision becomes any easier. Also do a search for other trip reports on Puglia and on Matera.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-di-senise.cfm


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ern-puglia.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...any-nights.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-progress.cfm


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-revisited.cfm


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...and-puglia.cfm


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-a-toddler.cfm



http://www.travel.stv77.com/puglia/puglia.htm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...and-nights.cfm


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...of-nights-.cfm



http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-ny-times.cfm

4bams

ok thanks for all this! it has taken a while to read all these links, but it was very helpful.

so- looks like i will arrive in bari on friday morning. we will drive to matera, spend friday night and saturday night i matera, and after breakfast on sunday drive to lecce. on monday, most things seem closed (so for example the sculpture museum in matera could not be visited) seems like the best day for a longer drive, so we would drive from lecce back to bari on the monday, to start our tour in the afternoon.

does this sound like a plan? sund and monday don't sound like great days to be in the region, but i have no options.

where should i stay in lecce area?

jrjcolllins

I agree with ekscrunchy's suggestion to try to book Locanda di San Martino. We were there 6 weeks ago. It's a very unique "cave" hotel in the Sassi area of Matera. If you can book Room #14, it's the largest and wonderful. Because of the type of property that it is, all the rooms are different and some are very tiny. If you can't get #14, ask for one of the larger rooms. It's a real treat to stay there.

ekscrunchy

That plan sounds good, if a bit rushed in Lecce. Matera to Lecce will take about 2.5 hours driving according to Michelin.


Second option, to cut down on driving, would be to forget Lecce and spend the third night in Martina Franca, if you will not be covering that town on your bike tour.

I had room #8 at San Martino so if #14 is not available, you can ask for that. The main front desk person, Sonia, is very accommodating and fluent in English.

4bams

we are indeed going to martina franca on the bike tour, but good idea... maybe lecce is too far after all. 2 1/2 hours driving each way- have to add in idiot time (ie, getting lost time) so that means 3 1/2 hours! i hate to miss a "must see" thought. perhaps the idea above of matera and trani is a better one- will i regret it? is it a compromise? not really sure what there is in trani, and lecce seems to offer more, but again the books etc are a bit confusing.

ekscrunchy

No. Not compromising. You just might return to Puglia and then you can see Lecce and the far south. This time, you would do quite a bit of driving for only a short stay in Lecce.


Think about staying either in Trani itself, or at a rural hotel such as Lama di Luna. See what appeals to you more. I liked Lama di Luna because of its proximity to the two really great eating places I mentioned in my report. But you could visit one of those for meals even if you stayed in Trani. Staying in Trani overnight gives you the opportunity to take part in the passegiata and stroll the port in the evening.... Lama di Luna, or another rural inn, will be another experience entirely.

http://www.lamadiluna.com/


Perhaps post the rest of the trip--where you will be staying on the bike portion....then we can get a better idea of how to plan the independent days/night...do you already have an overnight in a seaport town? At a rural hotel?

4bams

below is the bike portion of the trip. we will arrive in puglia either on the friday or the saturday, to start our biking on the tues. afternoon. we start biking in monopoli, but will likely have to return our car in bari, the airport i think we will be flying in to (haven't booked that flight yet, but we will fly home from bari, so makes sense to arrive there rather than brindisi and have to pay extra for drop off of car.

the issue is where to spend a monday- what is open and more importantly what can we eat???


our cycling tour is:

tues

monopoli-egnazia loop (hotel tenuta chanchizza


wed; monopoli to conversano (see polignano a mare, san vita)
overnight in conversano at hotel corte altavella

thurs. conversano to alberobella, overnight at trulli a puglia

friday alberobello to locorotondo to martina franca loop (hotel same as prev.)

sat am depart home

as well as cycling, we have a couple walking tours, a cooking lesson and a few other fun things.

thanks again for all your help!

ekscrunchy- i am used to seeing your name on the asia board, where i have spent some time hanging out in the past. you have varied travel interests!

ekscrunchy

One of the best restaurants in Puglia, Antichi Sapori, is open on Mondays. Castel del Monte, within a half hour drive, is also open Mondays (and every other day). So you could follow in my footsteps, as I was in the area on a Monday, too. That would mean the overnight in Trani or in a country hotel nearby.


http://www.casteldelmonte.benicultur.../93/the-castle


How does that sound? You already have a 2-night stay in the trulli zone, so that might make a good contrast.

ekscrunchy

Also, I am not sure there is any drop-off charge for renting in Bari and dropping in Brindisi, or vice versa. Would that make Lecce more of a possibility? Could you go there AFTER your bike trip, and fly home from BDS?

kja

While I defer to ekscrunchy on all matters gustatory, I must admit that I found one day and one night enough for Matera (which I found absolutely fascinating and well worth visiting).

My time in the area included Matera (1 night), Trani (1 night, with a stop in Alberobello on the way to...) Lecce (1 night, with a stop for dinner in Polignano a Mare before ending up in ...) Bari (just to sleep, as I had an early morning flight). I was able to make this trip with trains only.

It's a fascinating area - enjoy!

ekscrunchy

KJA, thank you! I agree about Matera. And I just wrote a very long post that inexplicably got deleted. Major frustration! And so I offer these thoughts in brief right now...


While two nights in Matera might be best, in my opinion, the main "sight" in Matera is the city itself, so while 4bams might not get an in-depth look, he or she could certainly have the experience of Matera with a one night visit, with arrival in early afternoon and departure in late morning.

This, then, would open up the possibility of either spending two nights in the Trani area (might be best, depending on the time of arrival of the flight from Bari), or one night in Trani and one in Lecce, in addition to Matera.

Best of all would be to depart from Brindisi and visit Lecce AFTER the bike tour. (I have never paid a drop-off fee for car rental in Italy, and I doubt if there is much price difference in flying home from BDS as opposed to Bari.)



If the 4bams must fly home from Bari, yet another option requiring less driving time might be to spend 1 night in or near Trani, 1 night Matera, and 1 night in Cisternino. I say this after having read, and been captivated, by Franco's account of the fornelli, or butcher-resturants in that beautiful town. Combine that with the town itself..one of the prettiest in the region. Passegiata in the evening, etc. Close enough to the coast to allow lunch at one of the rustic places near Torre Canne famous for sea urchin.... Closer to Matera than Lecce and better positioned for the departure from Bari. This is but one option of so many..I am just throwing it into the mix here..


What is the arrival time at Bari? Early enough to have something of that first day, or just enough time to get to the hotel and rest before heading out to dinner?

4bams

wow- this is getting interesting.. we arrive in bari at 10:30 am (it is not booked yet but seems best) we really have to do the independent part of the trip first, so we can get back to work. cisternino sounds interesting and i will look into this.
also interesting is the idea of not having a car at all but using the train only- the driving does sound challenging......
we are actually starting our tour in monopoli, but get picked up in bari to transfer over to monopoli, so thought we could drop off the rental car while awaiting our transfer to monopoli. if we only do trains, it may help this. is it possible to get around to dinners etc by taxi if we do the all train option?