If you've been to this area, I would love to hear a first hand account - what the towns were like, where you stayed, the landscape, etc. Thanks!

topping you , cause this is an interesting question! <BR>Would love to know also. <BR>Do you have ancestors from there? <BR>What sparked your interest in this area?

Lina - <BR> <BR>I was in Apuglia a few years ago. It was off season (end September) and there were no other English speaking people there. I stayed at a fabulous hotel in Savelletri and loved the whole area - Lecce, Alberobello, Martina Franca. We then drove around the Gargano Peninsula and stayed in Vieste, at the tip of the Peninsula. Again, it was off season, and although we were scheduled to stay for more than one night, we only stayed for one night because, once we had seen Vieste, there wasn't much else to do. <BR> <BR>I loved driving the Peninsula - the road runs high along the water, there were few other people, and I could really enjoy shifting up and down those hills. There are the Tremiti Islands off the Gargano that might have been interesting, but we didn't get there... <BR> <BR>Let me know if there is anything else you would like to know... <BR> <BR>Dona

If you go to the www.delphi.com forum called "Italian culture" there a good trip report by someone with the screen name of "whidden39" about a trip to the Puglia region. You could ask this person questions if you don't get enough responses here. I've never been there, but it sounds like the type of place I'd really love.

Thanks for your interest and replies. I'm interested in the Gargano because we have traveled alot in Italy and seem to be enjoying getting farther and farther away from the main centers so I am always investigating possibilities. One problem is that we don't want to drive, but we enjoy traveling on trains and buses and not necessarily covering alot of ground, so it is important to pick well.

I forgot to tell you that the interesting comment in the Delphi Italian culture forum about a trip to Puglia is in a thread called "most-underrated places" or something like that (in the folder "General"). I'm like you in that I LOVE places off the beaten track, but I don't want to drive on my vacations--especially on narrow, winding, part-dirt roads in the mountains, up to tiny towns built on top of a hill or into the side of a cliff. (But those are my favorite places!) so I'm really interested in any good info you may find.

Our visit to Vieste in April of 2000 was one of the higlights of our trip. We drove and the sheer beauty of the journey there would have been worth it anyway (SP53 was the road #). The town has charm, particularly walks along the coast line. We didn't make the trip to Tremiti Is. but my teenage daughter went with her class from an Italian college and pronounced it intriguing and beautiful. Also check out adjacent Abruzzo area (Ortona and Lanciano and Vasto) if you are an off-the-beaten- track traveller. Further south, also in Apulia (Puglia) look for Ostuni,the white city, an absolutely stunning break from the "typical" Italy.Have a great trip, Lina.