Our cruise ship will have a day in port in Taranto, Italy, in May. We are hiring a private driver/car. Some suggest Alberobello and others Sassi di Matera and if we don't have time for both we need help deciding which and if there's some other place to visit in conjunction with one or the other. We have 7 hours. Any personal experiences to share, since both sound really cool to us?

Alberobello is known for its trulli houses, which are interesting to look at but that's about it. The trulli houses on the main street in the town itself are mostly shops and were a disappointment to me. I was underwhelmed by Alberobello.

Matera, OTOH, very interesting in that it's mostly unchanged for centuries. It's easy to see why so many biblical films are made there. It's worthwhile to book a tour of the sassi which should take an hour and a half or so.

My choice would be Matera but if Alberobello is along the way you could probably stop there as well for a quick look around.

Google maps says it's an hour and 8 minutes drive from Taranto to Matera and 48 minutes Taranto to Alberobello.

Alberobello is not really on the way to Matera.
I agree with panecott Matera is the more interesting of the two. We were amazed at Matera, one of the more unusual places we have been.

Alberobello is delightful to look at the trulli but other than that, there's not much there. There are lovely towns around Alberobello, but nothing as unique and filled with a sad and interesting history as Matera. We took a walking tour there and spent the better part of a day.

Matera, hands down.

Alberobello is a town that is known for its collection of stone huts with conical roofs. It’s interesting to see, but it’s a short visit to a place that has been turned into a busy, touristy destination with lots of gift shops in a relatively small geographical area.











Matera, on the other hand, is a remarkable destination, a city with ancient roots, consisting of hundreds of cave dwellings built into two sides of a canyon. Stairs go in every direction, like walking through a 3-dimensional Escher drawing! Of course, a day will only scratch the surface, but it’s a remarkable place to visit. It was also the European Cultural capital in 2019. You’ll wish you had more time to explore, but it’s just remarkable.

I vote for Matera

1) Matera was the most poverty striken part of Italy in the '50s and has now become a tourist hot spot but with a degree of sympathy to its past
2) if you ask the driver nicely he will detour past a Trullo on the way. Since Trulli were originally really just a field shed where you could leave tools they are scattered all over this part of Puglia and to an extent Basilicata so it should not be too hard to do.