I have 5 nights to stay in the Puglia area. I am considering staying at a wonderful country house about 30 minutes west of Trani. This will be a base for 3 nights so we can explore the outlying areas on the coast and a little bit south. I was then going to drive to Lecce for 1 night, then Taranto or another spot (maybe Minerva?-sounds interesting! )one night before driving back to Salerno. Or maybe we should just stay in Lecce both nights? We really hate doing one nighters, but short on time we want to pack in as much as we can. Our other thought is just staying put at the country house for 5 nights and using 2 of the days for the longer treks out (like Lecce). If we drive down the east side of the heel, it looks like we can drive up the west side through Taranto and back to the Amalfi Coast to Salerno fairly easy. This would be a different route than the way are arriving in Puglia from Salerno. I am not sure about the driving conditions. Any thoughts on this? I wish we had more time! Thanks for any input.

Sounds great no matter which way you decide to split your time! If you'll be there when it's open, you might consider eating dinner at La Grotta Palazzese - amazing!

http://www.grottapalazzese.it/it/home/

I checked that out and it does look awesome, but the restaurant is only open in the summer. That would have been one of my reasons for splurging on this hotel. Since it's not, I think I will spend my money elsewhere. There are too many reasonably priced nice places to stay and this hotel is fairly expensive. Now that I have decided on traveling to a part of Italy that is still reasonably priced, I want to take advantage! My last visit to Italy was to Rome, Florence, Venice, Tuscany and the upper coast. Talk about a difference in prices!!

Too bad you won't be there when the restaurant is open. I didn't splurge on the hotel either.

You do not say when you are travelling but I would suggest that you stay 2 nights in Lecce. I was not over impressed with Taranto but perhaps you could do a day trip from Lecce to taranto down to Galippoli and up the west coast stopping at Otranto which is truly delightful. Just north of Otranto you will find some of the very best beaches of Italy with cristalline water and the warmest of temperatures ( much warmer than Sardinia for example). The fish in the area is exceptional as well as the fruit and vegetables. Ask for the pasta alla crudaiola (in the summer) - truly exceptional. Also I have memories of buying morzarella and buratta directly from the producer in Maglie which was divine!

Thanks for the tip. We wll be there last week of March. Not sure I'll be swimming, but will definitely check out the beach.

Any recommendations for a nice hotel on the beach or within short walk of a beach in Puglia? I've found a few good hotels but they are in town and a good distance from beach.

Price range? Will you have a car? Will this be in high summer?