puglia in september
 

Hi, we are staying at the Villa Diana in Merine near Lecce from 31st August, grateful for any tips and advice on how to fully enjoy the region

Wonderful area in a great season! Beaches still great for swimming but many of the families will have gone home by the 31st of August!

If you use the search function for both Puglia and Apullia, you will find a couple of good trip reports with lots of information.

My personal faves (please forgive any spelling errors!)Albuerobello (the town of trullis), Ostuni (the white city), Cisternino.

Have fun.

and do not miss also Gallipoli, Otranto and Santa Maria di Leuca; yes, you chose a very wonderful period.


Vincenzo

The period is just perfect...you won't have problems of noice, chaos or too many people.

Alberobello is lovely, but if you are looking for a less tourist but real, cosy "pugliese" atmosphere, Cisternino is the best place to go. Visit both of them and you won't be disappointed!

Lecce's gonna be to hot to be visited during the day, so I'd suggest to go there in the evening...as you might also be so lucky to be there for the "notte della taranta": a magic night with folkloristic music and dance, for a dive into the past!

You will find incredible, crystalline sea water wherever you'll go...have fun!

Thank you all for your suggestions, we are staying 10 nights in a villa at Merine near Lecce so seeing it in the evening will not present any problems, i have highlighted on our map the places people have advised us to visit, it looks like a busy 10 days!! cheers ,John and Trish

Hi
I spent some time near Ostuni last October and visited Lecce for a couple of days. The Olive harvest was going on and I enjoyed that tremendously. I had some of the very best meals in all of my Italy travels there.

The Trulli section of Alberobello is very (very) organized for tourists, so one should expect that when entering the town. There are other Trulli neighborhoods but one section which is more for visitors. I enjoyed seeing the Trulli scattered around the countryside.

I don't know if you will catch the Pizzica Festival in Lecce, but the traditional dance is call "Pizzica", different than the "Tarantella" which comes from the Naples region. You can find examples of it easily on You tube. The music of the Pizzica is just mesmerizing, and I came home with several CDs of it and a DVD documentary of the tradition.

There is a religious festival in Otranto where there is a procession carrying the Virgin Mary to the sea.

I also agree with Vincenzo that Gallipoli is not a town to miss!
Enjoy your travels!

Sorry, I forgot to say that the Otranto procession is in early September and the Pizzica festival (I think) is in July.


And the pizzica fest does have a "Notte di Taranta" (Night of the Spider) named for the dance's legendary connection with a spider's bite, but the dance is Pizzica!
The festival is in August and the biggest event I think is in Melpignano.
This is one video of people celebrating in the street but the parties go on late at night.

http://tinyurl.com/5tyufq