Puglia Itinerary - too many choices
 

After much reading (and salivating), our itinerary is taking shape, but I would love some input. Assume we will be visiting Puglia once. We have 13 nights and almost 14 days, flying into and out of Bari, and renting a car.

Plan A
The Gargano - 3 nights
Matera - 2 nights
Ostuni area - 4 nights
Lecce area - 4 nights

Plan B - substitute 3 nights staying at Luna di Lama near Andria instead of the Gargano.

We enjoy staying in countryside and driving around to see sites, scenery and especially to eat. For instance, we stayed in a villa between Pienza and Montepulciano and loved the charm of it and exploring nearby towns or driving around to a great lunch destination. We will probably stay in masserias if possible, except for Matera. But staying near Peschici looks great too….

Any advice from Puglia-pros greatly appreciated.

Puglia is a delightful place! :-)

If you are flying into Bari from NYC, then you might want to find a way to delay renting a car for a day or two: Although many people are unaware of the mounting evidence, driving with jet lag is just as dangerous to yourselves and others as driving drunk. It is easy to get from the airport in Bari to the train station, from which you can easily take the train to either Matera or Lecce (and probably some other places) and then rent a car after you've given yourselves a day or two to recover.

In Matera, I was delighted with my stay at the Locanda di San Martino, which still gets great reviews:
http://www.locandadisanmartino.it/?lang=en

Hope that helps!

Lots of masseria and agroturismi within an hour or so of Bari provide transfers too, for a fee.
I'm no expert but that's what we're doing in Sept.

We decided eventually to omit the gargagno.

kja - we'll be spending 4 nights in Rome before flying to Bari.

jubilada - just curious as to why you decided to skip the Gargano.

Glad to hear it! I'm sure you'll have a great trip.

Definitely not a pro but we did spend three weeks there two years ago. We spent a day exploring the gargano and weren't overly impressed with it. We did it as a day trip from Andria. We picked Andria as a place to stay to be able to eat at Antich Sapori.

If you are into food have you read ekscrunchy,'s TRs of Puglia? She has a couple.

That should be Antichi.

Yes. I did read it along with others. Hence the dilemma Andria vs the Gargano. :)

We love Puglia and just returned from our hire visit.

While we have spent most of our time near Ostuni, we loved staying two nights at Lama di luna. Will you be traveling in the summer months? Their pool area is so lovely and peaceful. It is a great spot for R&R and for eating at Antichi Sapori, which you shouldn't miss if you're in the area.

We also spent a night in Matera and found it quite fascinating. I would say thought that I would not recommend two nights. We arrived one afternoon, walked around and had a nice dinner, and then enjoyed a walking tour the next morning before checking out of our hotel and moving on. It gets very hot there in the summer. We loved our hotel and highly recommend--l'hotel in Pietra.

We especially love the area near Ostuni. The beaches are beautiful and the food is out of this world!

How nice that you have two weeks!
Happy planning!

Definitely don't miss eating at Antichi Sapori whatever you decide. We were inspired to check out the gargano from a NYTimes article I believe and looking back on my TR I felt more exploration would have been nice so I have to contradict my earlier post! http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/tr...nt&tntemail1=y

We thoroughly enjoyed our 3 nights in Puglia at Residence San Giorgo, a cave hotel, http://www.sangiorgio.matera.it. Aside from a tour with Nadia we explored the town enjoying the musuems and many small shops.

yes travel, I think you meant Matera in your last paragraph.

@Centralparkgirl
As you, we enjoy staying in the countryside and driving around. We will be staying 5 nights in Masseria Spetterrata in Montalbano di Fasano and 6 nights in Relais I Mulicchi in Specchia, both on a hilltop away from everything. In Matera I booked 2 nights at Antico Convicino in the heart of Sasso Caveoso. Il Castellino Relais in Vieste will be our last hotel for 3 nights.
We plan to have lunch at Antichi Sapori on our last day, on our way from Vieste to the airport in Bari.

Late last night when I should have been sleeping, it crystallized for me - Gargano is out and Andria area is in. It's all about the food and now we'll be able to explore the Trani area and coastline too.

MyriamC & jubilada - I hope you'll post a TR.

yestravel and dina4 - on the same page!

dina4 - considering l'hotel in Pietra and emailed them about the parking situation. We are beyond schlepping luggage hither and yon, and will not leave anything in the car. They said we could use the paid parking and they will transfer the luggage. Did you do this? If so, how did it work?

As far as walking around the Sasso, we survived Cinque Terre. Is it harder than that?

Yes, meant Matera, thanks, jubilada.

So when we arrived in Matera the most amazing thing happened. The hotel gave us directions to a place to park our car. We called them about 15 min before arrival as they said they'd have a porter waiting for us for our luggage. So there he was -- this tiny older gentleman who grabbed our huge suitcases as if they weighed two pounds each (mind you he wasn't rolling them but CARRYING them) and raced through the neighborhood as we tried to keep up with him. We are fit and in our mid 40s. He took us straight to the hotel. He was amazing. So I'm sure they would set that up for you as well...

dina4 - That story is beyond amazing. I guess if you live in the Sasso your whole life, you have great stamina :)

This is one choice that the hotel offered:

"reservation in the private garage Damasco, set in Recinto XX Settembre n° 12, next to Palazzo del Governo,the parking fee is € 15,00, per day."

Does this sound familiar?

Oh, Trani is delightful! I'm glad you'll be able to include it.

I found walking in Matera much easier than the Cinque Terre in terms of the amount of up and down involved, but depending on time of day, it can be shadeless in the sassi, and very very hot. Bring water!

The Locanda di San Martino in Matera, which I mentioned above, has parking.

The issue I had in Matera was that the stone streets are slippery. Even in hiking shoes we had a few slips (in rain it is absolutely treacherous).
While in Matera, if you can fit in a visit to Craco, we found it utterly fascinating.

I can easily imagine that rain would turn Matera's well-trodden stone steps into treacherously dangerous walkways! I hit a rainstorm halfway through one of the Cinque Terre trails, and seriously (very seriously) feared for me life.

Just want to say that I am enjoying this thread and all the great info.
Will be in Puglia next month, arriving Sept. 20
A week in Lecce in an apartment.
2 nights Matera--Corte San Pietro
1 night Trovigno, La Foresteria di San Leo. just west of Matera--highly recommended for the food!
4 nights Trani (hope to eat at Antichi Sapori from there)
1 night Bari before we fly to Lucca.

I'm wide open to comments so bring 'em on.

And thanks for the above info.

A place I have not seen, but would like to go and all your comments will be helpful.

I am thinking of Puglia for a trip next year, so want to bookmark this very helpful thread! Hope all of you with trips planned have a wonderful time!

Florida1, I hope to write a helpful trip report . I always enjoy hearing about your travels.

I am so looking forward to all the new Puglia reports that will be coming soon. They are incredibly helpful.

Slippery stone steps - reminds me of the Old City in Jerusalem - so well worn that they shine. Shiny stone steps = slippery = scary!

Here's where I am:

Depart NY 5/20

4 nights Rome
4 nights Ostuni area (maybe a trulli; not sure where)
4 nights Lecce (masseria; not sure where)
2 nights Matera - Corte San Pietro (thanks jangita) Nadia is available for a tour.
3 nights Andria - Lama di Luna
1 night near FCO

I welcome more suggestions, especially special experiences and food.

(Altamura for bread!)

Should be a great trip!

You're welcome, centralparkgirl.
I forgot to put Altamura for bread into my list ;)

Jangita - what else is on your list?

My husband and I have been to Italy a bunch (but never to Puglia) and my planning has gotten pretty low key. So, I don't have much of a list. We mostly like to wander around town, have coffee in a bar, do our grocery shopping and pretend we're a bit local. This is the plan for our week in Lecce, especially. But we will be getting a car half way through and I want to go to Gallipoli and Martina Franca, for sure.

I have Fred Plotkin's book but it really is getting old (written in the mid 90's) so I've just been surfing around looking for ideas and bookmarking. I look at Chowhound pretty regularly for restaurant ideas, too.

There's supposed to be some special bread in Matera, too. look at www.paneepace.it.

Just because my planning is low key doesn't mean we're not totally excited. We are!!

I was briefly in Puglia when I was twenty…..a very different experience. Looking forward to this trip and I hope you'll report back after your trip!

Enjoy Lucca - we loved renting bikes and riding a top the wall.

Centralparkgirl - Where are you staying in Ostuni? Thanks.

saulmax - we are staying in Masseria Cervarolo about 9 km sw of Ostuni which seems very centrally located to explore the area. And instead of Lecce, I'm considering a small town which also looks very centrally located for day trips in the heel called Maglie. I'm considering a B and B there called Corte Dei Granai, but they haven't responded to my inquiries yet. They have parking behind their building and the town itself sounds lovely. Maglie looks equidistant to a lot of the towns we would like to visit including Lecce.

CPG -

Thank very much.

We will stay in Lecce (5 nights) , Matera (2 nights) and Polignano a Mare (2 nights). Then we'll be in Rome for a while.

I am finally sitting down studying all the trip reports and making notes. We are leaving tomorrow. Please send me any restaurant list that you may have put together. That would help.

SM

@saulmax
Have a good trip. We are leaving Thursday. I have a restaurant reservation at Angelo Sabatelli in Monopoli, for our 40th anniversary.

Have a great time

I just came across this wonderful site which explains Puglian food specialties, as well as many other aspects of puglia in great detai.
Bridgepugliausa.it

MC - Thank you very much. We are an older couple who will be celebrating our anniversary in Rome. I am check your restaurant in Monopoli. Wishing you another 40!

Jubilada - On the BPSUSA website now. Thank you so much.

Jubilada - great site. Thanks for posting!

Safe travels, everyone. Please report back when you're home!