Hello

I am planning a 2 week trip to Puglia with my husband and my 10 year old son for the last 2 weeks in June. I fly to Bari and plan to stay in Polignano a Mare for a few days (3 nights) and use this as a base for seeing the caves and a few of the villages around the area. I was then planning to travel to Otranto and stay there as our next base and then travel on to Leuca and then Torre dell'Orso and then fly back from Bari (as it is the only airport that flies direct to Dublin).

I have 3 questions:

1. We are not interested in the big cities,we are more interested in the quieter tranquil villages with some atmosphere - so not sleepy villages! and therefore I was going to give Brindisi and Ostuni a miss. I've read mixed reviews in this context about Gallipoli - is it worth staying overnight or is a just a day visit sufficient? Is there any other locations that we should take in?

3. I was planning on renting a car and I note all the comments on posts re parking and rental companies - but is it possible to do this trip by rail? - the train lines seem very good. Or at least part of the journey by train. Is it possible to do this trip Bari to Leuca and back by train? It's difficult to research this on line.

We want to have 3 or 4 days at the end to relax in a nice seaside village in a place with a pool for my son (but not essential) - is there any recommended locations near out flying out points - I have thought Torre dell'Orso might be a good choice?

Many thanks in advance and any other advice is most welcome!

Lisa

Yes you can do a lot by train and "Pullman" (posh coach). Play around with rome2rio to get an idea of timetables but click through to check the actual figures which might vary by month/day.

Not going to Lecce?

You might find a Masseria is a nice place to stay, they often have a pool, food prepared on site and often in lovely areas.

Thank you so much Bilboburgler!!

Some ideas Bilbo's wedding in Puglia, what could go wrong?

Lecce is not to be missed. It was the highlight of our roadtrip in Puglia. No, in fact Matera was the highlight, but that's in Basilicata.
Don't know about public transportation in Puglia. We always rent a car and didn't stay in cities in Puglia. We prefered staying in masserie in the countryside.
I think your itinerary isn't very practical. There isn't very much to see in (Santa Maria di) Leuca. I would choose Gallipoli instead and skip either Otranto or Torre dell' Orso since both are so close to each other.
You can do a nice loop without backtracking. For instance: Bari -> Polignano a Mare -> Torre dell' Orso or Otranto -> Gallipoli -> Taranto -> Bari. Leuca and Lecce are easy daytrips from Otranto/Torre dell'Orso (by car, of course).

Just to give you a flavour there are three buses a day from Otranto to St Maria di Leuca. The schedule is here 105-sito.pdf and you'll pay about E4 each way. Being a bus it may not be a coach (in italian autobus and pullman) so not so fancy but given where it is it will be fine. (no chickens )

The train system is a bit weird as the more south you go the company changes and the tatty little train company in the south is well.... a bit pugliese!

Despite the fact that many Italians come here for summer holidays there are seldom many non Italians here, it has its own culture which reaches a height in food and wine, but customer service... well try not to be too north-european. Things will go wrong but they often turn out fine.

While it is possible to visit the area by public transportation it is easier by private car. Trains are great if mostly visiting cities but that's not what you are doing in Puglia - especially is you skip Bari and Brindisi. The rest is either small or mid size towns where driving is not a problem. There are many parts of Italy that I go to that I never have a car but I am glad that we did have one in Puglia.+

Here's my trip report (scroll down past the Amalfi Coast part to get to Puglia) - July in The Mezzogiorno – 3 weeks in Southern Italy: Amalfi Coast & Puglia

Photos - Zenfolio | Isabel's_View | Puglia

Isabel, thanks for your very helpful trip report in 2014. We will be in Puglia in October.

I've toured Puglia on bicycles, in cars and on buses. My SIL has done a fair bit in trains. For me it would depend where you stayed, certainly some places are difficult to get to without bicycle or car. I've also seen some frightening driving and some towns are very very small with lots of scrapes on walls from large cars trying to get by.

If I could I'd use the public transport and just book a car for special trips.

Thank you all for the extremely helpful information -

Isabel - what a detailed report you have written! I have read it all...Thank you so much - some amazing invaluable travel information there. It seems driving is not too troublesome so we might just bite the bullet and rent a car especially if we want to get to a Masseria
MyriamC - thanks to you I have now redone my itinerary to stay in 3 places only and am attempting a loop as suggested. Bari Airport- Polignano a Mare - somewhere further south - and somewhere around the Taranto area/Maybe Matera or anywhere that side of the heal that is picturesque (any suggestions?) and back to Bari Airport
bilboburgler - your storytelling is very entertaining and again lots of great information contained in your reports. Staying at a Masseria is a great idea and I had not really considered them before. I plan to take one in now as I redo the itinerary. Throughout your research did you come across the Masseria La Gresca? Near Castro Marina (anyone know anything about this place?)? I am looking for a Masseria along the Otranto area before crossing over the Gallipoli area or further north up along the coast to Taranto - perhaps there is a Masseria on this side of the heal that is good. (need to figure out for another 4 to 5 nights).

Thank you again all!

Lisa

Torre del Orso has a dreamy beach but I did not overnight there so do not know the hotels, although there is at least one fronting the beach.

I stayed a few nights at Masseria Don Cirillo on the west coast of the peninsula, near Ugento, and would recommend. Also, I loved Sta Maria al Bagno, not far from Gallipoli and would stay there rather than in Gallipoli, which is a little too big, I think, for you.
That entire coast has some tremendous beauty, although not sure about city of Taranto, since I only drove through, due to lack of time back then....
https://www.masseriadoncirilloresort.it

Matera. No doubt about that! And stay in the sassi, in a cave house. It's so very special.
No worries about parking. You can park outside the sassi in public parkings and if you have a lot of luggage, there's always someone who will carry it for you up and down the (many) stairs for a small fee.
Here's my trip report: Puglia and a bit of Basilicata, September 2016 | Any Port in a Storm

My time in the area was short, solo, and city-oriented, so my comments might not be that helpful, but FWIW:

I'm glad I used public transportation in the area. It provided a delightful opportunity to see how locals interact with each other -- how parents, and other adults, treat children; how people of all ages treat the elderly; how men and women of various ages interact with each other in public.... At least when I was there, it was hard to see that elsewhere.

Another vote for Matera and for staying in a sassi!

Your son might be interested in the trulli of Alberobello. And Trani has a beautiful little harbor and fascinating cathedral.

Masseria La Gresca I don't know it, but it looks very swish. It looks like there is a focus on Americans as they refer in the English to "Apulia" which is the American term for Puglia. By going down to the tip of the heel you are going where my mate in Bari thinks is the best beach areas as the three seas meet there and the water is especially clean.

If you want to know how many Masseria there are go to google maps focus on the area and add Masseria to the search engine, the place lights up with red dots.

Staying near Taranto. The ancient city itself is almost like a step back in time, it was a Spartan colony until they came up against the Romans and you can believe everything you ever heard about the Spartans walking through some of the slums picturesque parts of town. But actually the people are fine, they have one problem they also house the most polluting site in Europe in a steel mill. This means you can eat the fish (because they fish way out) but I'd not swim in Taranto's sea (the piccolo or the main one). The new city is very modern and actually quiet pleasant if you like the open air shopping mall sort of a place. Probably best for a day visit.

Trani, well worth a half day.

Wines, just in case it interests, are fantastic, the Negroamaro, the Primitivo and the Aglianico are astounding you will also find the cheap-as-chips house wines are good. For once Italy has a drinkable white in Chardonnay from Gioia which is also where the best balls of "Buffalo" (normally cow's milk mixed with buffalo milk as the herds are too small to be pure) cheese come from. Burrata is one of its names but there are a whole range of these cheeses with different levels of almost liquid centres to almost stringy textures outers, a whole new dining experience.

I am also planning on going to puglia in October poligano a mare than head to matera, is food exspensive in puglia?

No, food is not expensive in Puglia. Wine (excellent wines, FYI) isn't expensive either!

Fascinating! I'm American, and always wondered who calls the area Apulia.

I don't really speak Italian other than a few phrases will I have a problem traveling around, m trying to learn conversational Italian beforehand?

No you won’t. It’s a good thing to learn a little travel language but those in the tourist industry usually know a little English. We have used google translate to have a conversation when we needed technical help with our SIM card for example, and that worked very well. So, as a backup plan, google translate works.

We wrote a trip report about a week in Puglia in October 2016. 7 days/6 nights in Puglia

We endorse all the suggestions about Lecce. We also highly recommend Matera which was not part of the report because it is in Basilicata not Puglia. But we spent a few nights there and it was one of our favorite places in Italy. They film so many biblical era films there because so much of it needs no changes to look 2,000 years old. Awesome! Back in Puglia, we found driving easy and cannot imagine enjoying it without our car. We also recommend staying a trullo, the unque stone houses all over northern Puglia. Puglia is slowly being discovered, so go now. Enjoy!