Kiddo

We are planning a 3 week trip at the end of August - 4 nights London; 4 nights Rome; train/ferry to Positano where we've rented a villa for 1 week. Once we leave Positano we plan to rent a car and drive to Matera and spend 2 nights and then we have 5 nights before we return to Rome for our flight home. Looking for recommendations on how to divide up those 5 nights - whether 3 nights Lecce and then 2 somewhere else or???? What towns would make a good base and any bandb or hotel recommendations? Also we haven't booked our accommodation in Matera - our budget is modest - $100-$150 CDN.

Your ideas would be most welcome.

Many thanks.

sandralist

Personally I would spend all the time in Basilicata. It's an extraordinary part of Italy which has quite unusual sights, both scenic and historic towns, plus beaches of its own (which will be packed at the end of August -- but that is true anywhere you go on the seacoast in southern Italy in August).

If it would interest you to stay in Basilicata, do some simple Google searches such as "visit Basilicata" " or "fascinating beautiful Basilicata" and see what you come up with.

Despite your modest budget air conditioning in southern Italy in August is recommended, and many would consider it a must.

RonZ

If perchance you are accessing Positano from Naples, you could fly there from London, stay in Rome last. Maybe stay in Naples for a couple of nights, maybe head there directly, maybe by private transfer. If it's Salerno to Positano, that's 2.5 to 3 hours on the train from Rome, 40 minutes from Naples. Hotels on booking.com.

kja

I loved Lecce and think it would make sense to give serious thought to giving it at least 2, if not 3, nights. As for other locations in Puglia, I think it really depends on your interests. I enjoyed Trani and Polignano a Mare, regret that I didn't have time for Bari, and look forward to a chance to see parts of Puglia further into the base of the "heel" than I had in my very brief time in the area.

I can't recommend a specific place in Matera within your budget, but encourage you to seek one of its cave hotels if at possible, even if that means stretching a bit into "splurge" range. JMO, of course!

Enjoy!

Kiddo

Thanks very much Sandralist -- Sounds like I need to do more research on Basilicata. Lecce looks very interesting and we could use it as a base to explore the heel. I had been thinking of 3 nights there. Good reminder about air conditioning.

Thanks for your suggestions Ron, but our flights and accommodations are finalized for the earlier part of our trip -- I was really asking about post-Positano.

sundriedtopepo

Kiddo, there is so much to see that you will have to be selective for 5 days' stay.
Lecce is a lovely town, we loved it. But there is much more to see. There are quite a few good trip reports on Fodors, just type Puglia into the search line above.
Here are a couple of good planning thread you might find useful

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-need-help.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...teranaples.cfm

sundriedtopepo

Puglia is unlike any other area we have visited in Italy, aside from Sicily. Of course Matera is in Basilicata, but apart from the enticing tourism website, and Maratea, we found Puglia to be much more interesting.
We stayed in Polignano, a gorgeous small town with a lively population, and Martina Franca, which we didn't like as much, and also Lecce, which is farther south of course. Lecce has a really nice historical center, but you must park outside of it.

Many trip reports here of masserias that people have loved, and I would add that although Ostuni is often touted as a good place to stay, we did not enjoy it much.
Loved Locorotondo, hated Alberobello.

Just a bit of feedback from our trips.

Here's another good trip report

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...live-trees.cfm

kja

Were we posting at the same time, Kiddo?

Francewithfive

Sundriedtopepo, we LOVED Ostuni! Funny how some places click for some and not tohers - the beauty of traveling.
I agree with Alberobello being a bit disappointing. It's very touristy, but I think it is worth a visit in the evening to see the trulli. It is pretty stunning as the sun is setting.
Martina is nice for an hour or two walk to explore the old part of town.
We rented a trulli house just outside of Ceglie that had been totally updated and stayed there for a week. Lecce is an easy drive from there so really no need to stay in two places.
Often accomodation is more affordable if you book for a longer period. You didn't mention how many people you are traveling with. Having a kitchen also saves money since you can shop at the markets and cook at home (which is always a fun adventure!)
I would suggest finding something for all five nights on Air BnB or Home Away and establish a great home base. Check Trip Advisor for rentals as well. Then venture out for day trips from there.
Don't miss out on some great beach time while you are there. We visited Lido Stella, a beach club about 45 minutes from Ceglie. It is not expensive and offered covered parking (kept the car cool), great food, drinks, and clean facilities.
Also go olive oil tasting. Masseria Brancati was our favourite. Some of the treas are over 2,000 years old! You must book ahead.
We also visited Positano right before Puglia and the two places gave us very different Italian experiences which we loved.

isabel

We did two in Lecce and four in Polignano and loved it

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ast-puglia.cfm

My trip resort has details and hotel names

bilboburgler

Basilicata and Puglia are both lovely and the people are great to rub up against. In August you will need aircon, though you may find a thickwalled (slightly underground) building like a Masseria perfectly cool.

Basilicata has a very large and wonderful national park, with good walking and climbing. As well as Matera and the Greek ruins down on the coast there is also Potenza to enjoy. Everything seems to be up in cliffs, narrow valleys etc.

Puglia obviously shares some of those geographical features up against Basilicata but then blends down to a plateau (the Murge) and finally down to the Lecce Plain. The cities on the Murge tend towards the place where everyone went to hide from the Saracens, so places like Gravina have lovely hiding churches cut into cliff sides. Main of the "cities" going south have lovely centres but rubbish modern exteriors, don't dispair, dig in and enjoy buildings from the 1200c forward.

I would try and stay in a Masseria (with a pool) for a couple of nights and in Lecce for at least 3 nights. They both offer very different environments, one is laid back with just the cicadas and the other very laid back with the hustle and bustle of southern Italy. ( ).

We stayed at Masseria Provenzani, great place and food with easy access to Brindisi and Lecce by car and there is also a summer bus into Brindisi. In Lecce we stayed in a B&B but in August... you may want a pool.

Dates, you mention August but there will be reduction in Italian demand after about the 15th August, when some businesses give up and finally go back to work

yorkshire

What town would make a good base for what? Have you identified the places you want to visit? We loved Lecce for its beauty and vibrant atmosphere in the evenings and found it a perfect base for exploring the Salento coast (Adriatic one day and Ionian the other).
To visit the Itria Valley, I would stay somewhere closer--so your 3-2 split looks good for that. I rented an apartment in Monopoli from http://www.helloapulia.com/ but I think it may be available from other sources as well.
For Lecce, I give the highest recommendation possible for www.roofbaroccosuite.it.
Ditto for this hotel in Matera: http://www.torrettasassi.it/
Both are absolute bargains for what you get. (thank you to the fodorites who recommended these to me, as I will be returning to both this spring!)
I was enamored with Basilicata, but ultimately, knowing I don't like mountain driving, I decided to return to Puglia.

Kiddo

Thank you all for your replies. I think I need to go back and do some more research. Our holiday begins in London in the latter part of August and so by the time we get to Puglia it will be almost mid-September. It is just my husband and I who will be visiting Puglia but the week prior to that will be spent in Positano with our 2 daughters and their SO.

I'm leaning towards staying in the country at a Masseria or similar and it would be great if I could find one in our budget that also had a restaurant on premises. My reasoning is that after London, Rome and Positano it might be nice to spend the last few nights in a quieter location, although DH likes to stay in towns where we can walk to restaurants and enjoy a glass of wine or two and not have to worry about driving.
.

raincitygirl

We spent five nights in Lecce at a great place called B&BFiveRooms. www.fiverooms.it/en/

Just looked at their site and the price for a double room in September is 85.00 euro a night which is about 123.00Canadian.

Breakfast and parking was included, it was easy to find with the Garmin and was an easy 10 minute walk into the centre of Lecce. It was easy to leave from for our many day trips as well.

A great breakfast is included and the staff were super nice. The property has quite a big garden and our room had a table right outside so we could sit there and relax; it was nice and quiet.

yorkshire

That's the toss-up--stay at a masseria or stay in town and walk after enjoying wine. I'll leave that up to you two, lol! But there are many masseria mentioned in trip reports here. You could also do both. Most of these towns are very quiet and will be in September, so it will be a respite from Positano regardless. enjoy!

jamikins

We spent a week at this masseria just outside of Mesagne (pronounced like lasange) http://www.masseriabaroninuovi.it/masseria/salento/

They have a restaurant so you can eat onsite and dont have to worry about drinking and driving. There is also a great pizza restaurant a few minutes drive and nice restaurants in Mesagne.

You can read about our trip and see our photos in this report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-do-italy.cfm

Puglia is halfway through the trip so you can scroll down.

Happy planning!

jamikins

And here is the link to our photos

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...57635047994978

sundriedtopepo

Raincitygirl that bnb in Lecce looks very nice. We stayed at a beautiful bnb right in the historical centre but it was a little noisy from people walking by at all hours and the sound echoes between the buildings. Loved Lecce though.

raincitygirl

Sundriedtopepo, it was very nice indeed and I would like to go back someday. It ticked all the boxes for us as we could easily walk into the centre but have peace and quiet once back at the B&B as it sits on quite a large property.
We loved Lecce too, well the whole area really. Also had some nights at a gorgeous masseria near Ostuni that I still dream about.