Andrealovestotravel

Hi everyone,

As a new member to this forum, I would really appreciate any help you can offer.

Our family of four travelled to Italy in the summer of 2008, visiting Rome, Florence, Tuscany and Venice. We fell in love with all that we saw, and this summer we are heading back to Italy and moving south.

We are travelling to Italy for 19 nights this July. We are spending the first 7 nights in the Amalfi Coast region, the last 5 nights in Rome (5 nights was not enough on our last vacation), but we need help with the 7 nights in between where we will be travelling to the Puglia region. Our children are 13 and 10 year old boys, and we were hoping to get relaxation and wonderful sightseeing during this time in Puglia.

We are not sure of which areas of Puglia are best to stay in or to base ourselves. We will have a car for touring, but we also want to have the hotel in or within walking distance of a safe, lively city or town that is good for walking, day or evening, dinner and nightlife, and be on or close to a beautiful beach that the area is know for. As well, if you can recommend 4 or 5 star hotels in the region, that would help us greatly.

Thank you very much for all of your help.

Andrea

nochblad

This is one of the regions of Italy I love the most and in fact is not well known by a lot of Italians. You cannot miss visiting Alberobello, Lecce, Otranto and the tip of the Salento (or heel of Italy). I will post more when I have time to review my notes.

Andrealovestotravel

Thanks so much.


We really appreciate your time and we look forward to your ideas and recommendations.


Andrea

Castellanese

I haven't been to Apulia yet, but it's a trip I've already planned to do in the future.

Lecce is a baroque city known for being the "Florence of the south". It's the main city in the Salento. The Salento area is also known for its beaches (Otranto and Gallipoli).

The Itria Valley is famous for its "trulli", concentrated mostly in and around Alberobello. Locorotondo, Martina Franca and Ostuni are also other interesting towns in the valley.

Bari, the capital of Apulia, and the surrounding towns (Molfetta, Trani and Barletta) are famous for their romanesque churches as well as for Castel del Monte (an enigmatic castle whose main purpose is still unknown).

The Gargano National Park is famous for its forest and beaches (Rodi Garganico, Vieste and Mattinata). Monte Sant'Angelo is one of Europe's oldest places of Christian pilgrimage. Lake Varano and Lake Lesina are noted bird-watching areas.

Like I said above, I haven't been there yet, but I've read my Apulia guidebook over and over.

These are some of the highlights in this region.

Castellanese.

franco

Basically, Puglia is divided in three parts, an urban along the central and northern stretch of the coast, disrupted by the Gargano peninsula; the rural northern inland; and the completely rural south (coast plus inland). Wait for someone with more recent experiences to chime in, but my own (many years ago for the central stretch, and several years ago for the northern) were that the whole urban part of the region isn't by any means safe. It was on both occasions, i.e. over a period of more than just a few years, one of the least pleasing regions of Italy I've visited, poverty- and petty-crime-stricken (and I know most corners of the country). The sights, however, are terrific for anybody with any kind of interest in Romanesque architecture. The northern inland part was pretty similar, and for a rural, not too densely populated region, I felt surprisingly uneasy also there. The south is completely different, and certainly the best destination for a relaxing holiday, with good sights, too, even though they don't match the Romanesque treasures of the coastal cities (and Castel del Monte, a Romanesque castle, northern inland).

ekscrunchy

I booked here for two nights, AFTER your trip. A kilometer or so from a small port (Otranto) that sounds pretty and lively and also near good beaches. In the far south:



http://www.masseriamontelauro.it/

I also received some great assistance on this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-the-south.cfm



Apart from the one I linked above, there seem to be reams of great-looking properties farther north in or near the Itria Valley and also close to the coast/beach, and which might be a better choice for location:


http://www.villacenci.it/

Since I feel like I have spent the last three months looking at upscale properties in southern part of the region, but have visited none of them, I will be happy to share the links with you if you wish. Please give me a price range, rather than a star rating.

Flame123

Here is a link to my 11-day trip report in Puglia three years ago, you may get some ideas and suggestions from it. If you have further specifics afterwards, let me know, I would be pleased to try and help !!

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...and-nights.cfm

nochblad

I have to admit that I only know the southern end of Puglia (or Apulia) and in particular from Lecce and below - the Salento which is the true heel of Italy.

Lecce is a magnificent architectural delight with wonderful baroque buildings. Blessed with a dry climate and low pollution (i.e. no acid rain) the stonework is still white and well preserved. The city has a lot of art galleries and antique shops.

The boys would probably prefer Otranto a lively port with an impressive castle. Try to have a tour of the castle with an explanation as to how it developed over the centuries as a result of all the various invading forces - Normans, Aragons etc

The beaches to the north of the town - Alimini - are magnificent. The water is very warm and very clean.

Food wise the area is a dream. The fresh fruit and vegetable produce is incredible, excellent wines, olive oil (you will see massive olive trees as you drive around), and wonderful fresh fish. The area is famed for its morzarella. I always remember driving out to an industrial estate at Maglie. There was always a long queue outside this non-descript building but the wait was always worth it since we bought a huge selection of fresh morzarella - normal, cherry size, trecce (platted) and buratta. By the time we got back to Otranto the cherry morzarella was always finished! Still on food try to eat at the local agritourism restaurants which are litterally very simple trattorie backing onto the farmer's fields. I strongly recommend Pasta alla crudaiola but as always look at the plates of your neighbouring tables.

Further afield I would recommend trips to Alberobello - a World Heritage site - with its magnificent trulli. Today no-one knows how the actually constructed the roofs.Another location just over the border in the region of Basilicata is Matera famous for its Sassi or troglodyte rock houses. The city has frequently been used as a film location including Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ.

Finally, thinking of the boys again it is worthwhile pointing out that this is the closest location to Greece and in ancient times boats would depart from both Otranto and Brindisi (the end of Via Appia). The Greek influence is still present in the names of some of the small villages, a local dialect which is strongly influenced by Greek and the ruins of various monasteries in and around Otranto which were dedicated to translating ancient Greek texts into Latin.

As far as were to stay is concerned I would recommend one of the various masserie which were originally fortified homesteads.

ekscrunchy

Related to the informative post above:


http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/puglia/otranto.html