Puglia region-pls help me
Oct 10th, 2010, 08:35 AM
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Puglia region-pls help me
Lucky me, I will be attending a wedding on April 16th in the Puglia region, near the resort towns of Polignano a Mare and Monopoli. We will travel to Italy the weekend before to take advange of seeing that area. A work friend said the Puglia region is fantastic, however I am totally unfamiliar with it. Please, I would love your advice for how to plan a trip in that area, landing in the Bari airport the Saturday before April 16th, and ending up in the wedding area by April 14th or 15th. THANKS everyone!
Oct 10th, 2010, 08:52 AM
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Love Puglia. For starters, look at this:
http://www.grottapalazzese.it/it/home/
It's one of the neatest hotels and restaurants I've ever stayed in. The restaurant is in a cave/grotto and the waves splash UNDER you and behind you. When you click L'Hotel, you'll see a picture of a hotel rooms with stone vaulted ceiling. That's the room we had and the type you should request, with a tiny private balcony cantilevered out over the water. You can explore the area from there.
http://www.grottapalazzese.it/it/home/
It's one of the neatest hotels and restaurants I've ever stayed in. The restaurant is in a cave/grotto and the waves splash UNDER you and behind you. When you click L'Hotel, you'll see a picture of a hotel rooms with stone vaulted ceiling. That's the room we had and the type you should request, with a tiny private balcony cantilevered out over the water. You can explore the area from there.
Oct 12th, 2010, 03:41 AM
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I just returned from a week-long trip to Puglia and can give you some help, but you should also do a search here because there are several excellent trip reports as well as a couple of planning threads that I started.
All this assumes that you will rent a car:
You might look at spending 2-3 nights in the Salento, south of Lecce. There are several good bases for that area including Otranto and a few rural farms not far from there. You really need to divulge more of your tastes and budget for me to go on and on, though.
Then spend one night in Lecce, and the reminder of the time at a masseria in the Ostuni/Locorotondo/Cisternino area, before heading up to Monopoli. If you have time, try to fit in a night in Polignano which is truly (forgive the pun) beautiful. The hotel restaurant linked above has changed in the past few years and the prices have skyrocketed so unless you ahve a large budget, I might look at other options if you decide to stay in Polignano. Polignano is famous for gelato, by the way.
One place I left out is Trani where we did not go; that is close to Bari. Another is Matera, over the border in Basilicata. Do some more research and I will try to help you further.
As I learned, you cannot do "all" of Puglia in one week.
All this assumes that you will rent a car:
You might look at spending 2-3 nights in the Salento, south of Lecce. There are several good bases for that area including Otranto and a few rural farms not far from there. You really need to divulge more of your tastes and budget for me to go on and on, though.
Then spend one night in Lecce, and the reminder of the time at a masseria in the Ostuni/Locorotondo/Cisternino area, before heading up to Monopoli. If you have time, try to fit in a night in Polignano which is truly (forgive the pun) beautiful. The hotel restaurant linked above has changed in the past few years and the prices have skyrocketed so unless you ahve a large budget, I might look at other options if you decide to stay in Polignano. Polignano is famous for gelato, by the way.
One place I left out is Trani where we did not go; that is close to Bari. Another is Matera, over the border in Basilicata. Do some more research and I will try to help you further.
As I learned, you cannot do "all" of Puglia in one week.
Oct 15th, 2010, 06:38 AM
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ekscrunchy, thank you so much for your reply! I will absolutely do a search to see past trip reports. And, I welcome any/all advice you can add.
Regarding our likes/interests...love exploring, touring sites, homes, eating, eating, eating where the locals go (we don't need fancy, just good food). WE are active and will walk anywhere, for any length of time/distance. I will eat my fill of gelato as I think it's heaven on a spoon.
In research so far, Lecce absolutely seems to be the not-to-miss town.
Budget-wise, we aren't looking for the most expensive, but we don't mind 'splurging' for a night or two for a unique, fantastic place to stay. That's why I was wondering about the Grotto. We like B&B's, as well as charming hotels.
Regarding our likes/interests...love exploring, touring sites, homes, eating, eating, eating where the locals go (we don't need fancy, just good food). WE are active and will walk anywhere, for any length of time/distance. I will eat my fill of gelato as I think it's heaven on a spoon.
In research so far, Lecce absolutely seems to be the not-to-miss town.
Budget-wise, we aren't looking for the most expensive, but we don't mind 'splurging' for a night or two for a unique, fantastic place to stay. That's why I was wondering about the Grotto. We like B&B's, as well as charming hotels.
Oct 15th, 2010, 11:13 AM
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I've started my trip report so you can read along and see what appeals to you. Lecce is beautiful but I am not sure you would need more than 2 nights there. Towns like Ostuni, Locorotondo, and Polignano are spectacular, but these are small and can be covered in half a day. I will get to those soon in my trip report.
As far as the Grotta Palazzese, when I was researching where to eat I learned that the prices had skyrocketed in the past couple of years and because there is so much good food around, we did not seek it out, although I did stop by to see if I could take a look. It was not yet lunchtime so we were unable to see the place. The person at the front desk was less than welcoming but perhaps he is tired of gawking tourists!
There are so many great places to stay in Puglia. We stayed at four hotels and three of them were divine. The fourth was the hotel in Lecce that was excellent but not unique.
For example, I would recommend Villa Cenci as a base for the trulli areas; check rates on Venere as well as on their website.
http://www.villacenci.it/
As far as the Grotta Palazzese, when I was researching where to eat I learned that the prices had skyrocketed in the past couple of years and because there is so much good food around, we did not seek it out, although I did stop by to see if I could take a look. It was not yet lunchtime so we were unable to see the place. The person at the front desk was less than welcoming but perhaps he is tired of gawking tourists!
There are so many great places to stay in Puglia. We stayed at four hotels and three of them were divine. The fourth was the hotel in Lecce that was excellent but not unique.
For example, I would recommend Villa Cenci as a base for the trulli areas; check rates on Venere as well as on their website.
http://www.villacenci.it/
Oct 15th, 2010, 11:41 AM
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Puglia is truly one of my favourite places of Italy.
Fortunately it is still relatively undiscovered. However, it is truly rich in history, architecture, art, etc.
The most important (early) road fom Rome was the Via Appia which ended at Brindisi. Why? Because this was the road which connected with Greece. In southern Puglia there are many ruins which were centres (later they would be called monasteries) whose function was to translate the Greek texts to Latin. After more than 2000 years the influence still remains. Some villages in the Salento still have Greek names and the local dialect is still a form of Greek.
I love Otranto which is a mixture of cultures - Phoenician, Norman, Aragon etc.
Try to stay in a masseria - a fortified farm. I recall having dinner and commenting on the extremely old olive tree which was right in the middle of the room. They said that it was probably 1500 years old. Wow! Then they said that after dinner where we would have coffee there was one which was even older - roughly 2000 years old.
The fruit, vegetables, fish, morzarella (and burrata)are out of this world. Heaven on earth is pasta alla crudaiola.
I am very jealous!
Fortunately it is still relatively undiscovered. However, it is truly rich in history, architecture, art, etc.
The most important (early) road fom Rome was the Via Appia which ended at Brindisi. Why? Because this was the road which connected with Greece. In southern Puglia there are many ruins which were centres (later they would be called monasteries) whose function was to translate the Greek texts to Latin. After more than 2000 years the influence still remains. Some villages in the Salento still have Greek names and the local dialect is still a form of Greek.
I love Otranto which is a mixture of cultures - Phoenician, Norman, Aragon etc.
Try to stay in a masseria - a fortified farm. I recall having dinner and commenting on the extremely old olive tree which was right in the middle of the room. They said that it was probably 1500 years old. Wow! Then they said that after dinner where we would have coffee there was one which was even older - roughly 2000 years old.
The fruit, vegetables, fish, morzarella (and burrata)are out of this world. Heaven on earth is pasta alla crudaiola.
I am very jealous!
Oct 15th, 2010, 12:48 PM
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Ekscrunchy, looking forward to reading your report as I am planning to be in Puglia, cycling next September, or October. I'm wondering how you found the weather while you were there at this time of year. Thanks to the others who have mentioned various things to see and do.
Oct 15th, 2010, 01:29 PM
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We had smashing weather. Six days of sun and only one rainy day. We were able to swim but it was never very hot. I guess high 70s during the day. (Sorry I do not know Celsius)
Are you going on the VBT bike tour? I ask because we ran into that tour twice--once at on the first night of our visit, near Otranto, and again at a restaurant in Lecce. The people we spoke to were very positive about the tour.
Are you going on the VBT bike tour? I ask because we ran into that tour twice--once at on the first night of our visit, near Otranto, and again at a restaurant in Lecce. The people we spoke to were very positive about the tour.
Oct 18th, 2010, 02:23 AM
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Hi,
let me help you (I'm an italian from Bari)
April isn't a swimming-month, so I suppose you want to have a "cultural" visit. For this, I suggest you to visit the middle zone of my region, cause the north and the south of Puglia are beautiful in late spring and summer.
For 5 days of turism (right?) I suggest:
- land in Bari and half day in this (my!) city
- rent a car
- Alberobello, Martina Franca
- Selva's Area
- Lecce
- Polignano for the wedding day
In Puglia there are a lot of place for sleep and eat for all of the budgets, but remember: it's a low knowledgement of english ... we aren't a turist-mass area
Vito
let me help you (I'm an italian from Bari)
April isn't a swimming-month, so I suppose you want to have a "cultural" visit. For this, I suggest you to visit the middle zone of my region, cause the north and the south of Puglia are beautiful in late spring and summer.
For 5 days of turism (right?) I suggest:
- land in Bari and half day in this (my!) city
- rent a car
- Alberobello, Martina Franca
- Selva's Area
- Lecce
- Polignano for the wedding day
In Puglia there are a lot of place for sleep and eat for all of the budgets, but remember: it's a low knowledgement of english ... we aren't a turist-mass area
Vito
Oct 18th, 2010, 02:39 AM
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Vito: I just want to thank you for your suggestions about restaurants in another post. I just retured from Puglia about a week ago and am already planning a return, when I will be sure to dine at Da Renzina. (I did not have time on this trip but will go there next time)
I loved those ricci in Savelletri! We LOVED Puglia!
I loved those ricci in Savelletri! We LOVED Puglia!
