Rome to puglia - spring 2024
Feb 27th, 2025 | 02:55 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 478
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Rome to puglia - spring 2024
Rome to Puglia – Spring 2024
It’s been almost a year, so it’s definitely time to get this trip report written and posted.
As background, DH and I are in our early seventies, and we’re transitioning to no driving for most international travel. We enjoy hiking as well as museums and gardens, and we like to end the day with a fine meal. "Night life" for us means a stroll back to our hotel. We prefer to stay at least 3 nights in any one place, and try to limit one night stays. We have always traveled independently, but have begun to look into small tours.
Why Puglia? We were actually interested in a food tour in Sicily led by a highly recommended SF Bay area cooking teacher. Those tours, as well as the ones she led in Puglia, were fully booked, but some sleuthing by DH found a tour that seemed to be exactly what we were looking for: choose our own accommodations, on our own for dinners, small group to hang out with during the day, very reasonably priced – Puglialy.
I’ll begin with the itinerary, accommodations, and restaurants we enjoyed in each city.
Itinerary:
SFO – Frankfurt – Rome
Rome – 4 nights
Salerno – 2 nights
Trani – 5 nights
Ostuni – 8 nights
Hotels:
Rome - Giuditta in Trastevere – recommended. This is not a full service hotel, but a few rooms on a floor of a building. It has a lovely rooftop terrace, and good breakfast included. The décor is modern and spare.
Salerno - BnB di Mare e d’Azzurro – recommended with a few reservations. This is not a full service hotel, but a few rooms on a floor of a building. Some noise from the other rooms. Beautiful view of the harbor. Breakfast coupon for a nearby cafe.
Trani - Dimore Marinare – highly recommended. I loved this hotel with its rooftop terrace overlooking the gorgeous harbor. Breakfast was plentiful and delicious. Our room was huge, with windows and balcony overlooking the harbor. It was very comfortable for our long stay.
Ostuni - Palazzo AD 1892 – recommended with the reservation that the stairs are narrow and steep so not suitable for someone with mobility issues. The hostess was accommodating, and brought fresh pastries, yogurt, etc. each morning. We opted for the suite with the kitchen and rooftop terrace. Another couple on our tour were in the room next to ours which had a little kitchenette nook and shared sitting room.
Restaurants:
Rome
daLu
Fior di Luna – gelato
Jacopa
Salerno
The Pizza Guy
Madia
Trani
Veronique
Gallo
Babayaga – gelato
Salumeria Gustavo (Monopoli and Polignano al Mare)
Lab 57 *****
Al Tettuccio (Barletta)
Ostuni
Opera Primi
Sax
la Vecchia Terrazza *****
Travel Notes:
Rome: We had been to Rome before, the last time being 2012 when the crowds were heaving. Having seen “the top 10” previously we mapped out a plan to visit churches with the Byzantine-style mosaics which had knocked our socks off when we traveled to Sicily. It worked well for us, but it’s certainly not the best plan if it’s your first visit to Rome. I was too late booking two attractions that I wanted to visit: the Borghese, if only to once again see Bernini’s Abduction of Proserpina, and the Stadium of Domitian beneath Piazza Navona. So be forewarned. The website walksinrome.com has a lot of good information.
Pompeii: We traveled to Pompeii from Salerno which worked well. In hindsight I think I would have preferred to add a night (3 instead of 2) to the area and stay in Naples. We were happy to be at Pompeii in the springtime. It is exposed, and it must be miserable in the heat of summer. We were also glad that we weren’t in a tour group. The streets in Pompeii are narrow, and they get clogged with tours. If we looked down a street and it was filled with people, we just turned in a different direction. I feel we saw everything we wanted to see, and what we may have missed in the way of information, we gained in lack of frustration.
Trani: The owner/guide of Puglialy suggested Trani when I asked where to base for 5 nights before we joined his tour in Ostuni. This worked well for us. We had a great hotel, and it was easy to take a train from there for short visits to towns along the coast. The harbor is lovely, and we enjoyed many walks and good restaurants.
Ostuni: Ostuni was the town we based in for our tour with Puglialy. Beforehand we were given a comprehensive list of accommodations in all price ranges that we could choose from. Everyone who joined our tour was happy with their choice, so I feel that Pietro did a great job of vetting the hotels and inns. Ostuni had enough going on that our evenings were full, and we dined well.
Photo Journal: I’m including a link here to DH’s photojournal. That way you can get right to it, rather than wait for my day-by-day.
It’s been almost a year, so it’s definitely time to get this trip report written and posted.
As background, DH and I are in our early seventies, and we’re transitioning to no driving for most international travel. We enjoy hiking as well as museums and gardens, and we like to end the day with a fine meal. "Night life" for us means a stroll back to our hotel. We prefer to stay at least 3 nights in any one place, and try to limit one night stays. We have always traveled independently, but have begun to look into small tours.
Why Puglia? We were actually interested in a food tour in Sicily led by a highly recommended SF Bay area cooking teacher. Those tours, as well as the ones she led in Puglia, were fully booked, but some sleuthing by DH found a tour that seemed to be exactly what we were looking for: choose our own accommodations, on our own for dinners, small group to hang out with during the day, very reasonably priced – Puglialy.
I’ll begin with the itinerary, accommodations, and restaurants we enjoyed in each city.
Itinerary:
SFO – Frankfurt – Rome
Rome – 4 nights
Salerno – 2 nights
Trani – 5 nights
Ostuni – 8 nights
Hotels:
Rome - Giuditta in Trastevere – recommended. This is not a full service hotel, but a few rooms on a floor of a building. It has a lovely rooftop terrace, and good breakfast included. The décor is modern and spare.
Salerno - BnB di Mare e d’Azzurro – recommended with a few reservations. This is not a full service hotel, but a few rooms on a floor of a building. Some noise from the other rooms. Beautiful view of the harbor. Breakfast coupon for a nearby cafe.
Trani - Dimore Marinare – highly recommended. I loved this hotel with its rooftop terrace overlooking the gorgeous harbor. Breakfast was plentiful and delicious. Our room was huge, with windows and balcony overlooking the harbor. It was very comfortable for our long stay.
Ostuni - Palazzo AD 1892 – recommended with the reservation that the stairs are narrow and steep so not suitable for someone with mobility issues. The hostess was accommodating, and brought fresh pastries, yogurt, etc. each morning. We opted for the suite with the kitchen and rooftop terrace. Another couple on our tour were in the room next to ours which had a little kitchenette nook and shared sitting room.
Restaurants:
Rome
daLu
Fior di Luna – gelato
Jacopa
Salerno
The Pizza Guy
Madia
Trani
Veronique
Gallo
Babayaga – gelato
Salumeria Gustavo (Monopoli and Polignano al Mare)
Lab 57 *****
Al Tettuccio (Barletta)
Ostuni
Opera Primi
Sax
la Vecchia Terrazza *****
Travel Notes:
Rome: We had been to Rome before, the last time being 2012 when the crowds were heaving. Having seen “the top 10” previously we mapped out a plan to visit churches with the Byzantine-style mosaics which had knocked our socks off when we traveled to Sicily. It worked well for us, but it’s certainly not the best plan if it’s your first visit to Rome. I was too late booking two attractions that I wanted to visit: the Borghese, if only to once again see Bernini’s Abduction of Proserpina, and the Stadium of Domitian beneath Piazza Navona. So be forewarned. The website walksinrome.com has a lot of good information.
Pompeii: We traveled to Pompeii from Salerno which worked well. In hindsight I think I would have preferred to add a night (3 instead of 2) to the area and stay in Naples. We were happy to be at Pompeii in the springtime. It is exposed, and it must be miserable in the heat of summer. We were also glad that we weren’t in a tour group. The streets in Pompeii are narrow, and they get clogged with tours. If we looked down a street and it was filled with people, we just turned in a different direction. I feel we saw everything we wanted to see, and what we may have missed in the way of information, we gained in lack of frustration.
Trani: The owner/guide of Puglialy suggested Trani when I asked where to base for 5 nights before we joined his tour in Ostuni. This worked well for us. We had a great hotel, and it was easy to take a train from there for short visits to towns along the coast. The harbor is lovely, and we enjoyed many walks and good restaurants.
Ostuni: Ostuni was the town we based in for our tour with Puglialy. Beforehand we were given a comprehensive list of accommodations in all price ranges that we could choose from. Everyone who joined our tour was happy with their choice, so I feel that Pietro did a great job of vetting the hotels and inns. Ostuni had enough going on that our evenings were full, and we dined well.
Photo Journal: I’m including a link here to DH’s photojournal. That way you can get right to it, rather than wait for my day-by-day.
Mar 1st, 2025 | 02:30 PM
#6
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 6,222
Likes: 0
PJTravels, Wow!!!! I love your report and photos. I appreciate your helpful logistical information. Tell your husband his photos are gorgeous!!! I like your combination of DIY travel and the small group tour. How did you discover Puglialy? We will be in Italy this May/June for 5 weeks; our first trip to Italy since the 1970's! We will be in central and northern Italy. We are primarily using trains but luckily my husband is still willing to drive so we will have a rental car for Tuscany and the Italian Alps. But I assume there will come a time when he doesn't want to drive any more in foreign countries, and the small group tour that you found sounds perfect. We are in our 70's, too. Would love to visit Southern Italy some day, and perhaps return to Rome. I love what you saw and did in Rome, and your whole approach.
Mar 6th, 2025 | 12:01 PM
#7
Original Poster
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 478
Likes: 0
Karen Woo, Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad you liked the report, and hope that it proves helpful to you at some point. We found the small tour of Puglia by "googling". You should have an incredible time in Italy this spring/summer with such a long time to savor your travels. Our standard trips used to be 5-6 weeks, but now we're more comfortable with 3 weeks. It was certainly great to travel without the anxiety of navigating strange towns with narrow streets and limited parking. The downside to that is it makes it difficult to stay in wonderful inns in remote places.
Last edited by PJTravels; Mar 6th, 2025 at 12:03 PM. Reason: Linked to Fodorite I replied to
