SE ITALY
 

I hope to travel to the Bari/Brindisi area of SE Italy next April. I want to rent a Trulli for 1 or 2 nights but otherwise tour that area without renting a car. Is that doable? Are their organized tour companies in that area. Appreciate any help or suggestions.

So SE means South East, now what in hell is a Trulli ?
Ah I guess if I don't know I cannot help...
But I don't get the 'are their' either. Maybe the English I've been taught is obsolete.

Trulli is a structure. I would have expected from the context for it to be a vehicle but it's those little cone roof buildings. But I know you're just being snarky, what.

A guide book would perhaps be a wise investment. Since you seem to want basic information, I would recommend Rick Steves, whose strong point ( besides travel for dummies) is Italy.

I know what a Trulli is, and I've visited SE Italy.

Touring that part of Italy on your own without a vehicle would be difficult unless you simply took trains from one city to the next. But it sounds like you're interested in the countryside, too.

I've never taken a organized tour in that area so I can't answer. Your best bet might be to search tour companies that specialize in that are or run day trips out of the cities, such as Bari, Brindisi, Bisceglia, etc.

trullo, singular
trulli, plural

We spent a week in the area in 2012. We had a car and were happy that we did.

Someone here has done a trip report about their trip using public transport...I want to say Bilboburgler but could be wrong. You could do a search for him and see his tri reports.

I took a night train Rome to Lecce - a really really neat old town that could make a good base sans a car.

And took trains to Bari, Brindisi, Taranto and to some town renown for Trulli - can't think of it - but yes mixed with day-long tours possibly but you can easily visit the area by train and bus (though not as conveniently as with a car).

Check www.trenitalia.com for schedules and for general Italian train info www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com

TRULLI:
https://www.google.com/search?q=trul...w=1745&bih=863

The town is likely Alberobrllo

I was not being snarky the whole yard. I had no idea what a trullo was.

I was in Puglia this time last year, and relied on public transport. My trip report is a little disjointed as part was written "live" and I filled in the gaps later on.

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

Public transport is possible, but my experiences with FSE (the local rail and bus company) sometimes bordered on the farcical.

The town is likely Alberobrllo> Yes.

And I wanted to go by train to Matera a town known for its sassi houses - cave dwelling ones and a by all appearances a really neat place but ran out of time:

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/basilicata/matera.html

Yes, you can visit the area without a car. I visited Trani, Alberobello, Lecce, Polignano a Mare, and Bari by public transportation, and you have MANY more options. The Rough Guide gives all the necessary information on transportaion, or you can use rome2rio.com to get some ideas, but do check all the links it provides to actually get the transportation schedules, as rome2rio is not sensitive to seasonal varioual.

Information on trulli:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trullo

We spent a week or so in Puglia. Train from Naples to Altamura for a night, two nights in Matera, a couple of nights in Lecce and a couple of nights in Bari. Train all the way, and it was easy. Regional trains, that plod along, and you do get to see the country.

If you can be in Bari on 7th, 8th and 9th May, it is the Festival of St Nicholas. An amazing street parade on 9th May, really worth being there for that.

Trullo and Trulli (pl as massi says) are basically dry stone walls made into conical or multi conical buildings. Originally everything from a tool shed in the fields to poor people's housing they are generally now available for rent, they often have the interior below the surrounding earth to offer additional cooling from the shaded ground.

kja and willit probably know more about public transport in the area than I do. My experience is limited to the "pullman" type buses that get from Bari/Brindisi airports to the main cities (google the airports' website) the trains that link the city centres (but not linking the airports so you need a local bus) and then a few bus links around the place. I'd start with roome2rio to get a flavour and then click through to find the actual timetable (watch out for saturday and sunday timetable changes as weekdays are for school kids often).

Trains worth reading seat61.com, for historical reasons there are two train companies in Puglia (during nationalisation they forgot one and had to do an extra law) and the second one (normally further south) got less money so the stations are less solubrious and the engines breakdown more. But the staff are great fun and the little local trains really do poddle along often on narrow guage lines visiting every haystack or using replacement bus services.

Local tour companies, yes there are lots and they don't charge a lot, they also can offer cooking, wine tasting, oive oil tasting, sailing, swimming, orienteering.

As well as Trulli you may like Massaria/Masserie (s/pl) which are fortified farms often containing Trullo/i but also including a great little cook, small gardens to wander in, donkeys to meet, bikes to borrow etc. Given the dangers of pirate attack in the 17cnt and 18cnt these are often multiply walled and right little sun traps.

we do have to cut "What" some slack he is operating in his third language and not knowing a specialist word in a fourth...

Sorry not replying you earlier.
I live in the area and I suggest you to use its name "Puglia" to find all information.

The long comment of bilboburgler is correct, just one remark: there are more than two railway companies in the region; bus companies are much more.
Anyway for peapod's tour it's enough to know:
www.trenitalia.com (Bari, Polignano, Monopoli, Bisceglie, Trani, Brindisi, Ostuni, Lecce and so on)
www.fseonline.it (only Italian language; train and bus connection; Conversano, Locorotondo, Martina Franca and so on)
www.ferrovieappulolucane.it (only Italian language; train and bus connection; Altamura, Gravina, Matera and so on)

Traveling by public transportation most of time is a pleasant experience, some time can be hard (no clear indication, information only in Italian, rush hour and so on); only Trenitalia is working with google map's indications.

Alberobello has an area with a unique concentration of Trulli (UNESCO site since 1996). Otherwise a Trullo is a rural construction, nowadays used also as accommodation facility.

To book a customized travel you can easily write to one of the numerous local travel companies, requiring for a quotation.
April is Spring time and if you search for: "coloured travel through Puglia" you can find some package tours.

Hope being helpful