Three weeks in Puglia/Matera/Rome
Jun 26th, 2023 | 03:06 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
Three weeks in Puglia/Matera/Rome
Three weeks in Puglia/Matera/Rome
My husband and I have just returned from a 3 week trip to Italy and I’d like to share our trip as the trip reports on here helped me so much in the planning of our trip for which I am very very thankful!
A little about us- we love to travel and now that we have retired we hope to do more of it especially in Europe. We have been to Italy twice before, our first trip to Rome Florence and Venice in 2007 and the Amalfi Coast and Capri in 2015. We like to do day tours of churches museums palaces etc but in small doses, preferring just to meander and visit new cities soak in the culture and daily life meeting locals and eating delicious food along the way. We love the beach but there’s so much to see in an Italy we only went three times. I wish I could remember all the names of places and eateries we went to, but my memory and notes are both lacking. Enjoy!
We flew from east coast US to Rome to Bari via ITA. We rented a car for our first 2 weeks in Puglia through Enterprise which we picked up in Bari airport. We loved having a car. It enabled us to visit many other cities during our time in Puglia and it was nice having the freedom to come and go as you pleased.
We spent our first 2 nights in Bari https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...ri_Puglia.html
Bari was a very pretty and lively city. We enjoyed the piazzas the church of San Nicola and the many restaurants. We took a long walk along the lungomare which was so pretty stopping to have drinks along the way. We had a very good dinner at Mercantile one night. And Gelato Sandro was also a hit. Loved wandering and I was so happy when we found the street where the ladies were making orrichiette. So fun to see!
The next 5 days we spent in Lecce. We stayed in Michelangelo B&B.
https://www.bbmichelangelo.com/
It was a great apartment, good location, spacious with a nice outdoor area. The hosts were wonderful people and they run a tourist agency and included a free tour of Lecce which was great to get the lay of the land and learn the interesting history of the city. Breakfast was included at Miro a lovely restaurant a short walk away from the apartment. During our time there some of the highlights we visited were the Jewish Museum, the beautiful Basilica di Santa Croce the amphitheater and the Cathedral of Assunta. Some favorite eateries were Mamma Elvira, Locanda del Ballerino and Ciro's Pizza and drinks outdoors at the Patria Palace hotel. Lecce is such a pretty city we loved meandering the beautiful streets lingering in the piazzas drinking our iced caffe Leccese in the afternoons at Galleria with a pasticiotto or a puccia with a Peroni. And we never missed an opportunity to have gelato at Baldo! A memorable place!
From Lecce we visited Gallipoli and Otranto. Both pretty cities. We walked around visiting the churches and shops and neighborhoods. In Gallipoli we had drinks and lunch at a lovely spot overlooking the beach and Gulf of Taranto called Cafe del Mar it was gorgeous!
Otranto is called the pearl of Salento. It was beautiful to see their old town as well as the stunning views of the Salento coast. We toured the Castello Aragonese which also housed art exhibits as well an an architectural museum and we walked the grounds and went to the top to see the beautiful views of the port. We also saw the Cathedral of Otranto with its fascinating history of the 800 skulls of martyrs behind the altar (pretty creepy actually) and their interesting mosaic floors.
On our drive back from Otranto we took a detour to check out the Grotte della Poesia which I read about here on Fodors. It was a magnificent archeological sight. It is actually a 100 foot sinkhole at the edge of the sea in the town of Roca. Swimmers were diving in and enjoying the water when we there. I’m so glad we got to see it! It was breathtaking! It is actually my screensaver now on my phone.
On another day we went to a lovely lido called Teranga in Punta Prosciutto I believe the area was Porto Cesearo? They have cushioned loungers umbrella huts and serve drinks and food. The water looked like the Carribean. It was a wonderful way to spend the day!
The next 3 days we spent in Matera which was magical and i am so glad we put it in our itinerary. We stayed at Toretta ai Sassi,
https://www.torrettasassi.it/index.asp another Fodor's find. We stayed in a cave room, L'Arco, and it was so unique. I can’t lie, when I first saw the room I thought to myself what did I do? But honestly it was very comfortable especially with the terrace and incredible view. I really didn’t want to leave. The host, Valentina, was wonderful. So helpful and the communication was great. She met us in the evening after we arrived to explain the amenities, area and even made all our dinner reservations. All truly outstanding - Soul Kitchen, Piu Sud and La Lopa , which was so interesting. After dinner the owners invite the guests down to the basement to their cinema to watch a compilation of movies filmed in Matera. We thoroughly enjoyed this! We also had good breakfasts at L'Artiere and La Franchi Cafe.
We are so glad we stayed a few nights because to see Matera at night was stunning. I loved wandering the streets visiting the rock churches and cathedral. We took a 3 hour tour with Nadia Galletta whom I found here on a Fodors forum trip report and I agree she was fantastic. She covered the different sassi areas, the history and life of the inhabitants and we visited a replica of an old sassi and how they lived. After the tour we walked through the shopping area in Matera and she took us through the market where we bought some delicious fruit - she said we could not pass on the strawberries. She was right! And to a cheese shop where we purchased fresh delicious mozzarella. Nadia is a warm, knowledgeable woman and it was a pleasure spending time with her. She is so very appreciative of her reviews and recommendations on Fodors.
Nadia’s info: Cell. +39 347 8548845; e.mail: [email protected].
3 hour private walking tour was only 60 Euro.
The next 4 days we spent in Polignano A Mare which was our favorite city. We stayed at Covo dei Saracini overlooking the water. https://www.covodeisaraceni.com/en/
It was a very nice hotel. Our room was lovely with a terrace with a sea view. Great extensive breakfast in the morning with the nicest staff. Free parking with a shuttle which was wonderful to have. My only complaint was it was bit noisy. Very thin walls. The location could not be beat. Steps away from the famous La Monchille beach and centro storico, great restaurants and shops.
We did a fun boat tour through Viator, from San Vito and up the coast of Polignano with Nicholas who was great, telling us many stories of the area, playing excellent music and we went into the caves with most amazing color water for a swim and ended with a prosecco toast. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.
From Polignano we visited the beautiful Alberobello. Sadly it was pouring rain during our stay and we found ourselves in Casa Nora which was one of the best meals of our trip. We also thoroughly enjoyed a day trip to Monopoli and then the beautiful white city of Ostuni.
As beautiful and iconic as La Monichelle beach in Polignano is, my idea of a perfect beach day is not sitting on rocks. My old cranky menopausal body is not made for that lol. Fortunately there are many beautiful lidos in the Salento region and we drove to one such beach called La Sociale in Monopoli, with lounge chairs umbrellas food and drinks.
On our last day in Polignano we were lucky enough to be there for the Festival of San Vito. It was full day of activity starting with a mass, a parade and a procession of the relics of the saint on board a barge which began in the village of San Vito and proceeded along the water to Polignano. It was then followed by a beautiful firework display. The city was filled with lights and vendors and music. It was a wonderful night.
Some restaurants we liked in Polignano were M'Briana, La Terrazza, Osteria dei Pelligrini and we loved and frequented quite often the Foccacceria di Marco Della Noci around the corner from our hotel. I am still dreaming about their food. On one of our walks through centro storico we got lost and found a place for drinks and apps called Lime. It was in a corner overlooking the water with stunning views and on occasion there was a wonderful singer there. It was our favorite place to go! We also never passed an opportunity to have gelato at Il Mago and Gusto Caruso!
We returned our car to Bari airport after 2 weeks and flew to Rome for our last week. We stayed at an AirBnB in Campo dei Fiori. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7869742...iWVwhZFpntFs1N
The apartment was lovely, very spacious and extremely comfortable. and the host was great as well. The location was not my favorite. I didn’t realize how noisy it would be. Our apartment was above the market and restaurants and the market is set up very early every morning so it’s noisy and the restaurants and bars are loud into the early morning hours but it was ok with the windows closed and AC on. We had been to Rome before about 15 years ago.
We did 2 tours through Walks - a Vatican/St Peters tour and a Colloseum/Forum tour. Both very good especially the Colosseum one. We revisited the usual sights Pantheon Trevi Borghese some churches. Some good restaurants we ate at were Al Balestrari and Baccanale and Osteria Fortunata. We loved La Briscione a coffee bar close by for our daily cappucinos and cornettos. It became our place for breakfast. We also loved both Forno & Fornai in the area for our pastry and focaccia.
After a few days in Rome we decided to rent a car and take a day trip to Siena. We stayed here Cheap Siena Hotel, B&B Il Corso Siena, Hotel Siena - Book Online The room was pretty. The location in cento storico was great and Pietro the host was wonderful. The drive to Siena was a nice ride and we spent a lovely day visiting Piazza del Campo, Palazzo Pubblico and Museo Civico, Mangia Tower Torre del Mangia, the Duomo. We had drinks and watched the sun set from a lovely restaurant but I can’t remember the name. We had a lovely dinner that night at Bagoga, great food and excellent service. The following morning we had breakfast at A.Nannini's and wandered and shopped around a bit. We wished we had more time to visit San Gimignano but it was getting late so we drove back to Rome returned the car, packed for our flight the next day and savored one last dinner in Rome at Al Balestrari and of course one last gelato!
Notes: as we rented a car we hit many gas station/service areas and I’m shocked at the quality of food. Better than some restaurants lol. And great coffee as well!
YouTube saved us on many occasions-pumping gas in Italy - road and ZTL zone signage - working our washer - even toll booths!
Also what navigation apps does everyone use when traveling? Waze was good for driving. We used google maps for walking directions , even the live view, and we almost divorced over the arguments we had while getting lost repeatedly.
Sadly I didn’t take great notes of all the restaurants we ate at. Some afternoons or evenings we would just go to the local market or specialty shop and buy delicious cured meats, cheese, olives, fruit and tarrallis and enjoy with some wine. This is the first time we booked some B&Bs and apartments instead of solely hotels and we preferred this for just this reason that we could relax and enjoy outdoor space or just space in general.
Regarding packing, we both packed in small carryons and a backpack each. When we got to the airport our carryons were overweight and we had to check them which defeated the whole purpose of a carryon. In hindsight I would have packed and checked a larger piece of luggage because literally I could not pack an extra tissue on our return. I would have liked to bring back some regional items. Especially the cruschi!!! Oh well next time!
Once again thank you for all then invaluable information I gathered from this forum that allowed me to plan this trip! A happy and healthy summer to you all!
My husband and I have just returned from a 3 week trip to Italy and I’d like to share our trip as the trip reports on here helped me so much in the planning of our trip for which I am very very thankful!
A little about us- we love to travel and now that we have retired we hope to do more of it especially in Europe. We have been to Italy twice before, our first trip to Rome Florence and Venice in 2007 and the Amalfi Coast and Capri in 2015. We like to do day tours of churches museums palaces etc but in small doses, preferring just to meander and visit new cities soak in the culture and daily life meeting locals and eating delicious food along the way. We love the beach but there’s so much to see in an Italy we only went three times. I wish I could remember all the names of places and eateries we went to, but my memory and notes are both lacking. Enjoy!
We flew from east coast US to Rome to Bari via ITA. We rented a car for our first 2 weeks in Puglia through Enterprise which we picked up in Bari airport. We loved having a car. It enabled us to visit many other cities during our time in Puglia and it was nice having the freedom to come and go as you pleased.
We spent our first 2 nights in Bari https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...ri_Puglia.html
Bari was a very pretty and lively city. We enjoyed the piazzas the church of San Nicola and the many restaurants. We took a long walk along the lungomare which was so pretty stopping to have drinks along the way. We had a very good dinner at Mercantile one night. And Gelato Sandro was also a hit. Loved wandering and I was so happy when we found the street where the ladies were making orrichiette. So fun to see!
The next 5 days we spent in Lecce. We stayed in Michelangelo B&B.
https://www.bbmichelangelo.com/
It was a great apartment, good location, spacious with a nice outdoor area. The hosts were wonderful people and they run a tourist agency and included a free tour of Lecce which was great to get the lay of the land and learn the interesting history of the city. Breakfast was included at Miro a lovely restaurant a short walk away from the apartment. During our time there some of the highlights we visited were the Jewish Museum, the beautiful Basilica di Santa Croce the amphitheater and the Cathedral of Assunta. Some favorite eateries were Mamma Elvira, Locanda del Ballerino and Ciro's Pizza and drinks outdoors at the Patria Palace hotel. Lecce is such a pretty city we loved meandering the beautiful streets lingering in the piazzas drinking our iced caffe Leccese in the afternoons at Galleria with a pasticiotto or a puccia with a Peroni. And we never missed an opportunity to have gelato at Baldo! A memorable place!
From Lecce we visited Gallipoli and Otranto. Both pretty cities. We walked around visiting the churches and shops and neighborhoods. In Gallipoli we had drinks and lunch at a lovely spot overlooking the beach and Gulf of Taranto called Cafe del Mar it was gorgeous!
Otranto is called the pearl of Salento. It was beautiful to see their old town as well as the stunning views of the Salento coast. We toured the Castello Aragonese which also housed art exhibits as well an an architectural museum and we walked the grounds and went to the top to see the beautiful views of the port. We also saw the Cathedral of Otranto with its fascinating history of the 800 skulls of martyrs behind the altar (pretty creepy actually) and their interesting mosaic floors.
On our drive back from Otranto we took a detour to check out the Grotte della Poesia which I read about here on Fodors. It was a magnificent archeological sight. It is actually a 100 foot sinkhole at the edge of the sea in the town of Roca. Swimmers were diving in and enjoying the water when we there. I’m so glad we got to see it! It was breathtaking! It is actually my screensaver now on my phone.
On another day we went to a lovely lido called Teranga in Punta Prosciutto I believe the area was Porto Cesearo? They have cushioned loungers umbrella huts and serve drinks and food. The water looked like the Carribean. It was a wonderful way to spend the day!
The next 3 days we spent in Matera which was magical and i am so glad we put it in our itinerary. We stayed at Toretta ai Sassi,
https://www.torrettasassi.it/index.asp another Fodor's find. We stayed in a cave room, L'Arco, and it was so unique. I can’t lie, when I first saw the room I thought to myself what did I do? But honestly it was very comfortable especially with the terrace and incredible view. I really didn’t want to leave. The host, Valentina, was wonderful. So helpful and the communication was great. She met us in the evening after we arrived to explain the amenities, area and even made all our dinner reservations. All truly outstanding - Soul Kitchen, Piu Sud and La Lopa , which was so interesting. After dinner the owners invite the guests down to the basement to their cinema to watch a compilation of movies filmed in Matera. We thoroughly enjoyed this! We also had good breakfasts at L'Artiere and La Franchi Cafe.
We are so glad we stayed a few nights because to see Matera at night was stunning. I loved wandering the streets visiting the rock churches and cathedral. We took a 3 hour tour with Nadia Galletta whom I found here on a Fodors forum trip report and I agree she was fantastic. She covered the different sassi areas, the history and life of the inhabitants and we visited a replica of an old sassi and how they lived. After the tour we walked through the shopping area in Matera and she took us through the market where we bought some delicious fruit - she said we could not pass on the strawberries. She was right! And to a cheese shop where we purchased fresh delicious mozzarella. Nadia is a warm, knowledgeable woman and it was a pleasure spending time with her. She is so very appreciative of her reviews and recommendations on Fodors.
Nadia’s info: Cell. +39 347 8548845; e.mail: [email protected].
3 hour private walking tour was only 60 Euro.
The next 4 days we spent in Polignano A Mare which was our favorite city. We stayed at Covo dei Saracini overlooking the water. https://www.covodeisaraceni.com/en/
It was a very nice hotel. Our room was lovely with a terrace with a sea view. Great extensive breakfast in the morning with the nicest staff. Free parking with a shuttle which was wonderful to have. My only complaint was it was bit noisy. Very thin walls. The location could not be beat. Steps away from the famous La Monchille beach and centro storico, great restaurants and shops.
We did a fun boat tour through Viator, from San Vito and up the coast of Polignano with Nicholas who was great, telling us many stories of the area, playing excellent music and we went into the caves with most amazing color water for a swim and ended with a prosecco toast. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.
From Polignano we visited the beautiful Alberobello. Sadly it was pouring rain during our stay and we found ourselves in Casa Nora which was one of the best meals of our trip. We also thoroughly enjoyed a day trip to Monopoli and then the beautiful white city of Ostuni.
As beautiful and iconic as La Monichelle beach in Polignano is, my idea of a perfect beach day is not sitting on rocks. My old cranky menopausal body is not made for that lol. Fortunately there are many beautiful lidos in the Salento region and we drove to one such beach called La Sociale in Monopoli, with lounge chairs umbrellas food and drinks.
On our last day in Polignano we were lucky enough to be there for the Festival of San Vito. It was full day of activity starting with a mass, a parade and a procession of the relics of the saint on board a barge which began in the village of San Vito and proceeded along the water to Polignano. It was then followed by a beautiful firework display. The city was filled with lights and vendors and music. It was a wonderful night.
Some restaurants we liked in Polignano were M'Briana, La Terrazza, Osteria dei Pelligrini and we loved and frequented quite often the Foccacceria di Marco Della Noci around the corner from our hotel. I am still dreaming about their food. On one of our walks through centro storico we got lost and found a place for drinks and apps called Lime. It was in a corner overlooking the water with stunning views and on occasion there was a wonderful singer there. It was our favorite place to go! We also never passed an opportunity to have gelato at Il Mago and Gusto Caruso!
We returned our car to Bari airport after 2 weeks and flew to Rome for our last week. We stayed at an AirBnB in Campo dei Fiori. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7869742...iWVwhZFpntFs1N
The apartment was lovely, very spacious and extremely comfortable. and the host was great as well. The location was not my favorite. I didn’t realize how noisy it would be. Our apartment was above the market and restaurants and the market is set up very early every morning so it’s noisy and the restaurants and bars are loud into the early morning hours but it was ok with the windows closed and AC on. We had been to Rome before about 15 years ago.
We did 2 tours through Walks - a Vatican/St Peters tour and a Colloseum/Forum tour. Both very good especially the Colosseum one. We revisited the usual sights Pantheon Trevi Borghese some churches. Some good restaurants we ate at were Al Balestrari and Baccanale and Osteria Fortunata. We loved La Briscione a coffee bar close by for our daily cappucinos and cornettos. It became our place for breakfast. We also loved both Forno & Fornai in the area for our pastry and focaccia.
After a few days in Rome we decided to rent a car and take a day trip to Siena. We stayed here Cheap Siena Hotel, B&B Il Corso Siena, Hotel Siena - Book Online The room was pretty. The location in cento storico was great and Pietro the host was wonderful. The drive to Siena was a nice ride and we spent a lovely day visiting Piazza del Campo, Palazzo Pubblico and Museo Civico, Mangia Tower Torre del Mangia, the Duomo. We had drinks and watched the sun set from a lovely restaurant but I can’t remember the name. We had a lovely dinner that night at Bagoga, great food and excellent service. The following morning we had breakfast at A.Nannini's and wandered and shopped around a bit. We wished we had more time to visit San Gimignano but it was getting late so we drove back to Rome returned the car, packed for our flight the next day and savored one last dinner in Rome at Al Balestrari and of course one last gelato!
Notes: as we rented a car we hit many gas station/service areas and I’m shocked at the quality of food. Better than some restaurants lol. And great coffee as well!
YouTube saved us on many occasions-pumping gas in Italy - road and ZTL zone signage - working our washer - even toll booths!
Also what navigation apps does everyone use when traveling? Waze was good for driving. We used google maps for walking directions , even the live view, and we almost divorced over the arguments we had while getting lost repeatedly.
Sadly I didn’t take great notes of all the restaurants we ate at. Some afternoons or evenings we would just go to the local market or specialty shop and buy delicious cured meats, cheese, olives, fruit and tarrallis and enjoy with some wine. This is the first time we booked some B&Bs and apartments instead of solely hotels and we preferred this for just this reason that we could relax and enjoy outdoor space or just space in general.
Regarding packing, we both packed in small carryons and a backpack each. When we got to the airport our carryons were overweight and we had to check them which defeated the whole purpose of a carryon. In hindsight I would have packed and checked a larger piece of luggage because literally I could not pack an extra tissue on our return. I would have liked to bring back some regional items. Especially the cruschi!!! Oh well next time!
Once again thank you for all then invaluable information I gathered from this forum that allowed me to plan this trip! A happy and healthy summer to you all!
Trending Topics
Jun 27th, 2023 | 05:13 PM
#8
Original Poster
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
hello Leely2. Next for us are an annual family trip to Newport RI and then a golf trip to Isle of Palm, SC. Will start researching another region of Italy for 2024! What about your travel plans?
Jul 1st, 2023 | 08:23 PM
#11
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 25,398
Likes: 0
Lovely report! We plan to return to Matera for 2 nights (only) after an absence of about 13 years or so....will be interested to see the changes there, and in the Foggia region of Puglia, since our last visit. One thing for certain, hotel prices have soared. Leely, we took the plunge and booked at Sextantio for 2 nights...
Another things Iinoticed is that when you confirm a hotel reservation (I always book fdrectly with the hotel) , some of the hotels immediately withdraw the first night's charge from your credit card, while others have a policy that they take a lot of the total is you cancel less than 30 days out....wondering if this is only in these areas newly popular with foreign tourists, or everywhere in Italy. or everywhere in Europe??
I so enjoyed reading of your travels!
Another things Iinoticed is that when you confirm a hotel reservation (I always book fdrectly with the hotel) , some of the hotels immediately withdraw the first night's charge from your credit card, while others have a policy that they take a lot of the total is you cancel less than 30 days out....wondering if this is only in these areas newly popular with foreign tourists, or everywhere in Italy. or everywhere in Europe??
I so enjoyed reading of your travels!
Jul 3rd, 2023 | 05:15 PM
#13
Original Poster
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
Lovely report! We plan to return to Matera for 2 nights (only) after an absence of about 13 years or so....will be interested to see the changes there, and in the Foggia region of Puglia, since our last visit. One thing for certain, hotel prices have soared. Leely, we took the plunge and booked at Sextantio for 2 nights...
Another things Iinoticed is that when you confirm a hotel reservation (I always book fdrectly with the hotel) , some of the hotels immediately withdraw the first night's charge from your credit card, while others have a policy that they take a lot of the total is you cancel less than 30 days out....wondering if this is only in these areas newly popular with foreign tourists, or everywhere in Italy. or everywhere in Europe??
I so enjoyed reading of your travels!
Another things Iinoticed is that when you confirm a hotel reservation (I always book fdrectly with the hotel) , some of the hotels immediately withdraw the first night's charge from your credit card, while others have a policy that they take a lot of the total is you cancel less than 30 days out....wondering if this is only in these areas newly popular with foreign tourists, or everywhere in Italy. or everywhere in Europe??
I so enjoyed reading of your travels!
As for hotel, airbnb or B&Bs regarding payment and deposits it varied, some were paid in full several days before our stay charged to our card, others paid upon our arrival and another paid in full 30 days in advance.
Have a happy & healthy summer!
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
ekscrunchy
Europe
89
Jul 25th, 2024 07:46 PM
wards256
Europe
3
Oct 24th, 2013 04:22 AM
